Hurricane Preparedness

We're all battened down here in DC, waiting with a mix of skepticism and anxiety to see what Sandy will rein upon us.  We have water in abundance.  We've brought in the Halloween decorations, lest a jack o'lantern become a missile.  We've even tackled the mountain of laundry so that we'll have some clean clothes if the power is out for any extended period of time.  We have diapers and formula.  We have flashlights and batteries.  And we have a kerosene heater sitting in the basement.  We learned some lessons from the derecho! These were the easy things.   The tough part was the food.

I think we generally have the gluten-free thing down in our house.  Like every other family with two working parents, we've got a solid rotation of meals that can be thrown together.  But we definitely eat "fresh."  (And, to a lesser extent, local and organic).  Which means that if the fridge goes down, I'm kind of at a loss.

I've stocked up on gluten-filled snacks and nonperishables for the husband and kids.  But what am I going to eat?

I started with fruit.  Fruit is easy.  And I've got some chips.  Some almonds.  Some Mary's Gone Crackers.  That was about it.  Not terribly sustaining.   So I went to MOM's and had a peek around.  I've been generally unsuccessful at finding canned goods that are labelled gluten-free.  Sadly, I didn't find much more here.  I got a couple of cans of soup that will work in an emergency (kind of the point, huh?).  Then I got some new crackers.  I was kind of striking out.  So I got some KIND bars -- which I love and frankly rely on for meal substitutes in every-day "emergencies."   And I got some Flamous chips.  They're made of chickpea flour, which is relatively healthy.  That's pretty much it.

I gave up on finding some magic, non-perishable sustenance.  Living gluten-free is great for forcing you to eat relatively healthy, fresh foods.  Not so great for Armageddon   I've got a lot of snacks.  And wine.  I have a ton of wine.  I think I'll be ok.
 

Happy Halloween!

The lists are out -- candy that is safely gluten-free for Halloween! Enjoy!

Its been a...

It has been almost a month since I put keyboard to screen and let loose.  High time, I say, to get back into it.  November is always a slightly tough month, but now December is here and demands to be celebrated!  As most properly socialized people know, celebrations = food. Therefore...

Most Christmas-y food ever: oyster stew.  Every Christmas eve, my family would load up into the van (there were a lot of us) and, eventually, after Christmas visits and services, end up at my grandmother's house for dinner.  Some of my sisters detested the traditional meal and demanded an alternative, but, to me, nothing smells as rich, tastes as velvety or has such strong memorial resonance.  The oyster stew would be warming on the stove when we arrived, filling the air with a buttery aroma.  I am not going to post my grandmother's recipe because, frankly, it's not mine to give.  But here you can get Madame Paula Dean's, which looks easy, delicious and, best of all, is gluten-free.