TGIF!

So it's Friday, and like most college students, my room mate and I are about to go to a friends house for a party. Now parties for my gluten-free room mate can be a disaster. Think about it, solo cups being flown around in a viscous game of flip-cup...beer sloshing out of kegs, cans, coolers, everywhere! Beer as we know it, is madefrom wheat and grain products. Yet with a little searching, we were able to find a brand of beer that caters to the 3.2 million of us who cannot or will not eat gluten products.

Redbridge is an award-winning beer that was developed for those who wanted a good tasting beer without the allergen. I think they have a very successful tagline: Beer Made With You in Mind: Alternative Recipe, Classic Taste.

Since then, I've learned to appreciate Redbridge over my usual beer drinks. It is light, has a summery taste, and is perfect with fall foods!

Since I have had a new interest with gluten-free foods, I have noticed that many people view the allergy a new "fad". Gluten diets are becoming more popular. CBS had an article entitled Gluten Free Eating: is the new "it" diet better for you? In it, the author describes how people are catching on to the gluten-free trend not because of allergy reasons but for other. The possibility of a Gluten-free fad can open many opportunities for companies to hone in on specific target markets that are essentially untouched (compared to other foods).

Companies are beginning to realize the power of the gluten-freedom eaters. I found a posting on AllBusiness.com selling a report to the gluten-free consumer. The blurb about the article spoke on how many businesses are turning to gluten-free advertising of their products. For instance, general mills purposely advertises their normally gluten-free cereal as "New! Gluten Free!". No change was made to the cereal, but the advertising took a different direction that presented itself new and innovative to consumers.

So even though Redbridge has carried one of the oldest names in the Gluten-free world, many other companies are jumping on the popular trend of eating Gluten-Free. I think it is very wise for supermarkets, restaurants, and catering services become aware of their small clientèle who demand gluten-free products.

freedom! sweet freedom!

This summer, I bought myself a beach cruiser for the city. It was awesome for the first 2 weeks, until it was kidnapped from me. (moment of silence) I took a trek to Frankenstein Bike Works which is located on 1529 Spruce St to buy a new bike (and lock). The owner is very quirky, but that's what I love about the small shops in Philadelphia.

With my new bike, I have had many biking adventures and many of them seem to end at the quaint bakery on South Street. Sweet Freedom isn't your ordinary bakery. The sweet gals who work there bake solely gluten free and vegan products. It's a great place to chill and people watch over a cookie, pizza slice, or muffin! Yes, the pizza doesn't have any cheese (vegan!) but it's definitely worth a try. My personal favorite are the cupcakes--lime and coconut in particular.

So if you're up for an adventure, venture off of the beaten south/lombard path that all the freshmen seem to hawk to. Get off on to the side streets, and you'll be surprised at the neat shops!!

hunt around, and see if you can find other neat spots around South Street like

• hookah bars with the best Israeli fries in Philly (Fez)
• thrift stores (Philly AIDS thrift)
• old-fashioned candy shop (sweet tooth)

let me know of any personal south street favorites!

Apples to Apples, oh and eggs are soooo last year.

When I was younger, we had family game nights every Sunday. The usual boardgames would include chess, scrabble, trouble, ect. ect. It wasn't until a wacky Wednesday night when, accompanied by low doses of sleep that I discovered apples-to-apples, the game where you just describe things.

Yes, I may have been sheltered. I know this is an all-American classic. Yet with my new found knowledge, I decided to take game-night to a whole new age-group. My apartment now holds racks of nonsensical board games, and we often share food during those rainy nights where we all should be studying but would rather sit on my stained apartment's carpet and laugh at how cute we can be with word combos.

Now what does game night have to do with outdated eggs? Well, we've all heard about the salmonella outbreak, and my roommate is conveniently also allergic to eggs. So when it comes time to break out the batter for game night munchies, we had to find something to go along with our gluten-free dessert recipes.

One of my favorite original recipies is my recipie for banana bread. It's versatile, and I always have the ingredients on hand, even in my work-study-job funded kitchen. The only problem was that not only did it include gluten ingredients (flour) but also eggs(!!!). eggs are essential in quick breads because they bind the gluten together. What we found to work wonders in place of eggs was the adding of applesauce. Whoah! We decided that we didn't need to hit the gym after satisfying our sweet tooth craving for sweetness. Our health-conscious points shot through the roof. This bread is healthy also because instead of fattening butter, I used olive oil; and instead of loads of granulated sugar, we squeezed in some maple syrup and brown sugar. What we ended up with was a totally rustic, melt-in-your-mouth bread that was a total hit when combined with a friendly game of apples-to-apples.

1 c. brown sugar

8tbsp olive oil

2/3 c. applesauce

3-4 ripe bananas (dependent on size and how banana-y you like your bread)

1 tbsp milk (or use vanilla soy milk for vegan banana bread)

1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 c. rice flour

1 tsp baking powder (or 2/3 tsp. double acting baking powder)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla

2 tbsp maple syrup (I've used molasses before also)

preheat oven to 325

mix brown sugar and olive oil well

add applesauce and mix well

in a separate bowl, mash bananas until smooth (if you leave big banana pieces in they'll show up as grayish chunks in your bread)

add milk and cinnamon to mashed bananas

sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together

add banana/milk/cinnamon mix to sugar/butter

stir in maple syrup and vanilla to wet ingredients

add dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears

pour into a greased pan and cook 60-70 minutes, or until a fork comes out clean

enjoy! I serve it with a squirt of extra maple syrup, but that may be because I'm addicted to the rustic flavor!

Rule #1: no gluten

Okay, so I'm a college student. This meaning that I often divulge in late night pizza raids, free pretzels outside the bell tower and of course the warm beer offered at Temple's fine establishments. So what do I do when I decide to live with someone who turns red (literally) at the presence of what all these activities have in common---gluten?

For those of you who don't know what gluten is, check out this website. Foods that we have always grown up with as privileged gluteneers are sharply rejected by some people who develop allergic reactions to all-things gluten. Gluten can be found in the strangest of things....think barbaque sauce, chocolate chips...ovaltine???

That being said, my roommate is no poor starving child. With years of gluten cooking behind her, she was able to help me freshen up my favorite recipes. As the semester goes on, I hope to share with you the recipes I have created successfully, along with some funny mistakes that I have made, sans gluten. I encourage you to try the substitutions, because as I have found, they're really not that scary. Even to the beer drinking, Owl's Nest loving college student.