A small group of us met at local cafe The Happy Wife for a Coeliac morning tea.   There was a choice of delicious gluten free raspberry & white chocolate friends and Lindt dark chocolate brownies.   The Happy Wife also stocks Serafine bread and the group sampled some toasted with jam.

The group discussed getting together later in the year and people bringing along a sample of their favourite bread or other gluten free recipe.   The option of meeting at a park or playground on a Saturday afternoon was discussed.   If you have any ideas for a a gluten free morning tea, dinner or BBQ please email or call me on 0450 604 521.

Lovely day, spring is nearly here, so we rode the bikes into town and went to breakfast at Cafe 140 to try some more of the new menu and also the new single origin Ethiopian coffee. We both had the omelette that is made with two cheeses, Margaret River free range eggs, smoked salmon and infused with truffle oil. Aubrey had his with the trademark doorstopper toast and I took in a Bodhi gluten free bread roll that the staff where more than happy to toast in the sandwich press with some baking paper to avoid cross contamination with other bread crumbs. Looking forward to trying the Baci baked cheesecake that Kristy has promised to make and will be gluten free, watch this space for a photo and my verdict, sure it will be delicious!

Another breakfast option is the fruit salad and yoghurt drizzled with honey.   The presentation is fantastic and I took in my own Brookfarm GF macadamia muesli to have with my breakfast.

I have been a fan and customer of Cafe 140 for sometime and love the coffee (the new single origin coffee has great taste!), orange & almond cake and the funky atmosphere and friendly staff.   Now there is even more reason to visit as can eat even more from their new updated menu.   I had lunch with Aubrey on Friday (he is a real regular!!!) and tried the now gluten free frittata – thanks to the chef for not using flour to coat the dish so now I can eat it!   Need to work on the vegie stack next as sure we can make that gluten free!

On Friday night I was lucky enough to be invited along to sample the new menu options along with champagne!   The Spanish Beans dish was delicious and those of us gluten free can indulge in this just minus the turkish bread.   Have suggested having some gluten free corn chips on hand as a yummy alternative as would taste great as dip or nacho option for lunch.  The smoked salmon omelette infused with truffle oil is also gluten free without the toast.

Thank you to Kristy and Alex for making some gluten free options available on the menu!   The menu does not list the gluten free options but don’t be afraid to ask as the friendly staff will assist you make a safe choice.   Check out the Facebook page here.

Rusticana has Bob’s Red Mill Brownie mix and I made them on the weekend and added the fudge topping – delicious and not helping my pledge to eat healthy on return back to Australia!

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and spray a 13×9 inch cake tin with baking spray.
Place Brownie mix into bowl (or TM) and then beat in 3/4 cup melted butter or margarine, 1 egg, 2 tsp vanilla and 3/4 cup warm water and mix until just combined.
Stir in 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips and/or 1/4 cup chopped pecans.
Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.
For fudge topping combine 400g tin sweetened condensed milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 350g dark chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan over a low heat until chocolate chips melted.   Remove from heat and spread mixture over warm brownies.
Allow brownies to cool and then cut into bars.   Delicious served with vanilla bean ice cream.

Our next gluten free morning tea is planned for Monday 22 August 2011, 10am at the Happy Wife, 98 Stirling St.  Come along and meet other members of the Coeliac Society of WA and share tips and recipes on being gluten free.   The cafe will have lots of yummy treats like this gluten free peach friand and also can buy the Serafine gluten free bread that they stock.   Please RSVP to Nicky on 0450 604 521.

Gluten Free Peach Friand

In Washington DC found Uno Chicago Grill on a walk from our hotel room. Was looking for somewhere to eat where we could all have some pizza and they offer gluten free pizza options as well as gluten free beer.   It was the best gluten free crust I have tasted and the toppings delicious as well.   Check out their website here.

Gluten Free Veggie Pizza

Nancy made some gluten free Irish Soda Bread using a Gluten Free Goddess recipe which can find here. We did not have any sorghum flour (and cannot buy this in Australia anyway) so substituted with teff and brown rice flour. Nancy uses vegetable shortening, buttermilk and eggs as substitutes. Will have to give this a try experimenting with the gluten free flours I can get in Australia. Hopefully Rusticana will continue to stock different types of Bob’s Red Mills alternative flours.

Nancy made us gluten free pancakes for Sunday breakfast using the Bob Red Mill Biscuit & Baking mix. They were delicious! The boys had them with bacon and maple syrup while I like mine with berries and vanilla yoghurt.

Blend 1 egg, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 cup of oil. Add to 1 1/2 cups of the Bob’s Red Mill mix. Add about 2 cups of water. Makes 18 pancakes and same recipe can be used for waffles. I hope that Rusticana in Bunbury can stock this versatile mix as well as other Bob’s Red Mill products.

We took Kyle to Hershey Chocolate World and bought lots of chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate and most Hershey Kisses are gluten free. Check out the website here.

While in Hershey visited a fantastic Italian restaurant Piazza Sorrento which I found when searching the internet. The restaurant has a completely separate and extensive gluten free menu including pizza’s and pasta. All the meals come served with slip of paper letting you know the meal is gluten free.

I had the Chicken and Penne Pasta that came with grilled chicken, spinach, sun dried tomato, mushrooms, onions, garlic and olive oil. The pasta came with a lovely soft bread roll and I order a side salad with the house dressing which was gluten free. I also tried the Red Bridge gluten free beer which was based on sorghum and was good though I prefer an ale and not found a good gluten free one yet.

Finished off the meal with some gluten free Tiramisu which used gluten free sponge fingers infused with Kahlua and coffee and layered with a rich cheese filling and topped with shaved chocolate. The service was fantastic, thank you to Kevin for looking after us! Check out their website and menu here.

Traveled into Baltimore today and made a detour to Sweet Sin a gluten free cafe I found online here. It is cupcake heaven! The cafe itself is nothing to write home about but the cupcakes where delicious including red velvet, chocolate cappuccino, caramel apple and chocolate cheesecake. Think I might have bought too many but at least they are very tasty so others can eat them and save me some calories!