Back Again!

Sorry for the delay, anyone who actually reads this thing. I've been feeling very grey and flat lately and finding motivation for anything has been hard. I'm having many work issues and have decided to leave my job. In April. So many months away but that's when my contract ends.

Plus, during that time I have a convention to feed! I help organise Arcanacon - one of the largest gaming conventions in the southern hemisphere. I organise the canteen. So many details to sort out! Madness! And last year was my first time doing it and I made gluten free options available to for the first time at the con. I was upset to read a feedback form that wanted more gluten free options. Why weren't they happy with ANYTHING? Convention food leans heavily towards bread and meat - traditional gamer food. I had a seperate part of the kitchen for gluten free stuff even! Plus, I had thought it was only me and the one other person who'd asked about GF food. No. The Complainer hadn't even requested gluten free. Grrr.
Okay, rant over.
It's hard work cooking for about 300 for three days. It's fun though.

During my unwell grey time I've fallen back on old staples - sushi, corn thins, pesto. Simple food not worth going over again today. Simple is good. I've said that.

Today I mention bread. Bread is good. I miss bread. I miss making my own bread. I miss eating only toast for days with my equally toast obsessed housemate. My toaster now lives in a cupboard, not used enough to actually deserve a place on the bench. This may change!
Vitality bread! Fan-freaking-tastic! I bought two loaves the first time - herb and garlic, and seed. The herb and garlic we could smell while standing in the aisle of the shop. When buying it the owner sniffed and told us it was fantastic.
Both were over $5 which is pretty much standard for gluten free bread.
I confess to not trying either loaf untoasted. I like bread better toasted. But toasted? yumyumyum.
The herb and garlic smeared with butter as a side to a garlicy pesto pasta? Heavenly.
The cape seed bread toasted with butter and Freedom Foods vege spread (a gluten free vegemite! yay!) and a cup of tea.... yum!
In fact, these were so good I didn't get to eat most of them. My Boy kept eating them for lunch. I think I got 2 serves of each loaf, if that. And HE is also a bread afficionado that doesn't have to bother with gluten free regimes.

Yesterday I went and bought more. Another seed loaf and there was much debate between the fruit loaf and the olive loaf. Savoury won. Mmmm olive bread. I have high expectations so I hope it can live up to them.

u8 bakery can do no wrong. It has brought us the orgasmic melting moment and the wonderful gingerbread man. Their farmyard friends are equally good. Much pondering with my non-gluten-food tasters led us to conclude they're mostly like a brown sugar shortbread type thing. However - we could not identify the animal. There is only one shape and it's either a horse or maybe a coyote. We cannot tell. But we ate them anyway. Munch munch... nothing but crumbs.

Bionade. Sounds like some form of nuclear waste or perhaps a new drug but is actually an organic soft drink. With proper bottle tops and everything (trying to make the lids screw off will end in pain, bottle openers only please). The herb flavour is my favourite so far, reminiscent of cider in taste. The ginger and orange flavour was a light ginger ale with the orange dampening the usual ginger punch of such drinks. The elderberry flavour was a coloured version of the herb to my taste buds.
Definately worth a look for those with stomachs that are not liking alcohol. They definately feel like they should be alcoholic and in their glass bottles with proper tops you'll feel like one of the crowd.
They are a little dear - $3.50 a bottle, but as an alcohol substitute that isn't too awful.
And do not be concerned with the barley malt in the ingrediants list! I confirmed it with the gluten free store owner and the fine print on the bottle - it's been so processed it is gluten free.

Todays lunch is brough to us by my local Safeway supermarket but I have seen them in other supermarkets too - a Tilda Rizzazz steamed basmati rice, sundried tomato flavour. Rice, sun dried tomatoes, pesto.... heat and eat. Yum. It's probably meant to be a side dish but hungry office workers cannot be too picky.