Gluten Free Food

My mom recently found out that she has Celiac's disease. Basically, she is allergic to all gluten products, wheat, barley etc. When we first found out it was rough. No more chocolate cake, beer, crackers, bread, chinese food, to name a few. Thankfully there are more and more people aware of this "disease" and so you can find lots of Gluten Free food. We have found it at Fred Meyer, Trader Joes, even Safeway. My mom has found one or two breads that aren't too bad. A cake mix, pancake mix, and some cookies. Ryan and I are trying to learn as much as we can in order to support my mom.

So, her 50th birthday was last weekend. We had reservations at a restuarnt that my parents love that is Chinese food. We made sure they had a Gluten Free menu, my mom was so excited. And to make sure my mom got to enjoy her own birthday, I made some Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes. My mom enjoyed them!

Here is the recipe: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/blogs/gluten-free/gluten-free-chocolate-cupcakes

A good glass of Wine

For our honeymoon we spent a week in Napa and Sonoma Valley. We got to try some of the best wines and see some of the greatest Vineyards. We learned a ton about wine. Not only the technical things but we prefer to drink as well. Ryan learned to appreciate a good white, even a rose. I definitely found some reds that I enjoy. One of our favorite vineyards, and now favorite wines, is Sterling (http://www.sterlingvineyards.com). They have an amazing Cabernet Sauvignon. We also learned about wine decanting. I didn't know much about this process, and well, it's one of those things I am still learning. But Ryan will swear by it. He believes the reds are much better tasting and smelling after sitting in our decanter (his favorite "toy").

Here is an article I found:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wineair6-2009may06,0,5231460.story?page=1