Congratulations to YuShan, winner of the Little Lad’s Popcorn sampler.

Now with Luca around, photos of my nephews will take a back seat to my little pup when winners are announced.

Happy Holidays!

Winner selected by random.org

I love popcorn. I mean serious, obsessive lurve. I’m pretty sure I could eat popcorn every day for a month without getting tired of it.  So when I find a new version of the snack that heightens my crush, it’s almost a magical experience.  I found Little Lad’s “Herbal Corn” when looking for a cheap way to feed guests at a happy hour I was throwing.

Their addition of “natural flavors and herbs” create little kernels of delight – explosions of flavors really. I brought this to a friend’s birthday party recently and another guest declared: “You just changed my life!” (no joking).  Not only is it tasty, it’s also labeled “gluten-free” right on the package which always warms my heart a bit.

So far, I’ve only seen Little Lad’s at Whole Foods in NYC, but I’m offering a giveaway so at least one of you can try Little Lad’s even if you aren’t lucky enough to live in NYC.

One reader will get two small bags of Little Lads Herbal Corn. To enter, leave a comment telling us what your favorite topping for popcorn is by 6pm Eastern on Monday November 1st, you must live in the U.S. to be eligible. Blog or tweet about this giveaway and link to this post and you can comment twice (be sure to put @yumcat in the tweet) which will increase your chance of winning.

Did you know that you can roast Peeps just like you would a regular marshmallow?  Only when you roast a Peep, the sugar crystallizes into a sweet shell of delightful crunch.

And they are “naturally” gluten-free.

Happy Holidays!

Good news, thanks to Fresh Direct, New Yorkers can now get Udi’s gluten-free bread, muffins and pizza crusts delivered with the rest of their groceries.  Each loaf is priced a full $2 cheaper than the Food for Life gluten-free brown rice bread and Udi’s is so much tastier.  I swooned over their bread last year when I enjoyed amazing gluten-free toast using Udi’s gluten-free bread.

I feel so lucky to be in NYC right now, in spite of the freezing weather. Brrrrrr!

 UPDATE: Tully’s has been rebranded as Tulu’s Gluten-Free Bakery

I first heard rumors of Tully’s new line of gluten-free baked goods on twitter back in October.  I found their cute web site, with drool-worthy photos, but at the time it didn’t have much info.  Then I got an email – they wanted me to sample their wares.  They didn’t yet have distribution, but it didn’t take long for the buyers at my local health food store and even Zabar’s to get on the Tully’s bandwagon.  Then, just yesterday I got an email from a friend alerting me to the arrival of Tully’s Gluten-Free Bakery in the East Village.  Oh joy!  Finally, Manhattanites avoiding gluten can enjoy a cupcake from a charming little bakery like the rest of the sweets-obsessed New Yorkers.

While Babycakes offers a range of gluten-free treats, they don’t have a dedicated gluten-free facility so there is always a risk for cross-contamination.  Tully’s new shop though? It’s completely gluten-free!   Not since Happy Happy Happy, shuttered have we had a truly gluten-free bakery in Manhattan.

The shop is on 338 East 11th between 1st and 2nd Ave is opening in mid-January 2010. I can personally vouch to the deliciousness of their cookies, brownies and cupcakes. The oatmeal raisin cookies are so tasty, my gluten-glutton co-worker who considers himself an ‘oatmeal cookie connoisseur’ deemed them “spectacular.” The brownies are moist and chocolate-y and the memory of the frosting on the adorable mini-cupcakes is making my mouth water as I type. Those sweets plus an expanded menu of gluten-free goodness (including paninis!) will be available once the retail space opens.

Fear not you, non-NYers, you can order the brownies and cookies online for delivery across the country.

I asked Tully herself to give us all a little background on her and the gluten-free bakery.

Q&A with Chef Tully:

What inspired you to start a gluten-free bakery? When is it opening?

I had been cooking professionally for four years before I was diagnosed as gluten intolerant. I went for a while without any baked goods, which was pretty devastating, until I got back in my kitchen and began experimenting. I started with box mixes and gradually worked up the courage to try gluten-free flours. I came up with some really great recipes and wanted to share them with the rest of the GF community. It is still hard for us to find freshly baked, delicious treats, and I want to change that! I hope to open my retail location in mid-January.

Will you be expanding your menu beyond the items currently offered on your Web site?

Yes, we will be baking six different varieties of cupcakes daily in both mini and regular sizes. There will also be muffins, scones and cookies, along with a few vegan items. We will also have several different gluten-free paninis.

Is your kitchen a dedicated gluten-free facility?

Yes, we will be 100% gluten-free!

How long have you been following a gluten-free diet?

Almost a year and a half, I was diagnosed in July 2008.

What did you miss the most when you were first diagnosed?

Cupcakes and sandwiches. Thank goodness I can eat them now!

What was your first job in food?

My internship at Gramercy Tavern right after culinary school.

Gramercy Tavern is one of the top restaurants in NYC. What was your biggest takeaway?

Working at Gramercy Tavern actually made me become more excited about the idea of working in catering, where the menu changes everyday, and there is more time in advance to prepare each dish.

What was the biggest challenge when you started baking gluten-free? Biggest triumph when you finally figured it out?  

I really wanted every one of my products to taste exactly the same as gluten baked goods. Once I figured out how to make that happen, I was thrilled!

Are there any gluten-free baked goods you are still working on but haven’t been able to adapt to gluten-free yet?

I’m working on gluten-free donuts and would love to be able to make a great loaf of homemade bread. I am also testing out more vegan items to add to the menu.

How long have you lived in NYC? What are your favorite gluten-free restaurant finds in New York?

I’ve lived in New York for about four years now. The pizza at Pala in the Lower East Side is incredible. Caracas in the East Village has amazing arepas made entirely of masa (corn), and I love the falafel at Taim in the West Village.

What’s your favorite trick for eating gluten-free on the go?
I always bring a few slices of gluten-free bread when I travel or for sandwich orders at lunchtime. Mary’s Gone Crackers are a staple for cocktail parties.

What’s your favorite type of apple?

Organic Fuji

What’s your favorite cooking show?

The Barefoot Contessa and Top Chef

What’s one ingredient you can’t live without?

Cheese….any kind! And corn tortillas

What would you wish for your last meal?

An H&H onion bagel toasted with cream cheese. Oh how I miss those.

While NYers wait for the opening, you can find Tully’s gluten-free cookies and brownies at S’mac, Royale Bakery, Ground Support and more.

Tully has also generously offered a giveaway to one lucky reader – you will get the choice between a Tully’s sampler pack including brownies and both types of cookies to be shipped direct to you or a dozen mini-cupcakes if you live in the NY area and want to pick them at the bakery once it opens.

To enter, leave a comment telling us what you hope to see on Tully’s new menu by 6pm Eastern on Monday December 28th, you must live in the U.S. to be eligible. Blog or tweet about this giveaway and link to this post and you can comment twice (be sure to put @yumcat in the tweet) which will increase your chance of winning.

Happy Holidays!

At the Fancy Food Show this year I discovered a plethora of new gluten-free goodies, but one of my favorites was a gluten-free granola from JK Grain Free Gourmet.  I was smitten after trying their Cranberry and Cashew gluten-free granola, but a full-fledged food crush developed later when I received a sample of their Hazelnut and Date concoction made with coconut, dates, walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, honey, sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds.  The combination of sweet, savory, crunch and chew is utterly delightful. While I loved it in big handfuls straight from the bag, it was completely decadent on top of ice cream.

I haven’t yet seen JK Gourmet in any stores near me, but I put in a request at my local health food store.  You can see a list of current stores on their web site or place an order directly.  One lucky reader will get a package sent directly to them with 2 flavors of the JK Gourmet gluten-free granola.  Just leave a comment below telling us your favorite way to eat granola (as a topping? like cereal? a dry snack?)  A winner will be selected randomly from all of the comments left by Monday, December 14th at 6:00pm Eastern.  US and Canadian residents only.

I found a few gluten-free options along the way but I knew the tide was changing when General Mills reformulated almost the entire Chex line to be gluten-free.  Now, in the latest issue of Real Simple magazine, they did a review of a slew of cereals and 4 of their top picks just happened to be gluten-free.  With our options expanding, it becomes a question of what cereal do we WANT to eat rather than what cereal CAN we eat. 

I received a few samples of note in the last few weeks.  EnviroKidz has added to its gluten-free product list.  This is the team behind one of my favorite gluten-free cereals that I discovered right after I was diagnosed, Gorilla Munch (similar to Kix if you haven’t tried them).  Their new Leapin’ Lemurs cereal has a mix of peanut butter and chocolate. It’s not too rich though for a morning meal – if anything, they could have souped up the choco-peanuty goodness so I could have it for dessert.

Me & Goji is a customized cereal with loads of gluten-free options.  They have one gluten-free base and so many gluten-free ingredients, the options are almost endless. They are going to great lengths to clean all of the lines between gluten and gluten-free runs, so I felt comfortable with their process.  I must say, it may be the best cereal I have ever tasted.  Here’s the catch – it’s a bit pricey by the time you pick all of your ingredients plus $5 shipping.  According to their Web site, the average price of a mix is $12, the least expensive is $4.90 (plus shipping) and the most expensive is $56.  One canister does give you a lot more cereal than a typical box from the grocery store, but it could still be a fun ‘special occasion’ buy. 

Last, I sampled the latest from Erewhon Foods – they make gluten-free Brown Rice Cereals similar to Rice Krispies and some gluten-free corn and amaranth cereals.  Their new Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice Cereal and the Crispy Brown Rice with Mixed Berries are my favorites.  For the recent dessert party I hosted (the occasion that called for my Strawberry Ricotta Poppyseed Tart) my friend Matt volunteered to make some gluten-free Rice “Crispy” Treats swirled with chocolate.  Even with all of the ‘fancy’ desserts being served, the marshmallow, chocolatey treats were the first thing to go. 

It’s exciting to have so many more options, I can’t wait to see what new products are in store for us. 

You guys are getting spoiled with all of these giveaways, but I have another one for you.  This time FIVE lucky readers will win.  Leave a comment below with your favorite way to enjoy cereal (mixed in a dessert? as a dry snack? or the more typical way, in a bowl with milk?).  Blog or tweet about this giveaway and link to this post and you can comment twice (be sure to put @yumcat in the tweet) which will increase your chance of winning. The five winners, selected randomly, will receive 3 boxes of the gluten-free Erewhon Cereals of their choice plus one Patagonia T-Shirt and a Erewhon Coupon Keeper with $1 off coupons.  To enter, leave a comment by 6pm Eastern on Monday September 7^th, you must live in the U.S. to be eligible. 

This giveaway is over – stay tuned for the next one!

My latest food crush is something simple – gluten-free toast, and I have Udi’s Gluten-Free bread to thank for it.  I tried a couple of Udi’s Gluten-Free products at the Fancy Food Show this year, but it was such a blur I hardly remembered.  When I received a sampler pack in the mail last week, I was excited to try them.  Allergic Girl had given the bread a big thumbs up and I remember Gluten-Free Steve was all hot and bothered over their products. 

The gluten-free White Sandwich Bread is so soft I could hardly believe it.  I could squish it down just like the gluten-y bread I grew up on.  I liked it without heating it up or putting anything on it.  This was amazing.  The gluten-free Whole Grain Bread is just as soft.  I didn’t like the flavor as much as the gluten-free White Bread but I also lurved white Home Pride bread growing up rather than any of that ‘whole wheat’ stuff, so who am I to say? 

But here’s where the amazing thing happened.  I was in the mood for something warm and buttery, so I decided to make some toast.  Not to cover up the flavor/texture (which is why I usually toast gluten-free bread) but just because toast was what I was craving.  Once I tried it, I realized I hadn’t had really good toast in the five years since I started eating gluten-free.  I’ve had some great gluten-free breads and rolls and baked goods, but I hadn’t had that light toast with the pockets and crunch and…can you tell I’m getting hungry just writing about it? 

I started to wonder if it was just in my mind, maybe I just liked it that much because it had been a while since I’d had ANY toast or that I was just REALLY in the mood for toast.  So I decided to do a side by side comparison with the Whole Foods Gluten-Free Prairie Bread, my previous favorite. 

But the Whole Foods toast didn’t begin to compare – the texture is heavy and more like an artisanal bread which is fine in its own right but not what I crave with my breakfast. 

With all of the controversy lately about bloggers being paid to post about products, I will clarify that I have never been paid to write about a product and I only write about items that I feel are worthy of sharing – and I will warn you if something tastes like cardboard.  I just love the toast that much.  Right now it’s only available through a few distributors so I took that info directly to my local health food store to request that they start carrying it.  Fingers crossed I can get my hands on some more soon.  I’m not sure how long the shelf life is since I finished it off before it had a chance to go bad….

Well now that I’ve built it up so much I am sure it can’t possibly live up to your expectations, but Udi’s has offered to give a sampler pack to one lucky ready of A Gluten-Free Guide, so you can be the judge. 

Udi’s sampler pack also includes gluten-free Lemon Streusel and gluten-free Blueberry muffins.

They are tasty, soft, moist and you would never know they are gluten-free.  Udi’s makes gluten-free cinnamon rolls and gluten-free pizza crusts but I haven’t tried those yet.  The really exciting thing is that Udi’s is looking to expand their gluten-free product offerings.  So to be eligible to win the sampler pack, leave a comment with your request for their next gluten-free products.  What are you interested in seeing more gluten-free versions of? Bagels? What flavors? Pretzels? What kind? Granola? Cake Rounds?  Different varieties of muffins or breads?  What should they focus on next? 

US residents only, deadline to enter is 11pm EDT on Monday August 24, 2009. 

Round three of my Becky Crocker Gluten-Free Mix reviews includes a winner and a loser.  The gluten-free brownie mix gets a BIG thumbs up. The gluten-free Devils Food Cake Mix, um, not so much.

So after purchasing six-packs from Amazon.com for the Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix and the Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix from Betty Crocker, I received a sample pack from MyBlogSpark with all of the varieties.  I had an invite to a dinner party last week and used that opportunity to get a broader group of gluten-gluttons to taste the brownies and chocolate cupcakes.

Just from my tasting before the dinner party, I knew the Devil’s Food cupcake were not up to muster.  I tried smothering them in frosting (since at its best a cupcake is merely a frosting delivery device), but it wasn’t sufficient.  I would expect a Devil’s Food Cake to be extra chocolate-y but I might have mistaken this for a banana muffin if you didn’t tell me it was chocolate beforehand.

The brownies on the other hand – I had a difficult time restraining myself to ensure there would be enough for everyone at the dinner party.  My tastes proved to be a harbinger of the broader response.  The gluten-free brownies were eagerly devoured, leaving only crumbs next to the hardly-touched Devils Food cupcakes.  Luckily it seems that Kerrie at GF Shaolin has found a way to make the gluten-free Devils Food mix more palatable – since I know the Yellow Cake Mix can be salvaged, I may have to give the chocolate mix another chance.  Though, anyone looking for gluten-free chocolate overload really needs to try my Flourless Chocolate Lust Cake.

Now comes the good part – the giveaway – one lucky reader will receive a Betty Crocker “Sweet Moments” prize pack that includes all four gluten-free mixes, and two free coupons for any of the varieties.

Since Betty Crocker seems to be listening to the gluten-free blogs, let’s give them an idea of what we want to see next.  To be eligible for the gluten-free prize pack, leave a comment with your wish-list of gluten-free mixes/products.  What else would you like to see Betty Crocker make for the gluten-free community?  You must be a U.S. resident to be eligible, so post your comment before 9pm Eastern on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 to be part of the drawing.

Extra good news – even if you don’t win this prize pack – Betty Crocker is giving away free coupons for the gluten-free mixes – just call 1-800-446-1898 to request yours (one coupon per household).

The verdict? They are pretty good.  They are light and crispy, more towards a meringue or French almond macaroon than a chewy chocolate chip cookie.  The flavor is great though they could use more chocolate chips.

But I wasn’t content to leave well enough alone so I tried a second batch of cookies and added 3/4 cup of gluten-free oatmeal.  I didn’t change any of the other ingredients/directions.  They turned out slightly chewier and much more to my personal cookie preference.  And while I like oatmeal cookies, that wasn’t the goal here so the oatmeal was a small enough proportion that I wouldn’t label it an ‘oatmeal’ cookie.

For pure flavor and texture, I would still pick my Gluten-Free Orange Vanilla Dream cookies or my Gluten-Free Cranberry Oatmeal Delights, However, the new mix from Betty Crocker is a great option for a last minute, easy dessert.

Have you tried them yet?

Here are the ingredients of each of the mixes:

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix Ingredients: Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Sugar, Potato Starch, Leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), Xanthan Gum, Salt.

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Devils Food Cake Mix Ingredients: Sugar, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Cocoa Processed wtih Alkali, Tapioca Starch, Leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), Salt, Guar Gum.

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies Mix Ingredients: Sugar, Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), Cocoa Processed wtih Alkali, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Corn Starch, Xanthan Gum, Salt.

Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix Ingredients: Rice Flour, Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), Brown Sugar, Sugar, Potato Starch, Potato Flour, Leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate) Salt.