Gluten Free Goddess

I can't write a blog about living a gluten-free life in Seattle without mentioning The "Gluten-Free Girl" herself, Shauna James Ahern. Her infamous website, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, and book Gluten-Free Girl, are on the forefront of every young celiac's reading lists. I bought her book within a week of learning I had celiac. I curled up on the couch, eager and desperate for information, and began to read her memoir. After ten minutes I threw the book towards the other end of the couch and thought "Seriously?! You're gonna tell me you never miss normal food and looove this stupid diet? We're done here." Sorry Shauna.

What I needed was understanding - someone to say "this sucks and let's talk about how to make it suck less." So I read a book my dad found for me called The First Year; Celiac Disease and Living Gluten-Free by Jules E. Dowler Shepard. This book was amazing - it broke down the first weeks and months of what to expect and go through, practical tips, how to navigate parties and vacations, everything I needed. I felt ready to accept my celiac and move on. Ready to read what Shauna had to say.

I went back to the Gluten-Free Girl book. Shauna has this incredible flair for painting a portrait of flavors so vivid, you can literally taste the Monet or Renoir of food she has created. My endeavors feel more like Picassos these days, but a girl's gotta start somewhere. She is so positive and sees the beauty in every ingredient...shares new recipes she creates almost every day on her website. THAT is a gluten-free goddess. I can just imagine her, floating ethereally through the kitchen, smiling and angelically whipping up a four course meal with the flip of her wand...while I stand in my sauce-covered apron, hair pushed back in a frenzy, eyes scrunched as I read the recipe for the 10th time trying to figure out how the hell you know when salmon is done. We all need something to aspire to, right? My copy of her book is now dog-eared at every recipe I want to eventually try. I've successfully made her salmon with blackberry glaze...although I didn't strain the glaze so we got a nice mouthful of seeds with every bite. Doesn't matter, I made salmon and liked it for the first time in my life (my cat appreciated it as well, which made it all the more gratifying). I kid you not, when my husband gave our cat a tiny piece of the salmon, her eyes grew big and lit up. She had to have more and the urgency showed on her face. That's how I felt after the first bite too.

Thanks Shauna, for guiding me towards appreciating my food more and curbing my 'tude about people who enjoy vegetables.