I just pulled a package of Fisherman’s Friends out of my desk drawer, and suddenly had a moment of doubt.  What if they contain wheat in some shape or form?

There is no ingredients on the package, because it comes in a paper and foil package, originally housed in a larger box with many other packs.  No doubt, the ingredients are one the larger box, but that box is in the store, and I am at my desk, far far away.

Talking about a bread allergy is not really accurate. Bread is made of a variety of ingredients. If you are "allergic to bread" then you are surely allergic to other foods made up of some of the same ingredients.

Also, consider that bread is made of flour (ignoring the type of flour for now) and realize that by grinding the grain into tiny particles, the food oxidizes, making it rather toxic to your body.

The gluten-free diet is becoming ever more popular, and with good reason.  As more and more people discover they have a gluten allergy or are celiac, the idea of completely eliminating gluten from the diet is gaining ground.

Should everyone go gluten-free?  This is debatable. 

Certainly, anyone with celiac must avoid all gluten, in all forms, at all times.

Gluten free bread in a bread maker – its tasty, convenient, and eventually cheaper than buying gluten free bread. It really helps reduce the cost of your gluten-free diet.

Here is my challenge:

• Make bread within 15 minutes (and let the bread maker do the rest.
• Have consistently great consistency
• Have it rise properly into a beautifully shaped loaf.

I’ve been making gluten free bread for a few weeks now, this is I think the fourth loaf.  It tastes great, and it is really fantastic to have absolutely fresh bread – you can’t beat bread, still hot from the oven (or in this case the bread maker) slathered with butter that melts right into the bread! 

The previous bread making exercises were all successful, and my my gluten-free diet was well satisfied..  I kept forgetting to take a picture of the finished product, so this time I’ve included one and so I may as well write about the experience.

Gluten allergy cases are on the rise, or at least people are more aware of the negative health effects gluten can have.

Is this a good or bad thing?

Its a mixture of both. 

The good news is that those who have been suffering from gluten allergy symptoms for years are finally discovering the cause of the problem, due to an increased awareness of what to look for, and even that something and common as wheat might be a major source of trouble.

The best way to stay healthy and gluten-free when you travel is to bring and prepare your own food.

Best maybe, but not always the easiest. But if you have allergies, you must find a way.

I have talked about setting up your own gluten-free kitchen in any hotel before.

One of the key requirements for this mobile gluten-free kitchen is a hot-plate.

I always had the feeling though, that the hotel management would not be impressed with having such equipment in their hotel rooms, or with guests preparing their own food.

It seems to me that one of the best ways to keep wheat and gluten out of the kitchen is to make lunch myself. That way, no one else decides to make something with bread or toast and leave crumbs all over the damn place!

I have trained some members of my family to only work with bread in one obscure corner of the counter, and the toaster is on another little counter that is used for nothing other than the telephone, answering machine, and piles of maliciousness papers.

This is a help, but when certain people start handling bread, I get nervous.

Over the past little while, I've been posting some pie crust recipes suitable for a gluten-free diet. It has taken a while, but here at last is my favorite gluten-free pie crust recipe so far.

It is made entirely of nuts and seeds. You can play fast and loose with the ingredients on this one. You can have more of one type of nut and less or none of another. You can use different types of nuts and seeds. The amounts are not critical.

I've tried yet another experiment in my series of gluten-free pie shells.

This time I made a classic mistake with this wheat-free recipe.

Someone once told me that the air force has an expression: "Don't test a new engine on a new airframe".

Well, I did just that, pretty much.

Firstly, I just bought a ceramic pie plate - something I've never baked with before.

Also, I wanted a change from experimenting with quinoa flour and decided to try Hemp_Flour instead.