What would you do in NYC for a week?

Here's what Jac did.

Thing I most wish I did: the Basil Wolverton exhibit.

Diet, Celiac Disease

At the Thought Leader’s Program, June 14, 2009 at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, the center's preeminent leaders on celiac disease discussed the following topics (the event will be up on Youtube.com shortly, will repost when it's up):

10:00 am, Peter Green, MD: Introduction to the Center and recent new information on celiac disease

10:30 am, Phil Kazlow, MD: Update in pediatric celiac disease

11:00 am, Suzanne Lewis, MD: Evaluation of poorly responsive patients

11:30 pm, Suzanne Simpson, RD: Why see an expert nutritionist for evaluation of celiac disease

12:00 Buffet Lunch Served (gluten-free, of course!)

12:30 pm, Christina Tennyson, MD: Nutrient and vitamin replacement

What I found of particular interest was the discussion of both "Evaluation of poorly responsive patients" by Dr. Lewis and Ms. Simpson's discussion about “Why you should see an expert nutritionist for evaluation of celiac disease.”

Sound familiar? Folks at the FAAN conference also talked about the vital importance of diet for the food allergic community.

According to Dr. Suzanne Lewis of Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, thirty percent of people on a gluten-free diet fail to see improvement. Why? It’s mainly due to noncompliance.

Why do gluten-free folks not follow the diet? Because it’s difficult and they don’t know what to eat exactly.

As Dr. Peter Green stated: the gluten-free diet is what to avoid as well as what to eat. Many become educated on what to avoid but how many know what to add back in?

For those with diagnosed celiac disease, I urge you to make an appointment with a registered dietitian who understands celiac disease.

Some helpful sites.
www.celiacdiseasecenter.org
www.mypyramid.gov
www.eatright.org
www.eatrightny.org (NY ADA Chapter)

Big Night, NYC Food Film Festival

Real Timpano inspired by Big Night


Did something that felt New York-y last night: went to see an outdoor movie, at the South Street Seaport, in the fog and the rain, with a crowd of film goers, foodies and foreigners. It was the penultimate night of the third annual NYC Food Film Festival.

We all watched Big Night (sponsored by Buitoni). Remember that little jewel of an indie? Co-written and co-directed by Stanely Tucci, this poem about Italians and Italian food in the 1950s was the ideal treat after a long day at the office (er, where I write and think about food). The audience laughed more this time around than I remember when I saw it originally in theaters. It felt like a cozy drive-in or what I imagine that would be like. Here are some atmos shots of the new Water Taxi Beach at Pier 17.

Special drinks menu:


An "installation" at the end of Water Taxi Beach


Burgers for sale



Here’s the plot of Big night from Wikipedia. Here's Secundo trying to get 1950s patrons to understand the concept of risotto. Here the same scene translated into Italian. Brill! Here are some of the best lines in the movie by Pascal, the brothers’ perceived main rival for business.

“Bite your teeth into the ass of life”

“Give the people what they want, then give them what you want.”

“Secrets make the friendship stronger.”

The NYC Food Film Festival partnered with the NYC Food Bank to have a collection post for canned goods. I brought in over half a dozen cans that I discovered after starting a version of “eating down my fridge” (and pantry and freezer) last week through reading Kim O’Donnel’s tweets (@kimodonnel).

There’s one more night of the NYC Food Film Festival left, the movies are free and the last night movie is about Peeps, sweet Peeps.

Greenmarket Bounty

Fifteen dollars American bought the above: eggs (your eyes aren't tricking you, they are blue/green shells), a pound of asparagus, a pound of broccoli, one bunch of mint and a pint of strawberries.

So far, I've made two lunches and dinners of the broccoli & asparagus, ate the strawberries for two snacks and none of the eggs in 48 hours.

So I ask you: expensive or worth it?

Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice Cereal

When was the last time you had cocoa crispies that make the milk (or dairy-free alternative) turn chocolaty? I know for me it’s been decades. As a child, my mother didn’t allow sugary cereals and then as an adult many of these morning treats became off limits because of my food intolerances (dairy and wheat).

Well, welcome back morning deliciousness.

Erewhon, who I’ve discussed in the past, has both organic and gluten-free cereals. What could be better?

This morning they had a cereal media tasting in Midtown where they displayed what they think could be better.


Erewhon is rolling out two new gluten-free cereals.

Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice whose product development included ensuring that the cereal would make the milk chocolaty (which it does, as you can see in the picture below).


And Strawberry Crisp, Erewhon’s version of Special K, with a light “frosting” and freeze dried strawberries.


I tried them both. (Erewhon/US Mills arranged for some Lactaid milk to be available so I could try the cereal in their correct state--Thank you, Amy!)

The Cocoa Cripsies tasted just right, a deep cocoa flavor but not overly sweet. The Strawberry Crisps flakes had a satisfying corn crunch; the frosting was light enough to suit an adult's palate (who has a low sugar diet, that would be me) and I think a child would still be thrilled with the product.

Overall: I think these new GF cereals are winners.

Thank you Erewhon for the breakfast and for the new products.

Worry-Free Dinners & B.R.Guest

I’m thrilled to announce a new Worry-Free Dinners partnership with a renowned NYC restaurant group: B.R.GUEST.

I've had many happy and allergen-friendly meals at various B.R.Guest restos over the years and have talked about several of them on Please Don't pass the Nuts. Remember my great date at Blue Water Grill? Or the business lunch at Dos Caminos Third Avenue?

Now you can experience some of the allergen-friendly love yourself. We will have our inaugural Worry-Free Dinners event for adult members on July 12th.

The excellent Mexican menu will be gluten free, peanut free, tree nut free, fish/shellfish free and still full of delicious flavor! Chef Young will be on hand to chat and walk us through how she specially prepared each dish just for us. Our table discussion theme will be: safe summer travel with food allergies/dietary restrictions. And as always I'll be there, chatting, coaching and eating with you!

Visit the WFD website for more details.

(Remember: Worry-Free Dinners® is a membership group and you MUST be a member to eat with us. It's super easy to join. Just send an email to worryfreedinners@gmail.com to request an application. )

Julie & Julia

Remember food blogger Julie Powell’s Julie/Julia Project? Over a year, Julie Powell cooked her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogged about it. Then it became a book. Here’s the NYT review. And now, it’s a movie with Meryl Streep directed by the wonderful Nora Ephron. (I met Ms. Ephron at the movie screening and only gabbed with her for like 3 minutes but she seemed wonderful.)

I saw the movie screening (it comes out in August) with a BookExpo America audience, one well versed in this publishing story, Julia Child’s story and the story of Judith Jones, the American editrix that published Julia first.

Food was the star of the show, after the story of Julie & Julia (or was food first really?). Butter and sauces and meats and fowl and fish were gorgeously shot, luscious to look at and clearly enjoyed by the characters.

The movie also showcased a fictionalized version of Julia Child: her appetite for life, her joie de vivre and her innate sexiness (yes, sexiness). Meryl Streep was the embodiment of this larger than life food icon, and she seemed to be having a great time portraying Julia.

For me, the food, the cooking, Julia Child's story, the copper pots and pans, the whisking, the braising of beef in wine and the trussing of chicken legs were joyous reminders of our collective human affection and respect for food, culinary craft and technique and the wonder that is cooking and entertaining.

For someone that has food allergies, like this Allergic Girl, all the foodie elements of the movie deeply resonated with me.

Are you surprised? Perhaps you think that having food allergies means I dread mealtimes? Or that I should dread them? Or that I wouldn't like movies about food and other people's carefree abandon when eating anything they want, anytime?

I know for many of you, by many I mean millions, mealtimes are fraught with panic, anxiety, even fear and dread. Joy doesn’t enter that dining room; joy is for other people and food.

Let me say to you right now and I hope you listen closely: Joy and food and food allergies can co-exist.

I am proof: My love of food has not been diminished by food allergies. I think my foodie love has been heightened precisely because every safe morsel is savored and treasured and a reason for delight.

Sure, I wolf down a quick rice pasta dish every now on my couch in my jammies without much thought or pomp (like I did while writing this post). But for the most part give me some roasted asparagus in olive oil with sea salt and a fresh squeeze of lemon and watch as I consume each spear with relish.

I invite you to start thinking about this, for yourself. Food and joy and food allergies and then joy again. If you think about this "issue" all the time, then think a little deeper than you have before. Try to be kind to yourself and connect to what you love about sustenance i.e. food. And then maybe see the movie when it comes out. And have some butter.