Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

On this episode I speak with a man who identified a void in the gluten free marketplace – that of a healthy, good tasting hamburger bun.  Gus Klemos tells us his why, and more importantly his how he came up with a completely newly formulated gluten free bread that he named UnBun.  Gus is from Toronto and in a few short years from very humble beginnings, with a great deal of work, UnBun is now selling across both Canada and the US.  Gus discusses what makes his bread products different, and it makes us think about what benefits we are all looking for from our bread.  You can likely find UnBun products in not only your supermarket, but as staples in your fast food outlets.

Find out more at https://unbunfoods.com/

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

As I was talking to Gus, memories of hours spent developing recipes in my bakery came flooding back.  This is a topic I plan to discuss with some of my food blogger friends in the future, but for now he’s how I approach coming up with a new recipe.

Except for what Gus did at UnBun, there are generally two ways to develop a new gluten free recipe –

• Start with a similar recipe already written for gluten free and alter it, make an apple and raisin muffin, from a plain oatmeal muffin recipe.  For this method, I look at each of the ingredients and decide if I want to replace them, or change the amounts.  For the example of altering a plain oatmeal muffin, I might decrease the sugar since I’m adding raisins, and decide what form of apples I want to use, applesauce (sweetened or not) or apple chunks.  I look at any spices that might be added for flavour and adjust those.  In this case, I might want to add a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg.  Then I look back at the original recipe – how does the amount of liquid compare to the original – might I need to take some other liquid away, or maybe add more flour ingredients.  Should the leavening be the same – if the batter is heavier, maybe I need more leavening or maybe an extra egg white.  Lastly, approach this process as an experiment, and make notes of the alterations you make.
• The second type of recipe development is one most of us have fallen into out of necessity.  We want to replicate our Grandmother’s jam cookie recipe, but don’t know where to start.  Here’s my approach to that – First, decide on a flour blend that will, for the most part replace the wheat flour.  I recommend you reference the chart prepared by Cinde Little, The Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet https://everydayglutenfreegourmet.ca/2020/05/29/11-gluten-free-flour-recipes/ showing many different blends.  Cinde also has a video series that talks about the different flours and their best uses.  Both Cinde and I approach a recipe conversion the same way by using a simple 2 or 3 ingredient flour blend for our first attempt.  You may choose to use your favourite store-bought blend to begin with.  The procedure is pretty simple, at first just substitute the flour 1 to 1 and be aware of the difference in the dough – try and resist adding extra flour to get the same consistency as the original wheat recipe, but if you find the dough getting too thick, add some form of liquid or moisture.  You may have to handle the dough differently, or it might surprise you and be very similar.  Baking may take more or less time, so watch the oven carefully.  After your first attempt, decide if there’s anything that you can improve on.  From my years of gluten free baking, I know that we have to be aware of the protein content in our recipes (gluten is a protein, so we have to make up for that), so you may want to add an extra egg white, or some Greek yogurt, or a small amount of gelatin, or milk powder.  If the dough is thinner than what you want, try a small amount of guar or xanthan gum, but just make small adjustments.  Don’t forget as per our first approach, this is an experiment, so good note taking will allow you to replicate or better the outcome next time.

Before gluten free, it wouldn’t have occurred to me to formulate a new recipe.  I thought that was done in labs, by professionals.  You may also have other allergies or sensitivities that lead you to recipe alteration.  Nowadays, with the variety of gluten free flours and some new methods for working with dough unique to gluten free, anyone can come up with a new successful recipe to take pride in.

Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

It’s great for me to have returning guests on the podcast.  Nicole Byrom RD, works with the Canadian Celiac Association as the Health Promotions Manager.  When I contacted her about coming back on the podcast, she had a list of things she wanted to inform listeners about.  The topic of arsenic in our food comes up often.  Nicole tells us why this is important to the celiac population and some ways to reduce arsenic exposure.  Nicole is involved in an upcoming webinar about Type I Diabetes and its relation to celiac disease.  There is a link below for more information on the webinar.

Since this is October, the topic of Halloween candy came up.  We both discussed how our celiac daughters were able to make the best of what could be a difficult situation.  Below is a link to the list of safe Halloween candy from the CCA.  Nicole filled us in on the growing practice of setting out “teal pumpkins” to signify that the house has non-food or allergen friendly treats to give away.

Nicole told us of the upcoming publications from the CCA as well she reminded us of the CCA Virtual Conference to be held on November 13^th and 14^th.  Below are links to sign up for the virtual conference, as well as to be on the email list for CCA publications.  It’s not too late donate to the teams from the CCA across the country running in the Scotiabank Run, as per the link below.  Nicole suggests you donate to her team BC CCA, as there is a bit of a competition going on.

Webinar with Diabetes Canada – https://www.celiac.ca/news-events/events/

Halloween Candy – https://www.celiac.ca/gluten-free-halloween-candy-list/

To Register for the CCA Virtual Conference – https://www.celiac.ca/news-events/national-conference/

To Receive CCA Publications – https://www.celiac.ca/get-involved/signup/

Scotiabank Run –  https://www.celiac.ca/news-events/national-conference/https://raceroster.com/events/2021/48139/2021-scotiabank-toronto-waterfront-marathon/pledge/team/325

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

Its difficult for me to imagine living with celiac disease and navigating the gluten free diet alone.  Unfortunately, there are many people who are doing just that.  I have lots of friends in the celiac/gluten free community that share my interest in new products, baking, upcoming research and regulations.  I can’t imagine how someone can cope well if they are celiac, or eating a gluten free diet for other health reasons and don’t have a supportive community around them.

Facebook and other social media is a good start, at least you don’t feel like you’re the only one who is going through the day to day struggles.  As we all know, the internet is peppered with misinformation when it comes to the gluten free diet, and we’ve all heard the term – you don’t know what you don’t know.  A trusted community can give us trusted information, or be prepared to help you find the correct answers.  That’s where the CCA comes in. 

I know, from having worked as a volunteer with the CCA for many years that everything on their website is vetted by professionals who know the facts.  The Professional Advisory Council (Nicole referred to the PAC) is made up of highly qualified and respected individuals with a particular interest in celiac disease and the gluten free diet.  Sometimes it can seem to take so long to produce a statement or educational pamphlet, but that’s because it goes back and forth among the members of the Council, until everyone is ready to sign off.  The internet certainly doesn’t work that way.

The CCA has always produced newsletters, but lately the information is being better organized to be more topical – just what you need to know when you need to know it.  I’ve been on the CCA email list for so long, I admit I take for granted the information I get in my inbox.  Much of it is updates on information I was aware of, new recipes, events or research.  I’ve never felt alone as a celiac.  Receiving timely information on topics I need to know about assures me I’m part of a generous community who is going through the same things I’m going through.  If you do not already receive the email updates and publications from the CCA, I encourage you to signup.  I bet you’ll learn something!

Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

Everyone has a diagnosis story, and I enjoy listening to and sharing many or them.  This episode of the podcast is a conversation with Beau Bristow of Nashville TN.  Beau was diagnosed as an adult and had a long list of symptoms, which to him were unrelated.  Of particular note, was the brain fog, which by reason of the name, you don’t realize at the time, and only once the fog has lifted do you understand what you were missing.  Finding suitable restaurants is a pain point for most of us, but in Beau’s case, he was determined to help solve this problem, not only for those of us on a gluten free diet, but for people suffering from other allergies. 

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The approach of the website https://picknic.app/ is to help someone requiring a special diet to find a restaurant that understands and follows suitable procedures for you to eat safely.  You can signup on the website to receive new information.  The website will soon be an app, to be downloaded, but at the moment it is focusing mostly in the Nashville area to get it right – how to onboard restaurants and the rate them as a “pick” for your special diet or not.  Beau has also asked for feedback from those on a gluten free diet and you can reach him at info@picknic.app.  You can also find Picknic on Facebook and Instagram @gopicknic.

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

I knew a few years ago, when I started using the “Find Me Gluten Free” app on my phone, of its shortcomings.  I distinctly remember going out of our way on a vacation to find a small restaurant that had changed owners since the review was written.  On the same trip, I tracked down a restaurant that appealed to me because I could get something or other, but it wasn’t a place the others in the car wanted to eat.  This is the main problem with crowd-sourced information – it changes.  The reviewer at the specific time is trying to give a faithful review of the restaurant and the meal, but as we know, we all see things differently, and have different standards.  The only standard I mostly look for is the understanding of gluten free.

I find the different approaches to solving the restaurant problem very interesting.  As I said in the podcast, I can easily see my daughter (who is 30) looking for a specific meal at a restaurant, then looking to see if there is something that would please the others who will be with her.  If you listened to Ep 191, you’ll realize that we approach the gluten free diet very differently.  My approach to finding a safe, appetizing meal is to first find a restaurant that I think understands the diet, then once I’m there, I ask specific questions on something that is either on their gluten free menu, or that appears that it can be made gluten free.  I am a question asker – on the other hand, my daughter is not.

Something I’ve learned, speaking with different app developers is that although it appears we all want the same thing, there are different ways to get there.  It’s those differences that suit different people.  Many of the apps I’ve looked into are still in development.  They are shying away from being crowd-sourced (yeah!), but the downside of that is likely there will be a subscription of some form to gain access to the curated information.  I’m fine with that, as long as the app can give me what I’m looking for.  Maybe that’s where we will all get confused.  What are we looking for – besides a safe meal – is it finding a suitable place to eat, having all our questions answered, finding a restaurant that will accommodate different issues and our other guests?  I suppose we’ll know it when we find it.  It’s exciting that smart people are spending so much time on finding solutions to eat out – maybe I’ll try them all! (the apps, not the restaurants).

Let’s start the blog with the show notes for this Episode –

For many people September and October are not as much about Autumn as they are about pumpkin spice everything.  Being a baker, this has always interested me, but I have to say, except for pumpkin pie, I had pretty much stayed away.  Cinde Little, of the Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet was the best person to get me up to speed on pumpkin spice – is it gluten free? what do we have to look out for? where should we expect to find it? and can we use it at home in baking or drinks?

Cinde sent along a photo of her favourite Pumpkin Date Cake, which looks very yummy and you can find the recipe on her blog.  As well, she had a work in progress for a pumpkin spice syrup to use at home.  I’ve played with what she had, and have given a recipe below, so you can make your own special café drinks at home.  After recording with Cinde, I did go out and buy a couple of pie pumpkins.  You can see photos and read what I did with them on Episode #193 of my blog www.acanadianceliacblog.com.  You can find Cinde at www.everydayglutenfreegourmet.ca.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Syrup for Café Drinks

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ cups sugar

Spices – 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/3 – ½ cup pumpkin puree

½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Place water and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat.  As the mixture heats, add the spices and stir well.  Add pumpkin puree depending on your preference – the 1/3 cup will be a mild flavour and the ½ cup will be more pronounced.  Heat liquid to simmering.  Continue simmer for 5-10 minutes, watching it doesn’t boil over.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla extract (optional), which will give a somewhat richer taste.  Let mixture cool for 5 minutes.  If your pumpkin puree is still a bit lumpy you can use an immersion blender to smooth out the liquid.  Pour syrup through a sieve to remove any larger bits of the spice blend or pumpkin.  Store in a squirt container or bottle in refrigerator. 

Sue’s Websites and Social Media –

Podcast https://acanadianceliacpodcast.libsyn.com

Podcast Blog – https://www.acanadianceliacblog.com

Email – acdnceliacpodcast@gmail.com

Celiac Kid Stuff – https://www.celiackidstuff.com

Baking Website – https://www.suesglutenfreebaking.com

Instagram – @suesgfbaking

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUVGfpD4eJwwSc_YjkGagza06yYe3ApzL

Email – sue@suesglutenfreebaking.com

Other Podcast – Gluten Free Weigh In – https://glutenfreeweighin.libsyn.com

My Thoughts –

Not my thoughts as much as adventure with two pie pumpkins.  Pie pumpkins are smaller and have more flavour than the ones you carve for Halloween.

Step 1 – Wash the outside of the pumpkin and cut the stem down close.  Using a large knife, cut the pumpkin in half from top to bottom (easier than I expected it to be).

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Step 2 – Scrape out the seeds and fibres.  The flesh comes out remarkably clean.  Place pumpkins on a baking tray, poke each a few times with a fork and drizzle with a small amount of oil.  Place in 375° oven for 40-50 minutes, until flesh is easy to pierce with a fork.

Step 3 – If you want to also roast the seeds – In a large bowl place the seeds and fibres.  Run water into the bowl and agitate by hand.  Most of the seeds will loosen and float to the top.  Skim off seeds.  You will need to remove some seeds from the fibres, but they come away easily.  Fill a saucepan 2/3 full of water and bring to a boil.  Add seeds and a pinch of salt.  Boil seeds for 5-10 minutes.  This will clean up the seeds and ready them for roasting.  Place seeds on a baking pan in the oven on a shelf above the pumpkin and roast for 10-15 minutes.  You can season the seeds with lots of different flavours – I want mine for granola, so left them plain.

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Step 4 – Remove the roasted pumpkin shells and seeds from the oven.  Let cool for about 10 minutes, then scrape the flesh from the skins (if there are any brown bits, don’t use those, it may give your pumpkin a burnt taste). You can mash the pumpkin or use a food processor as I did.  Place in containers and refrigerate.  I also plan to freeze it in ½ cup portions so I can easily add it to muffins and cake or the syrup recipe.

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I enjoyed making my pumpkin puree and will probably do a couple more while they are still in season.  It appears I got about 2 ½ cups of puree from each of the small pumpkins.