You can use a 9" spring form pan or an 8" x 13" pan

6 large eggs separated

6 ozs. Berry Sugar ( Makes cake lighter )

Grated rind of two oranges

Juice of one medium orange

8 ozs ground almonds (3 cups )

In large bowl whisk yolks, sugar and orange rind together until very thick and pale. Gently stir in orange juice

and almonds

Whisk egg whites until just stiff. Do not use a plastic bowl. Fold the two mixtures together in sprayed tin or

parchment paper Spread in prepared pan and bake for 35 - 45 minutes until risen and firm. (use a toothpick to check)

If top is browning too much cover loosely with a sheet of foil or parchment.

You can serve with Berry Sugar moistened with either orange juice or grated orange rind

In the meantime, stay with a trusted Pharmacy and tell them you are a brittle celiac with dermatitis herpetiformis, and can become quite ill upon ingesting gluten and could they put it on your records at the Pharmacy with regards to drugs, and sugar alcohols and ask them kindly to check what bulking agents are used in the medications you have been prescribed. I have been caught by a few because I have many medications, but take control of your own body, read the helpful articles in the Celiac Journal and keep a notebook and some laminated sheets for when you grocery shop.

Vonnie Mostat,

Retired RN, Freelance Journalist

And I picked a winner in using an "Old recipe" and making it Gluten Free, and it worked!

APPLESAUCE LOAF   -  Oven at 350 degrees - Bake in loaf pan, check at 40 mins. Loaf is read when toothpick in centre comes out clean

1/2 Cup shortening

1 Cup of sugar

2 eggs - beaten well

1 3/4 Cups Nutmeg

1 Cup sweetened Applesauce

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts (Or pecans if you prefer)

1 tsp. sale

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. Xanthum Gum ... But you know, when I used King Arthur Flour I did not need the Xanthum Gum.  Our 99 year old Mother does not bake any more so I bake up a pile of loaves and take them over when we go. This one, you can slice thinly, butter sparingly and serve with a cup of tea

Soften the shortening ahead of time, Add sugar, creaming gradually. Add beaten eggs (should be nice and fluffy)

Sift together your dry ingredients and add in thirds to the creamed mixture, alternating with applesauce. Stir in nuts. Bake 350 degrees for about an hour, but check at 45 mins.

Glaze with 1/2 Cup icing sugar with 1 tsp. water if you like more sweetness. It freezes well, but will keep n the fridge for over a week.

SOME WORDS OF ADVICE:

Ignore front of label claims. Don't read most of label packaging, Lisa Chanfrini says. "Flip the box over and read the nutrient info. and the ingredient list first

BEWARE OF INGREDIENT SPLITTING. Ingredients on food labels are listed in descending order according to the amount contained in the food. But you might be misled if you simply scan the fist three or four ingredients, because our labeling laws allow manufacturers to use multiple sources of sugar, (and sodium) for that matter! and list each separately. Look for words ending in "ose". as well as for corn syrup, fruit concentrate, concentrated fruit juice, and honey. The number listed for "sugars" on the nutrition facts panel can help you gauge how much of the sweet stuff is in a given product. {Note recipe above}  I do not post how much sugar is in the "sweetened applesauce", and one has to figure that in to the sugar ingredients too. Recipes do not differentiate between added sugars and those naturally found in a food such as applesauce, pears, or even the lactose in yogurt.

Scrutinize serving sizes; because serving sizes shown on  nutritional facts panels are not standardized, an unreasonable tiny serving size might fool you into thinking some products are a much better nutritional bargain than they really are.  {Who eats 10 chips, a quarter cup of granola, or even 1/2 a can of coup?] Obviously if you are comparing two similar products that use different serving sizes, you'll have to do some mental math.

Look for "Daily Percentage Values' Use the per cent daily value as a yardstick for whether a food contains a little or a lot of certain beneficial nutrients, as well as those you'd like to minimize. For example, with grain products such as a cereals and crackers, look for a number greater than 15 for fibre. When it comes to sodium and saturated and trans fasts, however, choose products with values lower than five where possible.

Borrow Someone Else's Homework.  CSPI offers a monthly ad-free publication called Nutrition Action Health letter, which often features nutritional ratios for various brands of an entire category of foods, such as Greek yogurt or single service frozen entrees. For the cost of an annual subscription {$36.00 - which I think is a little steep even though there is lots of information in one health letter. You can ely on CSP experts to weigh factors such as fibre, sodium, and sugar content for you. Sign up online. visit     cspinet.org/canada

Eat More Label Free Foods.  If you are constantly reading labels, you're actually barking up the wrong tree.. dietician Casey Berghund says. "The foods that you should be choosing most often are  vegetables, fruit and even whole grains and fish. They don't need nutritional claims. Go for the foods that don't have labels and choose whole foods as often as you can. AND, don't be afraid to throw in a handful of dried cranberries,raisins or dates; just as long as you don't go overboard on the additives causing your muffins to sag under the weight or your cake to be "too boggy"

USING MAGICAL SOUNDING ADJECTIVES: - FROM "NATURAL," 'FRESH", and ORGANIC to "Gluten Free" and GMO Free" food manufacturers use descriptions that projeft6 an often false aura of nutritional virtue. Let's take those "natural" deli meats. The only thing differentiating them from ordinary deli meats is one preservative

- a celery extract that is chemically indistinguishable from a nitrate used in regular deli meats. "I have no argument with the benefits of nitrates in preventing botulism (during the curing process), Schwartz says, "but I do have a problem with deceiving people into thinking these products are somehow different." There is a good deal of research linking intake of processed meats, such as hot dogs, bacon, and cold cuts, with health problems, ranging from diabetes to bowel cancer. It is not clear whether the culprit is the high salt content, preservatives such as nitrates and nitrites, or animal protein ... or a combination of all three ... but there is no evidence that the "natural" version of these meats is any healthier. While an organic food may have been grown without artificial pesticides, that doesn't necessarily mean it is nutritious, according to Berglund. For instance, she says, "If you look at the label, you might find that an organic granola bar contains adde4d fats or a ton of sugar. Sure, it might be organic cane sugar but that does not mean it is any better for you." Many, if not most granola bars are basically cookies with a health halo.) I myself, wandering around our local "Farmer's Market" wonder if they are going to go as far as to write on a sign that the bananas are Gluten Free, Free of Pesticides. The GMO-free banner now carries by a popular oat-based breakfast cereal is a similarly misleading marketing ploy, aimed at people who are uneasy about the safety of consuming food containing genetically modified organisms. (That is a whole separate story, though in summary, there is no evidence GMO's are harmful to humans). In a column that appeared in the Montreal Gazette earlier this year, Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's Office for Science & Society, explained that oats are still GMO free ... scientists have yet to produce genetically modified oats. The claim on the cereal label relates to the relatively small amounts of modified cornstarch and sugar in the product, (Incidentally, If you are eating oat cereal in hopes of lowering your cholesterol, forget it. It is a sales "gimmick" and we have to become wary of how to search out healthy foods while still strictly adhering to our celiac diet. You know, after a while, it is not worth cheating What we are searching for is Gluten Free, sugar sparing and avoid buying into the false advertising that is around today. "It is not fair", but whoever said it was going to be. It is "Challenging", but let's weed out the "Misleading.

Yvonne (Vonnie) Mostat

• 1 ¼  cup gluten-free all purpose flour. I suggest using King Arthur Flour.
• 1 scant 1/3 Cup of sugar
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ Cup (1 stick) of cold butter
• ½ tsp. Of Xanthum Gum
• ¾ Cup of chosen additions (Suggested) dried cherries, cranberries, fresh blueberries, cinnamon, or white chocolate chips, blonde raisins. But don’t be cute and add more than one addition into the scones
• 1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease large baking sheet or line the baking pan with parchment paper.

But I have found a better way if you have the old hamburger maker set. The one that has a circle, several circles if you are making more than one hamburger. But use this as a CUTTER to cut the scones into nice round circles. Make sure you spray the round circular hamburger patty maker. They are not too big and you can pile one on top of another and freeze them until breakfast or having someone over for Yorkshire Tea. Work in the cold butter until the mixture is crumbly Gently stir in additions. Whisk together the egg, vanilla, and milk until frothy. this is important if you want light fluffy scones. The dough will be sticky. Place on a floured board. If you add more flour it will only create a dry, dense result, so just use enough extra flour so that you can pat it into about 1” thick. While doing this try to make the dough flatter and rounder, but do not press down too hard.

Place on a parchment paper cookie sheet. When you have your scones you can use a pastry brush to brush the tops with beaten egg white. After cutting your scones, either with a smaller sized circular cookie cutter, or do as I do and use the hamburger press. Place on cookie sheet and sprinkle them with sparkling sugar if desired.

Place uncovered in the freezer just for 15 minutes. Bake for 15 -20 minutes in pre-heated 400F degree oven. or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for minutes before serving.

The secret is beating the eggs before making the scones into circular shape.

Remember, the scones should go on the ovens middle shelf. Put them on the bottom and they will burn on the bottom. Better to peek into the oven for that light brown all over scone.
 

YOU NEED TO LOOK FOR THE CERTIFIED GLUTEN-FREE OATS label on the product, but again, if you are one of those people who is very sensitive to oats, eliminate them from your diet and also add them to your list together with the MALT

Some brands such as Bob's Redmill, Glutenfreeeda and gluten-free Harvest make oatmeal that is certified gluten-free. When eating out, or in doubt avoid oats and oat-containing cereals and breads.

There are lots of delicious foods to enjoy! Many foods are naturally gluten-free, including milk, butter, cheese, fruits and vegetables, fresh meats, fish poultry, eggs, beans, nuts seeds, corn, quinoa and rice. Bakes gods are one area to be extremely cautious about. I have been quite ill over the Winter and very kind people decided to bring us dinners on a Tuesday, just before Bible Study hoping that I would be able to go to enjoy actual fellowship.  I have five bacteria living in my lungs right now and I am so scared of someone "catching" something from me. They say to avoid anyone who is immuncompromised, young babies or the elderly. Really? Do you go to someone and ask them if they are old? Or immunocompromised? difficult. If I cough to I immediately leave the sanctuary.  I cannot sing, and the fellowship time after the service has coffee, tea and baking, and that leaves me out;.  My husband has been enjoying pineapple upside down cake.  Last Tuesday Ray had a lovely meal, but there was a salad with bread pieces cut into it and I would have loved the salad except for the flecks of bread throughout the salad. The person who called last night asked when I could eat and it was difficult for my husband to say, "Don't trouble yourself if you are making the meal for Vonnie because the sauces and gravy not be gluten free.  "Oh, I did not realize that" is the common reply, because the average person does not consider the sauces and gravy or the soya sauce put on a meal.  And the delicious smell coming through the door just makes me miserable.  Did you know that "Smoke Flavouring" is also something to watch out for?
 
It is best to check with your health care provider to see if you can eat traditional oats or if you need to look for certified gluten-free oats. I have really tried to get Certified Gluten Free everything but I  am getting nowhere with oatmeal. Most breads, pastas, cereals and baked goods are made with grains and flours containing gluten. There are many grains and flours that are naturally gluten free, and many other products on the market made from these grains and flours Think of these grains and products made with them as safe foods, in other words, safe to eat on the gluten-free diet.  NB;  Did you know how quickly they took the gluten free Cheerios off the shelves after they were reported and their products checked.  Grains are the culprit for many gluten problems.  It is in the air, the same as wind is in the air.  They need a calculated mileage meter to check how far grains travel just in the wind, and that is not counting birds which pick up seeds everywhere.  They go to the oat fields and two miles away there is a field full of barley. Mathematical problem difficult to solve, and even more difficult to control.
 
Watch out for these words:    May contain traces of wheat – Made on shared equipment with wheat ingredients, and Manufactured in a facility that also processes wheat ingredients.  The people that work with gluten free foods have to wear shoe coverings as well as white smocks and rubber gloves when they are working with gluten free foods. How vigilant are they in cleaning their machines or are the machines ONLY USED FOR GLUTEN FREE FOODS. I WENT INTO A BAKERY LAST WEEK AND ASKED THEM IF THERE WAS A PARTICULAR DAY THAT THEY MADE ONLY GLUTEN FREE PASTA.   #1) THE SERVER rolled her eyes and went to the back of the store to ask and was told that they made their own pasta on Tuesdays. But she had to go back again to ask if the machines were thoroughly scrubbed prior to setting them up for gluten free pasta. 
 
It has become a lot easier than thirty years ago when we had a choice of frozen white rice bread or frozen white ice encrusted bread that looked like it would stand alone.  We are adviced at home to use separate colanders, sponges, strainers, toasters, toaster ovens, bread machines, towels dish rags, n cutting boards and utensils for gluten-free baking and coking.  We are to clean our measuring cups and spoons, the microwave, pot holders and baking pans well and often.  In fact we should be washing all shared utensils before and after each use.  Easier to do when you are cooking at home, but give the baking store the third degree questionnaire when you go in and you are going to turn the server white with worry. Far away from home it is better to plan meals and snacks ahead of time. That may sound hard, but following these tips can make it easier for you and your health.
 
I love "Farmer Sausage: barbecued and put on a gluten free hamburger bun more than I like hamburgers, but not only is it very expensive you may have to go to a "Mom and Pop: Home Made Farmer Sausage Factory in order to purchase some.  Nothing nicer than slicing  the farmer sausage in half and barbecuing it along with some large mushrooms and a small amount of mustard and some baby potatoes and possibly broccoli and you have a nutritious supper, but it may require you to call around and check the Farmer Sausage for fillers prior to lining up to purchase some. You will never want to go back to fatty hamburger again, with possible fillers in it too.
 
Many restaurants are now making a Gluten Free Menu, but be prepared to ask some questions as to where the sandwich was produced and was it placed in the next shelf to the gluten cookies.  Have you watched the server putting the small piece of waxed paper in between your gluten free products and put in the same bag with just the waxed paper in between the products, and then tell me you carry the products out to our care safely and not mixed up .
 
The best resources for gluten-free recipes are the Internet and Gluten-Free Cookbooks.  The GI Department at Boston Children's Hospital is a wonderful resource for families, and as great recipes as well as cookbook suggestions.

REMEMBER:    Just because you have become used to Bob's Red Mill  products does not mean all their products are gluten free. IN fact, they have bags of gluten flour as one of their products, so reading is a must when shopping.

After volunteering at the Dietician's office of our local hospital I am surprised at how uninformed they are. I was going to say "Ignorant" but that term is not very nice! The LAW states that an ingredient does not have to be listed if the product contains less than 100grams (amount varies) per kilo or less than a certain number ppm (parts per million). ANY amount of gluten, no matter how little, is harmful to a celiac. Please look for petitions you can sign to help groups trying to get the government to change these dangerous laws; consumers have a right to know exactly what is in any product they buy.

**To the gentleman who enquired about painful soles of his feet, I would question first if he had dermatitis herpetiformis because my nephew has DH sores on his feet when he cheats. Then I would ask him if he was thin, because the feet need some fat on them when walking.  I had problems with the soles of my feet because I am skinny (because of other connective tissue diseases). I purchased some "insoles" to put in my shoes and it helped, but what really helped was asking the pharmacist to make up a compound of anti-inflammatory cream, knowing that taking over the counter medications like ALEVE or IBUPROFEN, (any NSAID - Non Steroid Anti-Inflammatory pills) if used regularly can cause stomach bleeding, kidney and liver damage. Though they work very well for the celiac for abdominal pain or muscle pain, and of course for painful soles of the feet is not worth taking them regularly and risking kidney damage.

Yvonne (Vonnie) Mostat, Retired R.N., Freelance Journalist for the for the Celiac Journal

"New Productions of Breyers Ice Cream will have a gluten-free symbol on the box. Breyers also has a gluten-free program which includes the segregation of gluten containing ingredients, specific production schedules with gluten-free products made on different days than regular products, superior cleaning procedures, and regular verifications and audits."

Some of the containers of ice cream at your local store may not yet state "gluten-free" as the new boxes are still rolling onto store shelves and any packaging produced prior to this new update will still be available through this year. BUT, at this time if a product does not have the "gluten-free" label on the packaging, but it is listed on their website: (Open Original Shared Link) as gluten free and the ingredient panel does not list any gluten containing ingredients, (for example: wheat, barley, etc.), you can be confident that it is gluten free.

"Always read the ingredient labels for the most up to date information, as recipes may change from time to time and gluten will ALWAYS be called out on the label."

From this information we are assured that Breyers will be segregating their gluten containing ingredients, and having specific production schedules with gluten-free products made on different days than regular products, and they will have a superior cleaning procedure and regular verification and audits to check By that I believe they mean they will have regular checks of the products coming off the gluten-free line of ice creams to ensure no gluten is present.

They show pictures of their ice creams with the notation at the bottom:

**Carefully read the ingredients statements on all food labels each time you make food choices and to ensure you are choosing Gluten Free Breyers

Basically they are ensuring us that gluten free products are made on different days than regular products and superior cleaning procedures and regular verification and audits are done regularly.

Now, I do not know if you have to be a paid up subscriber to the Gluten Free Watchdog in order to avail yourself of this interview, but it is good to know that we are moving ahead with certified gluten free oat production.

The arsenic testing: Rice-based breads are currently at Dartmouth for testing. They have two more product categories left to test as of the middle of June. They were rice grain and rice-based snacks. Choosing five snack foods will be difficult they say as there have been so many product requests. Currently they are thinking of focussing on savory snacks (rice chips, rice crackers, rice cakes, etc.)

Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, Owner/ Founder of Gluten Free Watchdog, LLC agreed to meet with General Mills in July to discuss gluten-free Cheerios. The meeting is/ or was to take place at their new mill facility. It was not another "Cheerios Forum", and those involved with testing Cheerios at Medallion labs also were to be present. General Mills told Tricia Thompson that it was important to provide her with detailed information about their testing protocols as well as allowing her to view the test results. That was necessary so that years of testing data on oats produced under a purity protocol can be compared to testing data on oats "cleaned" at the backend of production using mechanical sorting.

The GLUTEN FREE WATCHDOG has issued a statement on its "Position On Oats as of June 11, 2015, and we have no idea how hard it must have been for the group to reach a consensus on the wording of their position! I have been on a TEAM working on a Positional Statement and it took us two full days to agree on the wording, so a big thank you to all of you!

"Gluten Free Watchdog supports the use of gluten-free oats by the celiac disease community that are produced under a purity protocol. At this time we do not support the use of regular oats that are cleaned at the back-end of production via mechanical and/or optical sorting to be "gluten-free". Before we can support the use of oats "cleaned" in this manner to be gluten-free we must be provided with thorough testing data. We can then compare this data to the thorough testing data provided to us for oats grown under a purity protocol."

I will share, with their permission again, the interview Tricia Thompson had with Michael Marshall, President and CEO of Marshall Gluten Free Milling (Open Original Shared Link), a company that has been working for fifteen years in the natural and organic grain and food ingredient business, Other companies are bound to get on the band wagon, some of them selling cheaper products in order to attract the celiac public. We are a market remember and they all want a "bite" out of us. The bottom line is $$$ and cents. And, as goes the United States, so goes Canada, and according to Health Canada "every effort is being made to harmonize with other countries which have developed similar food labelling laws, i.e.: The European Union, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. For example, Canada and the United States require food allergens to be declared either in the list of ingredients or in a "Contains" statement. Canada requires food allergens to be declared either in the list of ingredients or in a "Contains" statement to clearly indicate that the information in the statement is in addition to the information in the list of ingredients and that this information has to be exhaustive. (I.e. - all allergens present as ingredients are declared). What is important, says the positional statement and Andre Gagnon, Media Relations Officer Serving Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, is that all imported foods sold in Canada must meet the same safety requirements including health based labelling requirements as domestic foods sold in Canada. (Andre Gagnon also speaks very highly about The Gluten Free Watchdog which, though American based, serves the celiac community world wide.

You see, most of us are unaware of how production machines work, how they clean them, and how they just add gluten free sorting at the end of a production of regular foods.

AN ASIDE: Picture if you can, a flour mill, with the air floating with flour dust, so much so, that the people working there wear hair nets and masks. Then picture the machines milling flours for hours and hours. And finally being cleaned and allowing them to flow through with gluten free flours. I have watched a machine making "regular" pasta every day except Thursday, when they make gluten free pasta - pasta for ravioli, lasagne, linguini, etc. They are then hung and dried on long wooden poles. Tell me the machines are cleaned and sanitized and the wooden poles are cleaned and sanitized ready for Thursday's production. We are bound to get a certain amount of infiltration. When a Chinese Food Restaurant tells you they have a gluten free menu, do they have a set aside gluten free large deep fryer and large wok specifically set aside ONLY for their gluten free clientele. I experienced ordering from a gluten free menu in a large Chinese Food Restaurant and came away seriously glutened. Because the Chef was busy, and obviously no-one had told him he could not liberally pour Soya Sauce containing MSG and flour over the entire meal!

Watch for the Fall Issue of the Celiac Journal of Gluten Sensitivity for more about food labelling, more "strange, mysterious names that can be our downfall".