Gluten Free Breeze (formerly Brendygirl) Blog

I rode the Silly Yak and avoided a gluten attack. As I suspected and expected, my midwest jaunt to spend quality time with my grandma (and mother and aunt- all of us traveled from both coasts and gathered in one tiny house with my grandma's mentally disabled brother- in support of my grandma's terminal diagnosis with cancer) did turn out to be ultra celiac-friendly. The marvelous trip to Bunky's Pizza (Madison, WI, area) where I indulged in fabulous gluten-free pizza-I chose shrimp and swapped broccoli in favor of spinach- and gluten-free beer in a chilled glass, was great fun, as my family loved their food as well, and the atmosphere (lots of Morroccan decor with mirrors and beads and hats covering the walls and displayed in the restroom) was fun, too. A waiter sported a headband that looked as if he had a meat cleaver through his head whilst singing happy birthday to a celiac? girl there. I got some great gluten-free chocolate mousse pie "to go".

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Every Tuesday, I was lucky to have my gram (who won't let anyone drive her anywhere) transport me a mile down the road to the farmer's market, where The Silly Yak Bakery had a table set up. The table contained gluten "grainiac" items, but behind the table in a cooler marked Gluten Free, there were the "anti-grainist's" gluten-free goodies. (Also available for shipping.) I kept all of it in fridge, not freezer, as grandma (although she has 2 fridges) has NO FREEZER SPACE for me. I heated it all in the microwave usu. for 25 seconds. I also took it along to meals in restaurants and asked waitstaff to microwave it without touching it. This was successful.

Here is my evaluation of gluten-free baked goods from The Silly Yak Bakery:

Cinnamon Roll $2.50- Tasty when heated. Texture more like bread than a wheaty sweety bun

Tomato Parmesan Spinach Bread- $7.00 loaf- Excellent. I heat it. Denser than gluten bread, of course.

Turtle Muffins-$1.75- Fair. Too sweet to eat for breakfast. Tastes like a sweet cupcake. Has a Rolo candy inside.

Lemon Poppy Seed Scone-$1.75- Not a scone. Not crumbly. More like a sweet bread. Dense & sweet. I eat 1/2 only.

M&M cookies- 2 for $2.50- Excellent. Not too crumbly. Tastes like a buttery, soft, sugar cookie with M&Ms.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies-2 for $2.50- Fair to poor. Crumbly and crispy like with too much oil. I didn't eat them.

Brownies- 9.95 box- I liked the first one, so maybe they must stay frozen not fridged. Good, not great.

CFGF Cinnamon Swirl Bread- Excellent with butter. Not too sweet. Could argue for more cinnamon, but I enjoyed it.

Chocolate Cherry Muffin- Excellent. I wasn't going to get it, but Gram got it for me. Yum. Dense like a muffin is.

Sesame Sunflower Millet Bread- Good and seems healthier than regular gluten-free bread. Denser than gluten bread, of course.

pizza crust- was used at Bunky's restaurant where I ate it- great fresh, not good-mushy- reheated the next day.

Peanut Butter cookies- good. Somewhat crumbly, somewhat chewy and soft.

In sum, I'd say they have a niche with bread. Excellent bread, although somewhat dense. The rest is hit and miss.