Old Quebec City - Gluten Free

My husband, I call him Navy Boy here, surprised me with a short trip for our anniversary this past spring. We had never taken a trip just to go somewhere without the children since we had them. (My oldest is 6.) We went away once for a wedding, and that was this past fall.

Navy Boy was planning on telling me the day we were leaving, but a bizarre convergence of events made him spill the beans reluctantly a couple of days prior to our departure. I was glad. It gave me an opportunity to get the house ready and things in line for the children's care before we left.

This was my first trip going gluten free. I didn't do any research. Since my husband was planning it, he researched and contacted people and got a list of restaurants. When he handed me that list in the car, I felt so loved.

We are close enough that we can drive there, and one thing my dear husband did not think about was lunch on the way up. I had time to think about it, and had food in the freezer, and I had my Mr. Bento that I purchased to take my food wherever I needed to. (Mr. Bento is a food storage system from Japan that has separate little containers for food - and it keeps the food hot, cold warm or room temperature. I adore it.) I was able to pack us each some lasagna and two salads and cheese and crackers for our lunch picnic that we had after a couple of hours of driving. I love my Mr. Bento.

We arrived and checked into our adorable inn, then ran outside the door to ...freedom..no children, just us and two full days to play. And then...

I stopped. I stood in the square in front of the Frontenac, and froze. I realized at that moment, travel would be different for me, forever. I couldn't travel the way I had. It was in between mealtimes and normally, we would have walked across the square to an outdoor cafe, gotten a coffee and a croissant..maybe a ham and cheese one and a chocolate one to split, watch the people go by and plan out our evening together.

I couldn't do that anymore.

Poor Navy Boy. I was just standing there, literally. For about 10 minutes, frozen to the spot, processing. Ten minutes doesn't seem very long, until like Navy Boy, you just stand there and have to wait to see what happens.

What did happen?

I woke up. I made a plan, and walked away from that spot knowing that I was different, would have to be, and would always be. I said good-bye to something, a freedom, and walked back to the room with my husband.

We opened a bottle of wine and ate the nuts and leftover cheese we had brought with us. We walked all around with the list, in the upper part of Old Quebec, saving the lower city for the next day, trying to find a restaurant. We couldn't find one, but had fun exploring. We ended up eating at our hotel's restaurant, we were the only ones there for a bit, and got great attention, a fabulous meal and I did not get glutened.

But I have to tell you about a great restaurant. Great in the fact that it was unique in Old Quebec, and it was fancy Canadian food. Why was it unique?

When we asked if they could accommodate gluten free, they came out with a PRINTED GLUTEN FREE MENU. Printed. Telling what I could have safely. This cute, adorable, local, and might I say absolutely packed restaurant on an off season weekday night, had a menu for me.

When the waiter handed us this menu, we didn't even look at it and said, "We're in."

We sat on the outdoor patio, with heaters above us and warm plaid fleece blankets around us, after all it was a cool May evening. We drank wine, and chatted and breathed in the atmosphere, the delightfully adult atmosphere.

This amazing place? Lapin Saute.

If you go up there, go there. It was beautiful.

Coddled Egg

Something about the name, just makes me feel so cozy. It is one of my favorite ways to make eggs, a comfort food. My Mom would make us coddled eggs when I was a girl, and she gave me one of her coddlers when I left home. I am looking for more, but have not found any I want..yet.

A coddler is a porcelain container that you crack the egg into, add ingredients, screw on a lid, and place in boiling water. You cook until you reach desired consistency for your egg. Simple, but very yummy.

I have also heard that it's great to heat up baby food in, and to keep it warm while serving.

Coddling an egg is like having a new shell for your egg when you cook it, one you can add great stuff to, imagine the possibilities...and to find out more go check out The Egg-Coddlers website. I looked very quickly, and they seem to have a ton of info, recipes, and links to purchase some. I myself am heading that way to see if they have links to some coddlers I'd like to have in my kitchen...



Coddled Egg

I can't really write a recipe, so I'll just have to tell you what I do. The one pictured above is a simple one, just butter, egg and sea salt. Boil water in pan. Prepare coddler by putting in butter, cheese, bacon, veggies, ham or whatever suits your fancy. Put on cover, place in the water, making sure the water is below the silver part. Cook 7 to minutes, until you reach desired consistency. Enjoy!!


There is a pottery crock behind the coddler, another of my favorite kitchen items, a French butter crock. It keeps your butter spreadable soft without spoiling. You pack the softened butter in, add water to the bottom to create a seal, and change the water every 3 days. This will keep your butter good for 30 days, if you keep it around that long! This one is handmade by June at Etsy.com, check it out and her other lovely mugs, berry bowls, and bread baking bowls. No, she is not someone I knew before, and she doesn't even know about this. I just searched FOREVER for a butter crock I loved, and she made it, and for a handmade piece, it was reasonably priced. And it makes me so happy. It's the simple things, isn't it?

Cheers!

From My Kitchen - The Griddler

When I started cleaning out my kitchen, I realized that I needed to get a new pancake griddle. :sigh: Something else to buy, I thought. So, I went shopping the best way I know how, on the Internet.

I browsed and finally ended up on Amazon.com. I have to tell you, if you don't already know, they have a used and refurbished center, you can save some cash shopping there. And that is where I got... The Griddler.

I like this thing..I like that it folds in half for storage and cooking. It has interchangeable plates...one flat for cooking on a griddle, and raised grill panels to make something like the panini I made above. I wouldn't consider cooking chicken or burgers on this thing a la George Foreman style, since the sides are completely open.

As you can see, it makes 4 nice sized pancakes at a time. My old non-folding griddle could make 6, but the folding for storage is worth it my opinion.

Have a nice day!!! And if you cleaning out your kitchen and need new gadgets and gizmos...check out that Outlet on Amazon!

My Kitchen Stuff - Ice Cream Maker

My good friend, Robin, told me all about this, gosh I think years ago. I thought, "Eh, what do I need an ice cream maker for? Easy enough to buy at the store, it's just one more thing to store in my kitchen..."

Once I needed to become gluten free, I decided it would be a good investment. I could make my own flavored ice cream..I was thinking of one with chopped up Snickers bars or anything else decadent. (You could even make your own version of gluten free cookie dough ice cream..think about it...)

So, I bought the one you see down there. Buyer alert: The ice cream is so good, and so easy to make you must be working out or doing something to get rid of all the extra calories you will be consuming.

I love this machine. And the almond ice cream we made and ate. I love that I can reduce the sugar intake for my children. Make sorbets and sherbet..and probably gelato. This will be a delicious summer.

Dangerous. A great addition to my kitchen. And to my calorie intake. Thanks Robin! ;)

Almond Ice Cream
(This ice cream would be fabulous with the flourless chocolate torte below. It is unexpected to have almond ice cream; it would add a nice different mix to the dessert.)

1 ice cream maker
1 cup whole milk, chilled
1/2 cup sugar, granulated (The original recipe called for 3/4 cup;I cut the sugar back by 1/3, and it still tasted great!)
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted and then chilled
1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)

In bowl, whisk milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and almond extract. Add to machine, and follow machine instructions. Add almonds and coconut during the last 5 minutes. Takes about 25 minutes, total. Serve immediately for soft serve texture, or freeze for a few hours to get hard ice cream.