The week after Gus was diagnosed with Celiac Disease Kass hosted our October Book Group meeting. She served grilled fish, steamed broccoli, salad, and rice. Dessert was meringues with vanilla ice cream and stewed stone fruit. Kass didn’t try to make a gluten-free meal, it just was. This dinner gathering so soon after the mandate of profound change in our home kitchen demonstrated that a gluten-free life style didn’t have to be a fight. As long as a six year old was willing to give up Honey Bunches of Oats, Dunkin Donuts, and Ricetta’s Pizza.
And Gus never fought. When he was diagnosed he didn’t measure on the growth chart for for boy his age despite having been in the 80th percentile for height and weight. Gus’s desire to be average, or fingers crossed, as tall as his brothers, was so overwhelming that he never complained about eating GF food or missing out on birthday cake at friends’ parties. In 15 years he hasn’t once knowingly “cheated”.
This all came to mind when reading the WSJ’s Weekend Off-Duty “Fall 50 Eating and Drinking”. #18: Eat More Cauliflower. None of the ingredients for each of the four recipes contains wheat or gluten. They are varied, beautifully photographed, delicious sounding, and gluten-free. They just are. After 15 years of adaptation, experimentation, and maybe a little desperation (one will try anything when hungry) Gus’s palate is sophisticated enough for him to relish the prospect of any four of these Cauliflower preparations.
Add them to your repertoire!
Gluten Free Gus 