Happy post-Mother’s Day! I hope it was a good one for all the moms out there and your kids buried you in gluten-free breakfasts in bed, weird drawings, and homemade knickknacks. Or a trip to the spa. Either/Or.
My husband and I left the kids at grandma’s house and took off for a night to enjoy some quality time in the very tiny town of Ojai, known mostly for a super fancy hotel and spa set-up (where we did not stay) and its unbelievable agricultural bounty. I realize that going away for the weekend without my children is perhaps a tad bit counter intuitive for Mother’s Day, but hey. It was an awesome Mother’s Day. Also, I made a few g-free discoveries while perusing the Ojai Farmer’s Market. So there.
Of course shopping at a farmer’s market is a lovely thing for the gluten-hating. There is no dodging of the entire middle part of the store or turning down samples. With the exception of those artisan bread people, you can pretty much eat anything that is being sold at a farmer’s market. In the case of this particular market, there were almond products galore –
and I discovered a bakery that is experimenting in the gluten-free. And it was awesome.
The Yankee Doodle Bakery out of Oxnard offered up the traditional baked goods, but the adorable man behind the folding table also had cookies for Celiacs. I skipped over the macaroons, and went for those gluten-free chocolate chip numbers up there.
As his experiment also includes banning refined sugar, these brown rice flour (among other things — I’m not giving away all of his secrets!) cookies are sweetened with agave and stevia. Next week, he’s using carob instead of chocolate chips so naturally I’m glad I picked them up this week. I get the healthy factor, but honestly, how satisfying is carob when you’ve been living on chocolate all your life? Not very. Of course my husband loved these cookies, as he is all about things that taste healthy. But I actually loved them too, and I hate things that taste healthy. So I hope I can find these yummy, soft, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies in stores outside of the Ojai Valley soon. Whole Foods, are you listening?
Something I do hope stays put in the Ojai Valley –
What the hell?
What gluten-free goodness did you get for Mother’s Day? Or as everyone calls it, Sunday?
Gluten is my Bitch 
Lol I hope those fans stay in ojai too! I am finally done with blood work. My Mother’s day included Krispy Kreme donuts, three to be exact. Totally not worth it later! It was my official last day of all gluten to make sure my tests come back positive. I am actually looking forward to feeling better and only slightly bitter they didn’t catch this before the constant parade of inhalers, steroids, nose sprays and Rumatoid arthritis. Did I mention bitter? Any way I’m not giving up chocolate either, and I’m working on a recipe for tortillas like my grandma made- with lard! Thanks for infusing some humor into a not funny day 🙂
Was Arnel in her booth at the Ojai Farmer’s Market? She makes a line of packaged baking mixes (Arnel’s Originals) that are not only G-F, certified organic, and non-GMO, but also GREAT!! Look her up on the internet if you missed her at the market. 🙂