"Marie - the baguettes - hurry up!"

I find myself needing to apologize for two things:

1) I don't update nearly often enough, and

2) I never think to take pictures of my food that I post about.

Both stem from the same thing - the fact that I quite frequently forget I have a blog. Between a full time job, and other randomness, there's a lot I don't get to. In fact, due to a nasty cold, I haven't even met my now week-old nephew yet. Sorry, Easton! I promise, Aunt Fifi loves you.

But I promise that you'll forgive me for both if you try either of the suggestions I have today. The first was a random impulse purchase over a month ago. I present to you Udi's gluten free baguettes:

I picked them up one day due mostly to the fact that I have yet to find a GF bread I truly love. Udi's white is pretty good, but I'm not thrilled with it. Plus, no trip to a market is complete unless you have at least one baguette sticking out of your grocery bag. I then threw them in the freezer when I got home and promptly forgot about them.

Cut to Tuesday. I got home from work, and I was starving. And I knew exactly what I wanted - a giant sub with turkey, roast beef, red peppers, lettuce, and sesame ginger dressing (which I'll get to in a minute). But I didn't feel like going shopping. And that's when I remembered that past Stephane is way more thoughtful than the Stephane of this week, and she bought me baguettes. I heated them in the oven, sliced them in half, and loaded them up with my fixins. They were perfect. Crispy outside, soft on the inside. I wanted about 8 more. In all fairness, that may have to do with my other new favorite thing - Heinen's sesame ginger dressing.

We had a couple of Mike's co-workers and their significant others (and one adorable 1 year old son) over for dinner a few weeks ago. I made chicken parm, and I decided a veggie tray would be the easiest for a starter. I bought peppers, olives, cucumbers, and carrots. The Heinen's dressings were on sale, so I grabbed three - Italian, sesame ginger, and Caesar - I wanted a range, having no idea what my guests like. I was super excited to find the sesame ginger, given that I had had to throw out the one I had in the fridge when I found out I had Celiac (due to cheap soy sauce with gobs of wheat in it).

I got a little peckish waiting for everyone to show up, so I grabbed a cucumber and pepper with some of the sesame ginger dressing. I am only slightly exaggerating when I tell you I could have just gulped down the whole bottle straight. That may be the best dressing I've ever had in my life. For those of you who aren't Heinen's fans, Giant Eagle makes one with the exact same ingredients. I have put one or the other on almost everything I've eaten all month. I put it in rice, on meat, on veggies - anything.

So go buy some baguettes and sesame ginger dressing, make a sandwich, and forgive me for being the worst blogger ever. Enjoy!


Burgers and Beer

First of all, I apologize to my 5 readers for not updating in awhile. Between work and other things, it's been a little crazy. But I definitely had to post about some great customer service I experienced last week.

Last Friday night, we had a surprise 30th birthday party for our friend, Ben, at Willoughby Brewing Company. I was excited to go out with friends for the first time in a long time, but I was also really nervous. With my IBS I can't really eat salads, so I needed to know if there were other GF options. I also needed to make sure if there were, that the restaurant staff would know to cook them separately, etc. So I sent an e-mail to the manager with my concerns, and this is what I got back:

"Stephane,  We also have an employee here along with myself that have the disease. My kitchen staff is very good at accommodating me and any customers we have come in with allegeries. We have our salads but in addition to that you could eat our strip steak, beef tourenados without sauce, rosemary pork, and our airline chicken. Most of our burgers and sandwiches you can have just without a bun. Just let your server know at your table and they will aware our kitchen staff . But please be assured you are in good hands with us. If you have anymore questions please don't hesitate to ask."

I was definitely pleased. Not only did they understand what I needed, they're also especially sensitive to Celiac because some of their staff (and their manager) have it. And while I didn't end up ordering food (I was up for 25 hours that day and a little sick to my stomach), I will definitely go there to eat sometime soon.