Gluten Free... The way it has to be!

Early February I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease after years of tummy issues, and I am happy to say I feel soooo much better.  My 'issues' were something I just started to think were normal and it was how it would be for the rest of my life... Thank Goodness it isn't, well only if I say good bye to GLUTEN!

So all my experimenting with Paleo was very helpful, but I was always off-roading on the diet.  So my body never had the chance to heal.  On Paleo I wasn't aware of cross-contamination, which means gluten could be getting in without me even knowing.  I have read blog after blog, forum after forum, and slowly becoming more and more comfortable making decisions at the store and out at restaurants.  I have told myself, I may be gluten-free, but I will never give up my love for food.

My Extraordinary Adventure of Taste has taken a turn... I don't expect to for my food to be any less than extraordinary, it will just be gluten free... the way it has to be!

Two weekends ago Andrew and I celebrated 4 years! I know time flies... I was a little worried my new way of eating was going to ruin our celebration, so I did everything I could to make it seem like nothing changed.  We had dinner at our favorite restaurant, Olio Pizzeria. I was a little nervous being so picky and having special orders, but our waitress was so nice and always made sure everything was safe. 

We drank our special bottle of 2010 Pinot Noir from Tyler.

Enjoyed gluten free parma pizza!

And for dessert... butterscotch pudding.

Cheers to 4 years!!! Love you Andrew. 

Date Night: Olio Pizzeria

Friday night Andrew and I made reservations at Olio e Limone for dinner for our date night! We are huge fans of the pizzeria, but wanted to try the restaurant. As we entered the restaurant the whole place was very quite, serious, and stuffy. We informed the hostess we were here for our reservations and she said they weren't ready. Andrew and I felt so put of place we looked at each other and both had the same idea, pizzeria? YES!

I headed next door to see how long the wait was and there were two seats at the bar. Perfect. I felt bad canceling our reservations, but there was a nice couple that was happy to take it. Some day we will try it, but not tonight.

We ordered our favorite appetizer, calamari al nero (squid ink calamari), which is the best calamari I have ever had. We also ordered the asparagus con prosciutto topped with gorgonzola, poached egg. I thought it was delicious!

We each ordered a pizza, which is perfect because it adds variety and always guarantees leftovers. Andrew ordered the boscaiola, sausage and mushroom pizza. I had the diavola which is fresh mozzarella and spicy salami. I miss spicy salami from Italy, and this is as authentic as we will find it here in California. The owner has it shipped from Italy. And we love our Italian meats! Here we are in a meat shop in Florence, Italy back in October.

p.s. The wine we had we brought in.  It was the Syrah from Bridlewood when we escaped the fog! It paired perfectly with our Italian dinner. 

Now I was pretty disappointed with the dessert. Let me tell you, this dessert is one of my FAVORITES! I order it every time we are there. The pesche allo zenzero is a dish of peaches flambéd in caramel sauce with ice cold ice cream. Now usually they use fresh peaches, and they get crispy burnt caramel pieces on the peaches that just make this dessert perfect! As soon as our dessert arrived I noticed the peaches weren't the normal half peaches, they were small quarters. Then I took my first bite, and the flavor was there, it really can't be bad, but it was missing my favorite crispy burnt caramel and the peaches were slimy. I swear they were canned. Really! Maybe this is a lesson for me, don't order this dessert unless it is peach season. Good thing it is only a month away!