New York Wine On Ice

Casey surprised me last weekend with a trip to Elmira, NY and tickets to the 2011 Wine On Ice Festival.  I had heard of this even, but never thought I would be attending it.  Essentially wineries and vendors from the fingerlakes region setup booths inside the Elmira First Arena ice hockey arena.  The ice rink is covered and the entire event goes down on top the rink.  "Wine on ice" get it?

State College Celiac Support Group with Anne Roland Lee

Casey, Hailey, and I attended last night's Celiac Support Group Meeting featuring guest speaker Anne Roland Lee from Schar Foods.  It was great to see such a huge turnout for this meeting too.  Thanks to all those that helped get the word.  Anne brought lots of free Schar Foods samples for the group to try out too.

Anne Roland Lee spoke about, “The Nutritional Aspects of the Gluten Free Diet".  She spoke about some really interesting topics that Casey and I haven't thought about, such as the topic of how a celiac might not be getting the nutrition that they need.  I didn't think about it, but she mentioned how many of the gluten-free flours aren't fortified like the glutenous ones, which are regulated by the FDA to be enriched.  This might be one reason Casey is still often fatigued... maybe Casey needs additional supplements to counter the less nutritious gluten-free flours... we'll see.

Jules Shepard Gluten-Free Cooking Demo

Tonight I attended a Gluten-Free Cooking demo class by Jules Shepard.  It was sponsored and organized by the State College Celiac Support Group.  The turnout was pretty good; I think there were like 30 people at the event, many familiar faces as well as many new faces.  One woman made the trip in from Pittsburgh for the demo!

Jules did a great job and showed how easy it can be to make great tasting gluten free foods.  Jules brought already made items (day before) and also showed how to make each of these items live during the demo.  This was great because we could sample each item a day after it was made... as many celiacs know, most baked goods don't taste that great the day after you make them.  Her items were all very delicious that she had made he day before.

[caption id="attachment_562" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Jules Shepard Demonstration"][/caption]

So you are probably asking yourself, what did she prepare / demo?  Well she demonstrated how to make bread in a bread machine, pierogies, graham (like)  crackers, and finally a two-layer birthday cake.  All of which were very good.  The graham crackers were the best gluten-free ones I had ever had, light and crisp!

It was also nice to hear her talk about how you could vary the recipes to get different results... like how to make ravioli using almost the same recipe as the pierogies(for the dough).  I also enjoyed hearing about bread machines and makes me want to bust mine out of the closet again to start making breads.

At the end of the evening, she had a raffle and the group attendees could win one of three items: cake batter, graham cracker dough, or pierogi dough.  I won the cake batter, so I will be making that tomorrow night!  I also bought one her books: Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten-Free Eating.  I definitely enjoyed the demonstration and encourage those of you that are near one of Jules' demonstration locations to attend!

Thanks to Natures Pantry for providing water and the space for the demonstration.  Thanks to Karen from the State College Celiac Support Group for initiating and organizing this event.

Tyler Potty Time

So, as many parents know, there are unique events that occur with your children that are worth celebrating.  Two nights ago was one of those events for Casey and I.  Tyler managed to go #1 and #2 in his potty!!!  We were hoping Tyler would eventually do it.  He really enjoys sitting on his training potty, but has never done any real business other than rip off the potty's pee shield.

Good job little man!

Mini Monster March

Tonight Casey and I took Hailey and Tyler to Wegmans to check out the Mini Monster March.  It was a lot of fun for Hailey and Tyler.  Both got a bag with some goodies, plus there were games and snacks throughout the store.  We definitely had a good time, thank you Wegmans!

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Record Snow

Old news I know, but I finally got around to getting my pictures off my camera of the crazy record snow storm we had here.  I took a photo on the way to work last Friday, check out the trees in the back ground.



The kids and I went outside for some snow fun on Saturday before the flurries turned to rain.  We had a good time making a snow man and rolling around in the snow.  Tyler enjoyed eating snow too!

[caption id="attachment_398" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Tyler taking his first steps in snow"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_395" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Deck view of the Snow"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_396" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hailey posing in the snow"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_397" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Tyler posing while Hailey works on mr snow man"][/caption]

Celiac Support Group Meeting

Wow big turnout for tonight's meeting.  It was good to see lots of new faces and hear their stories.  I really hope that the group can help these new members ease their mines in knowing that living gluten free is not as hard as it may first seem.

Tonight was recipe exchange night and several people provided copies of their recipes, and some even brought samples of their yummies!  I took my favorite pizza crust recipe as well as the peanut butter chocolate pie I so enjoy.

Ken and Karen brought a motherload of freebees from various gluten free food companies: Bob's Red Mill, Quin0a, and others.  Bob's Red Mill send 20+ bags of their new GF Corn Meal!  The same with Quinoa, loads of their corn+quinoa blend pasta.  This is really amazing how these two companies chose to be so giving and supplying these samples.  

Tonight Heidi also covered the proposal of developing a board for the group, pres, secretary, public relations, etc.  Casey and I would definitely like to help, but need to figure out just how much time we can provide since Tyler and Hailey keep up pretty busy.  We will see, I know that if the group continues to grow like this we are definitely going to need some sort of board of people to keep things running smoothly.  

Thanks again to Heidi for organizing the meeting. Thanks Ken and Karen for contacting these companies about samples and bringing those samples to the meeting.

Celiac Support Group Meeting

Tonight was my first time attending the State College Celiac Support Group.  I am just so excited to see a local group is now present because the next closest group is in Harrisburg, PA and that is just too far to drive.

Heidi Watson is the group organizer / contact person.  Kudos to her for getting the local support group started!  I enjoyed the meeting agenda.  I especially enjoyed the meeting's inclusion of two local business owners: Natures Pantry Owner and Corrinado's Pizza Owner.

Gateway Lodge - Heading home

It snowed overnight!  There was a fresh 4 inches of the white stuff on the ground and everything looked awesome outside.  We had breakfast before finally packing up and checking out to head home.   Casey and I ended up getting home around 1:30pm, the kids were so happy to see us.

Thanks Wendy and Dustin for making the long drive to join Casey and I for a nice get away.  It was so nice seeing you two again.

Thanks Gateway lodge for a great visit.

Gateway Lodge - Full Day

Today was a full day at Gateway Lodge.  We finally got out of bed at 9 am and had breakfast at 10am.  We heard about the Cook's Forest Snowman in the Forest Day so we headed down to check it out. They had a chili cookoff, reindeer rides, ice skating, sled riding, and hot drinks.  There was a pretty good turnout.

[caption id="attachment_223" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Drinking the hot stuff"][/caption]

We returned to the lodge to warm up and relax.  We ended up having lunch in the great room and enjoying some wine.

Later that after noon, Wendy and Casey both had massages at the on-site spa.  Dustin took a nap and I read up on various fly fishing casting techniques (like the double haul cast).

We had reservations for dinner that evening at 7pm. It was delicious!  Dustin, Wendy, and I had the 8oz Filet.   Casey had the Salmon.  Dustin ordered a wonderful wine (Earthquake Petite Sirah '05) to pair up with our steak dinners.  After dinner, we all retreated to the great room, where I served some Gluten-Free Peanut Butter pie I brought for the occasion.

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Gateway Lodge - First Night

Casey and I arrived at Gateway Lodge around 4pm.  Dustin and Wendy were already there and greeted us when we got to our room.

We enjoyed each-other's company that evening; sharing wine, food, and stories.  We also got a game or two of pool in.  Check out the photos below:

 

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Cooks Forest with friends

Tomorrow, Casey and I are treating ourselves to a weekend at the wonderful Gateway Lodge B & B in Cooksburg, PA.  The Gateway Lodge is a truly amazing jewel in the middle of the Cooks Forest State Forest.  They have everything you could want for a relaxing getaway from it all:  indoor pool, full day spa services, fine dining restaurant, full bar including a huge wine selection, luxurious rooms, and much more.  

[caption id="attachment_188" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gateway Lodge's Great Room"][/caption]

This will be our third year in a row visiting this special place.  We enjoyed it so much that we asked our good friends Wendy and Dustin to join us last year.  

[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Wendy and Dustin "][/caption]

I don't need to say how they felt about the Gateway Lodge, they are also going to be joining us there tomorrow.  I will post some photos of the trip when we return Sunday.

P.S. - Thank you Bonnie and Don for watching the kids and letting Casey and I get away, we owe you!

Happy New Year

We are blessed!  Casey and I were able to enjoy a night out as adults without kids, thanks to Casey's mom.  Casey and I were able to enjoy dinner tonight at Zolas.  It is one of our favorite places to catch dinner together.

 

[caption id="attachment_117" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Casey and I at Zolas"][/caption]

 

At Zolas, we both enjoyed a 2007 bottle of Amayna's Sauvignon Blanc.  Casey enjoyed her dinner which included a salad of Apples and Dried Cranberies and grilled Chilean Salmon.  I enjoyed a dinner which included the same salad and a jamacian jerk pork tenderloin.  For desert, I had the pumpkin cheese cake dumplings and Casey had the Crème brûlée sampler.  Yummy.  Zolas is a great place to enjoy great and uniquely prepared food.

After dinner, we caught up with some of my co-workers (Andy and Tom) and enjoyed drinks at Champs. 

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2008

This year's Christmas was great! The kids had a lot of fun opening their gifts from Santa.  Hailey and Tyler were so excited to see all the gifts that Santa left and they had even more fun opening them.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="Santa Left Lots of Gifts, click the image above to view the gallery."][/caption]

Christmas day events...

Opening Santa's Presents

Of course, first we opened Santa's gifts.

Lunch

I took my grandmother out for Christmas lunch at Toftree's.  They had a nice buffet consisting of breakfast and lunch foods.  Her and I had a great time and really enjoyed everything they had to offer.

Grandma Presents

Casey, Hailey, Tyler, and I went to my grandmother's house so we could exchange gifts with her.  The kids had a great time and really enjoyed their gifts from GG (great grandmother).

Casey's Parents Dinner and Presents

Casey, Hailey, Tyler, and I went over to Casey's parents for a wonderful dinner (Ham, Scalloped Potatoes, Corn, and Cheese Cake).  After dinner, we exchanged gifts.  We all went over to Casey's aunt and uncle's house to visit.

 

Christmas Eve 2008

We went over to my Dad's place for Christmas Eve dinner again this year.  My aunt and uncle were also there, so we got to spend some quality time with them.  The dinner was great, we had turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans.  For dessert, I made a gluten-free pumpkin pie and my aunt made her awesome cookies.  After dinner, we exchanged gifts.  It was great time and the kids were pretty good for the most part.  Tyler kept pointing for another one of my aunt's cookies, it was cute!