Wednesday, October 23, 2013

1st Annual Gluten Free Oktoberfest

What an amazing night. Words cannot describe the gratitude that we have towards all of the support we received from friends, family, companies that attended and the gluten free community. I am blown away from the gluten free love. Myself and the Lovely Atherton family from Atherton Baking Co spent the past 6 months planning GF Oktoberfest. It started as a short conversation about how us awesome gluten free folk deserve an oktoberfest too. Since there are none around, we decided let's throw one ourselves! We are beyond proud of the event. Almost 30 companies joined our GF Oktoberfest in hopes of raising money for the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Research Center's gift basket program. If you want to check it out go here! and if you couldn't attend and still want to donate go here! We can't wait to release the grand total of what we raised! Stay tuned and we will see you next year for the second annual GF Oktoberfest! Cheers!


Our lovely volunteer at the raffle table. We had the most kick ass raffle prizes ever! From GF Flour mixes, to cookbooks, to tons of full size products, we cannot begin to thank the amazing people who made this possible. Thank you to Karen Morgan of Blackbird Bakery, Jilly and Jessie Lagasse of GF Table, Erica Dermer from Celiac and the Beast, Naked Cafe, Bakery on Main, XO Baking, Pam Jordan from I am Celiac, Namaste Foods, Larabar, Celiac Sucks, Tasty Bite, Vega, Kyra Bussanich from Kyra's Bake Shop, Boll Weevil 53, Kinnikinnick, and so many more. We love you from the bottom of our gluten free hearts 


The beautiful Beth Manos-Brickey and Mark Brickey make up the design team Hero. They have some of the most amazing art prints. Beth also runs one of the tastiest gluten free blogs around Tasty Yummies. We loved having this duo!



I absolutely love April Peveteaux. She is a beautiful soul, a dedicated mamma, a celiac advocate, hilarious author and so much more. Here she is making Gluten her bitch. Make sure to check out her blog and follow her social media accounts for all things April.


Boll Weevil 53 came out to cook up some delicious GF Brats cooked with New Planet Beer. The guys at Boll Weevil are awesome! They take such great care of the gluten free community in San Diego. Thank you Boll Weevil!


The lovely Udi's and Glutino ambassador Sandra. We love her! She brings such a positive energy to the Celiac community. Thank you Udis and Glutino for creating such tasty treats and making the gluten free journey a bit easier. 


UHH guys, have you tried Tasty Bite?! It's SO good. I could eat the lentils all day. Thanks Tasty Bite for coming out to GF Oktoberfest! We loved trying all the gluten free options!


Bakery on Main is the best! They were one of our awesome sponsors. We couldn't have done it without you! Have you tried their oatmeals? It's my go to meal when I travel because they make it so easy with their personal size oatmeal packets. They came out and sampled some of their tasty granolas and Truebars. We love you Bakery on Main!!


Barons! The wonderful Barons! Thank you so much for sponsoring GF Oktoberfest. They are my favorite store in San Diego. Baron's Market has a HUGE selection of GF products. Check out the blog feature I did. They have 4 locations all around San Diego so make sure to stop by and check out all the products they have to offer.


Honestly refreshing to have Honest Tea at GF Oktoberfest. I am obsessed with their teas. They brought so much positivity to the event and it was such a pleasure having them. They shared their new tea, unsweetened lemon and it's just the perfect amount of lemon and sweet! Thanks Honest Tea!


Plentils, Plentils and more Plentils! Thank you Enjoy Life for supplying us with endless plentils and decadent bars. They were a hit!



Krave Jerky! I am beyond hooked.  This isn't your mediocre jerky. Krave has the most delicious flavors of jerky known to man! Black Cherry Barbecue pork jerky is by far my favorite jerky that I have tried. They have exotic flavors, use quality ingredients, loaded with protein, low calorie and SO delicious. Thanks Krave Jerky!



A huge thanks to the wonderful Susan O Brien for coming out and sharing your positive outlook and tasty treats. This is one of my favorite cook books for so many reasons, not to mention Susan is one of the sweetest ladies around.


Arctic Zero is a treat that tastes sinful but totally isn't! So go ahead, grab a pint! Thank you to these Arctic Zero ladies for coming out and treating us all to a tasty dessert alternative!



*Yes, you read that right... Gluten Free Sourdough. Holy Moly. Seriously people, it's amazing. Not only is it delicious and tastes like the real thing but Randi Cook is one of the sweetest down to earth girls around. We loved having her at GF Oktoberfest. Make sure you check out her website to see where you can buy some Cook's Gluten Free Sourdough.*


2Good2B Bakery and Cafe joined the fun! One of the best certified GF eateries in San Diego. They have the sweetest tastiest treats as well as entrees like sandwiches, pizza, and chicken pot pies! You can order online and they will ship to you! Thanks 2Good2B!



The lovely Alyie from Gluten Free Please! She supplies a few coffee shops around San Diego her delicious GF baked goods. Her GF Chai donuts are probably one of my favorite things in existence. I am so glad she was able to join us and let people try these tasty treats.


I love me some Erica from Celiac and the Beast. She is so much fun to be around. What an amazing woman and advocate for the Celiac and gluten free communities. She just wrote a book!! Yea!! I can't wait to read it because I know it's going to be a hilarious book about what it's really like being gluten free. Make sure you check out her blog for updates! Thanks for all your help Erica!



I was so excited to try Barnana. I was even more excited after I tried it. Barnana is made from organic bananas. It's gluten free, vegetarian, and uses non gmo ingredients just like the way nature intended it. SO TASTY om nom nom  

We had gluten free beer and ciders galore at Oktoberfest. It was incredible to be in the company of New Planet Beer, Omission Beer, Greens Beer, Crispin Cider, Fox Cider, and Ace Cider. Thank you all for your hard work! We know pouring those samples was crazy! You guys deserve a million gluten free beers for all your effort and hard work. WE LOVE YOU!



New Planet for the win! Thank you to the wonderful guys at New Planet for coming out and sampling all 4 of their gluten free beers! They have pale ale, raspberry ale, amber ale, and a blonde. No joke, all 4 are amazing...and hey, so are the New Planet guys


*Omission came out with an IPA, attention all! I said Omission came out with an IPA. I'm in love. It's SO good. Not only that but they also have a new cider from Square Mile Cider Company. The Omission table was one of the favorites of the night and had people laughing and enjoying beer samples all night. 



Sadly because I am a big goon, I didn't get a lot of pictures that night. I was having too much fun. Here are some of my favorites from our hashtag #gfoktoberfestsd and from the lovely Erica Dermer from Celiac and the Beast, April Peveteaux from Gluten is my Bitch , and Beth Manos from Tasty Yummies



A huge thank you to all of the gluten free companies that helped make this night SO special. We were truly blessed to be in a room with you! There are no words. Thank you to everyone who came out! Thank you times infinity. XOXO 







Monday, October 14, 2013

GF Oktoberfest! San Diego!


Hey San Diego!
This Saturday!
Gluten Free Oktoberfest brought to you by yours truly and the wonderful Atherton Baking company. 

Come check out an amazing event with some tasty treats the whole night!
We hope to see you there!
XO

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Dark Horse Coffee Roasters


Down on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights is a little local coffee shop that serves up some of the best coffee around. I knew the very first time I tried Dark Horse that it was a special place with some very delicious coffee and friendly employees. It quickly became my favorite coffee shop and I dream about the coffee and their incredible iced latte with house made syrup. 


You can smell the fresh beans roasting as you walk up. I wish I could bottle that smell and carry it with me. The world would be a happier place if everything smelled like fresh coffee. 

Have you ever tried pour over coffees? For some reason, they just taste better. The roasts are excellent and the prices even better. 

Okay, I rarely make claims like this but this is the best iced latte in San Diego. I go out of my way often just to stop and get one. I am a Dark Horse addict with full on iced latte cravings. 

What goes better with coffee than donuts?
Gluten Free Donuts!

Donuts and other gluten free baked goods are made by the lovely Gluten Free Please. You can find her treats in a few coffee shops around San Diego (Dark Horse Coffee, Subterranean Coffee, Young Hickory, and Lazy Hummingbird) You can place special orders too!
Those tasty donuts below are the Chai donuts.  
Make sure to check out her instagram. Drool worthy pictures of her gluten free baked goods and she lets you know what she baked that day and where to find it. 
Instagram- Glutenfreeplease 



Support your local coffee shops!!
Read the story about Daniel and how Dark Horse was born.


3260 Adams Ave, San Diego, California 92116
 619-344-6962

Instagram- darkhorsecoffee