The Gluten-Free Trifecta

We had a big family reunion this summer in Santa Barbara, CA. I spent many long weekends there as a child and kept seeing places here and there that I distinctly remembered. It is such a beach town and despite a lot of morning fog, it was a gorgeous week.

As a celiac, one day in particular stands out. My Dad is the first one up and he goes out to the local places for a cup of coffee, the newspapers and treats for the kids. He walked in one morning with muffins—including a bag of these gorgeous gluten-free blueberry and cranberry muffins. This gourmet grocery store, Lazy Acre’s, had a wonderful selection of gluten-free products and their muffins were very tasty.

We organized after breakfast and toured the Mission of Santa Barbara, which escaped fire damage in May of this year. All that history stirs up the appetite and the whole gang piled into cars for lunch at In and Out Burgers. Once you get all the crazy ordering lingo down, you can order a burger “protein style” and it comes all wrapped up in lettuce….with any of the fixings you desire. While it’s not exactly lo-cal or something that you want to eat every day, they really are the best burgers and fries I’ve ever eaten.

For our dinners, each family took a turn cooking and my sister served up a big taco and burrito fest. As a Mom of two gluten-free kids, she finds some interesting and tasty products. In California they have these teff tortillas and they were just outstanding. You could really roll them up and make a burrito. I must find these on the east coast.

I have my memories and my collection of shells on my desk from that vacation and if anyone knows where I can find those teff tortillas, let me know!
Kendall Egan