The Gluten-Free Food Allergy Fest was totally exhilarating. My good friend, Peggy Matthews, went above and beyond. I could not have done it without her! Thank you, thank you, Peggy! The conference staff was amazing as they were always helpful and efficient. The hotel staff at the Hilton Stamford was outstanding.
As I got to know the other vendors I was continually amazed at the stellar level of creativity in the products that people are bringing to the gluten-free community. Lots of whole grain pastas and chips, beautiful whole grain and grain-free breads and gorgeous healthy snacks and treats. We have waited a long time for the healthy products and I believe, they are here to stay!
We rented a cargo van to contain all the stuff we brought. Driving the van on the highway took a bit of getting used to but we eventually mastered it. Peggy loves to document events and took many fabulous photos. Here are the boxes finally unloaded in the exhibition area:
As I got to know the other vendors I was continually amazed at the stellar level of creativity in the products that people are bringing to the gluten-free community. Lots of whole grain pastas and chips, beautiful whole grain and grain-free breads and gorgeous healthy snacks and treats. We have waited a long time for the healthy products and I believe, they are here to stay!
We rented a cargo van to contain all the stuff we brought. Driving the van on the highway took a bit of getting used to but we eventually mastered it. Peggy loves to document events and took many fabulous photos. Here are the boxes finally unloaded in the exhibition area:
We brought those rolling carts as well as a toaster oven to warm up samples.
The 2-shelf cart doubled as extra table space, which we sorely needed.
The 2-shelf cart doubled as extra table space, which we sorely needed.
Peggy and I leaning on each other in utter exhaustion
after driving all day and setting up for way too many hours.
after driving all day and setting up for way too many hours.
Here are many labeled boxes of samples. (Peggy brought her label maker!)
We were left with many lbs. of samples due to much lower attendance than projected. Thanks to all of you readers who bought bread cubes for your holiday stuffing and cobblers!
We were left with many lbs. of samples due to much lower attendance than projected. Thanks to all of you readers who bought bread cubes for your holiday stuffing and cobblers!
I had the opportunity to meet many appreciative attendees during the 2-day fest!
There was one vendor sampling unbelievable Ethiopian food from a local gluten-free restaurant named, of all things, "Teff"!!
This is a family-owned business, with mom being the head cook. Check out their website: www.teffrestaurant.com/
This is a family-owned business, with mom being the head cook. Check out their website: www.teffrestaurant.com/
Their samples were served on little strips of Injera,
which is traditional Ethiopian flatbread made of fermented teff.
The artfully spiced vegetables and meat dishes were complimented by the
very sour, very spongy injera.
Peggy found out that their restaurant was close to the hotel and we eagerly planned to have our Saturday night dinner there.
After working a very long day, we thought we would go for a swim and then go out for dinner...just after we laid down for a little rest. We rested in bed for what we thought was a little while and woke up 3 hours later, astonished that so much time had gone by. Thankfully, we managed to find the restaurant before they stopped serving dinner.
Notice my plate with cabbage, kale and meat placed on a giant injera flatbread. The waitress showed us the traditional method of ripping off a piece of injera and scooping up the food with it.
We began ripping and scooping and dipping and found it worked really well. The metal taste of the silverware never interferes with the taste of the food. I never noticed the taste of silverware until I experienced the absence of it.
Peggy is holding up a piece of injera that is practically transparent!! It must take years of practice to make injera that thin.
Since the food was fabulous, we decided to order take out for the next day's meals. Notice the injera flatbread neatly folded in a take-out container. We were happily well fed for the next 2 days until we got home.
Gluten-free people know how challenging it can be to eat out so Peggy and I deeply thank Teff Restaurant for feeding us with such care during our stay.
which is traditional Ethiopian flatbread made of fermented teff.
The artfully spiced vegetables and meat dishes were complimented by the
very sour, very spongy injera.
Peggy found out that their restaurant was close to the hotel and we eagerly planned to have our Saturday night dinner there.
After working a very long day, we thought we would go for a swim and then go out for dinner...just after we laid down for a little rest. We rested in bed for what we thought was a little while and woke up 3 hours later, astonished that so much time had gone by. Thankfully, we managed to find the restaurant before they stopped serving dinner.
Notice my plate with cabbage, kale and meat placed on a giant injera flatbread. The waitress showed us the traditional method of ripping off a piece of injera and scooping up the food with it.
We began ripping and scooping and dipping and found it worked really well. The metal taste of the silverware never interferes with the taste of the food. I never noticed the taste of silverware until I experienced the absence of it.
Peggy is holding up a piece of injera that is practically transparent!! It must take years of practice to make injera that thin.
Since the food was fabulous, we decided to order take out for the next day's meals. Notice the injera flatbread neatly folded in a take-out container. We were happily well fed for the next 2 days until we got home.
Gluten-free people know how challenging it can be to eat out so Peggy and I deeply thank Teff Restaurant for feeding us with such care during our stay.
This post first appeared on Art Of Gluten-free Sourdough Baking, please read the originial post: here
