So You're a Glutard: Sweet 27

Slightly over a year ago, I was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance.  I tearfully bid goodbye to cakes, pasta, pretzels, pizza and all other deliciously wheaty treats.  I feel lucky to not have full blown Celiac's disease, but it doesn't lessen the general annoyance of the gluten-free lifestyle.  As a result, I cook for myself far more often than I go out to eat.  Salads get tedious, and you just never known when a soup is thickened with flour or your bento box is doused in soy sauce instead of  tamari.  Twitter has been helpful, with various folks shooting their gluten free finds in my direction.  Baltimore, though, is still woefully behind for those of us living the gluten-free lifestyle.  I envy friends in New York and San Francisco with hoards of rice or corn-based options on every corner, and tell myself that it's only a matter of time until Baltimore joins their ranks.  It's not to say Baltimore isn't trying - Brick Oven Pizza in Fells Point offers a pretty solid gluten-free thin crust pizza, and Woodberry Kitchen has an entire gluten-free menu and always bring me a gluten-free snack when everyone else orders the bakery tray.  Artifact Coffee gave me a gluten-free scone once, and I'll never forget how exciting it was to enjoy a flaky, buttery baked good just like everybody else.

An Oven

I cook quite a bit.  There are few things I love more in the world than coming home, putting on a podcast, and cooking up a storm.  My only roommate is my dog, but I still manage to cook for four to five people a night.  A few months ago, my 1973 (rough estimate) oven went on strike.  It was a crapshoot every time I turned it on, and I had to have a clever back up plan for every meal that called for baking.  I sauteed a lot of kale.

My landlord concurred that it wasn't just a broken oven, it was an old, decrepit oven that needed to be replaced.  I thanked the kitchen appliance gods that had also gotten me a new fridge a few weeks before hand, but not until I had two straight months of mysteriously chunky milk and thawing frozen vegetables.

I came home from work two hours early today; I haven't been feeling well and was hoping I could just nap off what I theorize is an impending cold.  As I was approaching my block, I wondered why on earth there was a massive 18-wheeler on the corner, and when I got to my building, I knew what it was.  My oven had arrived.  After weeks of bookmarking recipes that called for an oven, it was finally here.  But it had arrived the same day I just wanted to turn my room into a cave and sleep until it was dark.

I tried to take the dog for a long walk to give the maintenance guy some privacy while doing the 'ol oven switcharoo (he declined my offers of assistance), but a chubby, short dog is not inclined to walk for longer than 30 minutes when it's 88 degrees out.  When we got back, I tried to do some more work, because napping while a man installs your new oven just feels weird.

He left at five.  I should've just stayed at the office.

All my kvetching aside, I still got a solid two-hour nap in this afternoon and am feeling slightly less "ehhh."  The sneezing and runny nose persist, though.  I now have a functioning oven, after months of being relegated to the stovetop!

So you're new to Bmore.  May I suggest some gluten-free baking options for when you find some wonderfully priced avocados at Safeway?  (Inspiration found here)  I didn't have chevre or parsley on hand, so I used swiss cheese and some smoked Chipotle hot sauce.  Bacon would've been phenomenal on it, as well.  If you're new to Bmore and sick in colder weather months, I cannot recommend Soup's On highly enough.  They make my ill I-don't-want-to-cook-but-need-to-eat-something-lest-I-disintegrate heart happy.

Fun aside: my new oven came with a "Recipe for Safer Cooking!" pamphlet, complete with colored illustrations on how to keep an eye on your food.  It's also designed as though it could be on a Tampax box, with some violet tones and swirly pink font.  Wonderful.