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The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides Review

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Last year, Triumph Dining released a two-part series of cookbooks/guidebooks, The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide, Part 1, and The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide, Part 2. Co-written by Iris Higgins of Your Fairy Angel (formerly The Daily Dietribe) and Brittany Angell, this series is unlike anything else that’s available on gluten-free baking. And I mean that in the best possible way! Today I’m sharing The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides review.

The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides Review

The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide, Part 1, by Brittany Angell and Iris Higgins

and

The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guides Review

The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide, Part 2, by Brittany Angell and Iris Higgins

To explain my earlier statement on these gluten-free cookbooks being different from anything else on the market, let’s just look at what each part in the series covers. Part I is subtitled “Learn how to use Amaranth, Almond, Quinoa, Garbanzo, Millet and Coconut Flour in 50+ recipes.” Part II is subtitled “Learn how to use Sweet Rice, Sorghum, Buckwheat, Teff, Cassava and Potato Flour in 50+ recipes.” Each part addresses the flours individually telling you their characteristics and giving you tips on working with them.

There are also “Ask the Experts” sections where experts in the gluten-free world (e.g., Elana Amsterdam, Kelly Brozyna, Ricki Heller, Kim Maes) answer several questions. It’s really helpful to hear their differing perspectives and ideas. In some cases, their answers differ because of their specialty area of gluten-free baking (such as coconut flour or almond flour).

Last, there are recipes … lots and lots of wonderful recipes. The ones that appeal to me most just from peeking at these cookbooks are Vanilla Wafers, Oreo-Style Cookies, Molasses Spice Cookies, Gingerbread Angel Food Cake, Yeast, Free Vegan Sandwich Bread, Naan, Italian Style Flatbread, and Soft Pretzels.

That these two cookbooks, each just over 160 pages, contain such a wealth of information and it’s all presented in an easy-to-read manner. For the person who wants to understand gluten-free baking and produce amazing baked goods from day one—no matter which ingredients one is required to use—this is the series to buy!

home for the holidays, gluten free, holidays, gfe

In keeping with my Home for the Holidays series, I asked both Iris and Brittany to share their thoughts on home and holidays.

Iris

What means home and holidays to you? I am one of those annoying people who goes around singing Christmas carols from the end of November until the New Year. I absolutely love the winter holidays. Growing up, we spent every Thanksgiving and Christmas with my maternal grandparents, and it was such a joyous time. We would bundle up in our car and drive an hour to their cozy suburban house where my Grandma would be waiting at the door. My grandpa would sometimes dress up as Santa and “ho ho ho” around the house. He was one of those happy grandpas who always had a twinkle in his eye; he made the perfect Santa. So for me, the holidays is a time for family traditions and being together. Now that our family is growing, I’m so excited to share our traditions with our new family members, and I can’t wait to have children of my own someday so that I can share the warmth of the holidays with them.

How has that changed since going gluten-free? My first couple of years being gluten-free, I was determined to show everyone how good gluten-free could taste. I ended up stressing myself out making a gluten-free version of everything, and in the process, completely lost the point of the holidays. This year, I’ve been approaching it all differently. Of course I’ll do lots of cooking, but I’m letting go of the need to make everything be perfect. All I want this Christmas is to make a healthy and tasty dinner for my family that will allow me to actually spend time with them. I’m letting go of any recipes that require a lot of time and sticking to simple dishes. This is the one time of year I get to be surrounded by everyone I love most, and I want to appreciate it. Ultimately, I think going gluten-free has forced me to remember the true meaning of the holidays…and it’s not food.

Brittany

What means home and holidays to you? I have fond memories of making sugar cookies and gingerbread men every year with my mom. She always allowed me to invite some of my friends over and we had a ball making an absolute mess of the kitchen getting flour, sprinkles and frosting on every surface possible. Christmas Eve and day always entailed a feast- my favorite was Christmas morning. Growing up we ate very healthy, but on Christmas morning my mother made every indulgent thing that we could dream of. It was the only day of the year that we were allowed to eat as many cinnamon rolls as we wanted. Food is the center of my happiest memories.

How has that changed since going gluten-free? The first year giving up gluten I was still very sick, and didn’t have any understanding in how to bake or re-create my favorite dishes. That was the only year that was difficult and that I felt deprived. Since, I have discovered just how much fun, and how wonderful gluten free baking can be (and should be). I now appreciate the holidays more than ever as they give me the excuse to bake around the clock and share everything I make with friends and family. I’m thankful to have my health and to have found my life’s passions in the kitchen through having to give up gluten. Life has a way of bringing beauty out of challenges.

To get a little taste from The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide series, check out these Lemon Squares.

UPDATE:  This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to the two winners, Vickie and Marcy Cherry! 

 

Iris and Brittany and their publisher are graciously giving away one copy of this series to one gfe reader. I’m throwing another one in, so two gfe readers will get a copy of The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide, Part 1 and Part 2.

***Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I’ll be taking some time off  with my family (and some friends, too). Hope you get to do the same! I’ll wrap up Home for the Holidays when I get back!***

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Comments

  2. This year, home and holidays is a little hard. Almost all my family is up north, including my oldest son, his wife and my 3 grandbabies. It usually is a wonderful time of sharing food, love and what is on our hearts from the past year. But it hasn’t been for the past few years because no one can afford to travel. So I have yet to meet 2 of my grandbabies. It is very hard for me. I am trying not to get depressed because I do have my husband and other 2 children, and I don’t want them to think that I love them any less. Just would like to have all my family together, including my dad, sisters and brothers, who are also up north. I am blessed.

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  3. Discovering sites like GFE has made it easier to cook and share food with my Landlady who’s GF…she doesn’t feel “left out” on all the holiday goodies!!!

    *hugs*

    LadyM

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  4. Time for relaxing and fellowship. Sometimes it is the only day I see my family. If it goes arye then it’s only one day and I won’t see them for another year…. Right!???lol

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  5. The holidays have always been a difficult time for us, since we were a military family, and often away from close relatives. Now that our children are grown and moved away – the house seems empty and lonely, and our “personal” traditions seem somewhat useless.

    Perhaps some day we’ll be able to get together again during the holidays, and new memories and traditions will again be part of our celebrations

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  6. to me Christmas is a time for traditions and family. It is a time where you get together and make cookies and just celebrate being together.

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  7. Home for the holidays is all about family and good food. Growing up in a big family there was always so much love (and some sibling fighting)… we all just loved my mother’s cooking… I try to carry on many of her traditions using gluten casein free versions..most don’t realized they are different from traditional recipes, and that is a most special gift.

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  8. Home is preparing things with my daughter. Having our special breakfast. Home is the heart, not a dwelling.
    thanks for all the recipes. I can take food places that ngf will enjoy & gf food for those who are.

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  9. I am going to try making Iris’s lemon squares for Christmas Eve dinner with my children and grandaughters tonight. Thank you for the giveaway, Shirley.

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  10. Home and Holidays means family! Relaxing with the kiddos and my husband – playing legos, assembling toys and sneaking in a little football.

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  11. Home for the Holidays really begins at Thanksgiving to New Years with lots of family time and those that do not have family near. I cook completely GF because if I can’t test what something tastes like I won’t make it. I love to try new recipes to surprise guests and family with – even the grandchildren. Our annual ‘baking day’ is maybe the biggest challenge for really good GF baked goodies that will be shared and shipped to extended family. Spending time in the kitchen with family creating tasty treats together – no matter the age (youngest child is 2 1/2) is what home for the holidays means to me and then sending to the homes of the loved ones that we can’t be with. We’ve always lived away from family and started this tradition with our 3 sons when they were younger and now with their wives and children. They even look for GF recipes that we can surprise people. Gluten has not hindered this tradition.

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  12. Home and Holidays means time to just hang out with my nephews–now 21months, 6 & 8 yrs old. I wish my 12 & 16 yr old nephews lived near by.

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  13. I love making GF sugar cookies with my kids. I love thinking about all of the ways that God has provided for me this past year and I love thinking about Christ coming into the world many years ago, bringing light into the dark world.

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  14. The home and holidays mean more time to be with the family, play a little more, stay in touch with those we don’t often see, and rejoice in Christ having come into the world – which is just amazing!

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  17. Home and holidays mean family time, being at home together, college kids back, and my gluten-free girl needing yummy treats. I am new to gfbaking,so this books would be a huge blessing.:) many thanks for your great informative blog ~ Happy Holidays to you and yours

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  18. Holiday Season means time to reflect on the meaning of Christmas and do a little something special with my family But it is hard since we don’t have any extended family. We are trying to do new traditions.

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  19. Shirley, I love your site and have had so much pleasure trying your wonderful recipes since going gluten free. Food is a big oart of every holiday for me, none more so than Christmas. I’ve read a lot about Iris and Brittany’s baking guides and would love a copy. I’ve been out of work a year and a half which is why I haven’t bought them yet. Top on my list when I get a job again. Thanks again for a great site.

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  20. To me home and holiday’s means connections. The connections to friends and family, near and far, are rekindled at this time of year whether in person or through cards and letters. We are connected to the past by recalling more innocent times through the joy and excitement of children around us. We reconnect to the traditions that bind us to one another and to those who have passed. New memories are made to connect us to the future. This year we are making connections from the traditions of the past to the needs of the present by adapting old favorite recipes to new gluten-free versions.

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  21. These holidays for me mean family, close friends and food. We have been experimenting with different flours and mices over the years, so these books would be fantasitc. My mom has finally landed on a great gf flour for her traditional biscotti, so I’m have a great Christmas so far. 🙂

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  22. Home and holidays:
    The joy of laughing children. Coming together with family that I haven’t seen in years and act like not one day had past. Seeing my child’s face light up. The celebration of Jesus. Seeing Him at work. Christmas songs. Happiness. Love. Joy. Praise. Grace. Blessings.

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  23. Home and holidays mean gathering with family and friends, who I might not otherwise see throughout the rest of the year. My cousins and I are all like brothers and sisters, but we didn’t get to see each other a lot b/c everyone lived far away. During Christmas though, when we got together, it was like we just picked up where we left off the last time. We would have so much fun talking, playing games, opening presents, having wrapping paper ball fights. Now that we are all grown up with jobs and some are married now, it’s even harder for us all to get together. So when we do have the chance to all be in the same place at once, I never take it for granted. That’s what home and holidays means to me. 🙂

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  24. Many thanks for the write-up on these books…I have all the flours, but haven’t used a lot of them. I’m a little bit intimidated by some of them & how they will handle. Thank you also to Iris & Brittany for their books, research & recipes.

    I would like to wish you & your loved ones a safe & wonderful Christmas season and to thank you for all you do for us, Shirley.
    Christmas has always meant family, friends and food to us. The parents are gone now, but we are Blessed to have our daughter home for a short time this Christmas…and a little sad that my twin nieces are out in Alberta; my sisters couldn’t make it either. Our large family is dwindling…thank goodness for the internet & Skype!!
    Have a Blessed holiday season!

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  25. It’s the time of year where I think about how grateful I am to have all that I do. I love my family and my friends and I’m really so lucky to be able to celebrate Christmas with them every year. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  26. Holidays are all about being with my family
    and sharing in the cooking! It feels a
    Iittle lonely this year with no immediate family
    to cook with! I’ll keep working on my kids though…eventually they will enjoy it too!

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  27. For me the holidays are for relaxing, slowing down and taking the time to do the things I enjoy but never have enough time to do like baking, calling family members and writing to old friends.

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  28. Growing up “home and holidays” meant going to my grandma’s for the traditional Christmas meal and gifts. However, now that I have children of my own, “home and holidays” has a completely different meaning. I never anticipated the joy of making our own Christmas traditions together. Seeing the kids’ delight in making gingerbread houses, decorating cookies (all gluten free of course! :)) wrapping gifts, decorating the house, hanging lights outside, has brought so much fun and excitement and special times into our home. The memories we are making are priceless…and I have just as much fun with their new toys as they do!! 🙂

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  30. Christmas is a special time of being together, fun, decorating, an celebrating Jesus’ birth for my family. We always read the Night Before Christmas and the Christmas Story from Luke 2. It is one of many traditions!

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  31. This is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for!

    Holidays are a wonderful time for seeing family, traditions and making great memories! I enjoy cooking and crafting with my sweet girl :o)

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  32. The holidays for me mean Family and Food. My Mom would make a huge deal out of Christmas dinner, and we cooked up a storm! We still use many of her recipes today.

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  33. Sharing the delight of your children on Christmas morning, very early on Christmas morning…enjoying the years when aunts and uncles and grandparents are visiting…going to bed way too late on Christmas Eve. Thinking about the hope we have in God’s son, the promised Savior.

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  36. This is my first Christmas without gluten and I am grateful. Since we lead a church, this has meant party after party. I’ve made sure to have a little something gluten-free around, and have learned to take satisfaction in what I don’t eat (and all the unnecessary sugar and calories these things would bring!) as well as what I do eat.

    Being gluten-free (and also egg, oat and peanut free—and only limited dairy) has taught me that having food to eat is a great gift. I cherish what I do have, instead of worrying about what I don’t have. What a beautiful heart to take into the holidays, focusing on what I do have to give and rejoicing in what I’m given, without worry or stress. For instance, while the rest of the family ate cinnamon rolls this morning, my husband lovingly prepared the best gluten-free muffins I’ve ever had.

    I look forward to learning more about embracing this new gift. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge.

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  38. Home and holidays are a time to be together. Hubby always saves vacation for school vacation time in December, so we have a good chunk of time to be together in a way that we are not the rest of the year.

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  41. Home and holidays means spending time with family and friends, time off from the stresses of school (for students and teachers!), baking, decorating, driving around to see Christmas lights,praying for those who are in difficult situations, and relaxing and enjoying!

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  42. We lived away from home for five years and never had anyone to share our holidays with. Now we’re back home and we share the holidays with our family. Its a blessing to be able to see our nieces and nephews growing up and for our kids to know the joys of playing with cousins

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  44. Being home for the holidays means so much to me. I live across the country from my family and its hard where I am because I feel like a burden to those around me with my dietary needs. When I come home for the holiday season I don’t feel like a burden at all, but my mom and I have a great time spending time together as we try new gluten free creations. Sometimes they are a success, sometimes they are less than stellar; but regardless I always cherish that time spent with my mom as we share doing something we both love… Cooking!

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  45. Home and Holidays are hard with family so scattered, so to me it means making the most of what you have with who you are able to be with. I have 2 grandbabies and my daughter and her husband that I am blessed to spend these holidays with. We had the most awesome “little Christmas” with all gluten and dairy free snacks and finger foods – everyone loved it. Only been gluten free a little over a month – but enjoying trying new things!

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  46. Home and Holidays mean lots of wonderful time with my adult children and partners. Lots of laughter, lots of competitive board games and lots of eating!

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  47. For me it’s all about family. I usually only see my sister at Christmas time because she and her husband live in FL and I live in MN. And then we visit all the extended family together!

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  50. The holidays mean family time, giving to those less fortunate, seeing the joy on the faces of children, singing carols, and eating some yummy treats!

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  51. Home for the holidays took on a very different meaning for us when we moved out of NYC after the attacks, leaving behind a city awash in Christmas splendor, part of the “new normal” in the weeks and months following 9/11. We moved South and I felt so homesick, arriving here only weeks before Christmas. I honestly can’t even remember what we did special in terms of food, and all I recall about the decorations is putting up our red, white and blue lights on the porch in honor of our fellow NY’ers. Over 11 years have passed now and this year became another one of “new normal” since our 11 year old was diagnosed this summer with celiac disease, a complete shock since he is asymptomatic. I never felt so lost or clueless in having to meet his needs but we quickly scrambled and developed the attitude that it wasn’t about the limitations of all that he couldn’t eat any longer, but rather about the whole new world that this was opening up. Literally, many countries in the world make amazing foods using flours other than wheat and it is now our mission to learn as much as we can and enjoy the adventure. Books like the ones featured will be a huge help in the journey to learn to make more hits than misses, more palatable than just plain yucky, as we’ve had quite a few of those, lol. Blessings to all in the GF community, we are feeling at home now. 🙂

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  53. I am brand new to trying to live gluten free and dairy free, as my son has been undergoing testing, and they believe he has Crohn’s disease. Winnning these cookbooks would help me, as I am greatly overwhelmed with the changes our family of eight will have to be making now.

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  54. Home for the Holiday’s for me means Rest,Reflect,Refocus and Rejoice. Also looking through cookbooks and Blogs to find the recipes I want to enjoy making,eating and sharing. I enjoy my garden and my kitchen and all the wonderful things I can make because of them. My time spent there takes me away to my 4 R’s above. Sharing the end product with others in my home or as gifts always puts a smile on everyone’s face and that is heart warming. With candles lit, Christmas lights on, music in the background and scents from the kitchen, that is Home for the Holidays. Happy New Year! P.S. I am gluten and dairy free also allergic to a lot of other foods.

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  55. Spending quality time with family and friends. It never seems we have the time to just relax and enjoy each other throughout the year.

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  57. Just found your website! I just returned from being with my Arizona family (parents and sister) and had a wonderful time! Family is everything and I’m so thankful and blessed by them! It was hard being away from home at Christmas, but home is where the heart is, right?

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  58. Home & Holidays are something very special! Home is a safe-haven and fun-filled place to come to gether as a family & Holidays just add some extra special things to that!! Very blessed with an awesome family to our house a HOME!!
    God Bless!

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  60. Holidays are faith reminders/activators to me. I like being able to sing in the Christmas Eve service and look ahead to hopeful promises of a new year on New Year’s Eve.

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  61. Holidays remind me of what is really important. I love cooking and I am loving learning all about different styles. It may take extra time but seeing my kids eating laughing enjoying life and being healthy makes it all worth it.

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  62. The holidays are all about family in our home. We sing carols and decorate the tree and our home, and spend time with extended family from all over. It’s a time to reconnect with those we love and remember what is truly important.

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  63. Holidays means family! We haven’t been able to go “home” to be with all of our relatives, so it is just the 4 of us. Both my kids are in college so having them home is what I wait all December for.

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  64. The holidays mean fun times in Canada with my in-laws! Snow, ice skating outside, all the fun stuff the kids love! We are going GF in the new year, so I’d love this opportunity! Thanks!

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  65. Home and the holidays simply means enjoying the place and the people I’m with at this very moment. Home is being with my family — they could be related or not — and relishing their company. Holidays is celebrating with new recipes and bringing out the old favorites. Food is absolutely a part of my home and holidays.

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  66. These books are amazing!!
    The holidays mean family and together special time with friends for me. It doesn’t have to be big or fancy, but people celebrating together who care for one another!

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  67. I already bought both of these books and LOVE them. Very knowledge filled. I would love to win these for a friend that also has food allergies. Thank you.

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  68. Home and holidays means hanging out and relaxing with my husband and kids. My hubby always saves up vacation days so we are all home during the 2 week Christmas break. We visit friends and family, we cook together, we travel, we watch movies, and play games….bascially, we make memories that hopefully last a lifetime.

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  69. Thanks so much for having the giveaway. I was surprised to find out I’d won. I will enjoy going over every page. Thank you to the Authors for the time and effort you put into the books. I’m sure I will refer back to them again and again. Wow this is GREAT!!

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    • Congrats, Vickie! You will enjoy this series very much. The information part in each is an easy, but super informative read. And you’ll love making the recipes, too. 🙂

      Shirley

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  70. I am so excited to have won this contest. It is a little spot of light and encouragement in what has felt like a hard, discouraging week for our family. On Friday, we found our out oldest son has Crohn’s disease. With that diagnosis, we have been making major changes in our diet and trying to become educated about the disease and what it will mean with medications and lifestyle, and gluten free has been one of the steps we have been trying, in the hopes that will help with symptoms and flare ups. As a mom of a larger than average family, we live a busy life. So a book like this will be very helpful in getting me started on how to bake gluten-free. 🙂

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    • Hi Marcy–Congratulations, dear! I’m so happy that this prize is a bright spot for you. There are so many with Crohn’s who are experiencing at least some success with living gluten free and some who are living med free and well via gluten-free living and/or more-free (e.g., grain free, SCD) living. I do think you will benefit very much from this Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide series. That makes me happy and I know that it will make Iris and Brittany happy, too. 🙂

      All the best to you in this next phase of your life. I’m happy to help whenever I can.
      Shirley

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