Canadian Bacon Barbie

Not only are these named after one of my favorite colleagues, but they also taste pretty damned good. We gluten-free freaks have no problems with chips in general (potato, corn, etc.), so this isn’t a category lacking in GF options. However, these chips have the delightful side benefit of being thick and uniform enough in shape to pinch hit for crackers. The sea salt variety tastes great with bean dip and is versatile enough to accommodate cheeses or even tapenade. The honey dijon variety also fills the void left in my life when I went gluten-free and had to give up Snyder’s Honey Mustard Pretzel Bits. Actually, it’s not like I ate said bits all that often in my previous, non-GF life. But I kind of liked having the option.

Lundberg rice chips also come in a tantalizing array of flavours, including pico de gallo, sesame seaweed, and fiesta lime. I’ll hopefully be sampling all of these soon. YAY.

Some disorganized thoughts:

Hotels

The hotel situation seemed interesting to say the least. I didn’t stay at the conference hotel (big mistake) and instead went for the Comfort Inn and Suites, where my roomate and I encountered the following:

• Men’s underwear in our bathroom. No men were staying with us.
• A broken vanity light, probably resulting in overdone/excess make up to compensate.
• Keys that stopped working after 1-2 uses
• Surly hotel staff who didn’t seem to care about any of the above

However, we did get a free breakfast that included Quaker oatmeal, which was a welcome addition for my gluten-free self.

Jodie found a “quaint” little hotel in the French Quarter… so quaint that she had to check out of it the last night and stay at La Quinta by the airport.

Both C. and J&S stayed at the Doubletree Hotel, where they encountered:

• Free warm cookies upon arrival and upon request
• Critters (in C’s room)… but at least they gave him free drink coupons

I know where I’m staying next time.

Shopping

There was a Saks Fifth Avenue right by the conference hotel. KRGP and I spent a good amount of time there trying on designer clothes and then deciding they weren’t perfect enough to merit the major cash outlay. I almost bought this trench coat but decided it wasn’t practical to get a white coat that I’d be afraid to wear for fear of soilage. Instead we both bought a bunch of MAC cosmetics which we knew we’d put to good use.

We also went to a Nine West Outlet where I got white ballet flats and a white purse. I also got an awesome Puma bag that I will use to schlep my laptop to the coffee shop every day instead of my old brown leather one.

We also went to a yarn store where we each bought 4 skeins of unmarked kettle dyed, merino yarn. Katie bought hers first, on a solo trip. She showed it to me at the hotel and we both marveled at how much it resembled Malabrigo., So went back to get some more and told the salesperson we both couldn’t get over how much it resembled Malabrigo. “It is Malabrigo.” Right. So for some reason they took off the labels so no one would know what the dye lot or brand was, and then they sold it for $2-4 more than usual. I almost put mine back, but the lady started talkinga bout how the shop was locally owned by a woman who had been there since 1852 and rebuilt after the hurricane etc. etc., so I eventually succumbed. Oh well. You can never have too much Malabrigo, even if it is overpriced.

Food

Eh. I’m no foodie. I ate wherever and generally found that there was lots of gumbo available and nothing else of too much interest for the non wheat eater. I did have an excellent meal at Brennan’s with Jack and a bunch of Penn Staters after my panel. Most of us ordered fish, which was delicious and buttery, and I had bananas foster for dessert. Yummy. I wonder if someone has come up with gluten-free beignets. I should’ve investigated this beforehand but usually I’m lucky if I get a flight and a hotel room within a week of the conference.

The Actual Conference

I was a bit of a slacker this time. I did hear Cheryl Glenn’s excellent speech at the plenary, and went to Jess, Jenn F, and Rosalyn’s panel on historiography. I heard a so-so panel on the rhetoric of science. I went to my own panel. That was about it. I feel a bit guilty for this but somehow my time was occupied with social engagements and a meeting or two. I felt like I was missing everything, including several parties, a meeting (*oops*), and a good chat with some close friends from grad school. I don’t know how to remedy this.

I didn’t even have time to look at the book exhibits much, although I am eternally grateful to the good looking guy at the Inside Higher Ed booth, where they had free chocolates. I love the free chocolates. And the magnetic poetry they handed out was cool.

Lessons learned:

1. It pays to pay more for a nicer hotel.

i. If you find men’s underwear in your hotel bathroom, and you are not staying with any men, leave immediately.

2. Someone needs to make gluten free beignets. Maybe me. These could also morph into g-f portselkje for good Mennonite New Year’s day fare.

3. Add an extra day to future trips if you want to shop/socialize and also actually attend the conference.

This was my first attempt at making paska ever, and making it without wheat was a challenge. My mom tried this recipe but said it was only so-so, so I thought I’d look for a GF challah recipe since I think the texture might be similar. So I adapted this one.

I left out the honey and the potato flakes, and I added lemon extract for authentic paska flavour. I also added about a tablespoon of milk as the dough was mixing because I thought it seemed a little dry. And of course I iced it with homeade icing (butter, vanilla, icing sugar, and a tiny bit of lemon extract) and added the requisite rainbow sprinkles. I think it turned out pretty good–the bread was a bit more yellowish in color than regular paska, but the texture was pretty similar (shown below):

Overall I’d say this was a pretty successful adaptation, although next time I’d try the regular oven to see if I could fix the lumpiness. As you can see, i had to fill in some of the holes with extra icing.

Trader Joe’s recently opened a store in Chapel Hill, and to be honest I don’t really get what the big deal is about. They do have cheap prices on organic shampoo and stuff, but other than that I didn’t find anything really exciting to buy. I don’t eat wheat so I was hoping to find some cool gluten-free products. I ended up buying some bread that was labeled as “Quinoa” bread, but because I was in a rush I didn’t check the label to see that it actually contains wheat flour. Oops. On a whim, I did buy a tin of their Peppermint Bark to take to some holiday parties, and it is actually pretty good. And I don’t even like mint.

I’m also really excited to use my 2008 Moleskine Red Pocket Daily Planner. I was have such high hopes that the New Year will somehow turn me into a neater, more organized, and more efficient person. You never know.

The T. J. Maxx in my area has for the last year had a Runway section that includes actual designer fashion items. I don’t know where they get the stuff, and for the most part I don’t think they do to well in this area. Because who do you know who shops at T. J. Maxx but might also be willing to spend $400 on a yellow pleather Dolce and Gabbana sleeveless vest/top with black lace inserts? The prices are still somewhat outrageous on most of the things, although I have been very tempted by a Marc Jacobs jacket I saw there. The good part is that they are now stocking tons of jeans: Seven, Paper Denim & Cloth, Joe’s Jeans, Antik denim, etc. I have been unable to resist this part and recently purchased some Sevens that are sort of like this:

They look really cool with heels or with flats. So now I am in the same conundrum I always face with jeans, which is: should I keep them long to wear with heels? Or should I hem them to wear will flats? Inevitably I go to the tailor, who says she can hem them somewhere in between so I can wear them with both, but then really they are too short for heels so I end up wearing them with flats. I’m going to try to resist. Or maybe I just need two pairs. Hint hint. Although I’m not telling you what size I wear.