Rain Breaw

Pumpkin Chocolate Cake

Thanks to Whole Foods for their pumpkin chocolate cake recipe!

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipeId=2635

This recipe translates beautifully into a gluten-free and egg-free version. The pumpkin ensures that you still get a tasty cake. We had great success making it gluten-free and egg-free by using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free all purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon of Xanthan gum in place of the wheat flour, and the equivalent of 2 eggs using Ener-G Egg Replacer.

Next time we make this, we’ll definitely try the chocolate chip suggestion from some of the comments.

Gluten-Free is not a marketing tool!

After an unfortunate reaction to Trader Joe’s supposedly non-gluten Organic Corn Dippers, I have sent the following email to Trader Joe’s.  If you are gluten-free, or if you have gluten-free friends, please help me in encouraging Trader Joe’s to get it right.

Dear Trader Joe’s –

Nearly two years ago I was diagnosed as celiac. At the time, I was in love with Trader Joe’s, and shopped there almost exclusively.  Upon receiving my diagnosis, and understanding that I could not have any exposure to wheat or gluten at all, I began to look carefully at ingredient lists.  At the time, I discovered immediately that I could no longer enjoy Trader Joe’s as a viable place to shop, as nearly everything (corn chips, even!!!) was made on shared equipment.  Trader Joe’s doors were suddenly closed to me.

A few months ago I began migrating back for the sparkly drinks and an excellent dark chocolate bar.  Sadly, however, I also became excited and lured in, and ultimately decieved, by your extremely irresponsible marketing ploy of labeling products with a cute little “g” followed by “no gluten ingredients used.”

I know when I’ve had gluten or wheat: my stomach gives me severe pangs, my eyes swell up as if I had pink eye, my skin becomes raw and burns.  All of this occurred after enjoying your supposedly safe Organic Corn Dippers.

Sure, you do say in the fine print that “no gluten ingredients used” does not necessarily mean that it’s safe for those who must be entirely gluten free.  But, ultimately, I have to say that I find this to be an extremely irresponsible marketing ploy of which you should be ashamed.

Gluten free is not a fad, and should not be a marketing tool.  It’s a serious health issue.

I hope you take this email seriously and do not dismiss it.  I would love to know that my favorite grocery story is one I can trust, and I’m really sad say that right now, I cannot trust Trader Joe’s.

Sincerely,

Rain Breaw
Glendale, CA

Rain Unfriendly Foods

Enough people have wanted to know what I can and cannot eat that I decided perhaps I should make this information available in a readily accessible place.  :)

Following are the specifics of what make up “Rain-Unfriendly” foods.  (Thanks to my friend Mollie for coining the term “Rain Friendly,” which is being co-opted here.)

Hopefully I’ll start having a little more time soon to spend on increasing the usefulness of my blog in finding good celiac-friendly recipes.  Suffice it to say, fresh foods are wonderful!  I feel like Jon (who does most of the cooking) and I are eating like royalty.

Rain’s Allergy List:

MUST BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS:

Gluten - which includes:

• wheat
• malt (often — if it says “corn” or “rice” based it is okay)
• maltodextrin (often — if it says “corn” or “rice” based it is okay)
• oats (unless explicitly labeled “gluten free” - Bob’s Red Mill has this)
• rye
• barely
• spelt

Eggs

HIGHLY ALLERGIC:

Dairy (aged hard cheeses can be tolerated in very small amounts)
Caisen
Whey
Pineapple
Soy (note that this is the base for a lot of “vegetable oil” so check carefully)

MODERATELY ALLERGIC, CAN TOLERATE:

Peas
Almonds
Chicken

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO NOTE:

The following wording on product ingredient lists usually means something really bad, specifically wheat based, might be in the product.  It is best to avoid such products unless they are specifically labeled “gluten free”:

Natural Flavors
Vinegar (if it just says “vinegar” — “distilled white vinegar” (especially Heinz), “apple cider vinegar,” “balsamic vinegar” and other vinegars derived from known safe origins are safe)
Apple Cider Flavored Vinegar (apple cider vinegar is fine, flavored is not)
Food Starch
Modified Food Starch
Artificial Flavors
Artificial Colors

For a very helpful list of safe and not safe grains and things to watch out for, see this page: http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/theglutenfreediet/a/GrainTable.htm

There are also links on this page to many other useful resources.

Unbelievable.

The top headline and teaser from today’s NY Times is the best example of why our nation has little hope for change.

Conservatives Map Strategies on Court Fight
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
Preparing to oppose the confirmation of President Obama’s eventual choice to succeed Justice David H. Souter, conservative groups are working together to stockpile ammunition.

How is it possible to have a fight already underway when the choice hasn’t even been made?  Does this mean that it doesn’t even matter who Obama chooses?  A fight (which will cost tax-payer dollars and take time away from efforts to recover our nation’s economy) will ensue, NO MATTER WHAT?

The full article is, of course, far more informative and doesn’t make this inevitable fight seem quite as childish as the headline does (it goes into the reasons conservatives oppose the top names in the “hat,” as well as listing candidates these groups would like considered):

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/us/politics/17conserve.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th#

The basic point, however, is that for too many years there has been far too much counter-productive fighting in our government.  It’s not helping, and we as a nation are losing out.

Letting Go

On January 27th, my dear friend and business partner, Charlene Sun, was killed in a car accident.

The days and weeks and now nearly two months since the accident have been increasingly difficult.  Shock and aloofness turned to sadness, and that sadness has now turned to rage.  Such a remarkable human being.  Sure, as all friends do, we had plenty of moments of taking each other for granted.  As business partners, we had moments of needing time away from each other in order to make sure our friendship didn’t suffer.  And yet, we were always in agreement.  We understood each other.  We could even complete each other’s sentences or thoughts or design concepts.

Charlene’s mom, a truly remarkable soul in her own right, told me after the memorial that, according to Buddhist tradition, today, March 26th, is the day we need to let Charlene go so that she can be reborn.

I honestly do not know how I can let go.  Every day I work with Charlene’s designs.  Every day I work as the Rain of SunRain — SunRain, a partnership.  Whether I want to or not, I am constantly working with her files, trying to find how she set things up so I can complete them, trying to live up to the standards we set without the other half.

And yet, I take such comfort in the thought that her soul can be reborn that I will do my best to let go just enough so that I don’t hold that possibility back.  She brought glee to the most dull of moments, saw texture where there was nothing, and helped all of us be better.

To that: 

Charlene - travel lightly, find joy where ever you go, and may there always be an adequate supply of boba in your journeys.  I love you.

cwsun.sunrainproductions.com

For Ada Lovelace Day

A while back I joined a pledge to write about a woman in technology that I respect on March 24, 2009.  The occasion is Ada Lovelace Day.  In the time since I pledged, my life changed dramatically.  Originally, I would have posted about some cool women I’ve recently learned of, such as Christine Peterson (credited with coining the term “Open Source”!) or Drupal powerhouses such as Emma Jane, Angie Byron or Addison Berry.

Instead, however, I’m going to use this as an opportunity to honor someone very dear to me who was, sadly, lost to this world prematurely due to a reckless driver.

First, a little about “Ada Lovelace Day” and the purpose of this blog post: 

http://findingada.com/
http://twitter.com/FindingAda
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/findingada

Quoting from Suw Charman-Anderson: Who was Ada?
Ada Lovelace was one of the world’s first computer programmers, and one of the first people to see computers as more than just a machine for doing sums. She wrote programmes for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine, despite the fact that it was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software.

Suw Charman-Anderson chose to ask the social networking world to blog about a woman in technology on this day, March 24, 2009.  Resulting posts can be found in a mash-up here:

http://ada.pint.org.uk/

MY CONTRIBUTION: Charlene Sun 1974-2009

Charlene was a remarkable person with many talents, and she inspired numerous people.  Her passion was cinematography, but she also had a significant impact in the world of digital art and fan art.  Her talents as a digital artist left many dumbfounded.  More importantly, she generously spent time online on forums both of her own creation (she was the founder and moderator of hakubaikou.com, among others) and others (such as deviant art) mentoring other digital artists.

Charlene was also a web designer and enjoyed creating visually rich and beautiful user experiences. Together, she and I created over 50 websites as SunRain Productions.

Charlene was truly defined by her generosity and her integrity.  For her, technology was another tool towards making the environment around all of us a more beautiful, intelligent and textured place.  She learned what she needed to accomplish her goals, helped where ever she could, and created beautiful work, but was always humble through every step.

She is a role model for all of us.  I am proud to have this opportunity to blog about Charlene in an arena where she will be noticed with so many other remarkable women.

With love,

Rain

 

Another Food Allergy Person

The funny thing about facing food allergies with gusto: people come out of the woodwork to talk with me about my solutions and to share theirs. There are so many of us, truly, that I’m suprised awareness is still as limited as it is.

Last night I wrote an email to a friend of a friend who recently learned about gluten/dairy/egg/sugar sensitivities.  Since my last useful post was so long ago, I thought I’d share some excerpts from that email here.  Hopefully I’ll keep up with this blog more frequently, as we have been eating like royalty!

A COUPLE OF GENERAL TIPS

Useful Cookbook
There’s a great cookbook called “The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook.”  A lot of the recipes in it are great.  It’s also helpful because it gives you tips on things you might want to have around: nutritional yeast, plum vinegar, things that you wouldn’t think of on your own.

Eating Out
Eating out is really tough, both because the food always seems sub-par compared to the fresh food we make at home.  (Not to mention the limitations in selecting good food because gluten/wheat is in everything.  Mexican frequently has safe options, so when I have to eat out I try to recommend Mexican.  I just have to be sure to ask them to hold the cheese, sour cream, spanish rice (flour is frequently used to make the color stick in restaurants) and to make sure that the tortilla is corn.  And any time we eat out we have to make sure they aren’t using butter.

SOME FAVORITES THAT WE MAKE AT HOME

Sweet Potato Butternut Squash Soup
We tried this one this past weekend, and it is delicious.  No substitution required!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/health/nutrition/20recipehealth.html

Buckwheat Pancakes
We also had these this last weekend.  It doesn’t even taste like you are trying to “make do” or substitute!
http://theppk.com/blog/2007/09/22/gluten-free-buckwheat-pancakes/

Arepas
It’s a Venezuelan/Columbian corn-based “biscuit” type food that is truly delicious, and can make for fantastic sandwiches, a good “bread” to go with soups, and staple to keep around.  Arepas don’t keep well at all, so it is best to make what you can eat when you want them.  The first few times we made them by hand in a frying pan.  A bit of a pain in the butt. Jon (my boyfriend who is not gluten sensitive but has chosen to follow my diet because we eat so well) then bought us an Arepa maker, and it’s gold.  The ingredients: treated corn flour (extra thin), salt, water.  Perfectly safe.  The trick for you will be getting the flour.  While it is common in central America, it’s a little tougher to find in the US.  The best flour you can find will be made by a company called P.A.N.  You can order the flour online if there are no markets that carry it near you.

Jon wrote up the recipe:

2 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups pre-cooked cornmeal
3 tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a medium mixing bowl add water, salt and pre-cooked cornmeal. Mix thoroughly by hand or with a wooden spoon. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes. Form the dough into cakes about the size of your palm, approximately 3 inches round and 1 inch thick. This will make 6 to 8 arepas. Fry the arepas in a pan with oil over medium-high heat, 5 minutes per side. Transfer the arepas to a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately. The outside should be crispy and lightly browned. The inside will be doughy. Use as you would bread. Cut open and add your favorite fillings including meat, beans, cheese, etc.  It’s important to use pre-cooked cornmeal for these to work right. It goes by the name masarepa or masa precocida. P.A.N. is the most popular brand name. You might find it by asking for Harina Pan. There are other brands such as Goya. Check your local latin market. You can make a less fatty version by using an arepa maker. Oster and Imusa make these kitchen appliances.

No on Prop 8

My Mom on Prop 8 (she’s really nailed it):

“When you allow, honor acknowledge acceptance, tolerance and love we all win. Anything that creates more fear, division, superiority and or hate gets a no vote from me. Simple”

I have to say, when the campaigning for and against Prop 8 began, I was somewhat annoyed. Our world as we know it is threatened right now, what with global warming, a complete economic meltdown, an energy crisis, a looming water crisis that no one talks about, wars everywhere, famine, etc. I kept asking: what are we doing talking about marriage with all of this going on?

Seeing the intensity of the “Yes on Prop 8″ campaign, however, and hearing the ludicrous claims such as “allowing gay marriage means our children will be taught about gay marriage in elementary school,” I’ve come to realize that this is, in some ways, one of the most important California propositions on the ballot this year.

Why?

Well, for the reason my mom stated above. We have a proposition on the ballot that promotes constitutionalizing discrimination. We have people in a huge rage against love. Our priorities are extremely out of balance right now.

The last eight years have all been about fear (axis of evil, terrorists, if you aren’t with us, you are against us, the list goes on). Can we now rise above the past eight years and our long-time fears to help each other find peace in our communities by accepting each other for who we are and how we choose to love?

Why I’m afraid of the Hatchet.

When McCain says that what we need is an absolute spending freeze, except in defense and “other essential services,” what, exactly, does he intend to freeze?

Thinking about the services the government offers, from infrastructure to medicare to education, police, firefighters, I’d like to know what it is that McCain considers un-essential.

California may have to have it’s own spending freeze - possibly even before the November election.  If it does, what will happen?  Will classroom doors be open?  Will firefighters be available to save a family from a burning home?

Will my mom be able to access the medication she needs to continue on to the next day?

What happens when the entire nation has to suddenly start asking the single final question I asked above… will my mom, my son, my brother, my grandmother?

Obama is damn right we need a scalpel, not a hatchet!  Nothing is more likely to cause utter chaos, even potentially riots and, well, serious harm to our internal national security, than a majority of Americans genuinely fearing the untimely loss of their loved ones.

On another note, regarding foreign policy: I’m scared.  I was somewhat young and naive in November of 2000, when election “results” came in and I immaturely yelled at my Republican friend and co-worker: “he’s (Bush) going to start World War III.”  What frightens me is that I was not entirely wrong.  If we don’t turn things around now, I’m afraid history will show me to be right.

For an important read that is far less scattered than this post debate #2 blog post, please check out the New Yorker’s sound endorsement of Obama:

www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2008/10/13/081013taco_talk_editors

Stand Up To Cancer Mobile Donation

Developing a mobile donation piece for Stand Up To Cancer has been very educational.  Mobile Giving, a new company that works with non-profits offering a mobile donation mechanism, has really helped us through this and enabled us to have this cool little widget.  

After you donate, you’ll be able to copy the code and put this widget on your own blog, website, or elsewhere!