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Deb's post inspired me to comment to the whole list. There's a book I
recently read called "Aging & Saging". I think the title has relevance to
this list as newly diagnosed celiacs write for help and those of us who are
experienced celiacs, reply.

In terms of food, I guess I always think in terms of "must" have and "would
be nice" to have and so when I discovered the celiac connection to all my
woes, I never indulged in wishing I could have the very same foods I had
always eaten. Instead, I made it my business to find out what and where the
gluten free foods were and I also learned how to adjust recipes. Over time,
I became aware of other people who were avoiding dairy, eggs, soy, or
lentils etc. etc.

The biggest problem has been "others" who keep thoughtlessly saying things
like "there's only a very little bit of flour in this - so why won't you
eat it?"  And that's because they don't see the reactions we have to
gluten, since 1. we all react somewhat differently and 2. the reaction is
not visibly life-threatening.

I'm getting married in a little less than a month & am personally
overseeing the food organizing to make absolutely sure that I know every
ingredient in every item. Just yesterday, while speaking to a supplier of
"rice stuffed" artichoke hearts, I discovered he also puts in some orzo.

And he told me this very casually AFTER I had explained that I was not
serving any items that had wheat (easier to say wheat than gluten sometimes.)

I'm serving an assortment of hors d'oeuvres & every platter will have a
small sign indicating the ingredients. Sure it's a bit more work, but after
all the times I've gone to events & discovered that there wasn't anything I
could eat, I'm making darn sure that won't happen at an event I'm hosting.
(If any of you have any vegetarian low-fat kosher-style hors d'oeuvre
suggestions, I'm listening.) And, yes, the wedding cake will be gluten free
(from Panne Rizo Bakery here in Vancouver) and I've also ordered a small
g/f egg/lactose free cake.

Good luck all newly diagnosed celiacs - there will always be surprises,
nice and otherwise, from people without any food restrictions, and the same
for products. Manufacturers are introducing new products just as
frequently, it seems, as they either change their recipes to our detriment
or cease manufacturing all together. So we all have to be sleuths.

Helen in Vancouver, BC