<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Celia Cooks, a mail order business carrying gluten-free specialty items and convenience foods is now back in business! I've included some information from their press release at the end of this post in order to add to the list's data about companies who provide gluten-free products. Anyone in the New York metropolitan area who would like to hear the owners of Celia Cooks, and try samples of their products, is welcome to join the Westchester (NY) Celiac Sprue Support Group at Phelps Memorial Hospital, North Tarrytown, NY at 2:00 p.m., this Sunday, March 10th, For further information about this meeting, contact Sue Goldstein <[log in to unmask]>, 914-428-1389. For further information about Celia Cooks, please contact the company directly at the telephone number, e-mail address, or postal address given below: CELIA COOKS: Celia Cooks, the mail order company specializing in gluten free gourmet and convenience foods has "frozen dinners without the freezer" as one of their new products. A technology, called "retort processing" makes this possible. This innovation allows a food manufacturer to package a meal in special laminated plastic pouches that seal in the sterile food, and seal out air and bacteria. The pouches can be prepared in a microwave oven, or dropped into boiling water for a hot meal that is ready to serve over the included pre-cooked brown rice in a matter of minutes. The company's newest catalog includes three different shelf-stable heat-and-serve entrees. These prepared meals need no refrigeration. One of these lightweight packages can be tossed into a briefcase or backpack, or kept as part of an "emergency food kit" in the trunk of a car. This company's goal is to offer an increasing variety of easy-to-prepare gluten-free meals, and to meet the needs of Celiacs. For example, customers who anticipate a hospital stay, can contact Celia Cooks.. They will ship specially prepared day-by-day meal packs,including instructions to the hospital kitchen staff or nutritionist. That way, the worry about finding gluten- free meals is relieved during that stressful time. The vegetarian dishes are produced by a manufacturer of international vegetarian dishes. Celia Cooks offers three dishes --vegetables in cream sauce, lentil chili, and curried garbanzos and potatoes. Celia Cooks state that they have worked hard to understand the gluten-free diet, and every box carries the 'gluten-free' label. The mail order company, which specializes in finding gourmet meals, condiments and snack foods for the gluten free diet, has added other new products. The new catalog describes a variety of gluten-free pasta, along with quick Alfredo, pesto, Oriental or Marinara sauces. Other new offerings are gluten-free steak sauce, marinades, crunchy sweet potato snack chips, lentil crackers, and regular and sugar-free confections. An online catalog is available on request via email to <[log in to unmask]>. The toll-free number listed in Bette Hagman's cookbooks has changed. The new number is 1 (800) 717-0005. Email orders or inquiries to <[log in to unmask]>. Mail orders can be sent to the new address (PO Box 2698, Darien, CT 06820).