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Listmates:

Sorry it has taken me so long to summarize, but here I am, and here goes!

Thanks to the many, many people who responded!  I appreciate all of the
information and helpful hints I got.

**Chocolate**

As far as chocolate goes, I got many responses that Nestle chocolate chips are
GF.  The respondants said that Nestle has a list of GF products and is willing
to send them out (the chocolate chips are on this list).  According to the
information that I got, Hershey's is no longer willing to guarantee that any
of their products are GF and probably never will.  Seems they get a lot of
their ingredients ("artificial and natural flavorings", probably)from outside
sources and aren't supposed to ask what is in those ingredients or how they're
made.  Another respondant mentioned that Hershey's will tell a person if
individual ingredients are GF (for example, you could call about the modified
food starch) but not a product overall.

Sidona Ryan gave me a web site to find GF candy bars, so here it is:

http://geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/4003/gf-candy.html

Many respondants told me that Ghiradelli consistantly says their chocolate
chips are GF.  One of the responses I got said that their chocolate powder,
and candy bars (other than cookies -n- cream) were GF, too.

One message mentioned that Reese's Peanut Butter peices are GF, as well; the
company had confirmed that with her recently.

I was interested to find out that most gluten that gets into candy, however,
isn't from the ingredients in the candy, but gets in there from the companies
dusting the conveyor belts with wheat flour.  It seems impossible to know
(even for people within companies -  for example company customer service
people we talk to when we call) what touches the food we eat unless we make it
completely ourselves (more about this later!)

***Spices***

Spices seem to me a bit more tricky.  One respondant suggested I buy all
spices at a health food store where they sell them from big bins.  Though she
made sure to remind me to check with a clerk in the store to find out where
they get the spices and to bring my own scoop to ward off accidental
contamination from the mixed spices.

One of our listserv members from Israel mentioned that we can be safe by
buying spices which are guaranteed "kosher for passover".  Just "kosher" isn't
enough; they must be "kosher for passover".  She suggested getting in touch
with a Jewish community in my city to find out where I can purchase these.
She buys hers around Passover time (April) for the whole year.

Another of the respondants warned me especially of salt and pepper, because
they are especially likely to have anti-caking agents in them that are full of
gluten.  This person uses whole pepper with a pepper mil and sea salt without
idodine.

Many respondants suggested growing herbs myself, which I am considering (maybe
I'll try as soon as I can find a place the cats won't eat the plants!)

I was also grateful to receive an address at which I can order the Commercial
Products Listing, which is an invaluable resource for us, since it can tell us
what's in everything.  For those of you who don't already have this address,
it is:
        CSA/USA, Inc.
        P.O. Box 341700
        Omaha, NE 68131
The booklet costs $8.00 including postage.

The last suggestion I have is passed on from a message I received in response
to my posting.  This person said (and truthfully) that they only way we can
know for sure that our food is GF is if we make it all ourselves.  This
respondant suggested also assuming (which I already do) that all modified food
starch is wheat, all vinegar is from grain, etc.  If there is no label or if
the label isn't clear, it's best not to use it.  The same person suggest I buy
the book "Against the Grain", which I haven't yet read, but plan to.

Again, I appreciate all the responses I got, and wish you all good health (and
tasty eating!)

-Christie