Our Year at a Glance

Happy 2012! Our first meeting for 2012 will be held on February 11th at 12:00 in the Westbrook Library Community Room. Free for members, $5 for non-members.

Several vendors will be on-site sampling their foods, so bring your appetite! We’ll taste gluten-free goodies from Mad Gourmet (Guilford), baguettes from Everybody Eats (Brooklyn, NY), cookies, pies, bread sticks, brownies and more from Par-Dela (Stafford Springs), made with their delicious frozen dough, Lasagna made from DePuma's new lasagna noodles, and homemade Eggplant Parmigiano using Aleia's Italian-style breadcrumbs.

We are also delighted to announce that Ken Capano, Jr, owner of three Shop Rite stores in the area, will be at this meeting to taste vendor foods. If Ken likes any of the products, you may soon see them on Shop Rite supermarket shelves. This is your opportunity to talk to Ken about any products you would love to see carried at Shop Rite.

Reservations are highly encouraged, and please bring a favorite gluten-free dish to share.

Also Coming Up

On March 11, we’ll hold a Pancake Breakfast at the Westbrook Firehouse. In April, we’ll take an all-day restaurant tour in our excursion to New York City! A catered dinner at a local restaurant is planned for our meeting in May. We’ll break for the summer, then hear both Dr. Claudia Pillow and cookbook author Analese Roberts speak in September. Finally, we’ll wrap up the year with our annual kid-friendly holiday cookie swap – always a big hit for adults and children alike.

From the simplest endeavor of pleasurable gluten-free eating to delivering the latest health information, the Gluten Free Intolerance Group of Shoreline East (GIG) plans to cover it all, so check back often for updated information on upcoming events.

If you are new to gluten-free, don’t hesitate to try an event and see if GIG is a fit for you. All are welcome and you do not have to be a member to attend. Here’s to our health!

We're back!

The Gluten Intolerance Group of Shoreline East is happy to announce that we will be getting our blog back up and running!  Stay tuned for new posts and new authors!

February 2012 Meeting

Mini-Pot Luck Luncheon

Vendor Event

Presentation by Dr. Illick

As usual, there is no meeting in January. Our next meeting is Saturday, February 11 at the Westbrook Library at 12PM. Our medical advisor, Dr. Christopher Illick, has promised to appear and speak about the new research coming out of Australia which appears to be very promising. This meeting will be a mini-pot luck luncheon. There will be several vendors present and some new products for us to try. As long as there is no snowstorm to spoil things,please feel free to bring your favorite soup or salad to share. An email or phone call will go out Friday night if there is reason to cancel the meeting. Our January newsletter will have more information.

RSVP: shoreglutenfree@yahoo.com

Dues for 2012 will be collected at this meeting or checks may be mailed to 

GIG ShorelineEast at P.O. Bo 957, Westbrook, CT 06498.

SGFA: March 12th - Share & Network Event

No one ever said living with the gluten-free diet is easy. It isn't. It's a daily struggle to cook and bake differently; learning to make healthy food choices; shopping for groceries and often having to go to two or three stores; struggling with being able to afford the cost; not to mention having to feed a family or worse, having family members eating differently! SGFA strives to make it easier for our members, offering opportunities to network and share products and ideas that make our lives easier and healthier. The Saturday, March 12th meeting is for you. It will be a mini-vendor, networking, sharing event so BYOL (bring your own lunch) and your favorite new product to share. Come and enjoy some free products. Meet John DePuma and taste his newest ravioli! Salads, coffee and dessert will be provided. The meeting is free for members and $5 for non-members. It will be held at 12 noon in the community room at Westbrook Library. If you are newly diagnosed or struggling to stay with the diet and this total lifestyle change, this is the meeting that might just change your life! RSVP by contacting Sybil at 860-399-3410 or email shoreglutenfree@sbcglobal.net

Note: If you would like to share a hobby with us, this would be the time! Bring a sample of your jewelry-making, painting, weaving, knitting, woodworking, sewing, sculpture or whatever has kept you sane this winter.

Warm Up at the SGFA Monthly Meeting on Saturday, February 12th!

By mid-February, the winter is more than half over, so get out and come to our monthly meeting, Saturday, February 12, noon at the Westbrook Library! We are featuring comfort foods - Bring Your Favorite Soup or Chili and a Pre and Probiotics Presentation by nutritionist and SGFA board member, Susan Kyhn.

The owners of Everybody Eats, a bakery from Brooklyn, New York with the best rolls and baguettes this side of the Mississippi, are bringing samples of their products. We will also have salads, coffee and some special valentine desserts. There may be surprise visits from other vendors, the usual prizes and fun for all.

Sound like fun? This is a great opportunity to network and enjoy a simple hot lunch. Free for members, and $5.00 for non-members. Bring your soup or chili in a crock pot (we will have enough plugs), or your soup pot, enough for 8 servings. Be as creative as you want- bring your favorite old standby or your newest creation. If you don‘t want to bring soup, a green salad or fruit bowl would be appreciated. In case of really bad weather, the meeting will be postponed until March 12. (Really bad weather means more than an inch or two of snow, ice or worse!) Then again, we could be in the throes of a January thaw!

Please respond to Sybil at 860-399-3410, or email to shoreglutenfree@sbcglobal.net by Friday Feb 11, so we will have an idea of how many are coming.

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/b_2/