We have all had a bad food experience at one time or another - sometimes created by our very own hands.  Before becoming gluten free, eating a bad meal was not a terrible earth shattering situation...I just moved on deciding if going back would change the outcome.  Today's I take a bad...even more so subpar meal very personally.  

Each time I go to a restaurant that is not dedicated gluten free (and there's aren't many), I dissect the menu like a high school student with a scalpel and a pinned down frog ready to get to the heart of the matter.  Do you have a separate gluten free menu? What exactly IS gluten free on the menu? How shared is shared equipment? Why do you have "low-gluten" on the menu? Many of my cues come from the server...if he or she says "ummmm, let me check with the kitchen" that is generally not a good sign. Confident servers with knowledge eagerly helping you navigate the menu are a godsend. When the meal is good and fulfills those great moments of anticipation, I am overcome with joy and relief.  Yes, I sound dramatic but its how my life is day in and day out. 

There are those times that the meal is bad. Let's not even discuss a meal that makes you sick because of a kitchen error or lack of knowledge. Rather its about the "creations" made by cooks and chefs that they serve on a plate and feel a gluten free person will just deal with.  I remember ordering a sandwich in Florida at a place that boasted "many, many gluten free options".  I assumed the reuben I ordered would be gluten free (on an Udi's or Rudi's bread if they didn't have capability to make their own).  Instead I was served a reuben on lettuce.  Last time I checked reubens don't come with lettuce and a definition of a sandwich is two pieces of bread with some type of filling.  

I have a dream one day that I will be able to walk in to other people's restaurants and order pretty much want I but until that time I have to be one of the people creating the place.  

How does eating out affect your food experience? What food items would you like to see on local menus?  

Here it is the first year after opening a new business.  I have learned a number of things myself.  One of the greatest lessons is take nothing for granted. Just when you feel that you have mastered an element of what you are doing, a proverbial curve ball comes your way.  I am learning how to stay calm and insert humor where I can because baking ain't for wimps and running a business is not for the faint at heart. 

What still amazes me is one idea of baking a muffin so I can have something for breakfast has evolved into what you see today. I started this business based on my own need - the need to find gluten free that didn't make me irritated I just spent $10 on a mix that did not work or tasted like paper.  The need to stop the incessant migraines that left me bedridden days at a time. The need to take back control of my kitchen and know that the food I was eating would not debilitate myself or my child. As I reflect back on where I started a year ago, I am grateful for the amazing customers, employees and the experiences.  I look forward to all the new foods and watching  (and secretly hearing) people exclaim with glee while they enjoy their first ever biscuit in years or the joy of running in discovering there are still cinnamon rolls in the bakery case.  This is why I get up each morning and enter Good Karma - to bring a gluten free food with love. So Happy Birthday from me to you...I hope you enjoyed your gift. 

P.S. Your other present is buy one meal, get one meal free on Saturday, July 20th. We want you to hang out with us so its dine in only.