Racing to fill orders...

at Vanilla Spoons.
(Photos via Copenhagen Cycle Chic)

Holiday gift baskets at Vanilla Spoons

There's one way to take the stress out of your holiday shopping: Order a gluten free gift basket from Vanilla Spoons. If there's someone on your list who has gluten intolerance or a wheat allergy, you can feel confident in choosing one of our gourmet gift baskets which have movie-themed names like Close Encounters of the Sweet Kind and Mix and The City. (Cheeky, I know.)

(Photo via Google Images)

Visit Vanilla Spoons. It's my [gluten free] bread and butter.

Vanilla Spoons. For all your gluten free gift giving needs.

(Photo via weheartit)

Weekly links

How was your Thanksgiving? I forgot to make the mashed potatoes, and somehow I managed to feel quite full without eating any turkey. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend! Links...

turn tablecloths into curtains at Apartment Therapy

make gluten free chocolate snow eggs at La Tartine Gourmande

order a gluten free gift basket at Vanilla Spoons

build a stowable upholstery workbench at Curbly

use decorative pillows to make a headboard at Apartment Therapy

make lots of cards from just two punches at Crafty Pod via Craftzine

sew a ruffled messenger bag at Between The Lines via WhipUp

(Photo via Apartment Therapy)

I absolutely love the name and tag line of this shop.

Here are a few things sold at Noun...
Wanna guess the name of the shop's blog? Grammar Girl of course.

By the way, I'm in the process of creating a new gluten free gift basket for Vanilla Spoons. Do you have any suggestions of a movie-themed name for this new basket?

(Layout via Oh Joy!)

Even French FLOWERS seem more stylish.

By the way, if you blog about my gluten free gift basket shop Vanilla Spoons, let me know and I will mention your blog in a thank you post.

(Photos via Design Sponge)

I love Cynthia Nixon who loves YummyEarth candy.

And guess who features YummyEarth's organic candy in their gluten free gift baskets? You guys are so smart. Here is Vanilla Spoons' description of the candy:

[Featured are] YummyEarth's handcrafted organic lollipops with flavor names like Mango Tango, Pomegranate Pucker and Chili Mango Mambo. Best of all, these little suckers are certified organic, 100% vegan, kosher, gluten free, peanut free and tree nut free, egg free, dairy free, corn syrup free and soy free. Now that's a mouthful! In fact, this candy company has been recognized by Harvard Medical School for their organic mission.

You can find these yummy pops in Movie Mania, The Graduate and Close Encounters of the Sweet Kind.

Weekly links

Step lively this weekend! Here are some things you may want to do...

learn how to grow shamrocks at Martha Stewart

make curried red lentil, chickpea and red kale soup at Food Blogga (Though it's not specified as gluten free, it's naturally gluten free. Just make sure you use a gf vegetable broth.)

use fabric paint to transform upholstered furniture at Apartment Therapy

make an embroidery hoop chandelier at Gingerbread Snowflakes via Craftzine

make an abstract mobile at Dinosaurs and Robots via Apartment Therapy (Never imagined I would be using the words dinosaurs and robots on this blog.)

paint your closet doors with a trellis pattern at Modern Homebody AND Chez Larsson via Apartment Therapy (Did I miss a credit to someone here?)

make your own photo cuffs at Photojojo via WhipUp

I'm taking part in the Hooked on Fridays blog carnival going on now at Hooked on Houses. Check it out to see what people are hooked on! (I'm hooked on my gluten free care package discount offer.)

(Photo via weheartit)

Is your college kid allergic to wheat or gluten?

We call it The Graduate. Remember this? A gluten free care package from Vanilla Spoons filled with yummy edibles. Artisan-crafted chocolate bars which were described as the "Best Organic Bars" by Food & Wine. Gourmet peanut butter with flavors like Mighty Maple and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. Home-style vegan cookies from the lovely Liz Lovely. (A little warning about these cookies: My two girls WHO CAN EAT GLUTEN once scarfed down the Chocolate Fudge and Chocolate Chip before their celiac bro ever even had a crumb. Crummy indeed. True story.) And much more.

From now until March 20 we will offer a 10% discount on The Graduate. Just enter ANM for the code. Bridget (or Jake) will love being surprised by this gluten free goodness you send.

Here's another one.

Yay Namaste!

And if I possess even the smallest amount of marketing savvy, it's probably important for me to mention that Namaste's gluten free baking mixes are featured in a few of Vanilla Spoons' gift baskets including our Mix and The City and Close Encounters of the Sweet Kind.

(Episode 11: ...But Which Brownie Mix? from Bethany Lee on Vimeo)

Subliminal Advertising

Vanilla Spoons.

(Photos via Apartment Therapy and Flickr)

He could've been a contender.

A scene from the classic On The Waterfront that used to correspond to my On The Camp Front gluten free gift basket over at Vanilla Spoons. For some reason, I get goosebumps every time I watch this clip.

A spiel about celiac disease, gluten free food and Vanilla Spoons.

Some of you have asked me for the low-down on celiac disease and gluten. As the owner of a gift basket shop that sells exclusively gluten free foods, I assume everybody has heard about the gluten free diet. I sometimes forget that before my son was diagnosed with celiac disease ten years ago, I didn't know what gluten was either.

In a nutshell, celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate gluten--the protein found in wheat, barley and rye. Gluten is literally the "glue" that holds together baked goods and pasta. Although gluten is found mainly in foods, it may also be in everyday products such as medicines, vitamins and lip balms. Now given that I am not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV, I'm going to send you here to read more about it.

Since there is no cure for celiac disease, a strict adherence to a gluten free diet needs to be followed. This is the tricky part. It involves reading labels, phone calls to food manufacturers, reading labels and re-reading labels. The cool thing is when you focus on all the naturally gluten free foods. Like fresh fruit and veggies; fresh meat, chicken, fish and eggs; potatoes, rice and quinoa; cultured plain yogurt; and aged block cheeses and many varieties of real cheese (assuming dairy is not a problem for you). It almost sounds like the caveman diet, remember that one?

Certainly there are the obvious forbidden foods (bread, pizza, bagels, muffins, donuts, crackers, cookies, cake, brownies, cereal, fried food). BUT the gluten free versions of all these foods do exist. Buying them or making them is just a little less convenient. But since when is convenience usually the healthier option anyway?

I started Vanilla Spoons because it was something I was already doing. (Albeit without pay.) I call myself the Expert Label Reader. I'm constantly searching for new, delicious gluten free food products that are not always found in the mainstream marketplace. Vanilla Spoons represents my view on living a gluten free life. All the food and fun that can be enjoyed. Vanilla Spoons is an experience that combines creativity and deliciousness.

Thanks for taking the time to read this (if you've made it thus far). It's an unusually long post for Absolutely Not Martha.

(Image from here)

Say it with a gluten free gift basket.

Just a reminder that Valentine's Day is less than three weeks away! So if you're thinking about what to do for the dietarily-challenged person in your life, may I suggest one of our gluten free gift baskets from Vanilla Spoons? It would be deliciously thoughtful.

(Photo source seems to have vanished...sorry!)

Spread the gluten free love Valentine's Day.

Wouldn't you love to make these adorable heart-shaped waffles (gluten free, of course) for your valentine? First though you'll need a delicious gluten free waffle mix which can be found in Vanilla Spoons' Mix and the City gift basket. Order while supplies last. (I just wanted to hear how that sounds. The part about while supplies last.) Seriously though. You can place an order.

(Via weheartit)

I'm in the grey mood for love.

After you order a Vanilla Spoons gluten free gift basket for your gluten free love-ah this Valentine's Day, be sure to check out these LOVE Candy Prints from Made by Girl. They're hand silk-screened and printed on recycled paper. They're absolutely lovely. Can you say "love" four times in one brief description? That's five.

VS again. (And I don't mean Victoria's Secret.)

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I used to have these movie clips on my Vanilla Spoons website. Now they'll live here. VS, by the way, is an online gluten free (and wheat free) gift basket company. So here's a scene from a classic. The Graduate. It went with this gift basket. Think gluten free care package.

Accomplishments

It's a wonderful feeling when you're getting stuff done. Right now is one of those moments. I've got the dishwasher and clothes dryer going simultaneously. Yay!

Are you getting holiday shopping done? Be sure to check out this place if there's a person with a wheat/gluten allergy on your list. Here's another one of those movie scenes I had originally posted on Vanilla Spoons. It went with The Nutty Granola Professor gluten free gift basket.


lovin' le lewis (The Nutty Professor)

And while I'm in YouTube mode, take a look at this incredible live acoustic of Adele singing Chasing Pavements. My most favorite song of 2008. If I had one wish it would be to sing great. Like Adele.



My favorite movie of 2008? That's a tough one given I had seen only two. (And technically Alvin and the Chipmunks was the end of '07.) C'est triste for the once upon a time movie buff:( So here's my fave and only from the past year:


scene from Sex and the City: The Movie

Have a lovely Monday!

I Love Charlotte

Before the birth of this blog I had movie clips posted at Vanilla Spoons. There's a movie to correspond with each gluten free gift basket. (For example, a scene from On the Waterfront went with On the Camp Front, The Graduate with The Graduate, and so on.)

Well here's the Sex and the City clip I had used. (It goes with the Mix and the City basket in case you're wondering.)

Don't you just love Charlotte? Her spontaneous reaction of genuine delight upon hearing Carrie's news makes me smile every time I watch it. :)

Vanilla Spoons Of Course

Who are we kidding? The only reason I started this blog was to plug Vanilla Spoons. So plug away I shall.

In search of the perfect gift that shows them you get it? (I am referring here to your loved one's gluten/wheat intolerance.) After spending nearly a decade checking and re-checking ingredients labels, I decided to start a little gluten free gift basket business. (My son was diagnosed at age two with celiac disease which means he can't eat foods containing gluten.) Me putting on a gluten free baker's apron and opening a bakery just wasn't in the cards.

There are 7 different baskets to choose from ranging in price from $69.95-$139.95. You'll notice a movie theme thing going on over at Vanilla Spoons. For instance, there's Close Encounters of the Sweet Kind filled with sweet stuff like chocolate bars, licorice and white chocolate peanut butter. Yum. And there's Mix and the City which has an assortment of gluten free mixes and comes with VANILLA extract and wooden SPOON. I know. Corny.

So please do check out the store if you'd like. Holidays are right around the corner, yada yada.