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)

Flickr photo: Vanilla Spoon

(There's also this Vanilla Spoons.)

(Photo via Flickr)

Flickr photo: vanilla spoon drops

Remember when I found out that Vanilla Spoon is the name of a flower? Well, here's another beautiful image of this African daisy. Isn't it amazing how the water drops are refracting (I just learned this is not the same as reflecting) the flower behind them?

(Photo via Flickr)

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!)

Did you know Vanilla Spoon is the name of a flower?

I just found out that the Soprano Vanilla Spoon is a type of African daisy which blooms from spring through fall. Notice the spoon-shaped petals?

(Of course there's this Vanilla Spoons.)

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.

French Aristocracy Photos by Lauren Greenfield

After discovering that I had missed Lauren Greenfield's lecture at Smith College, I decided to do some googling of Ms. Greenfield. And boy am I glad that I did. Because we all know that in addition to writing about 'la vida gluten free' and shamelessly plugging Vanilla Spoons, I can't resist posting--well, those irresistible images. And Lauren Greenfield's portfolio is chock-full of them. She was named by American Photo as one of the 25 most influential photographers working today.

The leader of a hunting club in the Foret de Cuvee sits down to a feast in the forest after the weekly hunt on horseback in Burgundy France.

Family and friends reunite at the family chateau near Paris for the occasion of an aristocratic couple's 25th wedding anniversary.

Elder women at a wedding reception in a chateau near Paris. Maintaining a chateau is a financial burden for contemporary aristocrats and some have turned to renting their chateaus for weddings.

Young aristocratic couples dance at the exclusive Jockey Club in Paris. To become a member of this elite club, families have to provide documentation going back several generations to prove the true nobility of their family line.

French aristocratic children join social clubs called "rallyes" which become their primary form of social life. They begin meeting to play bridge and theatre, then graduate to dance lessons, and eventually dance parties.

A maid dries dishes in the estate she has worked in since her childhood in Burgundy France.

Did you notice that nobody seems particularly happy in any of these?

(Photography and text by Lauren Greenfield via vii Photo Agency)

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)

Polaroid perfection

Oooh, how I love a good photograph. Or two or three. These lovelies are the work of Miss Aimee from Mostly Mod. She's been a professional photographer for ten years and shoots about thirty weddings a year. Miss Aimee also photographs children at her studio and on location during the week. Add to the mix a husband and three kids--she's one busy girl!

She has future plans to sell her photography, but for now says she is "keeping busy with clients, trying to organize our house, keep up with laundry, cooking, dining with friends and re-vamping our master bedroom!" Do check out her daily photo showcase of still lifes, weddings and portraits.

[I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by the fabulous Miss Aimee--pop over to read about how I started Vanilla Spoons and my top gluten free website picks!]

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)

It's a cool thing.

We are so pleased that Vanilla Spoons was featured on Cool Mom Picks yesterday. Check it out!

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!)