Italy/ Evil Disney

I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow, and was VERY nervous about food until I found out these really awesome yet surprising facts.

1- Every kid gets tested for Celiac in kindergarten.
2- Pharmacies are REQUIRED to carry gluten free food.
3- The government gives you a little extra money every month to buy gluten free food.
4- Schools must have gluten free lunch options.

So, learning this, I am beginning to wonder what the Italians would think of Disney channel's Jessie episode when the little annoying boy Steward has Celiac disease and is laughed at ON THE SHOW. After many people got angry, Disney channel deleted some scenes and put it back. Though, some parts are borderline rude.
There is another blog that has more information on this episode, including the deleted scenes. I will include the link below:
http://glutendude.com/media/disney-thinks-bullying-a-gluten-free-child-is-funny/
Note: Read everything below, too.

Regular Smoothies

Today my mom and I went into a smoothie place to see if I could have one.

My mom asked if they were gluten free, and received a quizzical look from the lady at the counter as she said 'It's just regular."

We left.

Oh well.

Evil Article

Hi!
I decided to recently start this blog up again.
Recently there was an article in the Washington Post about gluten free. Normally, that would be good publicity, but, it wasn't a very positive article. They made fun of the gluten free dieters who think it is healthy. They said that companies are making gluten free options just to make a larger profit. (which might be SOME of what is going on, but, still). A lady made fun of gluten free foods on a show claiming they tasted "like cardboard". The lady also said that "If you are going to send a gift, let it be enjoyable." Well, ma'am, it's hard to make anything enjoyable with you on this earth.
Here's the link below:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/backlash-has-begun-against-gluten-free-dieters/2014/07/06/61953aba-f7be-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html\
Enjoy!

Just Because You Don't See it, Doesn't Mean It's Not There

Isn't it infuriating when people decide they want to eat something you can't and then STICK their hand into your bag of pretzels so you can't eat them anymore? I think so.

I'm in the New York City STEM science fair. This year, you have to solve a problem through an experiment and my experiment is to see the best way to clean off a surface with allergens so you don't have to worry about cross contamination. With this information, people will be able to know how to stay safe, and that just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there. But it turns out, cleaning off all the allergens is harder than it seems. Using a napkin may clean some things, but not everything comes off with two swipes of a paper towel.

I expected it to be easier to get the allergens off, but it almost seems like they stick to the surface. Even hydrogen peroxide didn't loosen it.

The fair is in three weeks, and I will post images of my results.

Bye!

Eastwood Falafels

There is a restaurant called Eastwood that just opened in my neighborhood and is brand new. There, even though they aren't the main things they make there, Eastwood makes REALLY good falafels that are gluten free and vegetarian. The chef let me come watch her make everything we were getting for dinner. First, the chef took a mushy mixture that would become the falafel and shaped it with a scooper to make it into a patty shape. The patties were put in the fryer. about one and a half minutes later the fryer was put on a hook above the oil, and the patties, which were turned crispy and were ready, were put on a paper towel to soak up any remaining oil. Then they were put in the box. Here is  a photo I took while the chef was making the falafels and french fries:

TADA! There was also salad and french fries to complete the order. Dinner that night was VERY delicious.

Treat Heaven

I went to the Eloise Plaza Hotel and had tea there on New Year's Eve Day. It was kinda cool that I could walk into this place, especially as it's so popular and everything, and feel I could basically order everything I wanted without having to bother if it's "ausome" or not.

They were able to make food that I could eat specially. It was really pretty.

We went and sat down and there was a Kid's menu. But it turns out you didn't get to choose one thing. What you did, you ordered the desserts and ALL the desserts came on leveled trays. And all the sandwiches would come. I think it was the biggest meal I have ever eaten. Because I ate four sandwiches (even though they were kind of small) and ate two scones. Then for dessert I tried to choose the desserts I ate so I wouldn't get sick afterwards, but it was kind of hard because there were so many and they were all good. I ate all the bon-bons. They were cool and looked like literally works of art. I liked those the best.

They didn't advertise and make it obvious they had things I could eat. They just made it, like it's not a big deal. And it's not. But lots of places treat it -- celiac -- like it is. So having a place where everyone goes, and not a place where people have to eat specially or be more conscious of what they eat, I could pretend for that whole tea that nothing was really wrong. I was one of the random people that would go and walk into Dominoes Pizza or something and not even have to ask. So that was cool.

Forgive and Forget

Hi! I feel like using a random color. I closed my eyes and picked, and it was purple. Anyway, here’s the point of this blog post. Today at school someone was passing out a piece of cookie and accidentally gave me some. I was about to say, “sorry, I can’t really eat that, but thanks,” (as everyone in that type of situation would) but then another person (I can’t name them, not that you would really care, considering you probably wouldn’t know them either way) reached over and grabbed it, and said very loudly, rubbing it in, (though I think they just meant to be funny, or something like that, I don’t know, I’m not a mind reader. But don’t get me wrong, they can be really fun, and hilarious, so they didn’t mean it to be rude or anything) “I’LL TAKE IT!” Ok maybe that’s too loud. More like this: “I’ll take it!” Yeah, that’s about as loud. Anyway, the person who gave it to me kept apologizing (another annoying thing, although it was nice to hear they sounded like they meant it). Oh well, forgive and forget. Tomorrow I won’t be mad anymore. Only one more thing left.

GOODBYE.