Girl Scouts go gluten-free
If you’re a fan of Thin Mints, those peppermint-patty-like wafers sold by Girl Scouts everywhere, you might want to try some of their new flavors this year, one of which you can offer to your gluten-sensitive friends.
The do-good organization for young girls will be selling gluten-free Toffee Tastic, butter cookies with toffee bits. It’s the first time the 98-year-old organization has offered a gluten-free option nationwide.
The other new flavor, Rah-Rah Raisins, is an oatmeal raisin cookie with whole oats, raisins and Greek yogurt-flavored chunks.
Another new feature is the ability to buy the famous cookies online. Just ask your favorite Girl Scout and she’ll send you a secure link to buy the treats through the organization’s Digital Cookie program.
Go ahead, buy a box of cookies from Feb. 8 to March 15 and help a girl.
Best-selling cookbooks are an eclectic mix
Continuing the gluten-free theme, neurologist David Perlmutter, who wrote the best-selling book The Grain Brain, recently released a cookbook to go with it.
The premise of the original book is that inflammation is a major factor in many debilitating illnesses that afflict Americans, especially those that affect the brain such as Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD and epilepsy. Perlmutter believes that by removing inflammation-causing refined grains and sugar, you can prevent many diseases from occurring at all.
His The Grain Brain Cookbook continues that theory by offering recipes that lack grains like wheat and rice and rely instead on vegetables, proteins and good fats. His version of steak Diane, with filet mignon, butter, cognac and Dijon mustard is good enough to get you to give it a try.
At Maria’s Bookshop, the $30 book ranks as the third most popular in the cookbook category. Ina Garten’s Make it Ahead, $35, is next and topping the list is Thug Kitchen, a profanity laden spoof that actually has some decent recipes, for $24.99.
Ska brews oatmeal ale for 2015 Snowdown
If you’re looking forward to Snowdown 2015 and want a sneak preview of the special beer Ska Brewing has cooked up for the occasion, check out the oatmeal pale ale.
It’s the 20th year the local brewery has made a unique beer for the downtown party. It’s creamy and smooth, light in color and just a little bit hoppy and at 5.5 percent alcohol, it falls in the middle of the road for buzz factor.
Try it with pizza for a true Steampunk Snowdown snack, which hits town Jan. 28-Feb. 1.
Pamela Hasterok
