The Happiest Place on Earth

Southern California is full of fun filled day trip destinations. In less than 2 hours travel by car you can be frolicking in the waves at the beach, hiking in the mountains, picking apples in Julian, looking at lions and giraffes at the Zoo or going on rides and rollercoasters at one of many So Cal amusement parks.  Lego Land, Knots Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, Universal Studios are all lovely choices when you are looking for a day or two of amusement park fun. For me though there is one park in particular that I have a soft spot in my heart for. A place ingrained in my memory from years of visits for school field trips, family vacations and mini road trips with friends. A magical place that still makes me feel as giddy as a kid upon arrival and whose rides are as much fun today as they were when I was a little tyke (even if I do have to take motion sickness medication now to enjoy them!). 

From the candy stores and old world style shops lining main street to the drawbridge at Sleeping Beauty’s castle a day spent at Disneyland always manages to bring a smile to my face and fill my heart with childlike joy. I love all the colorful rides like Alice in Wonderland and Mr. Toad’s wild ride which remind me of story books from my youth. Then there are the mountain rides like Big Thunder, Space and Splash Mountain that are the perfect combination of slightly thrilling and fun. And of course then there are the classics like Pirates of the Caribbean, Tiki Lounge and Haunted Mansion which manage to maintain their appeal even though you go on them every single visit. As if this was not enough goodness to pack in one place there is another wonderful thing to love about Disneyland, something that has nothing to do with rides, characters in costume, or mouse eared hats. My newest and most happy reason to love a visit to the Magic Kingdom has to do with something near and dear to my heart and that as you may have already guessed is gluten free food.

Disneyland has so graciously embraced the gluten free community and offers a most extensive menu of gluten free snacks and meals throughout the park. Whatever you are craving from hot dogs and fries to pizza and pasta they have it. Not only do they offer gluten free options but they take the utmost care in ensuring your food is not subject to cross contamination when it is prepared. Every time I have ordered something gluten free they always send the chef out to talk to me and the chef will either personally make my order or watch the food being prepared themselves to make sure my meal is completely gluten free.

In the past I have dined at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port in Tomorrowland and had the most delicious pizza made with Kinnikinnick crust. Also available at Redd Rockett’s are rice noodles with marinara as well as a selection of salads and grilled chicken.

Most recently I visited the magic kingdom with my dear friend and fellow Disneyland enthusiast Natalie to see the Nightmare before Christmas decorations.

The Haunted Mansion has always been one of my favorite rides (next to the People Mover (RIP) of course!). It was such fun to see it all decked out for the holidays in Nightmare Before Christmas style. Before we arrived I had imagined that just the outside would be decorated but nonono not only was the exterior different but the inside of the house and the whole ride was completely different!! I don’t want to spoil it for any of you who might be planning a trip there soon but let me just tell you, if you are a Hunted Mansion fan like me you are in for a most pleasant surprise

The Haunted Mansion was fabulous as were all of the other lovely rides we went on and happily my motion sickness medication even at a half dose worked like a charm. Anyways, back to the food! For our first snack we headed to Tomorrowland Terrace where we ordered french fries cooked in the fries only fryer. They also offer these fries at a number of locations throughout the park.

Now fried fries are not normally something I eat but I am a sucker for things that are specially made gluten free for me so I had to give them a try! They were just as I remembered them, crispy yet soft sticks of potato that were made even more delish when dipped in a mixture of ketchup and hot sauce. Yum!

For lunch later that day we headed to Frontierland to a place called Rancho Del Zocalo where I enjoyed chicken tacos on corn tortillas with a side of beans and rice.

I was pleasantly surprised! The tacos were much better than I imagined Mexican food from Disneyland could be. They even had bottles of hot sauce on the tables that boasted a “gluten free” label on them.

We had planed on getting some pineapple frozen yogurt from the Tiki Juice Bar but once the sun went down the chilly air unfortunately nixed any cravings for cold dessert we had been having.

There are numerous other delicious gluten free options available throughout Disneyland, California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Hotel ranging from pancakes and waffles to pasta dishes and cheeseburgers. To get your up to date listing of the parks offerings go to City Hall on Main Street when you arrive and ask for their gluten free restaurant and menu list. You can also call the head Chef at Disneyland, Chris Justesen at 714-781-3569 if you are planning on going to any particular restaurants for a nice sit down meal and let them know when you are coming so they can make sure they have what you want on hand.

So if you are looking for somewhere fun and gluten friendly to take the kids to or just to go and play like a kid again for a day or so yourself, Disney’s theme parks are a most delicious and fun filled destination. 

An Appley Adventure

As of September 22nd autumn has officially arrived. Sure here in Southern California the sun is still shining, the leaves are not falling, and temperatures are still soaring in the upper 90 degree range but all that weathery stuff aside, according to my calendar it is now fall which brings to mind one awesome apply autumn event in particular.

Harvest Days in Julian!

Having been excitedly anticipating apple picking for months now I decided heat wave or not I was going to head up to Julian for the first weekend of the harvest. After a delicious fall breakfast of homemade pumpkin scones my favorite apple picking companion and I headed east, through the hills and curvy roads to the cute little town of Julian. Our first stop was Main Street to peruse the town in search of gluten free snacks. Most of the shops and restaurants in town have been there as long as I can remember, the Julian Cider Mill on the corner of Main and B is one such place.



The Cider Mill is of course known for their delicious apple cider. For a $1 you can get a cup of cold cider in the store to sip while you shop and on brisk fall and winter days they sell hot cider out front of the store which is the perfect sweet fall treat to enjoy while strolling through the town. They also have jugs of cold apple or apple berry cider available in the store for sale so you can take some of their delicious cider home with you.



In addition to cider the Mill sells all sorts of delicious snacks and spreads. Nuts, candies, dried fruits, teas and mixes. Their apple butter and pumpkin butters are heavenly and the perfect topping for muffins and toast.



I opted not to buy my usual jar of apple butter this year because I am hoping to try and make my own with some of the apples picked from this trip. Instead we bought some dried peaches, papaya spears, and lemon chili pistachios to snack on during our drive home later.

Next stop was a cute little restaurant called Cow Girl Café. They offer an array of sandwiches, soups, burgers and salads. They also have a few vegan friendly options as well, BBQ riblets and gardenburgers (a former gluten laden favorite of mine!). As far as gluten free eats you could get a salad without the dressing or a sandwich sans bread (or bring your own and ask that they use it for you). We were still a bit full from our scone breakfast so we opted for a sweet treat instead.



Apple cider + vanilla ice cream. Normally I prefer my cider hot but this Apple Cider Float was the perfect cool, appley beverage for a hot summerfall day.

After wandering our way through the town on foot we hopped back in the car and made our way to Julian Orchards Drive for some apple picking. There are a handful of orchards along this road, we had originally hoped to go to Apple Starr Orchards for their organic apples and pears but they were closed for the weekend so we went to one of our old favorites.



1284 Julian Orchards Drive
(760) 765-2431
Open 7 days a week form 9am-5pm (until the apples are gone!)

With 8000 trees and seven different varieties you will have plenty of apples to choose from at this orchard. For $10 you get a medium sized paper bag that holds about 40 of their cute little apples. I did not keep track of which type of apples I was picking but I was sure to taste test each new row I picked from.



While we were picking apples we overheard music and festivity coming from a neighboring plot of land so after we filled our bags well above the brim with apples we headed up the road to Menghini Winery where the Julian Music and Art festival was going on. While we were enjoying our $5 wine tasting we had a random run in with some San Diego friends.



We shared a few of our fresh picked apples with them, sat on the back porch of the winery and watched some belly dancers perform at the festival.



After we had our fill of Julian fun we started the trek back to San Diego but of course stopped along the way to pick out a Halloween pumpkin at Mountain Valley Ranch.

This lovely ranch has teeny tiny pumpkins, ginormous monster pumpkins and every size in between.




Steve liked the huge ones and I fell in love with this cute in between sized one and decided to take him home.



They also have a little petting zoo, corn maze and something called a corn cannon for your fall festivity pleasure. If it had not been in the 90’s out still I might have been more inclined to wander through the corn maze but I just kept having visions of not being able to find my way out fast enough and dying of dehydration inside the maze of corn walls.

Back home in San Diego even at 5pm it was still super hot so what did we decide to do? Sit on the porch and taste test some of the hot olives we got at Menghini Winery of course!







Stuffed with jalapeños they were a scrumptious and spicy snack that paired perfectly with the last bit of Trader Joes organic Zinfandel I had left over from last week.






Even though it was a swelteringly hot day our apple adventure was packed full of fall festivity, so much fun in fact that I think I might make a second trip this season at the end of October with my Dad and brother when my apple supply has depleted and the weather cooled enough so I can enjoy some hot cider without breaking a sweat!

Recipe for a Relaxing Summer Holiday

Start with a long four day weekend. Add to that some scrumptious home cooked Mexican food and delicious local beverages. Mix in some leisurely sports and an ample amount of time lounging on a beautiful isolated beach. Oh and the secret ingredient (or should I say un-ingredient) absolutely no cell phone service and no clocks.

Aside from two visits to Tijuana in my youth this was my first real visit into Mexico. Prior to my departure I was told many frightening tales of Mexican holidays gone awry and presented with several reasons why traveling to Mexico might not be the safest way to spend my summer holiday. But passing this atop a mountain enroute to Ensenada made me feel much better.

Really a place with an enormous stature of Jesus can’t possibly be that bad. Our first stop was half way to our final destination for lunch at a place called La Fonda.

The ocean view at this sea side restaurant was gorgeous, the drinks strong, and the food delish. I originally ordered a scrumptious sounding fish dish but when it came it was breaded and fried (a double gluten whammy) so I passed it off for others to enjoy and ended up making a plate consisting of tasty bits of everyone else’s food instead.

After lunch we headed further south for the last leg of our journey to place called Club de Cazadores de La Grulla. This private hunt club/resort sits along the edge of the Estuary of Todos Santos Bay and dates back to the 1920’s. The beautiful adobe clubhouse is built in mission style architecture and consists of several suites and bedrooms, a huge sala, dining room with adjoining kitchen and a library full of books and old pictures of members past and present on holiday there (including one of Clark Gable one hunting season).

There were lots of leisurely games to be played such as bocce ball, paddle tennis, horse shoes, shuffleboard and croquet.

I have always loved croquet but surprisingly I found I was even more skilled at bocce ball (must be that Italian heritage kicking in).

Most recently at the club they have planted grapes and started a lovely little vineyard.

Almost all of our meals were eaten together at the long family style table in the dining room. Every morning I had warm corn tortillas, refried beans, fresh fruit and coffee.

I had forgotten how much I loved beans for breakfast! In London I used to frequently start my day with a breakfast of beans on toast. Beans with tortilla is a delicious gluten free version of my old British breakfast favorite.

In addition to hanging out at the clubhouse we also spent the late mornings and early afternoons at the club beach house located 4 miles from the clubhouse at Estero Beach.

The isolated sandy shore was the perfect place for sea shell collecting and catnaps in the sunshine. There were also kayaks and boards if you were water sporting inclined.

One afternoon the kitchen staff came to the beach house and prepared lunch there. Carne asada and onions grilled outdoors over a fire pit.

Even non red meat eating me tried some and found it to be quite scrumptious. I actually ate red meat three times on this trip! In addition to the delicious beach house lunch I also had some thinly sliced steak at dinner one night and crunchy tacos with shredded beef for lunch one day.

Another afternoon we spent a few hours at La Bufadora.

Where we marveled at the blowhole and were careful not to fall in the ocean.

Had a few drinks at Habana Banana.

Did some shopping/haggling.

I found a cute hat and dress, dad got a couple tablecloths, Chris got a statue of a turtle, and Steve bought a mask.

The night of our final dinner we had mariachis come play at our cocktail hour in the sala (my favorite, yay!).

Followed by a traditional Mexican dinner by lantern light in the dining room.

We had guacamole salad to start, cheesy enchiladas and super spicy make you sweat with one bite chile rellenos for the main entrée, beans and rice on the side, and sweet and custardy flan for dessert.

Everything was amazingly delicious, I particularly enjoyed the extraordinarily spicy chiles. I have always loved the way different foods can affect your senses, sometimes like the chiles in dramatic ways.

Not having a clock or cell phone made the experience all the more pleasant. Staying up as late or sleeping in as much as my body told me to and not having to worry about missed calls or emails was incredibly refreshing.

I also surprisingly enjoyed not cooking for a few days. It was a pleasant change of pace to not have to make plans for food and meals at all and instead just eat whatever delicious dish that was prepared. I will admit that by the 2nd day there I came pretty close to going to the kitchen staff and asking if I could watch and/or help prepare one of the meals with them but my Spanish is so rubbish now and I was not sure I could explain my intention of joining them in the kitchen properly so I opted to stay in the dining room and enjoy the fruits of their labor instead.

After one last delicious breakfast we started our trip back to San Diego. The drive back was quick and smooth except for the 2 ½ hour traffic jam crossing the border. Luckily there were lots of different vendors passing by the windows for people watching to help pass the time. I resisted all the impulse buys but did end up giving 10 pesos to a tiny little boy that kept juggling in front of and tapping on my window. I was also tempted to buy something from this man with all the flags but took a picture of him instead.

Happily Mexico turned out to be an incredibly enjoyable and safe place to vacation. Delicious food, good company, and beautiful scenery the perfect recipe for a splendid summer holiday in my book.

Gluten free family fun in Colorado

8/8/08 was quite the momentous day around the world. The start of the summer Olympics, a future wedding anniversary date for thousands of couples, and my grandpa’s 80th birthday. To celebrate his 80th day on the planet falling on such an auspicious date the whole family traveled from their respective states across the nation to Colorado for a weekend of family fun and celebration.

After picking up our rental car and cramming the small trunk with our luggage

we were cruising Colorado in style in our swanky convertible

We stopped roadside to snap some pictures and admire the gorgeous Flat Irons Mountain range

We also went for lunch at one of my favorite stores, Whole Foods where I stocked up on a few gluten free snacks for the weekend and got a delicious sandwich from the deli.

Roasted turkey, hummus, carrots, sprouts and greens on toasted rice bread. It was the first gluten free sandwich I have ever had with hummus and it was delish! I am not surprised though because I have had veggies with hummus many times and pita with hummus years ago and always enjoyed it, I will have to try recreating this sandwich at home sometime soon.

We spent our first night at the Marriot in Denver where we enjoyed a low key evening of wine, berries and rice crackers at the hotel bar before resting up in the super comfy and fluffy hotel beds for the remainder of our weekend adventure.

Like many of my travels this trip started out with an internet search for “gluten free Colorado”. The most notable place I found was Deby’s Bakery and Café located in Denver fairly close to where we would be spending our first night. If you were not looking for it you just might miss this gluten free gem nestled between offices in a small industrial park. Deby’s Bakery is a gluten free bakery and production facility that produces hundreds of different types of baked goods that are then distributed to local restaurants, grocery stores, and shipped off for delivery. Happily the bakery also doubles as a café where you can sit down and have a meal or order something to go. The interior of the café was small with a handful of tables and walls lined with a selection of some of the different baked goods that they have for sale. After perusing the scrumptious looking goodies on the shelves we grabbed some menus and took a seat at one of the tables. The large three fold menus had a wide selection of offerings for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. It reminded me of a menu you would find at a diner or roadside café, the kind of place that seems to have a little bit of everything on it except there was one difference. Whatever you wanted whether it was pancakes, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, burgers, enchiladas, cookies or cake they had it and they only make it one way…

Gluten free!

It was so refreshing to read a menu and not have to search it for the two or three items that are probably safe to eat or wonder if even though I am careful to order something that is naturally gluten free if it will end up making me feel ill anyhow due to cross contamination. Reading over the vast selection of menu items I felt pleasantly overwhelmed by all the scrumptious bready options. Pancakes sounded delish but then again so did the french toast but there were also scrumptious looking cinnamon rolls and english muffins, I used to love english muffins! After much deliberation I decided upon the waffles with raspberry sauce.

Golden and crunchy with little squares filled up like tiny swimming pools with sweet raspberry goo. They were delish and reminded me of toaster waffles I enjoyed as a child. My darling brother knowing my fondness for gluten free baked goods ordered a cinnamon roll for the table so we could all try it as our breakfast appetizer.

The texture was more like that of a scone than a cinnamon roll, warm and crumbly and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Dad ordered a breakfast burrito which came wrapped in a brown rice tortilla.

Dad said it was great and that he even enjoyed the gluten free tortilla. I agreed that it looked yummy but I opted not to try it given my severe distain for eggs.

After we finished up our breakfast we headed south to meet up with more family in a little town in Colorado Springs called Manitou where my grandpa’s fiancée and her family have a cute little vacation home. The adorable house is nestled back in the hills just a short walk from the town.

Everything about the house is cute, cozy and comfy. The vintage wallpaper and art decorating the walls of the interior

The petite bathtub

The perfect sized porch complete with windchimes and swing

Peacefull view from the porch

and a sweet message found nestled in a windowsill

Even at nearly 100 years old this darling house still exudes loveliness and was the perfect place for a bit of pre birthday celebration with family.

Once more family had arrived we left the cute house and headed down to equally cute town for the afternoon. On our way we stopped at one of the places that the town is known for to have a drink of fresh spring water.

It tasted sweet and slightly effervescent and I am told when mixed with lemon and sugar makes the best lemonade. The family headed off to Marilyn’s to get pizza and I went to get a cup of tea at a place I was thrilled to find called, the Matte Factor. I ordered a traditional yerba matte with rice milk and honey and also picked up a bag of lose leaf matte for home. The tea was delish, just the right combination of earthy and bitter matte cut with sweet milk and honey and was the perfect warm treat for the slightly chilly drizzly day we were having.

After our tea and lunch we headed to the towns Penny Arcade that had games dating back from the early 1900’s!

There was pinball

Vintage Fooseball

(Big) Kidde Rides

And my favorite Skeeball!

After a fun afternoon we headed back to the house to gather our things and head off to our main destination for the weekend, The Broadmoor.

They defiantly live up to their 5 star rating. Gorgeous architecture, spectacular views, lavish decor and furnishing, and aside from them losing our luggage for a few hours when we first checked in, flawless service.

Personally I would rate them 6 stars because on their room service menu and in their restaurants they offer, gluten free bread!!! For breakfast our first morning there I had fresh fruit, coffee and toast.

One rainy and thunder stormy afternoon I ordered room service and had tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.

My final morning there I had fresh fruit with yogurt and of course more toast.

For my grandpas birthday dinner we went to a restaurant called the Tavern I asked our server about gluten and she said that the chef would be happy to make me anything I desired on the menu gluten free (defiantly 6 star service!). I ordered the grilled salmon, sweet glazed carrots, and baked potato.

The salmon was really fresh, flavorful and not fishy in the slightest. Grilled carrots are always a favorite of mine and these were divine, buttery and sweet and served in their own cute little pot. Baked white potato is not usually something I order but we had been doing quite a bit of celebratory toasting that evening and I was in dire need of some carbs to sop up some of the vino swishing about in my tummy.

After a day and a half of Broadmoor fun we headed back to Manitou to explore the town a bit more then meet up with the family at the house for feliz de hora.

Wine enjoyed with various cheeses, grapes, carrots, smoked salmon, rice crackers and a delicious nut and olive spread that Angela made for the occasion. It was a most delicious way to spend our last evening together in Colorado.

On our way back to the airport the next day we stopped to grab a quick bite to eat at a place I have always wanted to try.

Not having any Sonics in San Diego I have felt taunted for years by commercials boasting the deliciousness of their plethora of beverages. As soon as I realized we were in the land of Sonics I knew we would have to pay them a visit. Again I felt overwhelmed with options, sodas, flavored limeades, milkshakes, smoothies, slushies, cream slushies, and coffee drinks. Since I could not really eat much of anything there I decided on two drinks, cherry limeade and a strawberry cream slush. Both were the most delicious fruity liquid concoctions made all the better because they were hand delivered directly to our car by this gentleman.

On our way back to the airport we made one more roadside stop to take a picture at a witty roadside billboard.

All in all it was a delightful exploration of Colorado and a lovely mini family reunion.