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Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back & How You Can Too

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Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back & How You Can Too

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 766 ratings · 225 reviews

A delightful memoir of learning to eat superbly while remaining gluten free.
—Newsweek magazine"Give yourself a treat! Gluten-Free Girl offers delectable tips on dining and living with zest–gluten-free. This is a story for anyone who is interested in changing his or her life from the inside out!"
—Alice Bast, executive director National Foundation for Celiac Awareness

"Shauna...more A delightful memoir of learning to eat superbly while remaining gluten free.
—Newsweek magazine"Give yourself a treat! Gluten-Free Girl offers delectable tips on dining and living with zest–gluten-free. This is a story for anyone who is interested in changing his or her life from the inside out!"
—Alice Bast, executive director National Foundation for Celiac Awareness

"Shauna's food, the ignition of healthy with delicious, explodes with flavor—proof positive that people who choose to eat gluten-free can do it with passion, perfection, and power."
—John La Puma, MD, New York Times bestselling co-author of The RealAge Diet and Cooking the RealAge Way

"A breakthrough first book by a gifted writer not at all what I expected from a story about living with celiac disease. Foodies everywhere will love this book. Celiacs will make it their bible."
—Linda Carucci, author of Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks and IACP Cooking Teacher of the Year, 2002

An entire generation was raised to believe that cooking meant opening a box, ripping off the plastic wrap, adding water, or popping it in the microwave. Gluten-Free Girl, with its gluten-free healthful approach, seeks to bring a love of eating back to our diets. Living gluten-free means having to give up traditional bread, beer, pasta, as well as the foods where gluten likes to hide—such as store-bought ice cream, chocolate bars, even nuts that might have been dusted with flour. However, Gluten-Free Girl shows readers how to say yes to the foods they can eat. Written by award-winning blogger Shauna James, who became a interested in food once she was diagnosed with celiac disease and went gluten-free, Gluten-Free Girl is filled with funny accounts of the author’s own life including wholesome, delicious recipes, this book will guide readers to the simple pleasures of real, healthful food. Includes dozens of recipes like salmon with blackberry sauce, sorghum bread, and lemon olive oil cookies as well as resources for those living gluten-free.(less)

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published October 1st 2007 by Wiley (first published 2007)

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Community Reviews

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Jan 17, 2008 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

As someone who is constantly trying to learn more about food and new ways to make recipes and who has a chronic illness with dietary reprocussions, I was really interested in reading this book. What a disappointment.

I don't quite understand was she so obsessed with rehashing the foods of her childhood. It seemed like at least a third of the book was spent bad mouthing the food she grew up with (which seemed typical of many American family diets in the 1970s) without drawing any real parallels t...more As someone who is constantly trying to learn more about food and new ways to make recipes and who has a chronic illness with dietary reprocussions, I was really interested in reading this book. What a disappointment.

I don't quite understand was she so obsessed with rehashing the foods of her childhood. It seemed like at least a third of the book was spent bad mouthing the food she grew up with (which seemed typical of many American family diets in the 1970s) without drawing any real parallels to her disease. I am glad she figured out what is wrong with her and is now eating so well, but her condescension was overwhelming and a real turn-off to me as a reader. By the end I was honestly hoping that her parents will not be able to read the book, her railing against the white bread and American cheese of her childhood was so frequent and harsh (not to mention excessive).

The book was also quite repetitive, revisiting the same foods, ideas, concepts and anecdotes more often than was necessary to make her point. A lot of the book was lifted directly from her blog without much in the way of editing, which might help explain the disjointed feeling of parts of the book.

I think that a better format for this book would have been either a straight memoir with recipes (if no other reason than that she could really just delve into the childhood stuff for a couple of chapters and then move on for the rest of the book) or a collection of food essays and recipes rather than trying to tell us how we can find "the food that loves us back", which I don't think the book quite accomplished.

If helping others (rather than simply telling her story) was the main goal of the book (and I think the subtitle certainly gives that impression, despite the author's apparent reluctence to follow through on that aspect) I think readers would have been better served by learning more about her recipe development methods or by including some constructive advice to people who don't have the access to high quality ingredients that she has, money to spend on truffle oil or the time to bake bread 3-4 times a week. (less)

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Feb 24, 2008 k8lane rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: hardcore foodies, chefs

This highly-touted book got off to a great start but by the end had dissolved into sentimental pap. Ahern makes some excellent points and recommendations for people who need to eat gluten-free and, after diagnosis, suddenly find that they must dramatically adjust their eating habits. But she's a hardcore foodie, and, as such, impractical and obsessive about preparing/thinking about/eating/living with/shopping for food. My mom, who must live gluten-free (I read her copy of this book), doesn't hav...more

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Jun 18, 2008 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: food lovers, mindful eaters or those looking to do so...

Shelves: fortheloveoffood

Words cannot even begin to express how I feel about Gluten Free Girl. As a reader of her companion blog, I have fallen in love with the smooth words and beautiful descriptions that Shauna describes on the pages of both her blog and book.

This book is not a HOW TO on being Gluten free, as a portion of the title suggests. (That part should have been left off the title.) Instead, Shauna takes us on a journey of how she fell in love with food, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and how she learned t...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Kathleen F rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: food

I've known about this book since before it was first published, and could only bring myself to read it now. As a person who's living with Celiac Disease, I really wanted to love this book. But I haven't been able to meet my diagnosis with the everlasting "yes" that Shauna James Ahern has. For me, it's more like the everlasting "oy."

Having admitted this, it can be difficult to read such unceasing positivity. I think it's WONDERFUL that she's transformed her life and her way of eating because of h...more

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Mar 06, 2008 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoiresque

I'm currently wrestling with Celiac and oddly enough there is this relatively mainstream memoir about the disease. I really just breezed through it, the writing is pretty abysmal. Also, I can't eat dairy currently and she talks about cheese so often I wanted to smack her. Seems to me that the book is just a bunch of repetitive blog posts strung together and published in hardcover. But there are certain aspects of this story that I can relate too so strongly that I kind of want to give this book...more

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Jul 30, 2008 Kris Bordessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a beautifully written memoir of a woman who discovers she suffers from Celiac Disease. The story was enjoyable, but I was a bit disappointed in the lack of recipes. There are only about 20 included, and many are for items that would naturally be gluten free. Worse? The author mentions a good number of items she's made and enjoyed, but those recipes are not included. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in learning about Celiac's, but as a cookbook.

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Dec 15, 2008 Lena rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir

I’m not quite sure how to describe Shauna Ahern’s book about living with celiac, a disease in which the body responds to the gluten found in wheat and other common grains with an intestine-damaging immune response. The book part memoir, in that Ahern tells her personal story of life before and after her diagnosis. It is also part how-to guide, as she discusses the basics of the gluten-free diet, where gluten can hide, and how to do things like talk to restaurant servers about what you can and ca...more I’m not quite sure how to describe Shauna Ahern’s book about living with celiac, a disease in which the body responds to the gluten found in wheat and other common grains with an intestine-damaging immune response. The book part memoir, in that Ahern tells her personal story of life before and after her diagnosis. It is also part how-to guide, as she discusses the basics of the gluten-free diet, where gluten can hide, and how to do things like talk to restaurant servers about what you can and cannot eat. There is also a recipe component, in which she offers a number of her own gluten-free concoctions. And then there is the philosophical food musings, in which she rails on American processed packaged food culture and sings the praises of organic, locally grown whole foods.

As I read this book, I found some of these aspects very interesting and useful, while others grew repetitive and cause me to do a fair amount of skimming. Unlike Ahern, I do not have full-blown celiac, but it runs in my family and I am producing antibodies to gluten. Since the odds of my developing it are higher than average, I have been told to eliminate gluten from my diet. As a passionate lover of bread and pasta, I greeted this recommendation with woeful dismay. Given how widespread gluten is in American food, following the celiac diet is astonishingly difficult: if those French fries were cooked in the same oil as onion rings, for example, they will be contaminated with gluten. Even rice-based Asian cuisines aren’t safe because there is wheat in most soy sauce.

Ahern is entirely undaunted by these kinds of restrictions, however, and has used her diagnosis as an excuse to wholeheartedly embrace the previously unexplored world of all the gluten-free foods that she can eat. She is a tireless cheerleader for the explosion of taste and flavor that comes from cooking your own meals with fresh, quality ingredients, and her passionate enthusiasm for food makes it very clear that living with celiac need not mean living a life of deprivation. It is this enthusiasm that was for me the most valuable part of the book; I became genuinely excited about doing more of my own cooking and exploring the uncharted waters of things sorghum flour and popped amaranth.

Ahern’s own transition to a gluten-free life was made easier by the fact that she already loved to cook, so I don’t know that this book will be very useful to someone without the ability or inclination to spend as much time as she does in the kitchen. It’s the only book I’ve read on the subject so far, so I hope there are others that offer less time consuming strategies to those who those who are not already committed gourmet chefs. For those who are struggling with the sense of loss that comes from being told you can never again eat a slice of crusty bread fresh from the bakery, however, Ahern’s enthusiasm for everything else you still can eat is a surprisingly effective antidote.
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Feb 02, 2008 Tiffany rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: foodies, people learning to deal with restrictive diets

I have a hard time reviewing this book. I enjoy Ahern's writing. It can run toward the flowery and sentimental, but it's also lyrical and lovely. Even my most cynical self can't help being inspired by Ahern's passionate love for food, life, and "the chef." The only thing that prevents me from whole-heartedly recommending this book is that much of it is repetitive of Ahern's gluten-free girl blog.

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Apr 08, 2008 Alexa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: food

Wonderfully good book about living within your limitations--and food. Shauna writes about food and love and dealing with chronic illness in a way that makes you envy her former students. It also reminds me that food, with limitations or without, is incredible.

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Jan 14, 2008 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cooking

The first book I've read that was written by a blogger. It shows. But the memoir/ cookbook is pretty cool and has some good recipes and tips and tricks. She's a good writer, but a better blogger.

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Jan 22, 2009 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, self-help, cooking, non-ficiton, 2008

Originally when I was reading this book I started to feel like the author was a bit preachy with her specialty shops and organic oratories, for I too know the benefits of living in the majestic North West, but what I was really reacting to was the knowledge that I, and I alone, have not been taking the necessary steps to take care of my own self with celiacs disease. I do the best that I can with what I have, but knowing that there are other things that I should, or at least could, be doing to t...more Originally when I was reading this book I started to feel like the author was a bit preachy with her specialty shops and organic oratories, for I too know the benefits of living in the majestic North West, but what I was really reacting to was the knowledge that I, and I alone, have not been taking the necessary steps to take care of my own self with celiacs disease. I do the best that I can with what I have, but knowing that there are other things that I should, or at least could, be doing to take better care of myself left me feeling irritated and frustrated with myself over the facts that I wasn't aware of, and should have been. Like root beer. I love root beer. Brown cows (root beer floats to the rest of you) are one of my favorites, and yet until tonight, while reading the very end of the book, I had no idea that the malt used to make the root beer contained gluten. How many times have I had root beer since being diagnosed 2 years ago? I don't even know. You see I don't have health insurance right now and so all of the research that I've done has been on my own, and nothing that I've read up until this point has ever mentioned anything like that!

Restaurants have been another on going issue for me. I'm always wary when going out with friends. My friends are great though (shout out for the girls), but as careful as I try to be, also because they watch me like hawks, I always feel apprehensive about the fork full of food that I put in my mouth, not knowing what it has been near. Even this past summer at the chain restaurant that my friends and I ate at, and even though the waitress we had did understand the disease and did her best to accommodate me, I still had to wonder about that first bite since I don't know what was going on in the kitchen. However, thanks to the authors husband, who cooks gluten free, I now have a new restaurant that I'll have to try, which, if I go, will probably be the only one that I'll attend for awhile. I say it like that since the menu looks a little pricey. So why do I got restaurants if I'm afraid to eat? Because I refuse to let that fear captivate me and take me away from spending time with those that I care about. All that I can do is the best I can with salads and meat filled meals (no fettuccine Alfredo for me). I simply refuse to let the hesitation I have about those places hinder me from a good time. Now I have even more tools take with me the next time I walk inside a restaurant.

But as well crafted as Shauna's tale is, it is not simply a story of someone with celiacs disease. It is, in my opinion, a love story. A story of someones love for food, love for themselves, love of life, and finding love when no one wants to deal with obstacles such as this one. Celiacs disease can be imposing for most people to deal with, for it's always in the forefront of the mind when traveling or going out. But somehow amidst the losers who couldn't see past the static she found someone who not only was willing to look past it, but could accommodate her needs as well. For you see only God could put together something as charming as someone who loves food, as well as being challenged by it, to someone who can cook it. For as I stated earlier she got to marry a chef! Life is full of irony. However, my favorite part of the book was the end. Not only does Shauna's tale come to a happy conclusion, but she talks about the lengths that he goes to in order to keep her safe, which were things that I never thought of. None the less I was touched by the chivalry and care that he took to make sure her system is not tainted. Like, he will brush his teeth before kissing her after eating something with gluten in it just to make sure there is nothing left on his breath that could contaminate her. Now it's been a long time since I was kissed like that, but I can fully appreciate the gesture and tenderness that he must feel for her in order to put her well being before his libido. I mean who would think that something as delicious as a kiss could harm the one you love. Are there anymore of those out there? A girl can hope, right?

I highly recommend this book. Not just for those that have this disease, but for those that love those with it as well. Though Shauna's story is unique to her, you can get a sense of what the average person goes through and the anxiety they face, in certain situations, with this disease. Shauna embraced her disease with fervor, which honestly I've had trouble with. I miss my breads, and now I know I'll miss root beer too, but knowledge is power and it's good to know that I can continue learning how to make myself better and heal my body so that one day I can take care of not just myself, but my family as well (whenever I get one).(less)

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Oct 13, 2008 Marnie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shauna wrote this book after she found out she had celiac disease & had to give up gluten. While it was nice to read about how she learned to eat better & treat her body right, she's kind of a food snob & most of her ideas arent very realistic for most people, like no one I know would spend $25 on a bottle of cooking oil or $150 on a kitchen knife, & most of her recipes look like they're really high in fat.I was also surprised to see other allergens like eggs in her recipes, I th...more

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May 16, 2008 Sher rated it 3 of 5 stars

the author is extremely knowledgeable, and she has a wonderful way with words, although there are times she seems a little condescending. she knows her way around the land of celiacs. of course, it is a lot easier to handle radically changing your entire diet when you're single and fall in love with a chef who essentially converts his restaurant into a gluten-free haven.

seriously. not. bitter. but if you are a parent dealing with kids who must become gluten-free, this is probably not the most he...more

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Dec 02, 2008 Debbie Reschke Schug rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not really a fan of self-help books, and this book is written like one, even if it does include some recipes.
But my interest in this comes from my gluten-free lifestyle and adventures in gluten-free cooking. For that, it was kind of like reading a peptalk--a feel-good book for celiacs. That might be just the thing for newly diagnosed celiacs, but since I've been at this for more than 10 years now, it didn't do much for me.
I think most celiac's stories are, while powerful, pretty much the s...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Leanna E. rated it 4 of 5 stars

What caught my attention wasn't the title of this book, it was the subtitle, "How I found the food that loves me back & how you can too." Gluten-free girl by Shauna James Ahern caught my attention as I was walking through Health Foods Unlimited, one of my favorite places to buy gluten free foods that I don't have to always make myself. I had a shopping list, and when I'm shopping with a list I rarely go down aisles that I don't need. I'm not exactly sure what made me go down that aisle. Then...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have a visceral dislike of the author's website, so I expected to hate the book with the same name. Shauna's long digressions about food make a lot more sense in a book than they do on a food blog (and a book can't make blatant cash grabs or say nasty things on twitter). I suspect that the benefit of an editor and a medium better suited towards longer stories helped. It was a book about the evolution of Shauna's relationship with food throughout her life, beginning with Lucky Charms and casser...more

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Aug 02, 2012 Simran rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book not only opened a completely new way of eating for me but it also gave me a new subject to integrate into my writing. You see, I always wanted to add food critic to my list of writing accomplishments. I have even read several books on how to write about food. Somehow though, I felt inadequate, not really knowing how to explain the tastes, smells, textures and so forth. After reading Gluten-free Girl, I now understand why. It was because I have never really tasted food. Oh sure, I have...more This book not only opened a completely new way of eating for me but it also gave me a new subject to integrate into my writing. You see, I always wanted to add food critic to my list of writing accomplishments. I have even read several books on how to write about food. Somehow though, I felt inadequate, not really knowing how to explain the tastes, smells, textures and so forth. After reading Gluten-free Girl, I now understand why. It was because I have never really tasted food. Oh sure, I have been to restaurants both of American and ethnic cuisines (Indian being my favorite). However, I still needed to be taught how to experience what I was consuming. Maybe that was part of the dilemma also; I was just consuming them rather than working my way through the layers and savoring every last intricate detail of each luscious ingredient.
You may be wondering why I chose to review a book on gluten-free food though. It is very simple. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with celiac disease, something I had never even heard of before. I also learned what part celiac disease plays in leaving me lactose intolerant as well.

Shauna's story spoke to me personally, as it she wrote about the similar things that I had experienced in my life and never understood. I could relate to the "TV dinners, boxes of macaroni and cheese, tuna casserole from scratch, sugary cereals in the cabinet where the opened but almost full box of Grape Nuts sat in the back, cans of Campbell soups and fried bologna sandwiches on bread slathered with margarine. We certainly shared a "brand name childhood". I am sure many who are reading this did as well.

Gluten-free Girl to me represents a love story. After thirty-some years of suffering from an "unknown" disease, accompanied by countless medical tests and unexplainable exhaustion (sleeping 18 hours per day at one point), she was finally diagnosed with celiac disease. Instead of falling into a depression about the foods she would never be able to eat again, she transformed and literally fell in love with those that she could eat. She began to take everything to new and exciting levels, which even she never thought were possible.

Reading her love affair with food sparked something deep within me. I wanted to experience that intense love and make it my own. Besides helping me to lead a healthier life and stay gluten free, Shauna opened up a world of possibilities for me through her memoir. After learning how to experiment with food, drink in the aromas of spices, fruits and vegetables (when they are fresh, untainted (organic) and in season), sauces, fresh baked bread hot from the oven, and many different wonderful varieties of fish, poultry and meat dishes, I too will FINALLY be able to write about food the way I've always wanted too.

Shauna covers everything from the definition of celiac disease, to the description of the symptoms to recognizing the disguises gluten takes on as other ingredients. She gives wonderful advice and incorporates tantalizing, mouth-watering recipes. (If you want to see the photos of these amazing creations, please visit her Website {see sidebar})

The reader of Gluten-free Girl travels with Shauna on her journey to a healthier and happier life from that of her somewhat abnormal childhood to her adult years, which were spent between the US and Europe. She even lets us in on how she met the love of her life aka "The Chef", which brought her more joy than she ever could have imagined. It is definitely a book that you will not want to put down until you have finished it. It took me two sessions, only because it was 3 am when I finished the first and needed to get up four hours later. It is also a masterpiece that I will read again and not just for the recipes, although it will be certainly be one of the most utilized books I own for that purpose too.

KUDOS to Shauna James Ahern, not only for her passion for food and writing, but for her compassion for others like herself that led her to write the story of "how I found the food that loves me back ... And how you can too."(less)

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Jan 04, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, author_female, autobiography_memoir, pub_post-1945, cooking, food, gluten-free, type_non-fiction

As someone who has been living gluten-free for 9 years now, I already know the hidden places where gluten lurks, how to mix up a good gluten-free flour blend, and how hard the problem is to diagnose. But this breezy, uplifting and charming memoir contained so much more than "just the facts" about celiac disease. Ahern's reminiscences of the Wonder bread sandwiches, mushroom-soup casseroles and TV dinners of her youth will ring true to anyone who grew up post-1960. While laughing with the author...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book pretty much changed my life :-) Shauna's story provided something even more difficult and elusive than a practical "how to" guide: through reading her narrative, I found the (critical) inspiration and motivation to see a gluten-free landscape as more positive, exciting, and (yes!) delicious than eating the convenience/packaged foods I tend to rely upon.

Anyone can write a how-to guide; what's harder is to provide a "why to" - Shauna answers that question beautifully through her poignan...more

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Dec 18, 2009 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shauna James Ahern suffered from severe stomach pain, being tired,achy joints and headaches among other symptoms for most of her life. She did not know what was causing her to feel badly. She did know that cooking and eating were central activities in her life and she ate most everything. When she had a near-fatal car crash in 2006,
her slow recovery caused her to slow down and change her perception of life. She
blames celiac disease for causing her to recover much more slowing from the trauma. Af...more

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Dec 17, 2009 Danna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another niece of mine has been diagnosed with gluten intolerance and was lamenting the fact that she couldn't enjoy her usual favorites at Thanksgiving. I'm her giver in this year's family x-mas gift exchange, so I had the brilliant idea of finding a lovely gluten-free baking book. Instead, I found this little gem! The first chapter really resonated with me, and reminds everyone that what we eat has a direct effect on our physical, mental, and emotional health (seems like a no-brainer, but in ou...more

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Oct 24, 2009 Stacey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: body-mind-or-spirit

I really like this book. It's not a "how-to," that part is a bit misleading. It's an attitude adjustment. When you have first been hit with the wallop that says "the food that you eat everyday is killing you. You must stop NOW," it can be panic-inducing. Everything in your life must change, especially so if you are a foodie. Realizing that all of your wonderful cookbooks are designed for "normal" people, many of the ingredients in your own cupboard can harm you, lots of your signature recipes ar...more

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Sep 02, 2010 Rachel Cohen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my God, this woman irritates me. I bought this book because I've suspected that I have gluten sensitivity and wanted to learn more about it, but her writing is so pretentious and exaggerated that I couldn't relate at all. Someone else said it best in their review: reading this book is like chatting with someone who doesn't get that you're no longer interested in their story. I certainly lost interest in hearing about the poison her parents fed her as a kid (sugary cereal, easy mac, etc.) or a...more Oh my God, this woman irritates me. I bought this book because I've suspected that I have gluten sensitivity and wanted to learn more about it, but her writing is so pretentious and exaggerated that I couldn't relate at all. Someone else said it best in their review: reading this book is like chatting with someone who doesn't get that you're no longer interested in their story. I certainly lost interest in hearing about the poison her parents fed her as a kid (sugary cereal, easy mac, etc.) or about how awful her life was until her diagnosis. I do agree with her stance on processed and packaged foods to some extent, but I think she goes over the top, and her attitude towards it is so condescending it made me cringe. I expected to learn more about how to control gluten-sensitive symptoms, but according to this woman you have to devote your entire life to to the anti-gluten movement which I doubt many people are willing (or have the means) to do. We don't all have hours a day to spend in the kitchen or browse different grocery stores and farmers' markets, let alone the funds to shell out $25 on a bottle of olive oil.

Her repetitious writing gets tiring. She literally mentions the same facts in every chapter. Also annoying- she mentions on EVERY PAGE that she has celiac disease. "Since my celiac diagnosis..." or "Before my celiac diagnosis..." WE GET IT! She's so self-congratulatory about it, like she's the very first person to have this diagnosis and overcome a food obstacle. Also, eating something with a tiny trace of gluten WILL NOT KILL YOU or make you feel miserable, especially after you've been gluten-abstinent for years. I'm sorry, but calling restaurants beforehand to specifically tell the chef that you're gluten-free and CANNOT have anything with gluten is just being obnoxious. Passage from the book:

"Tell the waitstaff what you need to avoid to stay healthy. Ask for it in a clear, specific tone. This communicates to the waitstaff, right away, that you know what you are doing and that you are trying to help them. This is the last part of the spiel I always say at a restaurant: '...and if I get even a speck of gluten, I will get really sick in your restaurant.' It is that last phrase -- in your restaurant -- that will capture the attention of your waitstaff, and thus the chef.'"

Yes, yes it will; it will make them roll their eyes and laugh at the drama queen they have to deal with.

And not eating the turkey her brother cooked on Thanksgiving because it was powdered with a light sprinkling of flour before it was cooked? Drama queen. You will not go into anaphylactic shock. You will probably not get any more sick than the average person who had just had a huge meal. Get over yourself.

Wow, this book made me more angry than I realized.

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Aug 30, 2011 Andra Watkins rated it 1 of 5 stars

I wanted to love this book. I love food, even though I am sensitive to gluten. I adore eating. I even like Shauna's blog.

This book comes off snooty and condescending. For some people, embracing life fully is not about making food, tasting food, communing through food. For others, like the author, living life IS about that, and that is fine. There are multiple ways to deal with a gluten intolerance or celiac, with hers being just one of them. In both her monotonous litanies about the poisonous f...more

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Jun 03, 2011 Kim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography

I actually would give this book 3.5 stars (why oh why won't goodreads do that????). I know the author did not intend this to be a "how to live gluten-free" book, but given the popularity of her blog and the chosen subtitle (which I know from reading her blog that she had no say over), a reader would expect to have more information provided. That said, she did provide some good information (especially the grains chapter), but I would have liked more information about the different flours and why...more

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Feb 25, 2012 PF rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: food-diet

I haven't finished it yet, but I am finding it incredibly hard to put down, despite having multiple other obligations for my reading time. Reading this book about a journey through health issues and food discoveries for some inexplicable reason is reminding of the very best kinds of travelogues, savory with spice and color, vibrant with dreams. I knew what an impact this book was having on me when I walked into a store today that had one of the spices she had recommended (smoked Spanish sweet pa...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Lady Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoir, non-fiction

This was a 2.5. I guess I should preface this review by saying that I really like Shauna's website: Gluten-free Girl. It was one of the first food blogs I was introduced to. Ironically, I now find it an invaluable resource since I have been diagnosed as celiac.

That being said.....I find her writing to be too much at times. Too flowery, too descriptive, to wordy. Also...at times I thought the book a bit....pretentious? I mean, she went on and on about all these exotic and expensive ingredients th...more

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Aug 24, 2009 penny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cooking, library-nypl

For years now, I've left this book on the store and library shelf. I've read Ahern's blog for years (on and off) in the same way I've been gluten-free (on and off) since sometime in 2004. With the house we just purchased and all the energy I'm pouring into that, I knew I had to be better at what I put into my mouth. Wheat has that affect on me, even if I don't have full-blown celiac. The first week left me super lethargic and with a never-ending headache. It took me a while to recover from the p...more For years now, I've left this book on the store and library shelf. I've read Ahern's blog for years (on and off) in the same way I've been gluten-free (on and off) since sometime in 2004. With the house we just purchased and all the energy I'm pouring into that, I knew I had to be better at what I put into my mouth. Wheat has that affect on me, even if I don't have full-blown celiac. The first week left me super lethargic and with a never-ending headache. It took me a while to recover from the physical work. I knew then that wheat had to go.

When I first flipped through this book in the store I was disappointed to find lots of text (I know I know, me upset to find narrative) and what I thought of as few recipes. I finally found my GF recipe fix in 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes by Carol Fenster so I had the ability to give this book a go on its own merit.

I'm not sure what exactly made me resubscribe to Ahern's blog or to place a hold for this at the library, but I'm happy it did. It's not perfect -- other reviews I've read have complained about the repetitive nature of the narrative. During this read-through, I found it comforting. When I think back upon my childhood I remember the foods most. I remember the joys and the surrounding events. I remember the iceberg lettuce and wanting Velveeta cheese (which mom veto'd for many reasons). Am I repetitive in my storytelling? Yes, but Ahern does it with ease and delight.

Within the narrative Ahern offers very sage advice.. and I sadly returned the book without completely copying some quotes which struck me as the golden nuggets -- on page 154 of my copy she writes something along the lines of "Instead of searching for pale substitutes" as to why she doesn't rely on $8 gf bread from the freezer aisle to form the basis of her gf diet. That was the line I needed to read. Why am I trying so hard to remake those cheerio breakfasts and my mom's thanksgiving stuffing? There are so many different cuisines out there that are inherently gluten free that I shouldn't feel left out. Sure sometimes I'll crave a grilled cheese sandwich but that's ok, there's a bread for that need and more importantly I don't need to eat it every day.

Ahern's words have pointed me from my rut of "I must recreate meals and make them GF substitutes of what I used to make" and into the path of trying something different. Or familiar. Last week I brought home a package of celery hearts and cashew nut butter and have been in heaven with the tastes and textures and not missing crackers at all. I eagerly await apple season and some local-ish cheddar to fulfill my pretzel snacking needs. Though I really do enjoy the ener-g crisp pretzels.

Is this food memoir for everyone? No. Take heart the words of Doris Lessig: "Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and vise versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you."

May Ahern's book be your muse when you need it.(less)

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Jan 29, 2008 'helen' rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone with food allergies or sensitivities

Shelves: foods-and-the-earth

I recommend this book for 2 purposes: awesome gluten-free recipes & resources; and good stories about lving gluten-free in a white-flour nation.

This is a well-written blog - but doesn't always translate well as a book. It reads best when skimmed or read in small quantities (as you would a blog). As a memoir of sorts, it is a bit self-absorbed and repetitive.

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Apr 05, 2008 kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Beautiful, floral writing, but I was disappointed with the content. Much time was spent harping and hating the foods of her childhood and promoting really really expensive ingredients and cooking EVERYTHING from scratch.

All of the recipes can be found on her website... I was hoping for at least half of them to be new.

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