I'm wondering if I lay off gluten for a while, if my innards will heal and I can resume eating gluten

This seems to be what's happened with me. I couldn't eat bread at all without getting sick, run-to-the-john-getouttatheway sick, but after I was "off" bread entirely for about a year (losing weight in the process), I was able to slowly re-introduce gluten into my diet without bad side effects. I still shouldn't eat a whole lot in a day, but I can have, like, a sandwich and pie.

Trudy, I've heard that Iceland's naming convention makes genealogy a snap. I would be Zenkitty Thomasdottir. Or, since they split when I was little, maybe I'd use my mom's name and be Zenkitty Marilynsdottir, which is pretty much what the townsfolk called me anyway.

Steph, were you guys using straight cheese in your fondue, because fondue cheese often has flour in it?

Straight cheese and kirsch and...is that it? Our friend was making the fondue, so I didn't really interfere. But I do know it was a few different cheeses that she grated.

t edit And man, it was good! Melted cheese on bread -- what's not to love? She also made tabouli, which made me laugh (tabouli is cracked wheat, among other nummy things). I picked one hell of a time to give up gluten. I did, however, bring hummus and pita crackers and rice crackers (rice crackers for me; I've been buying them from TJs for a while now just because I like them, not b/c of any GF thing). So I was well-fed.

What's interesting in the past few days is how NOT ravenous I am; normally I eat a meal and think "Oh my god, I hope there's more because I must EAT IT ALL!" And in the past couple of days, I've just had my meal and been done. Weird.

As Seen on TV - a tribute to doing it wrong. A montage of infomercial clips set to "Help!" It's pretty great.

Steph, whenever my DH has major allergy problems we shift away from overly refined products, go easy on sugary stuff and lay off the white flour and white rice in favor of whole grains. It always helps. In fact, I now cook with a lot of whole grains most of the time, but white flour and sugar are by no means banished. Which I guess is my way of agreeing that perhaps avoiding the gluten for a short while might fix things.

I am enjoying the food discussion! Teppy, sounds like your dietary detective work is paying off.

Oy. Stayed up way too late watching "Kidnapped"! Now for coffee and getting my act together for dim sum! Then a long dog walk along the beach in Alameda while I listen to my Giants try for 3-0 against the St. Louis Cardinals (sorry, Anne!).

But what I really want to do is watch more "Kidnapped"! It reminds me of first season "Damages" in it's crack flavor.

(rice crackers for me; I've been buying them from TJs for a while now just because I like them, not b/c of any GF thing).

I bought those by accident recently, and have bought them again on purpose! Delish.

Simple carbs often make me hungrier -- or at least, make me feel like eating more.

(rice crackers for me; I've been buying them from TJs for a while now just because I like them, not b/c of any GF thing).

I bought those by accident recently, and have bought them again on purpose! Delish.

They also have little edamame crackers that are very similar to the rice crackers (except, made from edamame instead of rice, natch), and they are addictive. I think they're sprinkled with crack before they go in the bag.

I am slowly recovering from running this morning. While I was at the park, I picked up a new brochure/map and it turns out they've recalculated the mileage on the trails I've been running.

So the 3.8-mile run is actually 4 miles, and the 4.6-mile run is actually 5. Which makes my distance since Friday morning 13 miles. Woot. (Ouch.) Need protein.

Now to the hardware store for more paint.

So I'm going to cut out gluten for a couple of weeks and then (1) see how I feel and (2) eat a bagel or something after that couple of weeks and see what happens.

Even if you're not allergic, if you cut out gluten, your gut enzymes that digest carbs will decrease and the next time you eat it you will probably feel uncomfortable. So (1) might be evidence of an allergy. But (2) might be a false positive. E.g.: [link] [link]

I am watching a Brian Boitano cooking show on the Food Network and wondering how there could ever have been any doubt about his orientation. Back when my ex talked about bumping into him in a gay bar in the 90s he made it sound like a big revelation, but I don't think even Liza Minelli could mistake this guy for straight after a minute in his company.

Also cracking up that they actually licensed the South Park song for the title sequence.