WIN-It-Wednesday: Glutenus Minimus Baked Goods
This week’s WIN-it-Wednesday it full of the sweetness that we all deserve during the holiday season.
The kind of sweetness that you get when you walk to the corner bakery during a snow-globe-type-of-snowstorm all bundled up in mittens and hats, and gets a whiff of fresh still-warm baked goods that just came out of the oven. Or the kind of sweetness you got as a kid, all pink cheeked, cold and wearing a snowsuit full of snow and bursting into an oven-warmed kitchen, with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies that are “coming out of the oven in a minute or two.”
These are the simple sweetness’ that life offers us this time of year.
And thanks to Glutenus Minimus (don’t you just love the name?!) sweet measures such as these are made possible for those of us that are on a gluten-free diet, or have other food allergies.
Natalie McEachern, the owner of Glutenus Minimus, started her company baking gourmet gluten-free baked goods, a little over 2 years ago after getting diagnosed with celiac disease 6 years earlier when she was a senior in college. I met Natalie at a celiac convention shortly after she started her business, and just loved all of the baked offerings that she was sampling, along with her mother, who was Natalie’s partner in developing these delicious gluten and allergen-free recipes.
If you are lucky enough to live close enough to Natalie’s bakery in Belmont, Massachusetts (a close suburb of Boston), make sure you stop by her shop at 697 Belmont Street. Otherwise, you can order her delectable baked goods on-line. My favorites are the Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten & nut free), Sugar Cookies, and Carrot Cake Muffins (gluten, dairy & nut free).
I am so excited that Glutenus Minimus is sponsoring this week’s WIN-It-Wednesday and offering three (Yes, 3!) LUCKY BeFreeForMe members a gift pack containing Holiday Sugar Cookies that are ready-to-eat, and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix that you can bake-up yourself.
How can you win?
Easy!
Reply to this blog and tell us your sweetest holiday memory (Me? Ice skating during Christmas break with my sisters, and our neighbor, Gail, on the frozen cranberry bog down the street).
All entries must be received by Wednesday, December 29, 2010 at 12 midnight EST.
Good luck, hold close the sweetness of the Holidays and as always…
Be Free!
December 14th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
I experienced the Denver Blizzard of 1982 – I was 6 and we were in town visiting my two aunts and all my favorite cousins. My dad made tunnels in the snow for us – we could stand up in them! Santa came early because it would be harder to deliver on time due to the storm. (Later I learned that we were driving everyone crazy, and needed some new toys to distract us.)
December 15th, 2010 at 7:06 am
My favorite Christmas memory is when my three children were young and we would turn off all the lights except for the Christmas tree and they would all sit on my lap and we would sing Christmas carols.
December 15th, 2010 at 7:14 am
At my grandma’s house Santa would come to visit every Christmas Eve. (After I had grown up we found out that is was my Uncle Jack from the other side of the family). I remember being terrified when you would hear his bells ring as he walked through the back door. My parents have a picture of me sitting at the top of the stairs crying and Santa at the bottom trying to get me to come down and receive my gift. This year is my grandson’s first Christmas he is 6 months old and Santa will come over to my Aunt Mary’s house on Christmas Eve and deliver his first Santa present and my heart will still give a little jump as I hear the bells jingle as he comes through the door.
Thank you
December 15th, 2010 at 8:31 am
My sweetest holiday memory was listening to christmas songs on the radio on Christmas Eve while trying to fall asleep. I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited about Christmas morning, the songs would lull me to sleep and fill me full of anticipation at the same time.
December 15th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Having a big Christmas dinner with all my cousins and all the noise that went with it!
December 15th, 2010 at 8:52 am
My sweetest holiday memory is probably yet to come, as it will be our first baby’s first Christmas this year! But as for the past, I remember driving around looking at Christmas lights from the warmth of our car, all over town.
December 15th, 2010 at 9:23 am
My sweetest holiday memory is baking Christmas cookies and decorating them with my sisters. Thank you.
December 15th, 2010 at 9:25 am
Seeing my childrens happy faces when they opened their gifts.
December 15th, 2010 at 10:01 am
My sweetest holiday memories simply involve laughing with family and friends. 🙂
December 15th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Ice skating on Silver Lake. It was a clear night and I have never seen so many stars. It was beautiful.
December 15th, 2010 at 10:47 am
My childhood Christmas memories are all great!
December 15th, 2010 at 10:49 am
My sweetest Christmas memory is the Christmas my sister bought my mom the book Santa Mouse. After we moved houses we were not able to find the book, the book my mom read to us every year. About four years passed and we were still unable to find it. My mom tried looking for it at several book stores and couldn’t find it either. My sister, after much searching, found the book and gave it to my mom on Christmas Eve so that mom could read it to us like she usually did and that Christmas, we left out cheese for Santa mouse like we did when we were younger.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:05 am
my daughter’s first christmas…holidays are so much better when experienced through the eyes of a child
December 15th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
ONE of my best holiday memories is the year that we all made christmas ornaments for our tree. My dad went and cut down a tree and brought it home. It turmed out that my little sister was allergic to it. So out the tree went. We ended up decorating our rocking chair and having a Christmas Rocking Chair. It was so great!!!
December 15th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
My fondest memory is waking up early Christmas Eve on my grandparents 101-acre farm to a mountain of gifts under that tree. I’d look out the window at the endless snowy hills and bright red cardinals landing atop it. It was the picture-perfect Christmas scene.
angelikness@yahoo.com
December 15th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
candy canes on christmas trees – looking up through the leaves at the glory of the glow – and being able to grab a secret snack before dinner. The secrets only Christmas trees know!
December 15th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
We opened presents Christmas morning. One year our parents gave us a toboggan. My dad brought it in from the cold (Minnesota cold) and set it down in front of the tree. We all sat down on it. I still remember how cold it was.
December 15th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
My greatest Christmas memories are just being with family and enjoying each other.
December 15th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
stockings hung on the family room double doors at Nana and Pa’s house, you just know some Christmas magic awaited on the other side!
December 15th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Best Christmas memory: Unable to afford a Christmas tree one year I decided to make one. Using markers, paper, tape I made the best paper tree I could come up with while my mom was at work. She came home totally shocked and presented me with a very small live tree she found on sale on the way home. We didn’t have much, but we did have two very special trees and each other.
December 15th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
I remember shoveling the driveway for my aunt and uncle who were coming in from PA. My family had a blast setting up their christmas tree and sneaking in santa signs for them. That is my sweetest holiday memory.
December 15th, 2010 at 8:37 pm
One of my favorite holiday memories was on christmas morning, my grandparents had me hunt for fake money and the amount i found was the amount i was getting for my christmas gift. it was so sweet!
December 15th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
My sister and I going through our stockings Christmas morn! 😀
December 16th, 2010 at 12:33 am
My sweetest christmas memories used to center around food, baking cookies for the holidays, cooking a huge christmas dinner for the ones I love, etc. I’m newly diagnosed celiac, so this year is a little different, just re working some old traditions and I’m sure it will take some time to get everything the way I want it again! 🙂
December 16th, 2010 at 4:13 am
My sweetest holiday memory was finding a bright red bicycle under the Christmas tree 🙂 *Thanks* for the giveaway!
December 16th, 2010 at 7:33 am
One of my favorite Christmas memories is standing outside on Christmas Eve enjoying the beautiful snow quietly paint the street!
December 16th, 2010 at 9:00 am
My fondest memories of the holidays are of the family going to get the Christmas Tree…every year we trudged on a mountain to find and cut and haul the perfect tree! Sometimes we even had our sleds to ride while the tree was being dragged by the adults! So much fun!
December 16th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Waking up christmas morning as a child with my brothers and sisters and looking at what was under the christmas tree, yes i still believe
December 16th, 2010 at 10:03 am
waking up christmas morning and seeing what was under the christmas tree, now I see through the eyes of my children and we all believe
December 16th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Every Christmas Eve the entire family shows up at mom’s house and we have an ‘Elephant Gift Exchange’. Everyone is given a number and the first round everyone gets a gift, but the second round is where the FUN begins! Last person goes first this round and they draw a tag out of the Christmas bag and they must do what the tag says, like, ‘exchange your gift 5 times while singing ‘Frosty the Snowman’ by the end of the evening everyone is singing and laughing and making memories! 🙂
December 16th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
My most favorite Christmas memory was leaving out cookies for Santa and convincing my mother he needed egg nog not milk so I would have egg nog 😉
December 17th, 2010 at 7:30 am
My favorite Christmas memories are hanging up all the handmade decorations each year my daughter has made at school. I love these year after year. Our collection always brings a smile, looking forward to my youngest bringing some home from preschool next year!
December 17th, 2010 at 9:08 am
I love glutenus minimus! Natalie’s pastries are sold at my favorite café in Boston and it’s a highlight of my day/week picking some up.
My sweetest holiday memory is pouring Grandma & Grandpa’s maple syrup over fresh Michigan snow for a tasty, authentic snow cone!
December 17th, 2010 at 9:36 am
When I was about 8 or 9 I went caroling with my church. It was fun to see people open their door and to watch their face light up when they saw us singing. We visited an area of town where people who are less fortunate live, and I recall how surprised I was to see the almost bare house containing only a few pieces of furniture. I learned that day not only are there people who do not live comfortably, but there are also people who appreciate the simplest of gifts–something I need to remember always.
December 17th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Helping my Mom decorate the Christmas cake; and the Christmas pudding. She passed away year ago in October.
December 17th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Every Christmas morning, my family has French toast for breakfast together. This will be the first Christmas that we have to do it gluten-free, but I love spending the time together.
Thanks for offering the giveaway!
December 17th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Running down the stairs with my family in the morning to see what Santa brought us and then just enjoying the day with the whole family with a fire going and lots of yummy treats!
December 17th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
OMG!! you just reminded me of when WE used to skate on a frozen cranberry bog in south jersey where i grew up! i had totally forgotten about that! i remember being scared that the ice would crack and everyone else just teased me about it….oh man, there goes my sweet memory!!!
December 17th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
my dearest memory is baking cookies at my grandmother’s house. She had a pretty mixing bowl that was always used. After I was married I inherited the bowl.
December 17th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
My sweetest holiday memory is baking Christmas cookies and decorating with my Mother.
December 18th, 2010 at 9:53 am
My greatest memories are around the table eating a Christmas breakfast with my siblings with pastries and fruit salad and hamburger gravy and biscuits. We would then after enjoying breakfast open our gifts and take goofy pictures of our bed heads and pj’s. Also decorating the Christmas tree with ornaments we made when we were little and a party with punch, cookies and chips and dip was a tradition for us, those were some of the best Christmas times for me. With having my own family I bring in some of those traditions plus the 12 days of Christmas for my daughter and she appreciates everything she gets even the little gifts.
December 18th, 2010 at 11:15 am
My favorite Christmas memory is singing Christmas carols with my family on Christmas Eve. We have always been a musical family so everybody sang or played an instrument. It was so joyful and it kept us focused on the true meaning of Christmas to offer up such joyful sounds together.
December 18th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas, but when my two children were younger and we lived in Tucson, we would wake the kids up and when they would come into the living room to see what Santa had brought, my husband would record them; yawning, or rubbing there eyes because they were tired from not wanting to go to bed the night before, or so excited to see all the presents Santa had brought. I still have the VHS tapes of them, and those times will always be remembered with lots of love and fun times.
December 19th, 2010 at 4:28 am
Most of my child hood memories of Christmas were sweet ! My sister & brothers would wake on Christmas morning & we would rush to the tree to see what was ours.Often it wasn’t much but it was family time ! My mom would cook a big traditional meal and Grandma would come over. My Grandpa lived in a different city & Christmas was the only time we would see him and he always came bearing gifts ! I miss those times.
December 20th, 2010 at 11:39 am
When I was young after our christmas eve church service my aunt and uncle used to drive us around downtown to see all the chirstmas lights. I loved it! Years later I found out it was used as a distraction as my parents went and got our presents from my grandma’s house because we used to always snoop!!
December 20th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
My sweetest holiday memeory is my husband proposing to me on Christmas Eve after we finished putting out my kids’ presents and were mulling over mugs of hot spiced wine.
December 20th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I remember going to see the holiday windows on State Street in Chicago. Unlike the usual window manikins, the mechanized dolls would be set in intricately detailed scenes from the Nutcracker, a Christmas Carol, the circus or, perhaps, an outdoor skating pond. Often the props themselves were also in motion, creating a flurry of colorful activity.
December 20th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
My sweetest Christmas memory is the last year with my father. He couldn’t get up and do much so we slowly and casually openned gifts and watched Christmas carollers on TV and just spent time with each other.
December 21st, 2010 at 1:24 am
My favorite moment is making a holiday meal with my mom. She has since passed away since May but just watching her prepare meals without a recipe and trying to recall the ingredients and process brings a
smile to my face. Her favorite appliance was her ostrecizer. Now I make gluten-free memories with my son who is wheat sensitive. I love to cook. Crank up the music and I am in my element.
December 21st, 2010 at 12:33 pm
My most memorable holiday was when I was young and we had Christmas with my nanny and grandpa. I would help her make cookies and decorate the house. They lived in an old Victorian and it was the best cozy house there was. I remember sitting at the huge table w all my step cousins and how happy my grandpa al was .He use to make a toast to say how blessed he was to have such an amazing family. He use to sing the chip munk version Christmas don’t be late ! He passed away from cancer when I was young and still till this day I remember him every Christmas I hear that song !! I know he is with me in spirit and I will never forget him.
December 22nd, 2010 at 7:47 am
My sweetest memory is the first Christmas married; my husband was activated in response to 9/11 and had left for deployment; on christmas eve, he got short-term leave and was allowed to come home for the holiday… the last time he was ever home.. as he was killed in May.
December 22nd, 2010 at 8:13 am
Spending Christmas at my grandma’s house.
December 22nd, 2010 at 9:05 am
We always had an orange in the bottom of our stocking when I was young and I continued the tradition with my kids – even though they thought it was odd (:.
December 22nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
watching my daughter go into the living room when she was 3 and seeing what Santa left. This was the first year she really “got it”, and checked that he had eaten the (gf) cookies we’d left, drank the milk, and she even noticed the fireplace screen was ajar. What fun!
December 22nd, 2010 at 9:34 am
My most memorable holiday was going to New York right before Christmas with my 2 Aunts and my mom- We shared one hotel room with only 2 single beds – we crammed the beds together and slept side by side – it was a hoot! I made them do things they wouldn’t have considered doing if I wasn’t along – and they showed me things I wouldn’t have thought to see! It was a great time spent with family.
December 22nd, 2010 at 11:20 am
my most memorable was from the year I was a volunteer in NEW York City. Because I didn’t have much money, as religious sister bought me a plane ticket so that I could see my family that year. Mother nature had other plans and I got stuck at the airport on the 23rd. After a planes, trains, buses and my uncles car I made it home just in time for Christmas Eve dinner. It was so special to be home.
December 22nd, 2010 at 11:35 am
Here to the second chance to win! My favorite Christmas memory from recent times was when santa brought a snomobile to the house. yay!
December 22nd, 2010 at 11:49 am
Most memorable for my family regarding me was when I got up before everyone else and opened all the gifts before they woke up. I don’t remember it, but surely I had a very good time. Otherwise, we had a wonderful Christmas eve singing “On the first day of Christmas…” and making up our own gifts. It was really fun.
December 23rd, 2010 at 7:19 am
My favorite Christmas memory will be this one (2010). My daughter is finally old enough that she helps me bake gluten-free and enjoys the sweets I’ve learned to bake. She bought me a gift, and although I know it’s a book because she asked me for my reading “wish list”, I am so excited. This is the first gift from my daughter who bought something with here own money.
December 23rd, 2010 at 7:26 am
CHRISTMAS EVE WHEN I WAS YOUNG WE ALL WENT TO MY GREAT GRAMS FOR A PARTY. SANTA WOULD COME AND WE HAD A BLAST!
December 23rd, 2010 at 9:39 am
We always have a cookie decorating “competition” between my siblings. It is always hysterical and we always make such a mess!
December 23rd, 2010 at 4:49 pm
In my 20’s I was traveling with a friend and we ended up at the Empress Hotel in Vancouver. They had an excellent high tea there, and we were entertained by a bell choir from Texas. I had never really heard a bell choir before, and was amazed by how sweet it sounded. That and the falling snow made for an unexpectedly magical moment.
December 24th, 2010 at 1:29 am
The Christmas day we went to visit my mother in a nursing home. In a childish voice, she said ‘look what I can do’ and for the first time since the bad stroke she had fifteen days before, she moved her thumb. That was the BEST ‘Christmas gift’ EVER (five years later, it still brings a tear (or two) to my eyes
December 27th, 2010 at 8:35 am
1. When I got the wooden Strawberry Shortcake play kitchen set I had wanted as a child. 2. The year Goodyear Tire Factory adopted me at Christmas and I got everything on my wish list including toys and clothes. 3. Seeing snow flakes on Christmas in Alabama this year. All of them are my favorite memory.
December 27th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
It is difficult to choose just one memory as there are many; But I think maybe when my son who is now 40 year’s old now, was about 6. My husband & I took him to the mountain’s when the first snow’s came
to play. We built a wonderful perfect snowman who was named Frosty ( what other name would do???).
This One of course had a Dodgers baseball cap!! Time came to leave and Bobby was determined to not
leave “Frosty” alone. We had to put a Jacket on Frosty and managed to convince Bobby that Santa who was coming in a couple of day’s would stop and take Frosty with him to the North Pole where he would be
alive & never melt.
December 27th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Christmas memories are made each year as we spend time with all our family together. Those are the precious times in life. What a great give-a way, especially for those of us who are 150 miles from the nearest GF bakery.
December 27th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Sleigh riding behind my house and having all the neighborhood kids come and all of us make “jumps” for the sleds and actually having it pack down so hard that we ended up in the road after the hill! Daring and fun!
December 28th, 2010 at 8:39 am
My sweetest memory is the first Christmas with my boyfriend. He worked so hard to make everything so special and still seem like he was barely trying.
December 29th, 2010 at 12:01 am
When I was young we would go to my Aunt Vickie and Uncle Sam’s house. They had a real tree trimmed with beautiful antique ornaments, tinsel and bubble lights. They also always had my favorite ribbon candy.
December 29th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
When I was 5 or 6 we stayed at Grandma and Grandpa’s for Christmas. Grandma slept in front of the tree with me so we could watch for Santa Claus. Somehow he managed to sneak by without either of us seeing because Grandma said she was asleep when he arrived :). This year was my first Christmas without Grandma. I will always hold dearly to that memory. I still have the pet bear and doll that Santa left under the tree that year.