This strangest of tales begins with a most unnatural craving for orange juice. An orange eater, but not a juice drinker, (finding it somewhat akin to battery acid), I suddenly found myself consumed by this thirst that nothing else could quench. No brand was safe, with pulp and without, I imbibed in ever increasing quantities, until it took over my fridge and the majority of my food pyramid. It began to cause concern in even the people who normally just found humor in my normal strangeness. I admit that even I was a bit troubled, if for no other reason that oranges do not grow where I live and the stuff was like drinking liquid gold!
When my stomach is in flux, as it was in these orange days, I often just eat toast and tea, or cereal. But I found, much to my dismay, that even these seemingly innocuous foods did not sit well. Sick and tired of being sick and tired, and having come to the end of my proverbial food chain I knew it was time for drastic measures. I cut out meat and dairy, the things my body was obviously objecting to, and in desperation included wheat, having observed the success of its absence, in others. The results were dramatic... and distressing.
If the contents of my small kitchen were at all representative of the average, wheat and/or gluten is in everything. I had thought myself a fairly health conscious eater, whole grains, no food colouring or refined sugars. Yes I ate packaged food, but I live alone and portion size and convenience are always considerations. The foods I purged from my kitchen where not necessarily bad, just, it seemed, not good for me. But as I stared in bewilderment at my bare cupboards I realized my options were two. Pay twice as much to replace what was gone with gluten free alternatives or... relearn how to cook for myself.
And that brings me to here, purely by accident, this kitchen.
