The hotel industry caters to millions of people around the world each day and part of this is the form of a hotel restaurant. I happen to practically live in hotels and am sad to say that without a car I am often stuck eating whatever is offered there at the hotel. Whether it’s for a healthier lifestyle or for true necessity, hotel owners are starting to listen and those who do will be better off for it. Especially since a lot of the time simple changes and/or additions are all it takes.

I make my own gluten free crust at home by substituting gluten free flour blends. So those hotels with their own pastry chefs can simply make the same deserts by starting with the altered crust. It is so easy that it wouldn’t take any extra time at all. Basically, I find that except for perhaps a fillo dough, baking gluten free is really easy. As far as main courses, substituting regular flour for something like tapioca starch  makes all the difference. If a property doesn’t have it’s own chef on staff, there are still ways to offer gluten free products to their guests.

Hotels are starting to offer these healthier choices in venues like the in room mini-bar at the Palomar Hotel in San Francisco and gluten free breakfast options at Omni Hotels & Resorts after they found that 10% of surveyed guests want these items. Nielsen, a consumer tracking company discovered that $8.4 million in sales of gluten free items were bought last year and I am pretty sure as word spreads and cost come down, this number will only grow.

Unfortunately, there are still the occasional wait staff or cook that do not completely understand and will bring a “gluten-free” item that is covered in a sauce thickened with a wheat based flour. With that in mind, I hope that hotels will continue to look into the idea of gluten free and train the staff appropriately. For now, I think that we’re on a good track. 

The latest book found on my library’s shelves, looks like it should be a beautiful addition to my beginning collection. Mrs. Pascal doesn’t simply have recipes typed out and bound for us to figure out on our own, no. She starts the book out with everything that one should have in their pantry and kitchen, from the dry and wet goods and the tools needed for the easiest preparation of your new found goodies. Read on to see how this turns out…

Cybele even goes so far as to explain each ingredient, such as the different Gluten-Free flours, including what they taste like, how they perform and why. How to replace eggs is another big one since so many people are allergic to eggs and it’s all described beautifully.

Finally, before the recipes begin, her recipe for the “main” ingredient in every recipe in the book is listed. All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour, pg 19, which is followed by successful baking tips!

The next 152 pages describe how to make the most delectable treats allergy free so that anyone can “have their cake and eat it too”! If my own creations come out as good as the pictures look, I will have to fly and meet the author with a great big hug!

Since I wrote this, I tried a couple of the recipes and yes! She says not to substitute any ingredients however, I didn’t have any potato starch so I used corn starch in the basic all purpose flour mixture and tried it in the Brown Sugar Cookies with great success. I have never had a GF sugar cookie that I like but with this recipe I couldn’t stop eating them!

I also made the Buckwheat Apple Muffins and my husband said he liked them. Just don’t tell him that they are sugar free, gluten free, egg free and dairy free! Just tasty all natural goodness thanks to Mrs. Pascal. Ready for that hug?