Today is an exciting day for us. It’s when we—at last—get to joyfully announce the release of Gluten-Free Family Favorites! It’s the equivalent of hosting a big family celebration … doing the menu planning, the grocery shopping, the food prep, the actual cooking, setting the whole spread out on the dining room table, and finally saying “Mangia! Bon appetit!” Except the process takes about two years from start to finish and is far more exhausting. Yet here we are!
If you’ve followed this blog from the beginning—and even if you’ve found your way here more recently—you’ve watched our family grow. We began as a young married couple, and in subsequent years added a child, and then a second, and now a third. In parallel, though not in tandem, we also added books: Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking’s 1st and 2nd editions, Artisanal Gluten-Free Cupcakes, and now Gluten-Free Family Favorites.
We think this latest is perhaps our most important book. Let me tell you why.
Meeting a need for families
In the years since Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking was first released, we’ve periodically but ever consistently received emails from parents telling us stories about feeding their gluten-free children and families with our recipes. It’s deeply gratifying to receive such notes. But over time we’ve sensed an aching void in the gluten-free cookbook world. Yes, you could cook for a family, including children, out of pretty much any cookbook. But scant few have specifically addressed gluten-free children and their families. This one, of course, does, including with familiar kid classics such as pancakes, soft pretzels, chicken fingers and fish sticks, and ice cream sandwiches. There are 75 recipes in total, spanning the gamut from breakfasts to snacks and sides to dinners to sweet treats for dessert.
Empowering children
Gluten-Free Family Favorites is about more than putting food on the table your kids—gluten-free or not—will love to eat. It is about getting them in the kitchen with you… gluten-free flour in their hair, dough under their fingernails, and wide grins on their faces. You see, we firmly believe that in an era of ever busier schedules and commitments, time spent together as a family in the kitchen is time well spent. Plus, the confidence your gluten-free child develops in the kitchen translates into other aspects of their life, where they’ll have to confidently navigate sometimes difficult social situations when being gluten-free could be a challenge: class parties, play dates, sports and other extracurricular activities, etc.
Setting an inclusive table
We know what it feels like when you’re welcomed at a dinner table where the food is safe to eat… and we know what it’s like when you’re the odd one out. It’s tempting to think of that as a binary state—you’re either in or out, you’re either gluten-ous or gluten-free. But those of us in the gluten-free community know how many shades of gray there are. So often gluten is just one of several dietary restrictions. That’s why we developed and tested as many modifications to each recipe as we could to—beyond gluten-free—also make a recipe free of corn, soy, dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish, refined sugar, etc. and any combination. Consider it the Top Eight Plus. Every recipe has the necessary modifications right there on the page, plus there’s a handy quick-reference table in the back of the book so you can, at a glance, tell whether a recipe is naturally free of an allergen or can be modified to make it so.
Comprehensive yet concise information
Going gluten-free can have a steep learning curve. If you’re already on the other side of that curve, you probably still remember what those first days, weeks, and months were like. If you’re just starting out, there are a number of great resources available to help you through the transition. The introductory section of this book is one of them. It’s comprehensive yet concise (in our estimation, an admirable pair of qualities!), with sections on gluten and gluten-free 101, setting up a gluten-free kitchen, food and kitchen safety basics for kids (and adults), navigating the supermarket (not to mention federal labeling laws and third-party GF certifications), and tips for reducing your gluten-free grocery bill. It’s all in there, and in true Goldilocks style, not too much or too little.
We’ve said previously of Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking that if you cook from its pages, it’s like you’re cooking with us. It’s not so much a collection of recipes for a cookbook as it is a collection of our family’s recipes that happen to have been assembled into a cookbook. Our personal copy is dog-eared and frayed and messy in the way a well-worn and often-used cookbook should be. We cook from it regularly, if not daily.
The same can now be said of Gluten-Free Family Favorites. Though our personal copy—one of the first off the presses two short weeks ago when it arrived in our mailbox straight from the publisher—has barely had time for the ink to dry, it’s already showing signs of beloved use. We hope that it finds a similar place in your kitchen.
The title of this blog has been our most fundamental perspective on food and cooking since basically Day One: cooking with no gluten is no problem. That’s just as true when it comes to feeding your gluten-free child or an entire gluten-free family. Let Gluten-Free Family Favorites be your guide to help make your kitchen and dining room table whole again.
Giveaway!
And to celebrate GFFF’s release, we’re giving away three copies, one in honor of each of our children. Just leave a comment on this blog post—a recipe you’re excited to try, your family’s gluten-free story (briefly). We’ll randomly select and announce the three winners one week from today, next Monday, July 21. Good luck!
–Pete and Kelli
So many yummy options to choose from. I think that the chicken and broccoli noodle bowl will be on the menu this week, as my broccoli-hating husband is out of town and my 3-year-old and I love broccoli. Thank you for all that you do – it has made our transition to a gluten-free house so much easier and our daughter healthier.
I’ve been following your family for almost 5 years now since the manager of my Shop Rite saw me staring blankly at the gluten free aisle with my jaw hanging open the day after my celiac diagnosis! So excited to check out your new book…I use your first book all the time. Your flour blend is amazing!! Congratulations on your new book!!
My wife and both our daughters are Celiac, so your book has been a life-saver. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in this new book to make eating, as well as cooking, more fun and accessible for my whole family. Thank you for everything you’ve done!
Pumpkin Gnocci nuggets sound amazing! My kids were both diagnosed last December, so it’s been quite a learning curve.
Congratulations! Looks like a great book and I would love to have it. Thanks for the giveaway!
I have followed you, your blog and your family for over 3 years. What a help your blog and cookbooks have been! While I don’t have kids I look forward to trying some recipes out of your new cookbook to satisfy the kid in me! Thank you for all your hard work.
I am just giddy about your new book! I am the only “official” gf member of our family, but the hubby and kids have enjoyed so many of your recipes from AGFCv2! As more of our friends have discovered problems with gluten, we’ve also found ourselves gifting AGFCv2 with great joy!!
I can’t wait to see the great recipes you’ve developed in your new book!!! I’m ready to be surprised!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
I just happened to buy this book today in Barnes and Noble. I can’t believe it just came out yesterday. I found your blog from the back cover of the book and am now signed up to follow you.
I recently have been diagnosed with Celiac and would love to have it to learn new recipes and how to cook gluten free! Love your blog!!
Congratulations on the publishing of your new book!
Waffle Cones!!!! Yum!!!!
I have 2 boys with celiac but we all eat gf at home so that they have a place that is totally comfortable for them. Can’t wait to see the book!!!!
Congratulations on your latest book! I follow your blog and have enjoyed your recipes. Thank you for the giveaway.
How wonderful to have a new cookbook geared towards children. Although I am gluten intolerant and my grandchildren aren’t, I still cook gf when with them simply because even handling regular flour causes a reaction for me. It will be wonderful to have a cookbook to pull fun recipes from not only for them but for me as well. Even us grandma’s like to have fun things to eat. ~ Cindy
Congrats on the new cookbook! Looking forward to trying the new recipes. While I am the only GF one in the family, I cook GF for all. I love your recipes.
How fantastic that you have a new cookbook out! Very much looking forward to it. My daughter and I are so pleased that it is now easier to navigate GF living, thanks in large part to people like you. Blessings!
Love your Artisan cookbook and am currently looking for family lunch ideas so this new one sounds wonderful! Can’t just name one recipe…..
All of your recipes are wonderful. I cook for my mother and my daughter, both who have celiac disease, and your recipes are my go-to favorites! I always have your flour blend in the cupboard.
I’m the only gf one in my family. It will be nice to have recipes that the whole family will enjoy.
I can’t wait to try your recipes. I am also checkin gmy Costco for your ice cream book. Woot.
GF Spanakopita! Seriously? I’m sold!
Wow! You really know how to get a person’s attention: First the ‘Ice Cream’ then the Pizza & lastly those unbelievable Chicken Strips!! I love how you have brought your children into the process front & centre, huge kudos! I’m all about Pizza so it’s first on the (long) list. Thanks so much for your beautiful creation;-)
Wonderful! I would just Love to be able to cook something for my daughter that is “normal” – something that she Used to be able to eat but can’t anymore. Thank you for the giveaway! You folks are great!
Congratulations on another wonderful book! I not only love your blog but your books also. I would love to win a copy of your newest book, however I will be away all that week and won’t have internet or cell phone connections. Good luck to whoever wins. Thanks for all you share.
Congrats on your new book! My family has been gluten free for a few years. My mom was diagnosed with arthritis which turned out to be a gluten allergy. We love your family’s recipes and use them pretty often. We’ve been wanting to try your churro recipe for awhile. Thanks for posting so many wonderful recipes its made it alittle easier for our family to adapt!
Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking is my go-to book for gf recipes. There’s no doubt in my mind that it will be sharing a spot on the shelf with Family Favorites. I’m eager to try breakfast with it!
Artisinal Gluten Free Cooking is one of the first gluten free cookbooks I purchased after my son was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in 2009. Our family has enjoyed many of the recipes over the last 5 years, and I always tell other people new to gluten free about that cookbook. I look forward to seeing and using the recipes in this new book as well.
Congratulations on the publication! I use Artisanal Gluten Free Cooking almost every day. Now it looks like my seven-year-old has inherited my gluten intolerance issues, so we are thrilled to check out the new book! Thank you for your work…it makes cooking and eating fun again!
All your recipes are so amazing… I can’t wait to try all the new ones.
Congrats on the new Book! I have been a follower for about 3 years now. Just after I received my Celiac diagnosis. I Love the Artisan Cookbook and I have bought it for many friends as a gift. Thank you for everything! A truly Canadian fan!
Congratulations your latest book. I am looking forward to trying out your recipes with my 4 little ones.
Congratulations! My dad and I are gluten free and I love to try recipes from your books and blog that my entire family family finds delicious! I would love to try the Apple Cider Doughnuts as I miss doughnuts and am intrigued by the flavor profile!
Your book is wonderful! just received it the other day and have already made the sweet potato pancakes (seriously delicious!) and the jam cookies (a treat for my daughter with celiac who was coming home from non-celiac-friendly-camp). Cannot wait to explore other recipes – Congrats on a wonderful cookbook and thank you for helping this family eat healthy and gluten free!