Customer Reviews

Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back...And How You Can Too

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

This is a good read for someone who is already a fan of the Gluten-Free Girl blog and enjoys reading about her personal experiences, life and food philosophy, and positive outlook on Celiac Disease. Although I like the blog and the author's literary persona, I'm afraid this book did not satisfy my desire for a gourmet gluten-free cookbook. There are some recipes sprinkled throughout the book, and many of them sound (and probably are) quite good. However, the true test of a gluten-free chef is really their bread products. There are only a few baked carbohydrate recipes in this book, including a sorghum bread, pizza, and pie crust. Tonight I tried the promising recipe for Crusty Sorghum Bread in the hopes that quality of recipe would replace quantity and I could enjoy a great gluten-free artisan's bread recipe. Halfway through making the recipe, I was a bit astonished to find that the main liquid ingredient in the recipe, club soda, had no quantity listed. The instructions just said to add "as much as is needed to wet all the ingredients completely." Further, at that point the dough should be "soft and firm, like a baby's bottom." Descriptive and lyrical though that is, I had no idea exactly HOW wet the dough should be. I'm an experienced gluten-free baker, but gluten-free dough can have VERY different textures before being baked. Sometimes they are very wet, like cake batter, and other times the dough is much drier. And I can only imagine that the instructions would be even more confusing to someone NOT used to how weird gluten-free baking can be. I found several strange things about the recipe that in retrospect should have warned me that it might not be the kind of loaf I was hoping for. The author tells the reader not to be too optimistic about the bread's rising, because "no gluten exists to stimulate its rising." Later, she says "at the end of the evening, slice up any remaining bread and put it into the freezer. Gluten-free bread usually turns rock hard the next day." (130) Anyone who has made Bette Hagman's bread recipes knows that gluten-free bread CAN rise to the extent that it doubles or triples in size, even, with miscalculation, overflowing out of the pan. Further, those same bread recipes actually do not turn rock hard the next day- they stay just as soft as when you made them for several days until either mold or dryness gets the best of them, depending on your climate. I thought perhaps since this book was written to inspire newly diagnosed individuals, the gluten-free girl was trying to manage expectations and make sure no one would be disappointed. So, I persevered and finished out the recipe, trusting that some of the oddities (using the bread dough hook that is generally always avoided in gluten-free baking, letting the dough half rise and then changing it to another container etc.) were perhaps informed by the chef's training and might pay off in unexpected ways. At last, the loaf of bread was finished. It didn't look exactly like the artisan's loaf I'd imagined but it did have something of a crust and easily came out of the Dutch oven. Ten minutes later I sliced it, as instructed, and served my partner a slice with butter and tried some myself. The first thing I thought was that it tasted very gluten-free. The taste of the baking soda was also quite strong, making the recipe seem more like a quick bread than the more sophisticated yeast bread recipe it was. I have been eating gluten-free bread a long time, so I was not comparing the flavor to gluten breads. Compared to the gluten-free breads that I usually enjoy (such as the soft, whole grain loaves by Bette Hagman) this bread tasted more like a healthy gluten-free muffin than gourmet bread. I thought perhaps my partner would enjoy the bread. Although they can eat gluten and do, they are used to trying out gluten-free breads that I make, and I always solicit their opinion. Unfortunately, even lathered in butter, they didn't want to eat it after the first bite.... and generally they have the first slice of gluten-free bread and ask for more. I was terribly disappointed because I had very high expectations and really expected to enjoy the star bread recipe of the book. My fear is that newly diagnosed readers who try the bread will really end up thinking that gluten-free bread can't rise, and that they have to resign themselves to bread that doesn't last longer than a night. I would like to assure those readers that gluten-free bread can and does do both of those things. Please find inspiration in the Gluten-Free Girl's attitude towards life and positivity- but if you are looking simply for a gluten-free cookbook and seeking bread recipes you can make the staples in your household, this may not be the book for you. I hope that if there is anyone who reads this review that has tried this bread recipe and enjoyed it more than other homemade gluten-free bread recipes, they will post comments to that effect. I think it is important to review the recipes as well as the literary artistry in a book like this, and I hope that some readers will find this review and any follow-up comments useful.

I got this book from a friend because I'm trying to adjust my diet due to some health problems, and although I do not have celiac, I do need to avoid wheat, so I had high hopes for this book and Shauna Ahern's blog. Disappointed is a gross understatement. The bottom line is that this woman can't cook and has no business authoring a church bake-sale advertisement much less a single book. When I found out she has more than one and another cookbook is in the works thru her blog I nearly died. Her recipes don't work, and the ones that do are made with naturally gluten free ingredients so as a cookbook this tomb is only useful as a doorstop. As far as the "love story" portion of this beauty - as other reviews have already mentioned, the author falls all over herself selling readers on her wondrous love with her amazing "chef" husband. First of all, if you're going to reference a chef in the title of the cookbook then the person therein should probably have a few more credentials than a glorified line cook in a couple of middling restaurants, and secondly, I haven't read prose this unbelievable and pretentious since I attempted to get thru Twilight. Don't bother. Really, Don't. Why isn't there less than 1 star? Couldn't we institute a negative star rating of some sort - come on Amazon, work with me!

I love food and like to read about it, and I read this book in about two days. Ahern's descriptions of food are a real treat; as I read them I thought, "Hey, that's EXACTLY what that food tastes like." I also could relate a lot to her experience of growing up on a bland American diet and discovering new tastes in adulthood.

Her attitude about eating gluten-free is very good - I have researched many a restrictive diet and gluten-free seems most intimidating. She chooses to see the glass as half-full and looks at her restrictions as a gift that opened up a whole new world of food and healthy living.

The first problem with the book is there are not enough recipes. It's really more of a food memoir. The few recipes that are provided are not really mindful that a lot of GF eaters also need to avoid other allergens. I wish I could have combed through a book chock full of her recipes, culling out those that are also dairy, egg, and nut free.

The second problem with the book is Ahern's writing style. There is an arrogance that distances the reader. I'm sure this is more a function of being a first-born and child of a professor rather than a real personality flaw, but it's pretty hard to take at times. (Like when she tells about the proper pronunciation of quinoa then triumphantly proclaims something like, "We learn something new everyday." As if most of her readers didn't know how to pronounce quinoa). The other thing that drives me crazy about her writing is her overuse of the comma (,) as a literary tool. She puts commas in like too many crushed peppercorns and it is distracting!

The flaws cost a star each, but I still recommend it, especially to people on any kind of restricted diet.

Shauna Ahern's "Gluten-Free Girl" blog was one of the first that I found after discovering my own issues with gluten. It is a great food blog in showing a "sunny side" of living gluten-free,so I was excited to read Ahern's book. While I enjoyed parts, I found the book a disappointment overall.

Three main points: I found that Ahern's ecstasy over food is better taken in the 'small bites' of her blog, rather than in longer book form. It is exhausting after a chapter or two. Additionally, I think she is rather hard on her parents in general and their food habits in particular, which is off-putting, especially given how supportive Ahern reports them to be once she received a diagnosis. Lastly, the sprinkling of recipes appeared yummy, but many do include dairy,without suggested substitutions, making them unusable for the lactose-intolerant (a very common issue in the GF community).

I am gluten-intolerant and am always looking for good recipes and tips for filling in those areas of my diet that are necessarily devoid of wheat products. This book seemed like a good bet.

Wrong. I know the author means it to be an inspirational type book to get people to learn to love whole foods and all that, and that the stuff about her dysfunctional eating habits as a kid and into adulthood is supposed to illustrate the degree of change she has made. But she also makes sweeping statements that are just not true, like when she says over and over that an entire generation was raised on totally processed food. That may be true of her upbringing but that doesn't mean that it is what everyone did. She seems self-involved to the point that she is unable to comprehend that there are realities besides hers.

There's also a lot of text taken directly from her blog. I don't get why a publisher would allow this without calling it an anthology. It's annoying to be reading along and then realize hey, I've already read this. The cost of the book should be prorated based on how much material is new!

I also wasn't very impressed with the quality of the writing for someone who says she has always wanted to be a writer and who teaches writing. She seems to think that the more unusual the description, the better. Sometimes when she is describing a food dish, she actually ends up making it sound like something less than delicious, due to using a weird simile that I suspect she thinks is very creative.

On the plus side...it is inspiring in spots. It made me want to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables.

Maybe I would have liked it more if I were a foodie. I love to cook and eat but food is only one of many passions in my life. I can't imagine food being the focus of my entire life.

I received this book as a gift - such a thoughtful gift from an acquaintance - and I was looking forward to reading it.

Sadly, I was so surprised to read the condescension dripping from the pages across the topics as the book, and shocked at harshly she judged her parents and the cheap, processed diet they fed her. I'm sure - certain - that had they known they would have done the best they could. Different time, different availability of information. I thought she was so hateful - my jaw was on the floor.

I wish I could have back every second I spent reading this book. There are so many better blogs out there, and I may have actually liked Shauna's if I didn't read this book and get a glimpse into her self absorbed pretentious heart. There was no new information for anyone who has been gluten free for more than 5 minutes. (OK, 3 months.... 5 minutes may be harsh....)

I also have to agree with the recipes comments - many celiacs have multiple allergies to deal with. We have both dairy and gluten in the house so 80% of the recipes are irrelevant. Add enough cheese or butter and you can make nearly any dish edible. The trick comes in when you don't have all of those other common flavorings available to you. If you can do dairy, go buy Rachel Ray's cookbooks instead and replace the pasta with gluten free pasta and you will have a wealth of delicious and healthy options at your fingertips.

I have been reading the author's website for a while, and pondering whether to get tested for celiac disease, as I have some of the symptoms. I got this book from the library, thinking it would have more information about the disease and practical information about diagnosis, lifestyle, et cetera.

This book is merely a rehashing of a lot of her longer blog posts. Some are word-for-word, verbatim. That's a lazy approach to writing a book. At some point, she looked at all her lengthy blog posts and thought, "I've got a book here!" No. No, you don't.

The flowery descriptions of food at some point got unbearable. Her snobbery regarding food and foodies is apparent, especially when she shuns a "thin, wan girl with no discernible personality" (apparently only those who wax poetic about food have personality) who simply states that she doesn't understand why people "talk about food all the time. It's just food." The author states that she and that girl had nothing to talk about after that. I would like to point out that a good sign of maturity is the ability to talk to others about what THEY are interested in, not reject them because they don't share your pet passion. I have friends who don't share my passion for homeschooling. I don't reject them.

This passage, more than any other, turned me against the author. It is a wonderful thing to be diagnosed, finally, with a crippling illness and to find the way back to health. And with celiac, it is clear that it is wonderful to find the treatment in the very thing that once made you sick. It is another to become so insular and snobbish that you look down on those who don't share your passion for, say, truffle salt or fine olive oils. For some people, yes, food is just food. I bet there are celiacs out there who look at food as fuel and get on with their lives.

The other passage (actually, it's a whole chapter) that was just cringe-worthy was the one describing her meeting her future husband. While I'm happy for them, and sure that they'll have a wonderful, blissful life together, this didn't need to be in the book. For me, it was way too personal and passionate; I felt as if i were reading a love letter she'd written to "The Chef" (which, sorry, pretentious. He has a name, right?) I felt like I'd been dropped into a Harlequin Romance, where people moan and giggle in the kitchen rather than the bedroom. Way too personal, and added nothing to my knowledge of celiac disease.

The passage at the very end, "Where does Gluten Hide" seems like an afterthought, plunked down after her ecstatic description of "the Chef's" proposal. It would have been better placed in the section about her diagnosis, or about gluten, for heaven's sake. It's like the editor got to the end and said, "Uh....what is gluten, again, and where can you find it?" And the author said, "Oh. Yeah. Let's get back to that aspect of my life."

Do not buy this book, unless you want an overly-personal, florid description one's relationship, with a big helping of snobbery. After reading it, I felt as though the author was presenting us with her ideal image of herself and her life, not the reality of living with celiac. She's "never" had the urge to eat a piece of bread? Or a slice of pizza? Wow. When I had to go on a low-fat diet for health reasons, even though I was told that eating too much fat could seriously harm my body, I sure was tempted. I found her superiority and snobbery hard to take.

I gave this book two stars for the recipes, which look interesting and worth trying. Without the recipes, it would have been one star.

If you are newly diagnosed with celiac sprue, this book may provide the inspiration to get over the hump of wondering what in the heck you're going to eat for the rest of your life. If it does that, then it's done a good job. If I had read it 8 years ago, I might have liked it more. From my perspective as someone who has been doing this a long time, the author comes across a bit self-congratulatory as being the first person to have ever reacted to a diagnosis of sprue with a positive attitude. Maybe this is just a result of her passionate enthusiasm for spreading the word, but it is a bit annoying that she gives little credit to people like Bette Hagman or Jax Peters for their pioneering efforts in improving the food choices and lifestyles of people with sprue. Or to anyone else who has said to themselves "OK, I can't eat bread, but I can still eat chocolate. Life is good!"

Other books would be more useful as a reference on celiac sprue or for gluten-free recipes. Some of the background material is inaccurate or incomplete. Most of the recipes can be found on the blog. I tried a couple of them, with some very excellent and some not-so-good results. And, I must object to the advice that the author gives for talking with waitstaff. She states that she always tells them that she will get very sick in their restaurant if she gets even a speck of gluten in her food. Even if that were true (and it may be that she would get sick, but probably not before she left the restaurant), it sets up a situation where the next person to come along asking for a gluten free meal meets with hostility not helpfulness.

Overall, I would recommend this book to people newly diagnosed with sprue as a memoir of someone who has been there, but look to other sources for recipes and in-depth information.

Shauna is an excellent writer, but don't get this if you are looing for a cookbook. It's more chick lit than anything, and a warning to potential readers....she's pretentious as all hell. I rolled my eyes A LOT. I'm entertained by it, though. Whatever. I like to read.

I had come across the gluten free girl's blog and was intrigued by her recipes. It's easy to skip the fluff in her blog, just use the scroll button and it doesn't cost you any money. The book is another story. Although it's easy to skip the fluff with a page turn, I'm left wondering where all the recipes are? There are some, yes, but I was hoping for something the tried and true recipes of someone who endured all the hardships of gluten free, a self proclaimed foodie, married to "The Chef" who apparently owned a gluten free restaurant.

The book is very touchy feely, more of a chicklit fantasy novel of how magical her life is than anything else.