DC Gluten Free Expo 2016 Recap- Pretty Much a Celiac's Paradise

What is the one thing celiacs love more than hypothetically not actually having celiac?

Free gluten free food. Lots and lots of free gluten free food.

I was fortunate enough to attend the 2016 DC Gluten Free Expo with my dad yesterday, June 12. This was my second time attending, this event clearly gets better with age. Like a really expensive wine, or those Elvis CD's my dad's had me hooked on for the past 19 years.

The Expo was at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland, and is sponsored by the Celiac program at Children's National Hospital. The exhibits and vendors were spread out among several different rooms, with an extra room saved for the free info sessions. Upon entry, we were handed Whole Foods bags in which to store the goodies we accumulated- and man oh man, did we accumulate some goodies. The first table we stopped at was Whole Foods, where they were sampling their GlutenFree Bakehouse gluten free apple pie, peanut butter, chocolate walnut, and ginger cookies, and different scones, cakes and breads. They also had some of their other products out, including those beautiful confetti cakes I have to pull myself away from every time I walk into a Whole Foods. The apple pie was by far one of my favorite things I sampled from them- they heated it up to just the right gooey warmth, and I felt sufficiently American- and ready for more food- as we continued on to the first room.

In here we were greeted by- surprise- more food! The were primarily sampling fresh products, and pretty soon I was balancing mini red velvet cakes on one finger and sauerkraut on another. A couple of my favorite vendors were in here, including Sweet Crimes, a gluten free bakery offering beautiful cakes, cookies and cupcakes- including the aforementioned red velvet ones. I can't say I know what glutinous baked goods taste like anymore, but I have a feeling

Sweet Crimes table

they're no better than what I sampled here.

Mini capreses from Dress It Up

 Another vendor I enjoyed was Dress It Up Dressing, who were sampling their Champagne, Red Wine, and Blackberry dressings on cherry tomatoes and mini caprese salads. I'd have to say one of the cutest displays I saw!

Heading into the next room, we snagged some peanut butter and chocolate Protein D'lites from Nogii. I haven't tried this flavor yet, but I love their caramel and chocolate ones- these little bars are one of my favorite snacks before swim, so it's quite possible I slightly *cough* hoarded them. We also got three kinds of Pamela's Whenever Bars, in Oat Blueberry Lemon, Oat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, and Oat Double Chocolate. Another booth we stopped by was Lilit, a delicious local cafe with tons of gluten free pizzas, sandwiches, baked goods, and other foods. They were handing out their gf chicken curry with basmati, which provided a welcome savory break from the dessert insanity. Power Supply was also handing out samples, including a buffalo chicken salad that made me wonder if maybe I'd found the perfect replacement for all those chicken wings I have to miss out on.

Expo craziness 

It was in the main room, however, where the craziness really came into full swing. A ton of vendors were in here, including Against the Grain who was sampling piping-hot flatbread pizza, Garden Lites with their veggie bites, blueberry oat muffins and chocolate muffins, and The Melting Pot, where we picked up chocolate fondue-topped strawberries and marshmallows. Also handing out samples were some of my favorites who've been by this Celiac's side since the beginning, such as Kinnikinnick, Glutino and Bakery on Main. And of course, no Expo experience is complete without a stop to the Enjoy Life table, where we picked up more than enough (or maybe not quite enough- depending on how hungry I get) cookies, mini chocolate chips, packets of Mountain Mambo Mix, and s'mores and cinnamon bun bars. Not surprisingly, this room too found me with impossibly full hands, as I piled up cookies, Schar bread, donuts, and muffins. One of the highlights was the Ardenne Farms table, piled up with brownies, cupcakes, cookies and muffins, of which the ladies there were amazing enough to give me a bag full.

Ardenne Farm Table

To wrap up our afternoon, my dad and I attended one of the free info sessions. I decided on the 1:30 discussion about current Celiac research, which was hosted by a pediatrician from Children's. He discussed the current developments surrounding different Celiac therapies, including pills vaccines, and gut bacteria maintenance. I really enjoyed having that chance to sit down and learn a bit more about what's going on inside this wonderful, auto-immune diseased tummy.

By the time my dad and I rolled out, we were stuffed, sugar-dazed, and loaded down with tons of new goodies. Overall, the expo was an amazing experience- it's always empowering and inspiring as a Celiac to not only see the wealth of resources and foods available to you, but to connect with others who understand the kind of things you deal with. I can't wait for my next expo- for now, though, I guess I'll have to find other ways to spike my blood sugar.








The final haul