Colts Commercial

My family have had Colts tickets since the middle of the night move to Indianapolis. We filmed the commercial for the ESPN game last year. The commercial time was sold out so it was not on the show.

That's my family and I was the one who made everyone do the deed.

My dad is in the golf cart on the last shot. He was 86 and died Dec. 11. I find that I smile when I look at the scene. He loved doing it.

The thing about the new stadium that hurts is that he did not get to go to a game there. He was against building that new building when so many people have no place to live and no food.

He worked for the poor and needy through the Saint Vincent de Paul Society of Indianapolis.

We miss Dad.

Opera Singer

This is off the topic. My cousin Ryland Pope is an opera student. I set him up on a blog yesterday. He is off to Austria to study voice.

He will be a senior at Georgetown College, Kentucky in the fall. He applies to Julliard College in August.

I hope to help him raise money for his studies. Follow his career go to: http://www.rylandpopeoperastudent.blogspot.com He will be a star.

Fried Chicken

At the Indy 500, KFC is the main food group. For years, we followed the crowd. Not now of course Charlie would be ill.

Now I buy skinless chicken breast and slice it into fingers. I dip them in battered eggs and then in rice flour with garlic, onion, salt, pepper and all. Fried till done, the chicken fingers are healthier and as good as the KFC greasy chicken.

I actually serve the chicken fingers with mashed potatoes and gravy. Southern good cooking.

Salad Dressings

Salad dressings pose a problem because most of them have so may ingredients that are hard to know. The one I hate is natural flavorings. MSG is a natural ingredient so I put that dressing down.

When dining out, oil and vinegar makes a good choice unless you do not care for it. Simple mayonnaise works good if you like it. The best choice is plain salad no croutons and a dressing from home.

By planing ahead, you can enjoy eating out.

Beer

One of the saddest days for my husband was when he realizied that beer was off limits due to gluten. He always claimed that as long as it started with a B__ and ended with a ___r, the brand did not matter.

He switched to wine.

Then fnally the BEER companies discovered that sales were down. Without Charlies contribution profits were way down.

In their wisdom and effort to raise profits they began to brew wheat free beers.

As before, Charlie did not care what brand as long as, well you know, it has a b and ends in r.

Anheuser-Busch has managed to add one of the finest gluten free beers. Redbridge tastes great. It can be found at Whole Foods, where we buy it by the cases.

Profits must be up. I just wish that it would be carried by the local stores also.

Gluten and Autism

My daughter's friend has a child with autism. They are investigating the relationship of gluten to the problem. Since we know that the intestine is the problem in gluten related distress, checking if the child has GI problems may help the autism.

The autism causes so much stress in family relationships. If there is an impact on the child caused by gluten, it would be a relief to the family.

I found a site offering insight to this issue. Go to: www.NutritionandAutism.com

I hope this helps my daughter's family.

Pasta

There are rice pastas which allow Italian dishes to be eaten. Of all the brands that I have used, one simply stands out as the best for spaghetti.

Tinkyada Pasta Joy makes the best spaghetti. It cooks for a long time but will not over cook. It must be rinsed in cold water. I find it at Whole Foods.

For lasagna, I use DeBoles rice lasagna. I was hesitant to follow directions-do not precook. But it is the way to use the noodles. And I was plesantly suprised when the meal turned out wonderful.

I use organic pasta sauce. I have no favorite.