I begin this blog in honour of my grandmother who just recently passed. Grandma Carol was someone who always was an inspiration for me and most everyone that she came in contact with to enjoy life. Carol was always very passionate about cooking and baking. She was always very supportive of my interests in travel and culture. She was truly an inspiration to anyone who she came in contact with, always full of life and spirit even in her last days. So I begin this blog in remembrance of her and hopefully I will be able to recognize her spirit for a passion of living.

"It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things that are still safe to eat"

- Robert Fuoss

So why a Frustrated Foodie?? Well friends, for those of you that do not know I had a series of health problems occur over a fairly long period of time, which caused all kinds of complex and frustrating issues. So to keep things short, it mainly came down to diet. I can not digest gluten, wheat and if that isn't enough I cannot consume corn (or any of its bi-products), which the majority of the time is a substitute for those two things and is in everything processed!!!



I LOVE FOOD - I ADORE FOOD!! Not in a fill my stomach because I need energy to survive kind of way....but in a passionate, adoration, appreciation and affection way. I love how food smells, how it feels, how it blends, how it comforts, how it pairs with wines and other beverages...it is the universal love language that we all can relate to. Sure, I could let it get me down that the vast majority of food out there I cannot take part in OR I can just figure out the loop holes that both my stomach and taste buds will thoroughly appreciate. (I will hopefully be posting lots of goodies) My grandmother encouraged me, to explore options in the kitchen that would allow me to be able to enjoy everything that I had enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. Actually, the first venture we went on was to make old fashioned Southern Italian Pizzelle from rice flour - which we were happy to discover worked immaculately and most people were unable to even tell that they were made from rice flour.



I can honestly say that I am a carbaholic; and rice and potatoes can only go so far when you are craving FRESH baked bread that you can swirl in a plate of high quality olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar OR freshly hand made fettuccine noodles in a thick creamy Alfredo sauce with loads of garlic OR just the comfort of good old Mac N Cheese home style or KD haha. (And dear good Lord, do not even bother buying the gluten free boxed Mac N Cheese - just an absolute utter offense to the senses on every level imaginable.) So I think you can understand why I have such an urge to find the perfect substitute to my favorite indulgences. (Maybe I need to start with the Mac N Cheese)



I also love exploring food on a cultural level. My favorite thing when travelling is trying the local cuisine. After all like I said, it is a love language that binds us all together. I have had the privilege of travelling internationally the past couple of years to places such as Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia (Bali). I got to experience true culture (several instances where I have magically been somewhere just at the right time to witness things that not the normal tourist have seen) and met people that I will cherish in my heart forever. And lets not forget the food...I'll stop there because I started to get carried away when I began to type and had to double back. The world has always been a beautiful place and I hope that I will continue to be blessed enough to travel in the future.



I think more importantly (especially as I see that it is not going to be practical to travel on the level I like for the next couple of years - got to be a big girl now and buy a house and start putting more money into the good old savings) we fail to recognize there is so much culture and flavour in our own little areas of the world. And my goal for the next little while is learning to appreciate just that.