Review of Ruby Cakes (McMinnville, Oregon)

Ruby Cakes is a gluten-free, vegan, and nut free bakery in McMinnville, Oregon.  It is owned by Dominique Bjorlin and Amy Israel.  They make the most amazing baked goods!  They have cupcakes, brownies, pies, donuts, breads, biscuits, cookies, and muffins.  They also make bagels on Fridays and cinnamon rolls on Saturday.  They also do special orders for birthday cakes, cupcakes, and wedding cakes.  They also have a nice selection of coffee and tea.

I absolutely love going into Ruby Cakes.  There are so many options that I can eat, and I can always find something that my children would like.  My son's favorite item on the menu is the chocolate salted caramel cupcake.  My daughter likes the chocolate chip cookies.  My husband's favorite treat is the orange creamsicle cupcake.  I have sampled many of the baked goods, and I really cannot decide what I like the best.  It depends on my mood.  I will say that I traditionally have a cupcake, because I can order a mini-cupcake.  It gives me the ability to have a little bit of something sweet.  Here is a link to Ruby Cakes' menu, so you can see what wonderful options they have.         

The bakery has a good amount of seating and free wifi.  It is a great place to chat with your friends or even conduct a business meeting over coffee and a nosh.  They even have a kids' corner, where my kids love to play.  Ruby Cakes has created such a welcoming atmosphere, and I am so lucky to have it in our area.

  

I hope that you will stop by Ruby Cakes and enjoy a special treat!  It will be worth the trip.

"Emergency" Dining

A few weeks ago, I picked up a friend from the airport.  We had some shopping to do on our way back to Salem (ahem Ikea) and by the time we were part way home we had 2 4-year olds melting down and "starving".  I had a nice GF planned supper at home, but we just weren't going to make it.  As my passenger scoured online menues, we found that Romono's Macaroni Grill had a gluten free menu and they had a location in Bridgeport Village so we quickly stopped.

Allergen Menu

They were nice and knowledgeable about gluten free options and their menu made it easy to pick the correct items.

My little one was ecstatic because she got noodles and white sauce just like her gluten-eating little friend.  (gf penne pasta and gf alfredo sauce).

My meal was fantastic - gf penne pasta with pomero sauce (some red sauce) and grilled chicken with arugula.  YUM and YUM

While I normally don't go to chain restaurants, this one was perfect for "emergency" stops.

Great lunch for everyone

A few weeks ago I caught up with a friend and decided to eat at Willamette's Goudy Commons.  It was SO GOOD.  Anyone can go there, you don't have to be a student.  In addition to wearing a backpack and pretending I was much younger and more hip - the food was great and I can't wait to go back.

But Goudy isn't your alma-mater's cafeteria (ok maybe is it if you went to Willamette University).  I felt more like I was at a high end resturant with self-service.  All of the items are labeled to help you make food choices that work for you like "no gluten ingredients" or "vegetarian" or "vegan" or "farm to fork".  On any given day there is a station with tacos etc (and OMG are they good), a grill station, sandwich station, pb&j station, soup, salad bar, and the list goes on.  They even have a dessert station that typically has GF items.

This day we made a bad call on when to arrive and the place was packed with students (had we waited 15 minutes it would have cleared out).  So I opted for the salad bar with GF pear vinaigrette and GF tomato-basil soup all for around $6.50.  They accept a school account, cash, and credit.

My one recommendation would be to check when school is in session, as I did make the disappointing discovery one day over the summer when I arrived only to find it closed.

What is your favorite thing to get at Goudy?

Birthday Party treats

Typically I will primarily include yummy places to eat in the Willamette Valley, but occasionally I will also include some of my favorite tips to living a gluten free life.

One of the hardest things about having a kid who is gluten-free is birthday parties.  Either in attending or especially at school when other kids bring in gluten-infested treats.  Today I made a new recipe I found from the blog "Gluten free on a Shoestring".  The recipe is perfect for fall is makes pumpkin-carrot cupcakes.

Of course my cupcakes aren't as cute as hers, but my are they tasty.  It was quick to throw together (so quick I didn't get in "in-process" pictures).  I did take this picture mid way through frosting them - you could frost them all, but they are also tasty without.  This recipe could also easily be made egg free and dairy free.  Since we are ok with eggs and a little dairy, these have a cream cheese frosting.  If I was making them dairy free, I would have made a coconut frosting (google some recipes, but basically coconut oil + coconut extract + coconut milk + powdered sugar).  This recipe recommends Better Batter GF all purpose flour.  I used Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose flour.  Next time I will try GF coconut flour.

My tip is to always make cupcakes as mini-cupcakes for multiple reasons

1. less guilt when I sample 2
2. my kids only really need one (says this sugar-avoiding mama)
3. less waste if they don't eat it all
4. takes up less room in the freezer

So I make the mini-cupcakes, then frost, then pop in the freezer on a cookie sheet so they freeze completely (frosted) then scoop them up into a gallon sized freezer bag and put back into the freezer.  When we go to a birthday party, I just grab one out of the freezer and it is melted by the time cake is served and my child has a special treat.  Many other Mom's have offered to make something special for us, but honestly if you aren't used to cooking gluten free, please don't - I'm happy to bring something I know is safe.  I also take a bag of several cupcakes to school and leave in the freezer so when someone brings in treats my child gets something special too. (shhhhh don't tell her this one is packed with carrots)

What are your birthday party tips?