Homegrown Happy Valley

“Thank you, it was delicious.”

The compliment was uttered not in a restaurant, but in a South Jersey soup kitchen, which on this particular day was serving split pea soup, spaghetti and sausage, and string beans.

I was lucky enough to work the line last week. I use the word “lucky,” because my mom, a South Jersey resident, had been showing up at the kitchen for a few weeks looking for a way to help out. She bagged a few rolls here, boxed a few meals there, but mostly she and her friends just stood around waiting for a job, which at one point included guarding the bread station (a vital, if boring, task).

I love gluten. I didn’t realize how much-or even what it was, for that matter-until I discovered it was making me sick. Technically speaking, gluten is the protein in wheat, barley and rye. Translation: it’s the stuff that makes food edible. Eliminate this magic ingredient and you often end up with something that merely resembles the food it’s trying to be. Thankfully there are exceptions and some of my favorites are locally sold and produced. Here’s where to find them:

Cools Beans Coffee and Tea: This quaint Bellefonte coffee shop makes flourless goodies. When I last stopped in I bought a bag of peanut butter cookies made from peanut butter, egg and sugar. No flour needed.

As a recent transplant to Happy Valley, I’m having a great time getting acquainted with my new home and its bookstores,  libraries, coffee shops and farmers’ markets.

There’s a flip side to the exploration: replacing all those people who made life work for me back in Pittsburgh. I need a doctor, a dentist, an eye doctor, a vet for the dogs, and a mechanic. But, I have my priorities, and first on the list is replacing my wonderful hair stylist, Angela, who has kept me coiffed in high style for the past few years.