Woman in Real Life

Whether you are going gluten-free out of necessity or by choice, you deserve to enjoy your holiday meal as much as the next gal. And, oh yes, that includes dessert! The need for gluten-free choices in more than 12% of households means many of us are trying to adapt favourite family recipes for special meals at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

As I said in my She & Him post on Sunday, my 11-year-old boy has been watching "MasterChef Junior" and it has inspired him to try more cooking. He was so impressed with one of the kids who made sushi that he asked if he could make some vegetarian sushi himself this past weekend. I am all for a show that gets my kids to take over the cooking!

His father cut up carrots, cucumber and avocado. He also baked sweet potato fries and sauteed mushrooms, all to act as fillings. My son did the rolling, and, while he had trouble along the way, practice makes perfect!

When I was in my teens and my twenties, most of the thrifting I did was for books. My then-boyfriend, now-husband and I used to find all kinds of cheap books in the basement of the Amity in downtown Hamilton. Back then, I stumbled across this strangely wonderful medical book. Published by Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago, ILL., it's called "What's New: Special Christmas Edition 1953."

There are few activities I appreciate more than going to a restaurant for dinner...or lunch...or breakfast. Basically if I get to eat food that somebody else has prepared, I'm happy. If it's a vegetarian restaurant, where I have a whole menu of things to choose from, it's even better.

So it was with our recent visit to Sadie's Diner in Toronto. As I said on What I Ate Wednesday, I was attracted to their menu of vegan and vegetarian comfort foods. I figured the familiar-sounding foods would appeal to the kids as well. My son, as he tends to do, complained the whole way there that the restaurant probably wouldn't be any good. He changed his tune when he saw the Pez wall.

We returned from our weekend trip to Niagara Falls on Sunday night. Monday evening I was off to the SheBlogs conference at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. Since my family was dropping me off at the hotel, I figured it was a great time to use the Groupon I purchased for Sadie's Diner recently.

I had never tried the restaurant before, but I was attracted to the menu of vegan and vegetarian comfort foods. We started off with this amazingly delicious vegan poutine.

The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity (hence the mini blog break). I am writing now from the regal Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto, where I am staying for SheBlogs Media's LINK2013 blogger conference. I have my own lovely room, and it's so peaceful I don't even know what to do with myself.

Here are a few photos from our weekend. My husband and I saw Bill Cosby this weekend at the Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. Another casino comp earned by my mom.