To see photos taken at the meeting, click here. Over 30 people attended the meeting, of which 3 were first-time attendees. Jan Pruitt was the meeting leader. The following are some of the items that were brought up during the announcement and question session:

• Two websites were recommended by Sandra Milne: GlutenFree works.com and GlutenFreeClub.com. She also recommended Rustic Pizza Crust (the Napoli Herb style) that is shelf stable.
• Trader Joe's has a recently updated (September '08) GF list of products that is 7 pages long. It can be obtained at the stores or online at www.traderjoes.com/labels_and_lists
• Elijah's deli in Del Mar on Del Mar Heights Road is temporarily offering GF buns as an experiment. www.elijahsrestaurant.com/elijahs_restaurant
• The Sprouts market in San Marcos is greatly increasing their GF items, including in the freezer section.
• Erica Welker highly recommends the Sensitive Baker, www.thesensitivebaker.com, a GF bakery in Culver City. She loved the GF bagels and crusty rolls. She said if you want things mailed it is cheaper and easier to order from Your Dinner Secret, which sells the Sensitve Baker products. www.gfmeals.com
• A question was asked about the GF status of the stickers found on fruit at the grocery stores. No one had an answer, but people shared that they either wash well where the sticker was, or actually cut out the area where the sticker is.
• Arico Foods, http://aricofoods.com/, a company that sells GF snacks and casein-free snacks, is hoping to have a Focus Group in San Diego to judge some potential new GF products. They won't say what the products are, but report that the products are currently not available gluten-free. The date is October 5th at 2 pm, with the location still to be determined. If interested, contact Annalisa Gallagher at 503-259-0871 or email at annalisa@aricofoods.com
• Walmart's brand, "Great Value" marks their food products gluten-free when appropriate. They are priced well.
• Jere Cordell reported about a radio show that our old leader, Jeannie, participated in. One of the topics that came up was that restaurants are becoming more responsive to the need for gluten-free menu items. The downside, however, is that because so many persons following the GF diet are not celiacs but have a gluten intolerance instead, the standards are often lax. Celiacs must be vigilant in making sure that items are really completely GF in terms of CC and other things.
• Jere Cordell recommends the pretzels made by Kay's Naturals, http://www.kaysnaturals.com/. They are high in protein and low in carbs. They are made in careful GF conditions. They can be found at Nutrishops, Mother's Markets, soon at Henry's, and Muscle?
• The 31st Annual CSA conference is October 17-19 in Omaha Nebraska. Jan recommended going as it is wonderful to have all your meals gluten free without worry while you are there, great companionship, and lots of good information to be learned. www.csaceliacs.org/Conferences/2008AnnualCSAConference
  
• Murrell's Brownies were recommended (they were also available on our snack table. They were found in the freezer section in the Henry's in Santee.
• The next Celiacs Dine Out will be September 19 at the Whole Foods in Hillcrest. Read more.
  
• Our next suppport group meeting will be November 8. It will be a potluck, and the ROCK group as well as the Temecula CDF group are invited. Please bring a dish to share. Be aware that there are no kitchen facilities available in our meeting room. Don't miss out on this delicious meal!
  
  
  An very informative audio tape of Martha Lee, nutritional counselor and dietician who specializes in celiac disease, was then played for the group. She had spoken at last year's CSA conference in Tucson. Kimberly Duvall also had made a visual set of slides from the conference for everyone to watch while listening to the audio.
  
  Delicious, hot, GF pizza was then delivered from Pizza Fusion in Hillcrest for everyone to enjoy. One of the co-owners, Joe, spoke to the group about the pizza and the restaurant's "green" policies. They use Still Riding Pizza, www.stillridingpizza.com for their pizza crust, which any can order from.
  
  Many GF food products were available to take for free. They were sent to our group by the manufacturer's and Erica also brought some from the ROCK group. A past issue of the magazine Living Without was also available for everyone to take.
  
  Many delicious homemade GF desserts provided by some of our members were enjoyed by all. One was a GF chocolate cake from a recipe that had been in the newspaper in Jeanne Jone's column. It is made with garbanzo beans! The recipe was distributed to anyone interested.