Happy New Year!
It’s been a big year for us here at Allison’s. In November we celebrated the 1st birthday of our gorgeous “new” website and we sincerely hope you’re enjoying it as much as we are. (I feel like I could live on some of those photos, they’re a great thing to have to look at all day long). 
Also this year we completed our transition to all Wheat-Free baked goods. This was a big one for us, and very important to Allison, as she herself is sensitive to wheat gluten. Being able to eat her own organic brownies and cookies guilt-free is such a treat for her (and the rest of us) that we’ve developed the code word “brownie o’clock” to describe our daily brownie habit!
We’re always dreaming up new products around here as well. Lately we’ve been on a salted kick with the introduction of Salted Chocolate and Vanilla Caramels and Salted Chocolate Peanut Brittle.
I’m sure there will be more new additions to our family coming in the new year, and we’re always open to suggestions. Also in 2011, Allison has some plans on the cookbook front. Her resolution for 2011 is to finally finish her cookbook, and lately it seems like that cookbook might turn into two cookbooks with different focuses. I can’t wait to have some of Allison’s amazing recipes as arms reach in my kitchen.
What were your trials and triumphs this past year? What are your plans for the future?
Happy New Year from Allison and her elves!
What Mothering Means to Me
My journey to Motherhood has been by far the most enriching, stretching, humbling experience thus far. I often joke that I was the “Perfect Mother” before my daughter was born because I knew it all. Now that I have unwittingly invited my guru to live with me 24/7, I realize how little I do know and it’s so much easier to let go of judgments I once had. Each child is different and requires subtly different types of parenting. Before I had my daughter, I thought all children needed exactly the same thing. Yes, there are similar basic needs, but there is no simple formula to perfect mothering. Oh how well Olivia has taught me that!
For me, Mothering is a Spiritual endeavor like no other. I continuously have to set aside my own needs to tend to the needs of Olivia. The important part is remembering to return to my needs and tend to them. This is where my self-healing practices come in.
- I begin my day by nourishing my body with vibrant, vegan, organic, whole foods, and fresh veggie juices. When I have the nourishment I need, all things come more easily.
- Although I have fought it at times throughout my life, I am mindful of my need for regular exercise. I studied yoga for many years and throughout my pregnancy, yet Mothering has taught me that I need a more vigorous outlet. Now that I’ve found Nia, I get the release I need and it’s much more fun to literally ‘Dance through Life’ and get my exercise at the same time.
- Before I became vegan in 1997, there were extra 10-15 pounds that didn’t seem to want to leave my body, so I used to put forth a lot of effort to find fat-free treats. Through self-inquiry and exploration, I discovered that eating consciously is a necessity. One of the ways I do this is to remove distractions and focus while I’m eating, especially goodies. Additionally, choosing only the highest quality sweets allows me to be more deeply satisfied with less quantity, so even though it may be more expensive and higher in fat, I am ultimately saving money and calories by choosing premium foods. Now that we are transitioning our brownies to be wheat-free, Tessa (my assistant extraordinaire!) jokes that it’s “Brownie o’clock.”
- Doing work I am passionate about inspires me to strive toward my greatness. Sharing that joy is one of the best parts of my life and knowing that I’m doing so without harming other beings makes it even better. This is a wonderful side-effect of being vegan.
- Living in a rural area and being surrounded by Nature feeds my soul. Whenever I need a moment to regroup or get grounded, I need only look out my window or step out my door to be renewed.
- Nurturing friendships with a few close people helps me to know that even when I feel like an insane mother, I’m actually doing ok.
Embracing my role as a Mother has been a most awesome process and certainly the biggest endeavor I have ever embarked on. To temper my feelings of overwhelm at the vastness of it all, I try to remember that at the base of parenting, one of the primary gifts I can share with my daughter is how to accept and cope when things don’t go her way in the world. If she has that tool, she’ll be far better off than most adults I know! 
Here’s to Mothering and the fullness of it all. How lucky we are to have the choice to live our lives consciously, compassionately, and with deep love toward our little ones and all beings.
Double Chocolate Brownies Now Wheat-Free!
The latest news from Allison’s Gourmet’s vegan bakery is that next month’s Double Chocolate Brownies will be our second wheat-free brownie flavor! This is exciting news, as it offers people with wheat sensitivities more brownie options to enjoy. 
But they’re not just for people who eat wheat-free. I’m a firm believer in a balanced diet, and even if you don’t react to wheat or gluten, they are so ubiquitous in our food culture that it seems a good idea for everyone to take a break from eating glutinous grains now and then. Expand your horizons, give your body something new and interesting to chew on: wheat-free brownies made with oat flour!
As for the rest of our products, most of them do not have gluten as an intended ingredient. However, because we currently use wheat flour for our gourmet cookies and all the other brownie flavors in our vegan bakery, none of our products can be guaranteed gluten-free. We would love to eventually have all of our products made without gluten, so keep your ears open, and please give us your comments and questions!
P.S. Tomorrow is the last day to enter our Mother’s Day Contest, one lucky mom will get free sweets!
Announcing: Our New Wheat-Free Brownies Now Available!
We did it! Today we shipped the first order of our new Half Original/Half Pecan Wheat-Free Brownies! It’s a big day for us because this is something that I’ve been dreaming about and working towards for a long time. As a fan of Allison’s Gourmet, you probably know that I insist that all our gourmet vegan goodies taste at least as good, if not better, than their non-vegan counterparts. So it may go without saying that we’d only offer gluten-free baked goods if they, too, met my high standards for quality and taste.
For years, I have played with a variety of gluten-free flours, but none ever measured up to my requirements. Then, about a month ago, we started playing in the test kitchen, substituting organic oat flour for the organic whole-wheat pastry flour we had been using. And Eureka! Just last week, we got the perfect results I’d been hoping for. Trust me, our new wheat-free brownies are awesome and no one would ever guess they were missing a thing!
Now you may notice that I’m saying “wheat-free” instead of “gluten-free.” That’s because, while oats themselves do not contain gluten, they are often processed with glutinous grains like wheat, and therefore have the possibility of containing traces of gluten. We are working to find a supplier of oat flour that is both gluten-free and organic. In the meantime, we’re using organic oat flour (which may contain traces of gluten) in our Half Original/Half Pecan Brownies. So, depending upon sensitivity level, those who are reactive to wheat, may, at long last, be able to enjoy our brownies! Stay tuned for more wheat-free flavors coming soon.
We’d like to know: Are you as excited about wheat-free baked goods as we are?!
Coming Soon: Wheat-Free Brownies
For the past couple of months we’ve been working in Allison’s test kitchen to perfect wheat-free baked goods. Our dream would be to eventually transition all of our vegan brownies and cookies to wheat-free versions. 
However, before we undergo the long process of reformulating each one of our recipes, we want to make sure that wheat-free vegan baked goods are important to you.
Question: Assuming there is no taste difference between our whole wheat and wheat-free vegan brownies, would you be more inclined to buy the wheat-free ones? Answer or post your own question here on our blog, for a chance to win a sample and give us your taste-test opinion of our new wheat-free brownies as soon as they become available.
