Your Pie entering Jacksonville pizza market

I'm very interested to see that pizza chain Your Pie is coming to the Jacksonville area, starting with a Fleming Island restaurant that's scheduled to open next month.

Your Pie is intriguing because it offers a lot of options for a gluten-free pizza. I visited a Your Pie in Charleston a while back and I was disappointed in the pizza I chose, but I would have given it another try with a different type of pizza. You can read my blog post from that experience here: http://jaxglutenfreeglutton.blogspot.com/2011/11/another-gluten-free-pizza-place-but-not.html

The bottom line is, this seems to be a very gluten-free friendly chain, so I welcome its entrance to the Jacksonville market.

Gluten-free at the ballpark?

My now-annual quest to find gluten-free food and/or beer at the ballpark began yesterday with a visit to the Atlanta Braves' ballpark at Walt Disney World.

Of course, I found nothing gluten-free there. This was no surprise because I also went there last year, but I really expect better from this place because Disney is supposed to be one of the most gluten-free friendly places on earth.

They were bragging about their craft beers available at the ballpark, so couldn't they find a way to stock Redbridge?

They didn't even have salads available in the ballpark.

Oh well, I'm looking forward to my next ballpark visit, to the Phillies' park in Clearwater. Supposedly, they had gluten-free hot dogs available there last year. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Gluten-free expo in St. Pete next month

It's unfortunately a long trip from Jacksonville, but the Gluten-Free in Florida Support Group is holding its Gluten-Free for Life Expo in St. Petersburg on March 23.

I went to this event last year and if you're in that area, it would be worth your time. The expo features a lot of gluten-free vendors giving out coupons and samples of their products, plus a series of speakers on gluten-free topics.

For more information, check out the expo's web page: http://glutenfreeforlifeexpo1.blogspot.com/

The celiac tax deduction

My latest column on the tax deduction available for celiacs:

http://jacksonville.com/entertainment/food-and-dining/2013-02-14/story/gluten-free-glutton-celiac-disease-expensive-im-not

By the way, the next meeting of the Celiac Support Group of Jacksonville will be held Tuesday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at Sunrise Assisted Living of Jacksonville at 4870 Belfort Rd., just south of JTB.

If you haven't been coming to the meetings recently, some members of the group have been showing off their gluten-free cooking skills. Not me, of course, since I have no skills. But there's been a lot of good gluten-free stuff to eat at the meetings lately.

Another Jacksonville bakery producing gluten-free treats

More good news on gluten-free bakeries. There's another player in the Jacksonville market.

Rebecca Hurst started a company in 2011 called Diva Sweets LLC that is producing gluten-free treats, in addition to regular baked goods.

Hurst doesn't yet have a storefront but is taking orders by e-mail and by phone, and delivering them all over the Jacksonville area. She said she is looking at locations for a retail site and hopes to be able to open a store, possibly this spring. She's looking at sites in Keystone Heights and Green Cove Springs.

Hurst is a former baker at Publix who started her own business after going to culinary school, where she learned about gluten-free baking. She then learned that she herself has a gluten intolerance and had to go on a gluten-free diet.

I just learned about her business yesterday after she appeared on WJXT's Morning Show to talk about gluten-free treats for Valentine's Day. I haven't had a chance to try them yet.

Anyway, you can check out her website for more information and how to contact her:

http://www.divasweetsandtreats.com/main_page.html