looks a little different around here

Have you noticed? The pumpkins waiting to be plucked from muddy fields, destined to perch on porch steps? Or the way the leaves have started to droop on the trees, even as they grow more vibrant? Or how woodsmoke curls through the air, rising toward the grey skies, as you drive by farms or houses with burn piles?

It's fall.

The change of seasons always feels like a time to step back and contemplate where we have been. And let me tell you, people, this was one heck of a summer. Picnics with friends, trips to San Francisco, a major surgery, sleep deprivation. Mostly, a lot of sleep deprivation. I think every Twitter message I wrote for months began with "a cup of hot coffee..." (Come to think of it, they still do.) There were family gatherings, walks along the beach, and trying to teach a toddler how to sleep again. We had strings of days of friends taking the ferry and sitting in our backyard, talking and eating, waving hands at Little Bean, and not leaving until the light started to fade from the sky at 9 pm.

And in every moment in between: working, baking, writing, tweaking, re-writing, tearing hair, laughing at it all. Then, back for more editing.

Now, it's pitch-black dark at 7. We don't need that curtain on the window to convince Little Bean it's time to sleep. Our friends are staying closer to home in the city, drinking hot chocolate and making pies. It's much more quiet around here.

Time for a re-design of this site.

It has been well over a year since this little website had a new look. Season after season passed with the same rooster and chicken holding court on the porch up there. We've moved away from that house now. (And, I'm sad to say, that beautiful rooster was killed by coyotes just before we left.) I think this website has looked one way since before Little Bean was born.

Boy, how much has changed since then?

So it's a fresh start around here.

See up top? All those buttons? You can navigate more easily now. You can read about us. You can find all the recommendations we have in one place. You can find the recipes gathered. You can watch any video you like. You can read what other people have said about this site. And you can find all the links — dozens and dozens of them — to other sources of information about celiac, living gluten-free joyfully, and other food people who have become friends.

Really, you could spend hours on this site now. (If you have the time for that, we tip our hats to you!)

Perhaps the biggest change is one that has been a long time coming — the name of this site. Danny has been in my life for over three years, far longer than the one year I wrote before him. He has influenced every recipe, every photograph, every choice of spices. I could not live without him, and I certainly cannot write without him. We love this space, and we share it together. And so, as it should be, the name of this place is now....

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef

(It's about time.)

We really can't take claim for this beautiful site. That's all the doing of Kaytlyn Sanders, the powerhouse behind Beneficial Design. She has been tweaking and creating beautiful new features on this site for years now, and we're lucky enough to have her as a friend, as well.

She has also helped to design Cannelle and Vanille, Tea and Cookies, and Dana Treat's beautiful site. So, if you are looking to make your blog suit your style more, you'd be wise to talk to Kaytlyn.

We're so happy to be here now.



And the re-design (plus the editing and sleep deprivation) explains why we haven't been here as much as we had hoped this week.

But come back next week. You don't want to miss the recipe for this caramelized apple bread pudding.

Looks like fall to me.