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Itโ€™s Curtis Sittenfeld Day

By May 1, 2018May 3rd, 2018204 Comments


This is a very exciting day for me.
Not only do I get to tell you about Curtis Sittenfeldโ€™s brand new short story collection โ€” You Think It, Iโ€™ll ย Say It, myย favorite of all the books sheโ€™s written โ€” it is the day that the real life Curtis Sittenfeld makes a cameo on Dinner: A Love Story. Yes, thatโ€™s right. This blog, this post in fact. In You Think It, Sittenfeld, whose writing we all fell in love with when we read Prep a decade ago, follows a menagerie of female protagonists navigating the most ordinary of circumstances โ€” running into grown-up high school queen bees, hooking up with Trump supporters, crushing on other kidsโ€™ dads at school.ย Sittenfeldโ€™s characters are my favorite kinds of characters: They are never exceptional, though they are often funny or smart without being pretentious. And they hate people who think theyโ€™re exceptional, believing this to be a serious flaw.ย Sittenfeld is the master of the withering observation, and no one is safe from it here in the best, most entertaining way. Please doย yourself a favor and order her book for yourself today. (And when it arrives, read โ€œA Regular Coupleโ€ first. Or maybe โ€œGender Studies.โ€ Or maybe โ€œVolunteers Areย Shining Stars.โ€ I canโ€™t decide, but whatever you do, savor each one!) Until then, hereโ€™s Sittenfeld chiming in my Top 10 Series with her list of her top, uh, almost ten allergy-friendly foods for kids. Thanks Curtis!

โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€“

Did you know that Oreos are vegan? If you did, thereโ€™s a decent chance youโ€™re the parent of a kid with allergies to milk and eggsโ€ฆand youโ€™re delighted that your child can actually enjoy these junky favorites. (That creamy filling is, well, not cream. I believe itโ€™s canola oil and/or palm oil.)

After my second child was diagnosed in 2012 with allergies to milk, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts, I became a scrupulous reader of ingredients on food labels. I also ended up embracing foods I hadnโ€™t previously been in the habit of eating or even necessarily ever tasted. My daughter can now eat milk and eggs, which has significantly expanded our options for family meals, but Iโ€™ll always be grateful to the products and brands that have in the last six years allowed us to enjoy tasty foodโ€ฆ and one another.

SunButter At this point, I eat more SunButter, which is made out of sunflower seeds, than anyone else in my familyโ€”I have it for lunch on a rice cake a few times a week. Itโ€™s easy and delicious and protein-filled, like peanut butter without the peanuts. Iโ€™ve even traveled with a 16-ounce jar, so when I learned that SunButter had started selling single-serving cups, I was actively excited (sometimes you have to take your thrills where they come).

Cherrybrook Kitchen Cake Mix and Frosting My daughter has taken her own treat many times to birthday parties, and for years, our go-to was a cupcake my husband would make with this mix and frosting. Together, they make a cupcake look and taste likeโ€ฆa cupcake!

Dum Dums Lollipopsย Dum Dums are made in a facility free of the top eight allergens, a fact they mention on their packaging. Because theyโ€™re portable and donโ€™t get mushed or stale, I usually keep a baggie with four or five in my purse, and if weโ€™re out and about and unexpectedly find ourselves in a situation where other kids are eating treats, I give one (or all four) to my daughter. Dum Dums are also our usual offering for Halloween (I aspire to be the curmudgeon who gives out dental floss, but Iโ€™m not all the way there yet).

Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chipsย My husband had barely baked before our daughterโ€™s allergy diagnosis, and he became a whiz at making pancakes and cookies that didnโ€™t include eggs and milk but did often include these chocolate chips.

Made Good Granola Bars Itโ€™s tough to find granola bars without nuts, but this Canadian brand is like Dum Dums in being produced in a facility free of top allergens. Unlike Dum Dums, Made Well granola bars actually contain a serving of vegetablesโ€”some almost magical mix of spinach, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, beets, and mushrooms that does notย affect the barsโ€™ taste. The most popular flavors at our house are apple cinnamon and chocolate chip.

Fritos Okay, I wonโ€™t pretend I was unfamiliar with Fritos prior to 2012. But Fritos and I certainly didnโ€™t used to enjoy the very close relationship we do now. I like that Fritos have just three ingredients (corn, corn oil, and salt), meaning I donโ€™t need to spend 45 minutes checking their label. I like that, unlike nichey granola bars, theyโ€™re sold everywhere so if my daughter needs a snack on the fly, we can grab a pack from a gas station. And I like that theyโ€™re delicious. As a Fritos connoisseur, I prefer the larger Scoops version.

So Delicious Coconut yogurt, Coconut milk, vanilla bars, and vanilla sandwiches : Oh So Delicious, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways! First, I love that these foods contain a satisfying richnessโ€”the vanilla bars, for example, can proudly go toe to toe with Dove bars. I also love So Deliciousโ€™s labeling so much that I still almost weep upon reading it. Food labels and warnings are not created equal in terms of clarity, and some of the ones that say โ€œMay contain nutsโ€ฆโ€ feel as if theyโ€™re saying, โ€œYou have allergies? Tough shit! This food might be fine for you, but we donโ€™t want to go to the trouble of making sure.โ€ By contrast, So Deliciousโ€™s label, which I consider the gold standard, is almost a paragraph long and feels like the voice of a sympathetic and responsible friend: โ€œProduced in a facility that processes other tree nuts and soy. We have a rigorous allergen testing program and apply strict quality control measures in an effort to prevent contamination by undeclared food allergensโ€ฆโ€ It might be an odd thing to say about a food safety disclaimer, but So Deliciousโ€™s labels are for me a beautiful affirmation of my own outlook about food allergies: Having them is a lot more complicated than not having them. But even with them, life can be, yes, so delicious.


Thank you Curtis!ย 
And now, a GIVEAWAY.ย (I know, the day just keeps getting better!) Comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of You Think it Iโ€™ll Sayย It. There will be TWO winners and the contest ends Thursday, May 3, 2018 at noon ET. Good luck everyone. UPDATE: The winners have been notified. Thanks for playing and congrats Stephanie and Asia!

204 Comments

  • Avatar Tracy says:

    Curtis went to my high school (a number of years after I did)! I love her books and am thrilled that she is on my favorite website!

  • Avatar erin o'connor says:

    I cannot wait to read this book! Her work is seriously astounding, and I cannot believe how many people I meet who have never read a single book of hers! I will just have to pick up some of those Vanilla Bars to accompany my inevitable binge reading session.

  • Avatar Natalie Schneider says:

    The purity of fritos โ€“ who knew!?! Now I feel better about enjoying them with cowboy caviar this summer. Canโ€™t wait to read Curtis Sittenfieldโ€™s latest!

  • Avatar Amy says:

    So excited to read the new book!

  • Avatar Diane says:

    Love all of Curtis Sittenfeldโ€™s books! Canโ€™t wait to read this one!

  • Avatar Rachel Braude says:

    Great suggestions!

  • Avatar Christine says:

    This book looks so good. My daughter is about to graduate high school very soon and is looking for good books for the summer. I recently pencilled Prep onto her list. Iโ€™m putting this title on my own to-read list.

  • Avatar Krystal says:

    Loved Prep! Thanks Jenny!

  • jessica says:

    I love Curtis!!

  • Avatar Elizabeth says:

    Iโ€™ve been a fan for a long time and am so excited to read the book and get all my book club friends to do the same. I also appreciate the allergen-free tips for my loved ones. And I second how wonderful Sunbutter is. The unsweetened version at Trader Joeโ€™s is quite good.

  • Avatar Kim says:

    Fingers crossed! Am reading a library copy of this right now and would love to have my own.

  • Avatar Colleen Coleman says:

    I would love to read this book!

  • Avatar Laura says:

    I loved this post ๐Ÿ™‚ I regularly cook for folks with intolerances, and allergies, and it changes the way you see the world. Sounds like her world is a pretty great one.

  • Avatar Brooke Einstein says:

    I knew there was a fantastic reason to eat Oreos and fritos!

  • Avatar Brooke Einstein says:

    I knew there was a good reason to eat oreos and fritos! Very excited for the book.

  • Avatar Jessica says:

    Love the new items to tryโ€ฆsunbutter and so delish. Thanks. No food allergies but I love to try all the foods.

  • Avatar Dorothy says:

    Books with female protagonists are my go-to, so I appreciated Prep and am excited for more.

  • Avatar Meghan Healy says:

    Ooh, this is definitely going on my to-read list!

  • Avatar Katie says:

    I LOVE CURTIS!!

  • Avatar Teresa says:

    Currently reading Meg Wolitzerโ€™s The Female Persuasion. I am trying to read mostly female writers this year and it is so easy because there are so many great ones past and presentโ€“like Wolitzer, Zadie Smith, and Curtis Sittenfeld!

  • Avatar Tama says:

    Would love a copy!

  • Avatar Katherine says:

    I love Curtis Sittenfeld!

  • Avatar Mary says:

    We have tree but/peanut allergies and just discovered Made Good granola bites at Costco and theyโ€™ve been a lifesaver! Canโ€™t wait to read this new book

  • Avatar Kath says:

    Now Iโ€™m hungry for Fritos! Really looking forward to reading Curtis Sittenfeldโ€™s new book.

  • Avatar Sharron says:

    Going to check out the granola bars! My daughter has a long list of food allergies and it is the bane of my existence! And sheโ€™s picky!! We love SO delicious ice cream!

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