It might not perfectly reflect the Pacific blue, but gluten-free living is indeed a vast, mysterious ocean for those growing in their knowledge of celiac disease and its many faces.

From its variety of symptoms, namely gastroenterological ailments to its core cures, chiefly the gluten-free diet, this conundrum of a chronic digestive disaster gives its sufferer’s much to learn.

The good news is that once celiacs learn the ropes of their diets, the sufferer label melts away–it recedes along with cramping and integestion. Cookbooks like Danna Korn and Connie Sarros’ Gluten-free Cooking for Dummies , helps to accelerate the celiac learning curve.

According the the Daily Gazette blog’s food forum, Korn and Sarros provide a chatty, easy-going, but informative primer on how people with wheat allergies can still enjoy a good meal. Their 150 recipe ideas include flatbread, waffles, spinach pie, cookies, cakes, lasagna and more.

Check out buy.com, amazon.com, and overstock.com for comparative prices.

With surging gas prices deepening those ever gaping holes in our fraying, blue jean pockets, it’s comforting to know that the economy retains some bright patches.

According to the news site, eNews 2.0, the market for food allergy and intolerance products is enjoying an uptick, with gluten-free items contributing to the rising tide.

The market might exceed $3.9 billion this year with gluten-free beverages and munchies topping off at $1.3 billion before decade’s end. This figure is up from $700 million in 2006.

New York based National Association for the Specialty Food Trade predicts that more than 250 of its 2,800 participants provide at least 7,000 no-allergenic products. Five short years go only about 50 members did.

So, while this news brief might do little to solve your gas woes, it garners yet another gold star for gluten-free living.

The temptation waits for you. It’s there. It’s ready. It’s hungry. Fast food chains, which offer what none of us needs, whether we live gluten-free or not, advertise celiac untouchables. Smells, chock full of cholesterol, waif through Pizza Hutand Subway sandwich doors. Rightly, you ignore these scents because you know alternatives exist, some as good or even better than what the fast food chains offer.

Just take a second to imagine a different scenario. See yourself eating such grain filled, white flour containing treats as deep dish pizza and double fudge brownies without fear of stomach cramps, weight loss or bloating.

According to a recent article published on ABC’s Phoenix affiliate’s website, an experimental new drug seeks to halt celiac symptoms before they begin. The pill, developed by Dr. Alessio Fasano, inhibits Zonulin, a protein that regulates the absorption of nutrients in the gut. It simultaneously widens and tightens spaces between closely packed cells that line the small intestine, thus admitting vital nutrients while effectively shunning harmful proteins like gluten.

Doctor Anthony DiMarino, M.D, currently heads a study on the new drug, which is tentatively titled a-t-1001.

The study’s results have been largely positive.

“It seems to be blocking the things you want it to block,” Dr. DiMarino notes in the article. “Patients seem to be able to tolerate the gluten with minimal or no side effects.”

If successful, the new pill might effectively replace the gluten-free diet as the number one solvent for celiac disease, or at least give it a little competition.

We’ll just have to wait and see, cause I don’t know about anyone else, but I quite like gluten-free munchies, and am not quite ready to say goodbye to Glutino pretzels.

When I recall moments from childhood, time spent in my father’s vegetable patch inevitably races to mind. Splashes of green cabbages rotund like pregnant bellies and strawberry red tomatoes fat and full like starbursts on hyper active drugs strap my memory. These memories invade the same way stringy weeds overtake gardens at the height of late Spring.

Weeds. Humph! The stringy nemeses to plant life the world over. Little do these vegetation invaders know that they have an enemy in gluten-free.

According to the blog, Prairie Road, corn gluten meal is currently being promoted as a lawn fertilizer and weed killer. You can use this natural weed preventative, which contains 60% protein, from Spring to Fall.

More than a dozen companies sell this gluten-free agent.

So, why not fight the weeds in the months ahead, whatever their form, and do it gluten-free.

The day we designate for mom arrives but once a year. We can show our moms how much we appreciate them this year by doing something that they do for us daily–cooking.

Cooking often becomes a perfunctory task for mothers. They prepare meals without thinking and we sometimes eat without thanking.

So, why not reverse this trend for the one day of the year that honors mom’s title. According to www.glutenfreeceliacweb.com, FamilyFun.com allows you to do just that by featuring several gluten-free Mother’s Day dining options. The site’s Bagel Family Portraits emerges as one of their most original.

Essentially bagel halves covered in creme cheese and adorned with raw vegetables arranged as hair and facial features, these portraits can serve as a fun family breakfast or snack project on Mother’s Day or any other day.

Consider the following ingredients and materials to design a bagel for each member of the family: 1 large bagel, cut in half, toasted or raw, mini bagels, cut in half, as many halves are as there are kids in the family, raw or toasted, smoked salmon, sliced into strips, small black olives, sliced in half, 1 large leaf of curly parsley, cut in half, red pepper, cut into the shape for the mouth, 1 large carrot, a handful of chives, green pepper, sliced into two circles of equal size, about 1/4-inch in diameter, 2 or 3 peanuts, finely chopped, and cherry tomato or small, red grapes.

Enjoy taking the cooking reigns this Mother’s Day (It’s not chiefly a woman/mother’s task afterall). Your younger brothers and sisters should especially enjoy this project.

You can find gluten-free bagels at Whole Foods, your local supermarket or any general health foods store. A couple of options include Glutino Premium Plain Bagels and Enjoy Life Foods Cinnamon Raisin and Classic Original Bagels.

You can find preparation instructions here.

The smokehouse stench of barbeque will soon invade nostrils nationwide. From late May to early September, miscellaneous meats lathered in a gooey, brick-red tinted sauce will dot t-shirts, hands and mouths alike and invite the familiar buzz of bite-happy mosquitoes and scrap-hungry flies.

Those of us who love BBQ but opt out of cooking it ourselves can look to restaurants for gluten-free alternatives. In her newest blog entry, Gluten-Free BBQ, celiac blogger Suzanne Mangini points to Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill as a possible option.

“I love BBQ!” Mangini exclaims. “While the best BBQ around comes from our backyard smoker, we [haven't yet fired it up] this season.”

She goes on the explain that she dined at Smokey Bones last week for the first time in a year. Mangini knew that their meats, sauces and rubs were gluten-free, but was “unsure about their sides.”

Luckily, Smokey Bones keeps a current, in-store list of gluten-free items available on their menu. Mangini chose baby back ribs, mashed potatoes, and apples.

“I always enjoy sautéed apples,” Mangini adds, “as they are like apple pie but without the crust.”

She warns against the restaurant’s garlic toast and baked beans as they contain gluten.

Even with those exceptions, it remains possible for celiacs and non-celiacs alike to enjoy a good summertime BBQ. A little carry-out from Smokey Bones can help make that possible.

Hopefully, Obama girl won’t begrudge us her most infamous line for a post or two. We’re using it for a larger good after all.

Unlike the mini-skirt, halter top clad YouTube sensation, author/blogger Shauna James Ahern (a.k.a Gluten-Free Girl) of Seattle applies her crush to a broader mission.

A 38-year-old celiac, she shares recipes and life experiences on her blog, glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com and in her 2007 memoir, Gluten-Free Girl .

Ahern’s blog features commentaries about food and everyday life. Her entries include slice-of-life senarios and carry a conversational tone. Each post tells an engaging story infused with information, humor and a twinge of self-deprication. She covers everything from an intricate Strawberries, Blue Cheese, and Balsamic Reduction Sauce to the excitement she feels when asparagus sprouts in Spring.

Ahern recently teamed with the staff at Ritrovo Italian Foods to help promote their gluten-free artisanal products, which include rice and corn pastas.

Ahern and Ritrovo’s co-founders gave their Seattle neighbors an opportunity to visit them at Metropolitan Market throughout the latter end of April (18 - 26), where they distributed samples and fielded questions about gluten-free cooking.

They rest atop an ivory liquid surface, like mini, window-tiled pillow cases kissing the shallow end of a pool full of white-out. Half soggy and half crunchy, they hasten to or away from your silver spoon.

“Gotcha!” You silently proclaim as you capture a few on your metallic scooper. Perhaps your eyes graze this product’s package as you chomp, taking note of the bright red and blue heading: Rice Chex Simply Nutritious.

Simply nutritious. Hmmm.

Well if you eat gluten-free, the word simple assumes an entirely different meaning. What some view as a perfectly innocuous snacking experience can translate into a crash course in Delightfully Dangerous Digestion for you.

General Mills, perhaps seeking to captialize on the free-from craze, now offers a gluten free version of this crispy favorite.

Gluten Free Rice Chex cereal is no joke. It is the real deal, the genuine article, and a whole slew of other nothing like the real thing baby cliches you can imagine. The barely-malt-filled Original Rice Chex, not to be confused with Rizchecks (Thank you, Miss Ringwald), of yesteryear now faces some mean competition. Gluten free Rice Checks cereal replaces barley malt syrup with molasses, a non-threat to celiac diets.

The brand still ensures 100 Calories per serving and promises no artificial flavors or colors. You can find the product at all major grocery store chains for a suggested retail price of $2.99.

Maybe it speaks to a preoccupation with Walter Conkrite, too many cameras and bright lights, or 15-minutes-of-Andy Warhol-look-at-me, look-at-me heaven, but rightly or wrongly, people sometimes look to entertainers and TV personalities for cues on everyday living. The meaty fanbase of The Late Show host David Letterman offers little exception to this rule.

During the intro for Letterman’s April 1st program, his late night talk show’s announcer proclaimed, “And now…wheat and gluten-free…David Letterman.”

The buzz around the blogosphere has largely coalesced around the fact that Letterman’s announcer made similar proclamations in the past and so viewers should take the announcement with a salty grain of tentative truth.

It remains unclear whether or not David Letterman maintains a gluten-free lifestyle. Still, the beautiful damage remains done. Celiac blogger Suzanne Mangini asks in her April 3rd, Is Letterman gluten-free? entry, “So, is Letterman gluten-free? Even if it was a joke, it was still a mention of GF and that’s always a good thing in my book!”

I think Mangini might be on to something here.

Letterman, like most celebs, even those with the smallest followings, can tip the least known concepts.

Perhaps he can pump interest into gluten-free living with this announcement the same way Oprah Winfrey renews excitement in reading with her book club selections. (Sorry Frey “but he lied, he lied” bashers, but even in light of the controversy, A Million Little Pieces still retains its awesomeness.)

Perhaps any publicity works better than no attention at all. Gluten-free diets yield so many health benefits, even for non-celiacs.

Whether or not Letterman lives gluten-free then becomes immaterial. He, in all his superstar wonderment, has helped spread the word.

Pretzels remind me of crocheted hearts. Twist-tied, wood-colored and salt-dotted, these petite munchies reshape the traditional snack mold in that they easily traverse the chasm between health and junk food. Glutino Sans Gluten Free Pretzels continue this tradition by offering a wheat, barley, rye and oat-free version of a long-time favored treat.

I decided to give these celiac friendly pretzels, available at Whole Foods across the U.S. and online at Amazon.com among other places, a go last week. As my taste buds and expectations equally hightened, I ripped open the package with a wolf-like pursuit and a Speed-Racer-like alacrity. Upon taking my first bite, a surprising realization settled over me. “I know I have had these before.” An aha moment came, not quite unlike the one that comes to the Coyote in a Looney Tunes short the second he spots the Roadrunner.

Glutino pretzels rival their gluten-filled predecessors in that they offer the same taste without any of the grain-containing additives.

You can purchase Glutino Pretzel Twists by the bag for $5.99 at Whole Foods or through www.glutenfree.com . You can also order them by the case at www.amazon.com for a pricey $97.33.