Yesterday I was running around looking for gluten-free french bread for our themed book club breakfast. It turns out that wasn’t the real challenge.

I made an overnight french toast as I have many times in my life, substituting the bread for the gluten-free variety. This morning I baked it up before heading to book club. It smelled pretty good and didn’t look too bad.

The host was making shrimp and grits because what else would you make for a New Orleans theme? As I helped her in the kitchen to plate the dishes she asked everyone how many shrimp they wanted on their plates. Everyone wanted the max number allowed, except for one member.

It turns out the member who is very allergic to gluten is also very, very, very allergic to shellfish. Once she declined the shrimp, I remembered this fact. It doesn’t come up often since we don’t eat a lot of shellfish for breakfast.

The host said she’d make up a shrimp-free plate. The allergic member said she’d see how things went and would leave if necessary. Before breakfast had been served to everyone, she had to excuse herself because the fumes were causing her to choke!

She left in time so she is okay, but we had to enjoy the gluten-free french toast without her. And it was, as RJ predicted, fine.

Phew!