New England Celiac Conference Fall 2011

This year I was able to attend the New England Celiac Conference. Last year, we were away when it was being held and I was very sad. The New England Celiac Conference is hosted by the Healthy Villi and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's Celiac Center. This year, it was held on October 23rd at the Four Points Sheraton in Norwood, Ma.

Free Samples From the Celiac Conference

I convinced Mike to join me by offering to pay for his ticket and promising him a day of product sampling and buffets. We wound up showing up around 11am after most of the morning speakers because we had spent the previous day ripping carpet out of the upstairs bedrooms in the house and I was in pain. In hindsight, I was a little sad that I didn't suck it up and go earlier. There were so many incredible vendors giving out tons of free samples & coupons. I felt like we had to rush through them all so we wouldn't miss any and in the end, we did. 


We wound up going to the nutrition presentation in the morning and two workshops in the afternoon. The nutrition presentation was fantastic and segued perfectly into our first workshop on supplements presented by Melinda Dennis, MS, RD, LDN & Christine Doherty, ND . I learned so much information and had several "ah ha" moments when the speakers went over the symptoms of certain vitamin's deficiency. Maybe I'd be less crabby if I actually took my vitamin B supplements....


The second workshop "Dueling Kitchens" was a tiny bit of a hot mess, but it was still fun and informative. I kind of felt like we were watching a comedy routine when the presenter's Beth Hillson & Rebecca Reilly engaged in their cooking banter. At the end of the presentation, we were able to sample the pizzas they were making. While, Beth's pizza made from a pre-made crust was good, it wasn't as good as Rebecca's homemade recipe. I've never really had a desire to try mixing my own gluten free flours, but I do now because the pizza crust she made was amazing. 


Both workshops were pretty great, but let's not forget the oodles of free samples being given away. Have you ever wanted to try a product, but didn't want to shell out the $$ if it was going to be gross? I came home with so many samples to try and coupons for buying a full sized version of the products if I liked them. Win. It brought back the same joy I felt when trick-or-treating as a child.


I had originally scoffed at the $45/ person cost of the conference, but was pleasantly surprised at how much we got for the money. Next year, I plan on getting there first thing in the morning so I can really take the time to meet all the vendors and hear all the morning speakers and course indulge in the gluten free breakfast buffet.