This month, I celebrated my gluten-free bat mitzvah. That sentence needs a bit of clarification: no, I’m not becoming a bat mitzvah nor am I becoming a bat mitzvah and then celebrating with a party that is catered to be gluten-free. I became a bat mitzvah when I was 13, in 1999. And yes, if you’re wondering, I recognize my bat mitzvah anniversary each year—I’m still really proud of that day.

What I’m actually referring to is that this month marks thirteen years since I was diagnosed with celiac disease and began a gluten-free diet. Just as I once turned 13 and became a bat mitzvah, now I’m turning 13 in gluten-free years.

I figured I would buy a gluten-free cupcake on the actual day, text a few people that it was my “gluten-free bat mitzvah,” and that would be that. But upon further reflection, I realized I was actually doing more than just marking a numerical rite of passage. The truth is, there’s a deep connection between my actual bat mitzvah and my diagnosis of Celiac. I was diagnosed about nine months after my bat mitzvah, and the fact that I’m now marking that important moment in my adolescence in a similar manner is meaningful. It’s beyond the number thirteen.

Nine months after I came of age in my community and was asked to take responsibility for myself, I suddenly had to take responsibility for my health. No one was going to do it for me, I was old enough that I had to do it for myself. I was not diagnosed as a toddler or child, an age at which adults would have had to monitor me. Instead, I was a teenager and in my religious community, I was already considered an adult. It was up to me. I would have to learn how to be on a gluten-free diet.

So, at almost 14, right before high school started, I began a strict gluten-free diet. I learned which foods were and were not gluten-free. I learned about cross-contamination, a big issue for those on gluten-free diets. A french fry may start out gluten-free, but once it falls in a fryer with onion rings it’s no longer gluten-free. I tried every gluten-free product out there and stuck with the ones I liked. Most importantly, I learned—and still continue to learn—how to be an advocate for myself.

I cannot expect a waiter at a restaurant to read my mind or the host of a dinner party to remember my restrictions. I have to ask questions about the menu and how foods are prepared to see, first, if a gluten-free meal is possible and, if so, which items are best for me. If I’m traveling, I have to make a plan. I’m not perfect. Sometimes I’m not the best advocate, but I always try and do better the next time.

My first major responsibility after my bat mitzvah has now been a responsibility for thirteen years. As an adult, the diet is now just one of many responsibilities, but it remains an important one, and one that I’ve learned a great deal from. Maybe that’s why I began to feel so strongly about my “gluten-free bat mitzvah.”

Responsibility and all that it entails was first bestowed upon me as a bat mitzvah. I then put those notions into practice with the gluten-free diet, and I’m still learning how to apply them when a question or a problem arises and I have to handle it. I have to make the decision to protect what is important to me and speak up when it’s right—a lesson I also learned upon becoming a bat mitzvah.

My “gluten-free bat mitzvah” may have started out as a lighthearted way to mark a milestone, but it ended up being much more emotionally significant than I could have realized. In a way, I came full circle.

Previous: The Best Gluten-Free Passover Products

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While many feel restricted during the leaven-free days of Passover, those of us on gluten-free diets find the holiday culinarily liberating. In fact, Passover is the Jewish holiday that keeps on gluten-free giving now that many companies have naturally gluten-free products or developed a gluten-free line alongside their traditional Passover line. Thanks to these products, we can fulfill the mitzvahs of the holiday while adhering to our dietary restriction—and making sure our palettes are satisfied.

Here are a few of my favorite kosher for Passover gluten-free things (to be sung to “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music, naturally). I hope you find as much joy in them as I do. I also hope you have better self-control than I do with some of these products (see: macaroons).

Matzoh for the Seder Table: Traditional matzoh is off limits since it has gluten. To fulfill the mitzvah of saying the blessing and eating matzoh, those of us who are on gluten-free diets can turn to oat matzoh. Lakewood Matzoh Bakery offers wonderful gluten-free oat matzohs available in Oat Machine Square and Traditional Shmurah, which I found at Fairway. Challah was taken on the matzohs that are made with certified gluten-free oats—oats must be certified gluten-free—and have Gluten-Intolerance Group’s certification seal.

Matzoh for the Breakfast Table: For the breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the ‘I need a snack’ kind of matzoh, I like Yehuda’s Gluten-Free Matzoh-Style Squares. The Squares are not intended for use during a seder, but are perfect with a shmear of cream cheese or for matzoh pizza.

I also recommend the newest gluten-free matzoh on the block: Manischewitz’s Gluten Free Matzo-Style Squares. I almost couldn’t believe this product was real when I saw it on the shelf. Then again, the words gluten-free on a Manischewitz box just seem so perfect.

When it comes to matzoh in cracker form, both Yehuda and Manischewitz crackers do the job. If you are like my sister, you might like them with cream cheese and a half sour pick on top.

Gluten-Free Matzoh Balls—Need I Say More? Your soup will thank you (and then your gluten-free guests will also) for using Yehuda’s Gluten-Free Matzoh Meal for the matzoh balls. In other words, if you plan on having chicken soup like I do at seder, make sure to pick up a box or two or even three.

Chicken Cutlet Time: Gluten-free chicken cutlets are just a coating away thanks to Jeff Nathan Creations’ Gluten Free Panko Flakes. The flakes are brand new and are available in plain or seasoned. Any chicken cutlet lucky enough to be made with these flakes is going to be a hit, which mean my chicken cutlets are going to be quite popular this week.

Passover Pasta: Whether you need gluten-free noodles for your kugel or are looking for a bowl of pasta, Manischewitz and Gefen have you covered. I like Manischewitz Gluten-Free Fine Yolk Free Noodles for my kugel and enjoy their spiral and shell-shaped noodles for everyday pasta fun. For a wider noodle, I recommend Gefen’s Gluten Free Egg Free Wide, which are perfect in soup.

Dessert: I love Manischewitz Gluten Free Chocolate and Yellow Cake Mixes. They are a great gluten-free cake and the fact that they are kosher for Passover is just the cherry on top. But my favorite part of the Manischewitz cakes might just be that the pan is included.

Macaroons: Passover hasn’t even started and I have already gone through two containers of Streit’s chocolate chip macaroons. There is just something about these moist treats, whether coconut, chocolate, chocolate chip or toffee crunch. If you’re a red velvet lover like I am, Manischewitz Red Velvet Macaroons are a must, as is the Chocolate Macaroon Dough. I repeat: Chocolate Macaroon Dough. This dough is the mother of all Passover products. Pure genius. It comes in a tub—how fun—and makes 44 macaroons.

And what would Passover be without candy fruit slices? Original Sweet Shoppe offers gluten-free raspberry, orange & lemon fruit slices that are the perfect treat at your seder.

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Hungry for Hanukkah pastries? Aren’t we all. Too busy to find places around New York City that will satisfy your craving? Consider this an early Hanukkah present.

1. For the Fancy Side of the Family: Eleni’s Playfully Unique Cookies

Sip tea and nibble on elegant nosh with your relatives on Upper East Side relatives at this nut-free bakery.

2. For You, the Cupcake Lover: Two options, of course.

Magnolia Bakery

Simple and delectable Magnolia cupcakes will make you croon “All I want for Hannukah is you.” Enjoy these chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and delicate little Jewish stars and Menorahs on top.

Crumb’s Bake Shop

The Holiday Signature Collection includes two types of cupcakes: the scrumptious Stars of David (vanilla cake filled with chocolate cream cheese frosting topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting) and mouthwatering Mazel (vanilla cake filled and frosted with vanilla buttercream sprinkled with blue and yellow nonpareils)

3. For your Gluten-Free Homegirl: Babycakes NYC (kosher, vegan, and gluten-free)

They’re selling special-edition rugelach and jam donuts for the holiday season.

Despite their seemingly limitless ingredient restrictions, we hear this place is quite good.

4. For the Jelly Donut Enthusiast: Susan Sez

Susan sez “say it with cake” has a new answer to Israeli sufganiyot. Owner Susan Berlin says her jelly-filled cupcakes “taste amazing” and are healthier than traditional fried donuts.

5. For the Dessert Builder: Baked By Melissa

Unfortunately, Baked by Melissa does not carry any Hannukah-specific treats. What they do feature, however, is a pretty extensive blueprint for how to build a dreidel out of several different signature flavors.

All you need is 100 cupcakes to create this picture—no big deal.

Happy snacking!

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Growing up, I loved kiddush. It was the reason I went to temple—or at least it was my favorite part of going to temple. I knew there was more to services than the mounds of cookies that came after Adon Olam. The junior congregation service, intended for Hebrew school-aged children, was fun. We prayed, and there were activities to keep us engaged. We learned that temple was exciting and meaningful while being introduced to the basics of the service. For me, the fun just happened to continue at kiddush, and Adon Olam was my cue.

The junior congregation kiddush always had Drake’s goodies like Yodels or Devil Dogs. But the adult kiddush, usually sponsored by that week’s bar or bat mitzvah family, was where the real treats could be found. Here were the cookies I longed for—the kosher cookies that somehow made my Saturday special. Even though as a kid I should have liked Drake’s more, there was something about those adult kiddush cookies that did it for me. Perhaps it was in my DNA.

I would start with the yellow cookies with the pink or yellow circle in the middle—you know the ones—soft but with a nice little icing crunch. Then I would move on to rugelech, a cookie that speaks for itself. When I ate the rainbow cookies, I ate around the jelly (if only my childhood self understood the joys of jelly!). After the cookies, I would indulge in a marble slice. What more could a young kiddush lover ask for after a morning of davening?

Then, things changed for this Kiddush lover. No, I didn’t grow up and decide to give up cookies. Who would say no to a cookie at Kiddush? What a shonda. Instead, at 13, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease. A diagnosis of celiac requires one to go on a gluten-free diet: a diet free of wheat, rye, and barely. The kosher kiddush cookies I once loved and devoured were now off limits. Kiddush was gluten. It was the end of an era.

At that time, I was very accepting of my diagnosis because I understood that my health was dependent on strictly following the new diet. There was no time to long for the gluten goodies I once ate. The kosher kiddush cookies were just cookies, and I could not have them.

I left it at that until I discovered gluten-free kosher cookies from Shabtai Gourmet and rugelech from Katz Gluten-Free. It was a gluten-free miracle. These cookies tasted just like kiddush. These cookies contained, for me, the essence of kiddush. They reminded me of the Saturdays of my childhood. Without realizing it, I had been longing for a gluten-free cookie in the style of a kiddush cookie.

My Judaism is by no means rooted in cookies, but those vivid kiddush memories are part of my relationship with my Judaism—just as being gluten-free is not who I am, but at the same time, it is a very real part of me. The rationale behind my post-diagnosis desire for cookies identical to those of my youth is common for a gluten-free eater. Often those of us on the gluten-free diet look for foods that are exact or very close replications of the gluten foods we once ate. I have found many replacement items that have had been meaningful for my palette, but the gluten-free kosher cookie discovery was monumental. Food is so enmeshed in the cultural fabric of being Jewish, and I was again able to feel like I could fully participate.

These days, my kiddush is no longer sponsored by the bar or bat mitzvah family, instead it’s brought to me by Shabtai Gourmet and Katz’s Gluten-Free. Shabtai Gourmet has the kosher classics, gluten-free: everything from Florentine Lace Cookies to Rainbow Cookies to Mini Black & Whites. Katz Gluten-Free has my chocolate rugelech. Together, these two companies recreated the essence of kiddush for me.

The gluten-free Jewish community can finally have their kiddush cookies, and eat them too.

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