Evanston: Where you find the best spices and amazing gluten-free sweets, plus another contest

Don't forget to enter my Juil sponsored contest for a free pair of grounding sandals. The contest ends Wednesday, September 12th at Midnight PST.

Last month, the family and I traveled to the Northwest Chicago suburbs to celebrate my father-in-law's 60th birthday. I love visiting this area, especially in the late summer months when it's not too hot and muggy. Whenever I visit, there are two places I don't miss and both happen to be in the city of Evanston.

The first is Rose's Wheat Free Bakery.

Rose's is a gluten-free bakery which also features vegan, sugar-free, and dairy-free desserts. They also sell fresh baked breads and even have an incredible pita bread that they sell to restaurants in Chicagoland. One of my favorite indulgences are the delectable dairy-free cheesecakes made with toffuti seasonal berries, most of which are even organic.

For the past year, our daughter has been gluten-free and cow dairy-free. She's also allergic to eggs and we try to limit her refined sugar intake. It so happens that my little one's birthday is the same day as her grandfather's. So for all of the festivities, I ordered two vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free cakes from Rose's. One cake was a vanilla cake with berry frosting and berry "buttercream" and the other was a carrot cake with walnuts and bananas. While the cakes were not grain-free, they were refined sugar free (made with agave), so I let myself indulge in celebration of my daughter and father-in-law. The cakes were incredible!

Carrot Cake with Bananas & Walnuts

Vanilla Cake with Berry Cream

Rose's now ships anywhere in the US! So if you are craving some gluten-free goodness, they'll ship it to your door within 2 days!

The second place I absolutely love (if you are a reader of my blog you already know this) is The Spice House. This store has by far the biggest and best selection of spices that I've every seen. They have been around since 1957 and in Evanston since 1997. In total, there are 5 stores in Illinois and Wisconsin. Not only do they sell single spices such as varietal peppers, salts, and spiced sugars, but they also have unique spice blends. I've been using their blends and single spices in my recipes for years. My favorite is the Sunny Paris and Pilsen Latino Spice. But you don't need to travel to Evanston to enjoy all of their amazing products, you can order all their spices online!

The Spice House has been generous to sponsor a contest with A Crafty Gourmet! Paige at The Spice House put together a box with 4 of her favorites, included a jar of Sumac! To enter the contest you (1) must like my Facebook page  or have liked it already (2) visit the Spice House site (3) leave a comment letting me know which spice blend you'd use most at home. For more chances to win, share my post with your friends and have them mention your name in their post. Contest ends Wednesday, September 19th at Midnight PST, but don't wait to enter because the first 15 people will have their names entered into the pool twice!