Gluten-free pasta fills a need

Annie's Rice Pasta & Cheddar. $2.99 per 6-ounce box.

Bonnie: Annie's Rice Pasta & Cheddar is made with rice pasta instead of the traditional wheat-based kind, for those who can't tolerate gluten. Gluten is the protein part of a grain, the one that gives bread its elasticity. It's in wheat, rye, barley and other less common grains. Gluten is also what the 3 million Americans with celiac disease must avoid. That means no bread, no pasta, no cakes, no cookies — unless they're made without flour.

In this genetic autoimmune disease, gluten causes the body's antibodies to attack the nutrient-absorbing parts of cells in the small intestines. Celiac sufferers can eat and still be malnourished and also experience gastrointestinal symptoms best left undescribed in a food column.

So celiac sufferers should especially welcome this new gluten-free "macaroni" and cheese. But it tastes good enough for anyone to enjoy.

Carolyn: I'm not sure I know what gluten is. If I had to guess, based on my knowledge of the word glutinous, I'd say it was a thick, chewy and slimy substance.

Imagine my surprise, then, to see these gluten-free noodles come out of the pan thick, chewy and slimy-surfaced: in short, glutinous.

Fortunately, Annie's great cheese powder absorbs almost all the sliminess and almost made me forget how hard I had to work my jaw in order to taste it.

Nevertheless, I won't be buying this again, mainly because of its expense — about three times the price of Kraft — which, thankfully, I have no problem eating. Celiac sufferers will likely be equally thankful for Annie's.

Wonka Bar. $1.50 per 1.3-ounce bar.

Bonnie: The search is on again. As in Roald Dahl's classic 1964 book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and the movies based on it, there are Golden Tickets hidden inside specially marked Wonka candy. Instead of winning a trip to tour a chocolate factory, this Golden Ticket wins $10,000. That's almost enough to consider buying a bar of the candy as a lottery ticket.

What do you get if you lose? Something like a Nestle Crunch, but with graham cracker pieces instead of Rice Krispies (ounce for ounce, the calories and fat are similar). Just as the 2005 movie with Johnny Depp isn't as good as the old Gene Wilder one, this candy is not as good as Nestle Crunch.