Or, we could call it, “where there’s a mom, there’s a way”.
In 2007, after a doctor told me to feed my toddler a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and a few-other-things-free diet, I distinctly remember saying “How can I feed my baby this food?” It was dry. It was tasteless. I needed to figure this out.
I’m going to attempt to give you the quick story of why I am a gluten-free chef. My daughter has been gluten-free since she was almost two years old, a few months before this photo was taken. She had suffered from eczema since she had turned one and back then, no one ever said “this could be celiac disease”. That’s a whole other conversation.
I was trained in culinary, and throughout the years, worked in hospitality and technology. When I had my children, I decided to stay home but build a career as a cooking instructor, a way to merge my past two work lives. Things were going great until my daughter was always itchy and I couldn’t figure out why. Then came the diet change which I also had to figure out. I am an Italian-American woman who had been trained at a world renowned hospitality school. All I knew was gluten, dairy, and eggs.
Fast forward two years when I began having success with gluten-free cooking and baking. As I said, I could not imagine feeding my daughter food that didn’t taste good so I experimented until I learned the new language of gluten-free. Coming from technology, I was always taught to put myself in the shoes of a customer, to understand what they needed. During my gluten free classes, I met so many people that either were gluten-free or cooked for someone who was. I wanted to try it and felt I had nothing to lose. I remember saying “there’s nothing wrong with me; I don’t have a problem with gluten.”
But the reality was although I had never had stomach pain to the point of needing a doctor, I did have some minor symptoms; I always thought this was my normal. Four days after starting a gluten-free diet, I noticed my stomach didn’t hurt when I ate. Two weeks later, I ate a regular muffin and an hour later, stomach pain. What?! A few months later after deciding to eat this way for a bit longer, I started sleeping better which meant I was less cranky. My skin improved. Hmm, I was onto something. Feeling better was much more important to me than not, so here I am.
A year or so after I changed to a gluten-free diet, my son was experiencing similar symptoms to me as well as my husband. Next thing I knew, we became a gluten-free family. I’ve learned how to make almost every substitution or which products to use. My baking improved immensely when I started using a scale, slowing down, and being consistent (is that all I needed to do?!). Most importantly, I made sure it all tasted good. Some times, I made things that weren’t exactly the same as their gluten counterpart but the flavor and texture were there.
I continued to teach and blog, wrote a cookbook, presented at numerous gluten-free expos, and opened a home-based bakery. My kids grew up and learned how to fend for themselves in the kitchen now that they are young adults. I travel and meet people all over the world; some of those people have become great friends.
So, now, over 18 years later, I’ve gotten pretty good at what I do. The next phase of my life will be dedicated to leaving a legacy. I want to help by teaching others and sharing my knowledge. I hope my website is helpful to you. Because at the end of the day, I’m just a girl, standing in front of a donut, asking it to taste as good as I remember.
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