flour girl

If she doesn't have life-threatening food allergies, then you're probably ok. Check with the mom first! Everyone is different. My kids have multiple food allergies with peanut being dangerously severe (EpiPen Jr required). They are slowly outgrowing some allergies but, even though her blood test results indicated that an egg allergy was at this stage and was never close to be considered severe, she had an anaphylactic reaction to the full dose of egg whites at the allergist's office. Surprised the doctor too for sure. As a result of this food challenge we know that trace amounts of egg won't cause a severe reaction. The mom will let you know what she is comfortable with food-wise.

It is small comfort when the allergist says "if everyone thinks you're crazy and controlling, then you are doing your job correctly". Umm, if the little girl does have life-threatening food allergies, don't be surprised if the mom still turns down the offer of outside food. Unless you are using new kitchen items, you probably can't guarantee xxx-free anything. I know some people think that running an item through the dishwasher adequately sanitizes something, but we're talking about allergen proteins here, not germs. The proteins in peanuts/tree nuts might not be denatured at the temps that a dishwasher may reach and traces of food particles on an item may be enough to be fatal to someone who is supersensitive. It would also be a good idea to call the manufacturers of the ingredients used to learn of any cross-contamination issues. The new US food allergen labelling law helps somewhat, but does not completely cover everything until 2007. And there are exceptions to the law as well. True allergies to chocolate are rare according an allergist on the board of FAAN - foodallergy.org - so the mom may be avoiding chocolate because most commonly available brands do contain dairy or nut traces. But there are suitable chocolates available (they're not cheap) and Hershey's cocoa doesn't have any of the top 8 allergen problems whatsoever. (But always check the label first. Things could change.) As for the sugar - it may be an intolerance or perhaps given that the child's diet is limited, sugar has adverse affects on bowel movements or perhaps it is some other GI disorder. Talk to the mom in depth - she will recommend something if at all possible.

Here's another one: www.sunbutter.com One caveat - seed allergies are also on the rise. Hope you find what you are looking for.

Luis, another source for Nulomoline is sweetc.com. FWIW, I was surprised to see a package of Pepperidge Farm cookies listing invert sugar in the ingredients list. Has anyone else seen this in other products? It is interesting because the source of the sugar is obscured this way.

CAKE! (But for the record, dh and the men on his side of the family prefer pie. Splitters!)

Just for fun: http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/partycake/index.html

I have a couple of ideas for cakes for Halloween that I thought would be fun: 1) a Barbie-style (aka wondermold) cake with a brunette Barbie as the bride of Frankenstein and I just picked up some sort of Ken as a groom for the big guy - perhaps lying on a sofa (fondant-covered cake?) watching football. 2) the ever-popular poker table with piped or molded figures of dracula, frankenstein, the mummy, the werewolf, igor, headless horseman, etc. Would love to see pictures if anyone does these...my dh wants to do a haunted house with the kids. Good luck.

Here's a base muffin recipe if you're interested - haven't tried it, though, since I have a different list of allergies to work around: Food Allergy Survival Guide’s Magical One-Bowl Muffins (paraphrased) 12 muffin version, best served warm from oven, freezes well, reheat wrapped in foil at 300F briefly, lots of savory/sweet variations possible with suitable additions 18 options given after- but no time to enter them all yet, sorry. 2 cups (500 ml) gluten-free all-purpose flour mix* ½ cup (125 ml) sugar (would beet sugar or honey work?) 1 tbsp (15 ml) corn-free baking powder** ½ tsp (2 ml) xanthan gum or guar gum ½ tsp (2 ml) salt 2 cups (500 ml) non-dairy milk or water (soy or rice milk) ½ cup (125 ml) organic canola, safflower, or coconut oil Position your oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Use baking cup liners for your muffin pan. Combine dry ingredients (thoroughly) in a large bowl. Whisk in wet ingredients until smooth and well mixed. Fill the baking cups as evenly as possible without overfilling. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan and cool them briefly on a rack. Serve warm. (Sometimes whether it is served warm or not will make a huge difference in taste…) *their GF-all-purpose flour mix is a combination of potato starch or tapioca starch; chickpea flour, brown or white rice flour, and arrowroot starch – you can buy pre-made or mix your own. Let me know if you want the amounts posted. **corn-free baking powder – I think, but am not 100% sure that Hain’s Featherweight Baking Powder is corn-free – it is a single acting baking powder and anything prepared with this should go into the oven quickly for best leavening results. This book also gives a corn-free baking powder recipe – let me know if you want it. Obviously everyone's situation is unique, so use whatever works for you/him. As I got better at baking with unfamiliar ingredients I learned to adjust some of my old favorite recipes. Hope this helps.

Lonestar190, one place to look for help on the internet is faan.org (The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network). FAAN is pretty much the gatekeeper of food allergen information in the US and most professional medical allergy groups have a link to their site. You will find more specific information (like alternate names of allergens) and other resources that will come in handy. Is he anaphylactic (have a life-threatening allergy) to anything? For example, if he were anaphylactic to dairy he would need to know that food manufactured on shared equipment could contain enough of the milk protein "casein" to cause a reaction even though there are no dairy/derivative ingredients listed on the label (even some products listed as Kosher Parve/Pareve and/or vegan on the front, not all). A few people are exquisitely sensitive enough to these trace amounts from shared equipment and must call the manufacturer to ask whether a product contains (whatever allergen) to make sure it is okay for them. And depending how serious some of his allergies are - buying some new baking equipment may be a possibility. Things that are usually handwashed like rolling pins may cause a problem from dough that contained eggs, flour, butter etc. and baking sheets used for peanut butter cookies might have enough peanut protein baked on too. I recommend baking parchment for any baking you do. There's a book called The Food Allergy Survival Guide by Vesanto Melina, Jo Stepaniak and Dina Aronson that may be more useful than FAAN's small paperback for recipes in your brother's case. It is kind of overwhelming at first since you have to watch out for so many allergens, but it will get much easier with a little time. I'll try to find a suitable recipe in the meantime - I think breakfast items would be good to have - I'll check. Good luck to you and your brother and if you have any other questions just ask away - there are lots of people that would like to help. Oh, oh, forgot to mention Miss Roben's Allergy Grocer is a great place to order special foods and ingredients ~ lots of info there too.

nickarte - yes my recollections of El Globo are from the early seventies and eighties, before the globalization of chains took hold. If you are interested, the article I found was at (en espanol, no mas)http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2005/ago05/050801/003n1sec.html. Do you have a favorite pasteleria and what are they known for?

I just recently came across an article about the sale of El Globo bakeries to Bimbo. I remember having various pastries from El Globo, but especially the cakes. The cakes always had a distinctive flavor and were what some relatives aspired to make at home. Any one else remember El Globo?

Sweet Celebrations has 5x5" (#17302 $20.85/1000) and 4x4" (#17299 $13.75/1000) clear cello sheets. They have a website, sweetc.com - I think, (sorry I don't know how to link yet), but they usually take orders by phone, IIRC. 1-800-328-6722. HTH

LindyCat, too cool, now I have a new allergy buddy. I haven't tried the cocoa butter angle, but it sounds very intriguing. I also use Earth Balance, but don't necessarily rely on it for the only flavor. (You probably know this already, but for anyone else out there, Earth Balance and a lot of other margarines that don't have a dairy ingredient i.e. cow's milk protein/casein listed are manufactured on shared equipment and they do allergen tests on their product, but someone who is anaphylactic might not be comfortable using this. Fleischmann's unsalted is run on dedicated lines, but has also had a major recall from cross-contamination a few years ago, and IMO it has a lot less flavor. Cool-Whip is not casein-free either. Standard allergy disclaimer here: consult your doctor/preferably an allergist for specifics.) For flavoring help I use LorAnn Buttery Sweet Dough flavoring in certain applications with some success. I know what you mean about the typical allergy recipe – they are uninspiring to say the least. I’ve been hunting upscale recipes too; want to trade any sources/recipes (PM, of course so we don’t violate the rules here)? One thing I have noticed is that dairy-free margarines need to be treated gently or they will break and cause a greasy mess. I tried this with Fleischmann’s early on with chocolate chip cookies to see how far I could go. Not far. But maybe it’s processed differently where you live, who knows? Good luck with the cocoa butter experiments!

I'm sort of new here too (lurked for a loooonnng time), with food allergy concerns as well. Have you tried any type of allowed flavorings in your baking? What exactly are the sophisticated desserts you have in mind? (I keep trying not to salivate over the Best of ~ Cakes threads... especially the Butter Cakes, LOL). I find that there are different solutions to the dairy substitution problem depending on what I am trying to make, and I'm always trying new things too. Just curious, what brands have you tried so far?