Building Allergy-Friendly Gingerbread Houses in Annapolis

See one of the recipes that helped pack the class at Whole Foods Market.

The second annual gluten-free, allergy-friendly gingerbread house class at Whole Foods Market attracted more than 30 participants looking for a safe alternative to the holiday classic. The class held Sunday at the popular Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole grocery store focused on building and decorating gingerbread houses without using any of the top eight allergens, Tammy Studebaker wrote in an email. Studebaker, who directed the class, is the director of outreach and education for the Eating and Educating, Living Life Foundation (ELL). She has been presenting similar classes at Whole Foods for two years. She said the top eight allergens are: wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, soy, fish and shellfish. “People today are avoiding foods …

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Meet the Chef: b.b. Bistro’s Carla Lucente and Stacey Jackowski

Green restaurateurs Serve up healthful food in West Annapolis and at the Market House.

It started with two women working at Trader Joe’s. Carla Lucente started a catering business on the side, and her co-worker and friend Stacey Jackowski began helping her.  “We got along so well. We were very efficient together. And one day Carla said, ‘Do you want to open a restaurant together?’ The next day we started looking at real estate,” Jackowski said. “One month later, we signed a lease…unbeknownst to our husbands,” Lucente added. “We knew it was the right thing to do. One thing after another fell into place. We were searching for a coffee machine, and a gentleman walked in the door and said, ‘Do you guys need an espresso machine?’ We said, ‘Yes!’ and bought it for a quarter of what we would have spent.” Lucente envisioned local, …

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Festive Gluten-Free Gingerbread

Children toss cookies aside for healthy gingerbread houses during a class at Whole Foods in Annapolis.

Imagine having to tell your child that cookies are off limits. No one wants to see disappointment on a young person's face, yet living with allergies means constantly being on guard and parents realize that means sacrifice. "During the holidays, it's a hard time," said Tammy Studebaker, a certified Protect Allergic Children (PAC) consultant and member of the board of directors of the ELL Foundation. "There are many misconceptions that you cannot eat and do fun things, even if you have food allergies." Studebaker travels to schools, hospitals and health stores running training sessions about food allergies, and is in the process of publishing a cookbook. Studebaker lead a parent/child workshop for gluten-free, allergy-free holiday treats …

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Reader Recipes

Call for Cookie Recipes

Patch wants readers to share their favorite cookie recipes.

We're hosting a virtual cookie exchange this year by sharing recipes and photos. Dig out your recipe box (or, more likely, the folder of recipes on your computer) and choose some cookie recipes to send to Patch. We're looking for recipes that range from simple to challenging and include all kinds of cookies: Tell us where you found your recipe, whether it's a family recipe or one you found online so we can give proper credit. To upload photos directly to Patch, click on "Add" next to the line under the photo (to the right) that says: "Your photos, videos & PDFs." Note that you must be logged into the site to upload photos. Or, you can send your cookie photos and recipes to susan@patch.com. For more holiday stories on Greater Annapolis …

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Help for a Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

Patch shares where to find gluten-free baked goods for food allergy sufferers.

Turkey? Check. Mashed potatoes? Check. China? Check. Gluten-free rolls, stuffing and desserts? Uh-oh! If you are like most folks, entertaining family and friends for Thanksgiving is stressful enough, but add accommodations for food allergies and dietary sensitivities and it can seem overwhelming. Diet sensitivities can take a variety of forms. Individuals who can't tolerate gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley) are diagnosed with Celiac Disease (CD). According to the National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC), one out of 133 people have CD — an autoimmune condition that affects adults and children.  When people with CD eat foods with gluten, a toxic reaction is created that can cause damage to the small …

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