My year 12 Economics teacher used to describe my essay writing reputation as either excellent or poor. He believed that I either wrote wonderful essays or bad essays. I sometimes think my family might think I have the same cooking reputation when it comes to experimenting with new recipes. They either love them or totally hate them.
A few failures
I must admit that I have had a few failures along the way as I’ve tried to adapt recipes so my family can eat them. There was the time I found this great American recipe book that didn’t include any of 8 common allergens. Even though we didn’t need egg free or nut free it took out gluten, dairy, soy and potato which we couldn’t have. I thought I’d won the jackpot until I tried a few recipes. After ending up with a tray of concrete instead of biscuits and muffins that just wouldn’t go firm; I gave up and returned the book to the library. Later I did realise that it might have been to do with the different measures that are used in America to Australia.
Although it was quite easy to substitute coconut cream for cream in lemonade scones, it wasn’t as easy to make them gluten free as well. Though, recently gluten free pumpkin scones worked well. I’ve had quite a few fails as I’ve attempted to make a meat pie with a gluten-free, dairy-free & soy-free pastry for the pie crust.
Persistence
However anyone who knows me well would probably say I have the reputation for persisting. The same is true with adapting recipes. I keep persevering and trying new recipes to find things that will work and that my family likes. We now have some good pastry, bread and wrap recipe options that I keep using.
Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Brownies
You could also say that I have the reputation for making really good gluten-free & dairy-free chocolate brownies. I just used a normal basic chocolate brownie recipe but substituted the gluten flour with gluten-free flour and use dark Lindt chocolate. A plate of them certainly disappears at morning tea after church (well it used to, not sure when we’ll have morning tea after church again). I have found that chocolate recipes work well for gluten free substitutions.
All in all, as we’ve been dealing with food intolerances for over 10 years now. I’ve learnt a lot about what works and what are good substitutes for certain ingredients.
So when some of my friends started getting the same or similar tests to the one my son & husband had, I kind of became the go to girl for help with recipes & ideas of what to eat. My reputation is that I cook great food to cater for different food intolerances.
Can I Help You?
The ship table with some lunch food. 
Food ready for the 2nd party.
If you’d like help with adapting a recipe or planning a menu for a gathering, to cater for different food intolerances, I’d be happy to help. Please contact me about this.