Art You Can Eat
Gluten free this holiday season? There's no need to dismiss the signature cut-out cookies or decadent desserts of Christmas past. We've discovered gluten-free baked treasures worth celebrating and perfect for giving to yourself or to others. As with most great ventures, this one was fueled by passion and commitment. It began years ago when Linda and Stan Fedewa met, fell in love, got married and merged families. Their union became a "yours, mine and ours" household that eventually included six children.
Linda's life took an unexpected turn on the eve of her stepson's seventh birthday. "Pat wanted a clown cake," she recalls. "I wasn't sure how to do it but I found a $2 clown cake baking kit at the store. I discovered that I loved making it." Word of her delicious skills spread and eventually a business, A Piece O' Cake, was born. Pat is now 35 years old and Linda remains a passionate baker, though that could have changed in 1989 when she was diagnosed with celiac disease. "I was sick for more than two years and was down to 87 pounds. By the time I was diagnosed, I didn't care what was wrong. I just wanted to know what it was. But here I was surrounded by cakes and unable to eat gluten. I thought my world had dropped out," says Linda.
"Linda persevered and, with the help of her spouse, she has stayed on the gluten-free path even while creating gluten-filled goodies daily. Stan, an avid baker, assists Linda in the kitchen. "Stan bakes every day with me," Linda says. "He's been an incredible source of support." They work as a team with Stan doing most of the baking while Linda focuses on the decorating. Wedding cakes are their specialty but three years ago they decided to begin baking gluten-free items.
"We found a gluten-free dessert cookbook by Connie Sarros that had a recipe for a flour mix in it. Initially we used the flour to make sugar cookies. Now we use it for 90 percent of our gluten-free cookies. That flour has made baking so much easier. We make gluten-free wedding cakes in flavors like French almond, kahlua fudge, and lemon," she says. The gluten-free business is booming and Linda has shipped baked goods as far away as California.
"We only bake gluten free on Tuesdays but our product line is growing. It includes little loaves of bread, pizza crust, snickerdoodles and seasonal Christmas cookies," she says.
"Some customers have no idea that the cookies are gluten free," says Linda. "We've found a way to recreate the cookies we made for our children when they were growing up. But we are always experimenting with new recipes."
Such dedication makes their business truly a labor of love with very sweet rewards.
The 2007 Allergy-Friendly Dining Guide features more than 200 of our favorite restaurants, cafes and bakeries. We are sorry, but we are currently sold out of this item!
Click here to order
other items from Living
Without Magazine. |
