Need Help for a Gluten-Free Thanksgiving?

 Turkey?  Check. Mashed potatoes? Check. China?  Check.  Gluten-free rolls, stuffing, 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.  According to the National Digestive Disease Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC), one out of 133 people have Celiac Disease. Celiac Disease (CD) is 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 intestine and does not allow the food to be absorbed properly.  Some of the symptoms of CD include:  abdominal pain and bloating, vomiting, chronic diarrhea and weight loss.  In order to stay well, people with CD must avoid eating any food that contains gluten.  This means avoiding most grains, pasta, cereal, and processed foods.

How would avoiding gluten affect a "typical" Thanksgiving Dinner?  It would mean no self-basting turkey, stuffing, gravy, rolls, or pumpkin pie.   Fortunately, Severna Park has its own gluten-free bakery to help make a gluten-free Thanksgiving possible.  Freedom Bakery, located in the Park Plaza Shopping Center, specializes in gluten-free products but can also cater to other food allergies as well.   

Freedom Bakery was founded in 2009 when the owner Alicia Pulcher and her daughter Sarah (diagnosed with CD in 2006) were fed up with the limited number of food choices for those individuals needing a gluten-free diet.  They wanted to find a way to make gluten-free bread products taste good and not be too expensive.  They began by researching ways to make their own flour.  The "flour" recipe they created includes rice, sorghum, millet, corn flour and cornstarch.  Once they created the gluten-free flour, they tested and experimented with measurements to create their first loaf of bread.  They found out early on, that gluten-free dough acts differently than regular dough as no kneading is necessary. Since it is fresh, it must be kept in the refrigerator.

 Having access to gluten-free products is a huge relief for individuals with CD.  According to customer, Katie Barker of Severn it is amazing to be able to stop by and pick-up a sandwich for lunch.  Katie stated that the gluten-free items from the grocery store don't taste as good as the foods from Freedom Bakery.  This Thanksgiving, Katie is looking forward to her mother's homemade stuffing using a loaf of Freedom Bakery's bread.

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, Freedom Bakery has dinner rolls, apple and pumpkin pies, and cornbread or bread stuffing available to order (must be ordered by Monday if you mention you read it on Patch.com. Pulcher also suggests if you are serving a person with dietary sensitivities or food allergies, to read the labels on all the products you will be using to prepare your Thanksgiving meal.  Alicia said her daughter Sarah summed it up best by saying, "if a third-grader can't read the label on the can or box, don't use it".

Freedom Bakery is open Tues. – Sat., 8am-6pm, call 410-975-0261 for more information.