WELCOME!
I’ve always loved baking, but it wasn’t until my health started to degrade that it became a necessity. As my Mast Cell Activation Disorder worsened, I developed an allergy to gluten. Like a full on, full body burning rash kind of allergy to gluten. It quickly became clear that if I wanted to continue baking, I’d have to delve into the realm of gluten free baked goods- something I’d previously had very little experience with. But I love a challenge. Especially one that lets me do delicious science experiments whenever I want.
The thing is, along with MCAD, I have a tremor, arthritis in my hands, asthma, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, neurocardiogenic syncope, occipital neuralgia, joints and ligaments that slip out of place, and a whole bunch of other strange and exciting maladies. All of this is due to having hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. My body makes faulty collagen, and since humans are basically made of collagen and water...well, you get the picture. What this boils down to in the context of baking, is that I’ve had to figure out my own ways of working in the kitchen. I found myself having to do a lot more planning than usual; splicing together recipes, altering techniques, testing and retesting ingredients. There was a lot of guesswork involved. There still is.
My goal is to take some of that guesswork out of play for anyone who finds this blog. To resolve some of the frustrations that come with so many variables. I hope you find some solutions here with me, Kathleen, in the kitchen!
- KATHLEEN