LISA COOKS ALLERGEN FREE
Lisa Williams is on a mission.... to help other food allergen sufferers learn to cook, shop and dine their way around Chicagoland.
Following her diagnosis of multiple food allergies, Lisa set-out to build a new life around her allergen challenges. But she found the task of researching, navigating, and keeping up-to-date on emerging new information and resources for allergen free cooking, shopping and dining to be daunting. With the ever-growing number of Americans living with food allergies now at the 12-million mark, she launched Lisa Cooks Allergen Free, LisaCooksAllergenFree.com, acting as a clearinghouse and information source for other Chicago-area "allergenistas."
Lisa, who's studying at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, also hosts a popular blog, LisaCooksAllergenFree.blogspot.com, which includes weekly allergen free recipes she's created. Lisa has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Time Out Chicago, and on Jonathan Brandmeier's leading morning drive radio show. In addition, she conducts allergen-free cooking demonstration and classes including:
7 Chicago-area Whole Foods, now through June 16, 2009
June 27, 2009 - Cooking Demo
2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Bloomingdale's Home & Furniture Store
600 North Wabash Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
FREE
July 1, 2009 - Cooking Demo
4 p.m.
Taste of Chicago
Grant Park
Chicago, Illinois
FREE
July 3, 2009 -- Cooking Demo
11:30 a.m.
Museum of Science and Industry
Smart Home: Green + Wired
57th Street and Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois
FREE
July 7, 2009 - In-Depth Allergen-Free Cooking Class
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Chopping Block
Merchandise Mart Plaza
Chicago, Illinois
$40, advance reservation required
www.thechoppingblock.net
Williams recently launched a series of Safe & Sound Dinners, an open-to-the-public, group dining experience challenging top local restaurant chefs to create a complete, mulit-course dinner free of as many common food allergens as possible, including:
June 29 - Safe & Sound Dinner
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Carnivale
702 West Fulton Market Street
Chicago, Illinois
$50, advance reservation required
LisaCooksAllergenFree.com
773-665-0430
"The number-one thing I've noticed is everyone seems to focus on gluten intolerance, which affects approximately 2.5 million, myself included. But in addition to gluten, there are 8 other major food allergens that make-up 'The Big 8' -- eggs, wheat, dairy, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts -- which affects almost 12-million Americans." says Williams. "That's why the recipes on my blog and used at my cooking demos are not only gluten-free, but free of the other 'Big 8' allergens as well.