Ahhh….what a great way to end a long week!
I get lots of emails from fellow celiacs needing advice. I offer my advice and hope for the best. Some emails I share on the blog as part of my Dear Gluten Dude series and of course, you folks are such a huge help.
But I rarely hear any follow ups from the person in need and I often wonder how they are doing.
Now I know how Dear Abby must feel 🙂
Well…I’m happy to report that we have received an update from somebody and IT’S ALL GOOD.
Last July, I received an email from Rachael, whose high school daughter Brie has dreams of becoming a chef and was enrolled in a Culinary Arts school when she was diagnosed with celiac disease. She was looking for advice from our gluten-free community and as usual, you folks rocked with your responses.
We heard from Brie yesterday and she is doing absolutely amazing.
I thought I’d spread some Friday cheer and share her update. This kid is going places.
————————————————————
Hi everybody!!!
This is the mid-year update my mom was going to post but I figured it might be cool to take a shot at it.
School is going amazing!! I love high school and have made lots of friends. My peers in the kitchen are totally understanding and always have my back. Which is awesome! Sometimes a “Hey do you want this cookie… oh yeah I forgot; never mind! Sorry” comes up once in a while but it makes me laugh because I know my friends are trying their best to remember and that alone is truly awesome.
In the kitchen I’m always wearing the XLarge gloves, which is good, but because of my celiac and being so petite, they always fall of my hands!! Lol.
Other than that I stay AWAY from the pastry section of the kitchen, the big bin of flour, and the dishes as much as possible (which isn’t always a bad thing 😛 ). I’m usually the one to make the salads so I’m a pro at that now, but I have worked on a lot of other things as well.
Chef (my teacher) has been trying to do her best to remember but is always forgetting which gets a little annoying every now and then. Sometimes she assigns me to the sponge cake or the eclairs exedra…and I have to say “Sorry chef I can’t work on that”.
I don’t feel bad saying it because it is MY celiac and I do not feel bad for having it. It’s me and I’m ok with it. I have come to realize that no matter what I do in life and the actions I take, I will always have celiac and I accept it for what it is!! If you spend every day wishing you didn’t have celiac, it becomes more and more difficult to deal with.
When asked “Do you ever miss *regular food*?” I say “What the heck is regular food?” I usually get a response like “You know, like stuff with gluten.” And I say “NOT FOR A SECOND” because when I ate gluten I felt worse than you could possibly imagine (I am having trouble trying to find words to explain the nightmare). Every day. Now I feel SO SO SO much better and the food is really not that bad!! Now that more and more people are hearing about it, there is more and more to eat (And cook!).
Now back to school. The kitchen is amazing! I get all bubbly inside when someone (especially Chef) comes up and asks me if something is gluten free because a customer coming to eat at the cafe at our school has celiac disease and requested that all the food is gluten free! It’s amazing to me how much people that don’t know about celiac are so willing to listen to what you say because they know you as “the expert to talk to” in the kitchen about celiac.
Thanks for taking time to read this and leaving those AWESOME comments!!! I might do something big soon! I will have to keep you posted.
Btw: If you have any questions for me I would be more than happy to answer them the best I can!
XOXO,
Brie
My inspirational quote of the day:
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
― Maya Angelou
Brie remember part of a culinary education is being well rounded. Baking is part of that journey because not every kitchen you would work in will be accomidating of illness. Is there a way you could make GF goods in your own kitchen? Besides the selfish thought of I want a good GF eclair recipe, there is getting a culinary education that includes more than another salad
You have a beautiful attitude and will go far in life!
Brie said: “I have come to realize that no matter what I do in life and the actions I take, I will always have celiac and I accept it for what it is!! If you spend every day wishing you didn’t have celiac, it becomes more and more difficult to deal with.”
Brilliant! 🙂 You are wise beyond your years, kiddo!!! Some adults cannot embrace this concept and it makes their lives miserable, unfulfilled and unnecessarily difficult. Celiac should neither define you nor confine you. Good for you!
I admire your tenacity, your courage and your obvious joy for life.
I am so glad for you that you are doing what you love. Rock on!
I see you like good quotes. Here are a few of my favs:
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
― Anaïs Nin
“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.”
― Paulo Coelho,
and from my fav chef ever:
“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking, you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
― Julia Child
Keep us posted. Cheers!
Thank you for sharing your journey! You are an amazing individual! I have recently discovered the local community college where I live has a culinary program and a restaurant. The group of people I work with love to go out to lunch and sometimes we choose to eat at the culinary school’s restaurant. I always call ahead and talk to them about my needs to give them ample time to prepare a plan for my meal and have never been disappointed. They have a plan in mind when I arrive, present my options to me, and then prepare a spectacular gluten and dairy free meal for me. I can only hope those students who were involved in preparing meals for me will leave with a little more awareness after serving me, which someday will result in more awareness in mainstream restaurants.
Hey Brie – Congrats on finding your place in your life with such an amazing attitude and spirit. You are going to go places, and I hope you keep GD updated on all of it. Keep shining! You are already making a difference.
GD – thanks for that wonderful update. 🙂
Only one word to describe this girl is “Awesome!” Keep up the good work!
What a SweetHeart! Stay positive =)
Wow, I would be sooo proud if I was your Mom 🙂
With this positive attitude you can do whatever you want to. Most people, including those with far lesser challenges, will never work out what you have about life.
You are also educating the next generation of chefs in gluten free cooking. Fantastic.
I wish you every success in everything you choose to do
Mw
My initial reaction to your wonderful letter was “Thank God! A GF chef has been born to take care of all of her GF clients!” I know I would come to your restaurant every week if I could.
Glad to hear all is going well for you! I totally understand being in the kitchen and going to school for the Culinary/Pastry aspect of it all. I went to school for the pastry aspect of it all though. I was around flour, gluten, etc all the time. I constantly washed my hands in the classes and pretty much everyone was understandable for the most part. I have since then graduated but it was a fantastic experience! I hope you love it just as much as I did!
Bethani