Memories of one’s childhood are usually riddled with sweets and treats—trips to the ice cream shop, candles adorning a birthday cake or a chocolate chip cookie bake-off at school.

But children with food allergies are often deprived of such pleasures. They sit in the corner during birthday parties and potlucks. Their parents are on constant watch at restaurants. And they’re often dubbed “that allergy kid” by their classmates.

Kelly Rudnicki, a Wilmette resident, creator of the blog Food Allergy Mama and author of the new book, “Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book,” is prepared to change all that. After her son, John, was diagnosed with severe allergies to dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, legumes and peas, Rudnicki set out to create delicious alternatives for her family—and, through her blog, for families across the country.

“I grew up baking with my mom, and I loved sweets when I was a child,” Rudnicki said. “So when the doctor told me John could die within minutes if he had any allergens, everything I associated with childhood and fun came crashing down on me.”

Rudnicki bought a few food allergy cookbooks, but most recipes weren’t a success.

“Nothing would work out,” said Rudnicki. “I started to think it was my fault. They’d be too crispy, look strange or taste terrible. I just wanted pretty little cookies that tasted
delicious.”

The breaking point was when Rudnicki tried to bake John a cake for his first birthday, and it was a complete failure. That’s when she scrapped the allergen-free cookbooks and started tweaking recipes from her mother’s huge collection, which Rudnicki inherited when her mother died a few years ago.

“Everything was like a science experiment,” Rudnicki said. “I would start replacing ingredients, like applesauce instead of eggs. I’d do it over and over until it was perfect.”

Rudnicki’s recipes on her blog and in her new book aim to be easy and inexpensive and use ingredients that can be found at the grocery store. Her goal was also to create recipes that tasted good for everyone so her family could have dinner together. Her concoctions were tested by the harshest judges—the children in her neighborhood.

“Kids are brutally honest,” Rudnicki said. “They’d tell me if I needed to try again.”

When Rudnicki started posting her recipes on Food Allergy Mama, she realized she’d filled a hole for parents of kids with allergens.

“I’d get comments and letters like, ‘my kid finally had a doughnut for the first time, and I cried,’” said Rudnicki. “You don’t realize how big of a deal it is until you live it. You’re used to always saying ‘no’ to your kid.”

The cookbook contains recipes for things like chocolate chip cookies, French puff muffins and Apple House cinnamon doughnuts. Each recipe contains a personal note written by Rudnicki to put the recipe in context for the reader, and the book is filled with vivid photos of her children.

“I wanted the book to be more like a story,” said Rudnicki. “I wanted people to get a sense of my family in the book.”

Rudnicki said that not only have her recipes made a difference for families of kids with allergies but they’ve also helped raise awareness in the community.

“When I was first explaining John’s allergies to preschool teachers, no one would believe that it was life-threatening,” said Rudnicki. “They’d look at you like ‘Huh?’ But now parents call ahead and ask me how they can help with parties or special days at school.”

Rudnicki said that McKenzie Elementary School’s annual Cake Walk during Fall Frenzy had an allergy-free table at the event for the first time this year.

Rudnicki added that awareness about allergens has increased in general, especially after the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect in 2006 and requires companies to disclose in plain language whether products contain common food
allergens.

“It is a myth that allergies can be cured or that they can be erased with supplements,” said Rudnicki. “And I think people are starting to catch onto that.”

Rudnicki said that federal funding for food allergy research has increased in the past few years, but that it is still not enough. Blogs and books like hers, she said, are playing a role in raising awareness about the issue.

“I try to maintain my blog as a positive, inspiring place to go,” Rudnicki said.

To learn more about Food Allergy Mama, click here. For Kelly Rudnicki's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, click here.

--Nona Willis Aronowitz, Triblocal.com reporter