Teal Pumpkin Night @ The Mad Potter

Thanks to all who came out to support FARE. 

Teal Pumpkin Door Hangers

Just in time for Halloween...check out these creative door hangers made by a local support group, Food Allergy Community (FAC) of Friendswood.  The homemade teal pumpkin door hangers are a great way to support Food Allergy Research & Education's (FARE) national campaign, The Teal Pumpkin Project.  The hangers cost $20 and 100% of the proceeds go to FARE!  Please contact Ms. Edwards by October 18, 2015 if you are interested (tuquynh.edwards@gmail.com).  Please indicate your preferred style and quantity.

Treats Not Tricks

Boo

Halloween is quickly approaching, which means, so are the holidays! I want to recommend a blog shared with me by Dairy Allergy Dad along with a couple of bakeries that may prove useful for many us this time of year!  If you are not a baker (which I am NOT!), consider these two online bakeries that are dedicated to the allergy community when planning your holiday parties or birthday parties. They are Divvies Bakery and BabyCakes NYC.  There are no brick and mortar stores in Houston, but they both ship nationally.  I have ordered cupcakes from Divvies for one of my son's birthday parties and they were good.  Honestly, at the time, I think I enjoyed the 'worry free' piece of them more.  The cupcakes were dense and tasty.  I think we ordered the vanilla.

For those of you that have ever visited Disney, then you may have seen or heard of BabyCakes NYC.  I have not had anything, yet, from this bakery.  If any of you have eaten at BabyCakes NYC or have had Divvies products, please leave a comment at the end of the post to be shared with our readers.  I am intrigued.

http://nut-freemom.blogspot.com/2014/10/its-most-nutty-time-of-year-for-nut.html

http://www.divvies.com

http://www.babycakesnyc.com

SWEET!

A sweet treat!

With the official start of Fall looming, it seems only natural to start thinking about which candies I should fill my apothecary jars with this season.  I have an undeniable sweet tooth combined with a need to decorate! It is my favorite time of the year. I love ALL of the colors of Autumn, the sounds and smells of the outdoors and, yes, all of the many food events surrounding us.  With that said, now is the time to start thinking ahead and making Halloween a sweet treat for all of our families and friends to enjoy.

I have been searching for candy corns, for a couple of years, that are not cross contaminated with tree nuts or peanuts. To my surprise, my parents found a bag at their local dollar store that stated just that. It is by a company called Coastal Bay. I have never heard of them but I am happy to say that these candy corns are just as tasty as leading major brands. Nonetheless, they will be the perfect addition to my repertoire of candies needed to fill my jars and add to my Fall decor.  

After doing a bit of sleuthing, I have learned that Coastal Bay is a private label manufactured at Sunrise Confections. I spoke with a Sunrise representative and she confirmed that the Sunrise Confections facility does NOT process anything containing tree nuts or peanuts, therefore there is no risk of cross contamination. Mount Franklin Foods, LLC is the parent company of Sunrise Confections. Please visit www.sunrise.com to read more about their manufacturing processes.  

I realize that we all have different allergens in mind when searching for the perfect Halloween candies. For us, that means no Reese's Peanut Butter cups for mom and dad, among many others.  It works out well since there will be no temptations to buy such delicious little treats.  Like you, I will scour my kids jack-o-lanterns to remove such 'offensive' candies. In all seriousness, SAFETY is ALWAYS paramount, but especially this time of year.  Being proactive, all the while educating our little ghouls and goblins, educators, caretakers, families and friends about the hidden dangers in those little sweet treats are first and foremost.

Please share your sweet treat story with us!