Middletown Woman Publishes Allergy-Friendly Cookbook

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — When Middletown woman Jeanette Smerina's husband, Gary, was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition and various food allergies, she knew she would have to radically change the meals she prepared for her family.

She and her teenage daughter Claire got to work, and came up with dozens of recipes for gluten-, soy- and dairy-free meals. Mother and daughter spent a lot of time together in the kitchen figuring out what worked and what didn’t — all along learning about what new ingredients they could rely on to get delicious results.

Smerina’s husband offhandedly suggested that she should write a cookbook, and so she did, in a self-publishing project. The result is “Cozy Kitchen Allergy-Friendly Cooking,” just published in November and now available on Amazon.com and available to retailers through IngramSpark.

“Enjoying home-cooked meals together has always been an important part of our home,” said Smerina, who's lived in the New Monmouth section for 14 years. “I definitely take input from what my husband and teenage kids enjoy, and I couldn’t imagine any of us having to give up the meals we love because of food intolerances or allergies.”

Her book of 30 recipes is good for anyone diagnosed with food intolerances or food allergies, or anyone who just wants to remove soy, dairy and gluten from their diets. Many of the recipes are longtime family recipes that Smerina deconstructed and reinvented with new ingredients that would work for those with gluten, soy and dairy allergies. The meals are safe — and delicious enough that no one would notice the changes, she said.

She also used the small kitchen of their Middletown home as another way to bring a unique spin to her cookbook, which also has tips for cooking in small spaces.

“I’ve always loved to cook, and get great joy from others appreciating my food,” Smerina says. “I actually write and edit for a living, so it wasn’t too far of a stretch for me to envision combining these two passions into one project. All of the work in the cookbook was done right out of my own cozy kitchen. My daughter and I would cook a recipe, photograph it, and then later I’d design the cookbook pages. It certainly was a labor of love and a family effort.”

Shop local this Christmas! Buy this allergy-friendly cookbook from a Middletown woman as a gift or stocking stuffer: "Cozy Kitchen Allergy-Friendly Cooking" (ISBN# 979-8991960007; $16.99 paperback, $3.99 digital ebook; here's its listing on Amazon.com

Here's its IngramSpark link: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=HbjO7bMNizRGlIOfbtcJqdhQJBUqiBblMSFetPNxwPn