Jules Shepard - Nearly Normal Cooking

I'd like to share some information about a fellow Celiac who is doing a great job of raising awareness and helping out other Celiac Disease sufferers. Although Jules Shepard now resides in the Baltimore area, she hails originally from Greensboro, NC and has attended both UNC and Duke during her college days. She still has friends and family in the Raleigh area and often visits. I was surprised to find out she was reading this blog! She was diagnosed with Celiac in 1999 after suffering for 10 years and since that time has created a successful business called Nearly Normal Cooking and has authored 2 books on Celiac Disease.

Jules began searching for GF recipes shortly after her diagnosis only to come up empty handed on ones that actually tasted good and had the normal wheat-like consistency. She went on a quest to develop her own GF flour mix and subsequently developed a product line called Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour and Baking Mixes. The baking mixes include a Muffin/Scone mix, a Cookie mix and a Graham Cracker/Gingerbread mix.

The success of her GF products led Jules to become an author about GF Cooking and Living. Her first book published in 2006 is called "Nearly Normal Cooking For Gluten-Free Eating: A Fresh Approach to Cooking and Living Without Wheat or Gluten" and is a great cookbook which includes over 100 GF recipes. Her second book, released in December 2008, is called "The First Year: Celiac Disease and Living Gluten-Free: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed". This guidebook helps newly diagnosed Celiac patients through the most difficult time of their new GF life - the first 12 months.

Jules has been featured on many news programs in an effort to raise awareness about Celiac Disease. She has taught numerous Celiac sufferers about the GF diet via cooking demonstrations and presentations and works with the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research. She has written articles for Celiac.com and has been featured in numerous radio and newspaper stories.

To learn more about Jules Shepard's Nearly Normal Kitchen Flour and Bake Mixes, visit the following Web site. Unfortunately, her products are not available in any stores in the Raleigh area but can be either ordered online or found at stores in Beaufort and New Bern, NC. If you would like her products carried in your local store, you can use the following form and give it to the respective store manager.

Stay tuned for more information about the possibility of Jules coming to Raleigh for a cooking class/presentation/seminar. I am currently working with Jules to get an event set up for the late February time frame. Please let me know if you would be interested in attending by sending me an email.