PKU Cooking Class

When I got the invitation to the PKU cooking class in Huntsville I was so excited that there was going to be an event so close to home. The event was sponsored by BioMarin and it was free for PKU families! We figured there would be 4 or 5 families there, but we were shocked at how many people were there. The youngest PKU patient there was a 3.5 month old precious baby girl. The oldest was a woman who was probably in her thirties who successfully dealt with maternal PKU and had a perfectly healthy child. I had a great conversation with a 16-year-old young man who has PKU and I was very impressed with his maturity and his understanding of how essential staying on diet is to his overall health and mental clarity. 

The event began with a meet-and-greet where we got to talk with the speakers for the day and some of the other families. Then we had a cooking demonstration by a professionally trained chef. I can't say enough about this guy! He teaches at a college level in Wisconsin and traveled all the way to Alabama just to teach this class. He has 3 children, 2 of which have PKU, so he cooks low-pro things every single day. Also, he used to work in D.C. where he was the chef for President and Mrs. Clinton! How awesome is that?!

Chef Kevin Brown. I didn't get a picture of him at the class, but this is him at another PKU seminar. (http://www.mnpku.org/seminar)

We split into groups and made 4 different low-protein recipes. My group made a delicious apple desert. Think apple cider doughnuts, apples sautéed in maple syrup, topped with Rice Dream ice cream. It was amazing! My job was to chop and sauté the apples. Probably the easiest job of the day--which is a good thing. I would have had 40 people very upset with me if I had messed it up. :)

Blurry picture of my sautéed apples. It's not easy to cook and take pictures at the same time.

The other 3 recipes were vegetable noodle soup, vegetable ragout, and breakfast sandwiches. The chef is a genius! He taught us to make bacon out of sweet potatoes! BACON! Out of sweet potatoes! It was delicious. 

Three of the dishes we learned to make. I didn't take time to get a picture of the dessert--I was too concerned about devouring it!

The food was all amazing. All of the recipes are ones that can be served to PKU as well as non-PKU eaters. For example, you can add shredded chicken to the soup for the non-PKU folks. 

While we ate, a social worker spoke to us about executive functioning difficulties in people with PKU. Executive functioning includes things like attention, memory, problem solving--things we need to make it through every day life. Then another speaker gave us some information on Kuvan, a medication used to treat PKU. Maybe I'll do a more detailed post about Kuvan someday.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the event. I learned so much and it was wonderful to connect with other PKU families. I look forward to the next one!