Hi there!
I’m Cat, I live in Rochester, NY. I’ve been dairy-free for almost 2 decades. I was diagnosed with lactose intolerance in 200 and by 2004 even with lactaid I was having too severe GI symptoms to consume any dairy products and had to go off them cold turkey. In 2010 I had my first obviously allergic reaction that had hives and breathing trouble, and my doctors swapped the diagnosis from lactose intolerance to dairy allergy, saying that they thought the first reactions were initial sensitizations. They recommended I carry an epi-pen.
I love how much the dairy-free landscape has changed in the last 20 years. It went from just soy milk being available, to tons of new types of milk and vegan cheeses and ice creams, and now there’s a plethora of all kinds of options everywhere.
I learned to cook because I had to, because I couldn’t trust eating out or that other people could make meals I could have (when I got to college). So I have a fair amount of experiencing adapting recipes to use dairy-free alternative products, to use common household items to replace, or to omit dairy entirely. I plan to share some of my favorites here.
Restaurants have gone from “wait, is butter dairy? is cheese? isn’t it just milk?” to having vegan options on their menu or listing allergens on their menu. It’s a whole new landscape of options everywhere. I enjoy being a “food tourist” and eating new food wherever I go, so a big part of this blog is going to be reviewing eateries I’ve been to and loved and recommend for their care.
Thanks for coming to spend some time here!