About

Welcome to Z’s Cup of Tea! Here you’ll find recipes made for those with specific dietary requirements, with a focus on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

Goal

The goal of this blog and its recipes is to demonstrate and teach that gluten-free/dairy-free cooking and eating is for everyone, not just people with dietary sensitivities, allergies, or GI issues, and that it can be also easy – it doesn’t have to be hard. For those who are used to eating the way they are already eating and have to make changes in their diet, it can be difficult initially but if you keep on persevering, it pays off. Most of all, those who choose to eat gluten-free and/or dairy-free foods are not suffering – we choose to eat this way because we feel better when we do which enables us to be healthier.

Over time Z’s Cup of Tea has evolved from just baked goods and desserts to cooking that includes meal ideas, but leaves the option open to readers whether to have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or anywhere in between.

Background

Z’s Cup of Tea started in November 2009, then known as Ambrosia Tea Party, but theoretically it’s been around longer than I’ve been blogging. The idea for this blog started two or three years ago, when I was doing a lot of innovating and experimenting with baking and cooking to make gluten-free,  dairy-free, SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) friendly foods for my brother recovering from autism. Friends and family suggested more than once that I make a cookbook.  At the time I was just starting out and didn’t have that many recipes,  but I kept the idea in mind and I was eventually inspired to turn the cookbook idea into what is now this blog.

Read more about the blog and how it got started here.

All work and photos are property of Z’s Cup of Tea, except where otherwise noted.

More

Because of my brother’s autism, all of the recipes I make have been dairy-free, although as he is improving he’s been able to add more things to his diet that he couldn’t before and that includes dairy. The only form of dairy on this site is butter (with this exception of a flourless yogurt cake), but I also include dairy-free substitutions such as coconut oil or Earth Balance when and wherever possible. If it isn’t possible to substitute the butter or I haven’t figured out how to yet, that recipe will not be shared here.

A full index of all the recipes thus far on Z’s Cup of Tea can be found here. To learn more about the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), I’ve compiled a list of resources that includes websites, blogs, and cookbooks. If you think something should be added to that list, pitch in with a comment on that page or contact me.

Comments are welcome and feedback is appreciated: feel free to share your experiences with a particular recipe, anything you did differently, share a recommendation, etc. If you’re feeling shy or want to contact me privately, do so using the contact form.

Photography & Equipment

All photography on Z’s Cup of Tea is currently done (as of July 2010) with a Nikon Coolpix L110, unless where otherwise mentioned (such as borrowing my aunt’s Canon Powershot G9). Videos are shot with the Nikon, with a few done using a Flip camera.

My kitchen isn’t equipped with professional lighting so sometimes it’s not always so easy; I have to fiddle with lighting, camera quirks, etc. My setup is very simple:  I only use light that is available (natural or artificial) and my styling is minimal. I don’t use light filters or reflectors, or other gadgets and tricks that many food bloggers and photographers employ. I don’t have my own studio or area that I do my photography. My motto is use what’s available. The most I’ll do is edit photos on the computer, using the software that is available – I’ve used both PCs and Macs, using iPhoto, Picnik, and occasionally Photoshop Elements (I also use the iOS app Snapseed for the iPad and iPod Touch as of September 2011) – such as when light was not favorable or to edit any others mars (mar, not the planet Mars), or to make collages and add titles. In the case of collages and titles, my sister has helped me in this department before. Along the way, I’ve exasperated and driven family members crazy with my photographer perfectionist streak and the massive number of photos I’ve sometimes taken of just one thing or snapping along as I go, as well as develop a blossoming interest in cameras and photography. I’ll regularly visit the camera section in stores and I always go straight to the cameras/technology section in flyers, as well as constantly reading online camera reviews.

Photography is a learning curve for me: I haven’t taken any photography courses or classes so everything I know has been picked up and learned along the way. If you were to ask me my approach to photography, for now the above paragraph sums it up. And, as with everything, practice.

More of my food photography can be seen on my Flickr photostream here.

About the Z Behind the Cup

My name is Zoe and I am passionate foodie: a term I uses endearingly to describe myself and my gastronomic interests. This passion has expanded itself into the gastroblogosphere, video tutorials, and amateur food photography in addition to my personal life, in which food is a constant presence. :D (You can still read my original, witty introduction here.) I have been in the kitchen since I was about ten years old and have been cooking and baking grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free for roughly four years. Most of my experience in allergy cooking is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) using nut flours, nut butters, and coconut flour, while baking with gluten-free grains and binding agents such as xanthan and guar gums is a more recent learning curve for me.

Find Z’s Cup of Tea on the Web:

This blog | YouTube | Foodbuzz | Flickr