Coming in 2016, The Essential Puree Dessert and Snack Guidebook for the Dysphagia Kitchen

Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of touring the God’s Love We Deliver charity in New York City. Lisa Zullig, who is the head dietitian, introduced me to the head of Culinary Operations and the Pastry Chef. It seems we have the same philosophy of food. As Lisa says, “At GLWD, we say, Food Is Love, Food is Medicine.”  The first element depends on one’s capacity for joy and the willingness to impart that joy to those who need it. The second depends on education.

This New Year Greeting is to announce that Essential Puree will be releasing the second volume in its line of dysphagia cookbooks and guidebooks in the late spring of 2016. Through consultation with healthcare professionals, Diane’s research has turned up the fact that what is needed and wanted are nutritionally dense snacks and great desserts, as both of these are lacking in the marketplace.

Lisa invited Diane to do a dessert tasting at God’s Love We Deliver and Diane has accepted. She will use the event as an opportunity to launch Essential Puree: The Guidebook for Desserts and Snacks for the Dysphagia Kitchen. As we have noted, what is mostly available for desserts in the commercial marketplace are thickened ice creams. We know what patient boredom is. Diane was a primary caregiver for her mom for five years. The late great Cathie G had a sweet tooth. So Diane created recipes to please her mom’s palate. She hopes it will please yours.

The exclusive feature of our Dessert Guidebook is the Deconstructed Dessert, which goes straight to puree. We call it, ‘How to Make a Pie Without Making a Pie’. We will soon be posting instructional videos. We intend to video the dessert tasting at GLWD and we will be posting it online for you. They have the most amazing kitchen, 10,000 square feet, stainless steel, fifteen cooks, many assistants who are volunteers. A wonderful organization that deserves our support.

Here’s a tip for all caregivers dealing with specific illnesses: Lisa has been the editor of a number of educational booklets for patients and caregivers that deal with the special nutritional needs of certain patient communities. These are those living with AIDS/HIV, breast cancer survivors, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer. These booklets are available on the GLWD website. The books are beautifully organized and have a wealth of excellent information from clinicians who use good research.

This organization does a first rate job. I cannot praise it highly enough. I urge you to visit and to make a donation that will help support their research into the nutritional needs of patients. For all caregivers who are our customers, in the spirit of the holiday season, we are offering a 20% discount on our Essential Puree: The A to Z Guidebook.

Those of you who work with GLWD and the Leeza Gibbons caregiver organization and any other organization that wants to partner with us, will receive a code to put in at the time of purchase. Your discount will automatically be taken off. If you are a caregiver organization and you wish your caregivers to receive the discount, please email us and put caregiver in the subject line. As to our partnering with SLPs, Speech Language Pathologists, and dietitians and nutritionists who use our books, you are eligible for the free recipe cards to give to your patients and caregivers so that they may order the books.

Featured Photo Credit: Luca Nebuloni via Compfight cc