Breads From Anna Applauds New FDA Food Labeling Rule

    IOWA CITY, IA, August 07, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- On August 2nd, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published a new regulation defining the term "gluten-free" for voluntary food labeling. This will provide a uniform standard definition to help the nearly three million Americans who have celiac disease, an autoimmune digestive condition that can be effectively managed only by eating a gluten-free diet. Iowa City, Iowa-based Breads From Anna, creator and manufacturer of gluten and allergen-free baking mixes, meets this FDA definition of gluten-free. This new federal definition requires that, in order to use the term "gluten-free" on its label, a food must meet all of the requirements of the definition, including that the food must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten. The rule also requires foods with the claims "no gluten," "free of gluten," and "without gluten" to meet the definition for "gluten-free." With its USDA and Kosher certified, gluten-free facility, Breads From Anna requires no change to comply with this criteria.

"For years I have been signing petitions to ensure these new and tighter food labeling guidelines for gluten-free take place," said Anna Sobaski, Founder and President of Breads From Anna. "This is a great advancement for everyone in the celiac community and for all people with gluten intolerance and food allergies. These are important measures to ensure the food we eat is safe."

Breads From Anna ships product throughout the U.S. and globally. Launched in 2004 with one mix, the company has grown to offer a line of 12 gluten and allergen-free baking mixes, including breads, quick breads, pizza crust, pie crust, muffins, pancake, and brownies. Breads From Anna mixes are non GMO and are free from the top eight food allergens including dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, rice, fish and shellfish. All Breads From Anna mixes are high in protein and fiber and only sweetened with maple or honey. All mixes are produced in gluten, soy, rice and nut-free facility also USDA and Kosher certified.

About Breads From Anna
Breads From Anna, an Iowa City, Iowa headquartered business, provides gluten and allergen-free baking mixes to consumers around the world through the company website and thousands of national and international retail partners. Breads From Anna mixes are known for being free from common allergens and having superior taste and nutritional content. Additional information about Breads from Anna can be found by visiting http://www.breadsfromanna.com and on Facebook at http//facebook.com/breadsfromanna. Breads From Anna mixes can be purchased directly on http://www.breadsfromanna.com.

About Anna Sobaski
Chef Anna Sobaski is the Founder and President of Breads From Anna, a leading gluten and allergen-free baking mix company. She is an expert in the area of gluten and allergen-free living and a graduate of the premier institute for learning about food as medicine; the Natural Gourmet Cookery School Institute for Food and Health in New York City. In addition, Anna has a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a Bachelors Degree from the University of Iowa. Anna demonstrates her passion for helping people enjoy a gluten and allergen-free lifestyle by continuing to develop mixes and recipes and traveling the country teaching gluten and allergen-free cooking classes and workshops. She has been featured in many of the industry's premier magazines and is a sought-after speaker at conferences, support groups, and health food stores. For more information, visit http://www.breadsfromanna.com.

About EDC, Inc.
The Entrepreneurial Development Center was incorporated in 2003 as a community-sponsored, non-profit business accelerator. The company provides economic growth through the development and expansion of entrepreneurial enterprises and has successfully assisted nearly 600 Iowa-headquartered businesses. Its focus is on creating local wealth for area re-investment by growing and cultivating regional, national, and international businesses.For more information please visit http://www.edcinc.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Julie Zielinski, Vice President of Marketing
Entrepreneurial Development Center
Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
319-369-4955
jzielinski@edcinc.org

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Marnie Zahn-Resnick Applauds Cake Decorating Trends

    PHILADELPHIA, PA, August 08, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Businesswoman and baker Marnie Zahn-Resnick is quick to praise a recent article in the Huffington Post revealing creative cake decorating trends. The article aims to encourage new bakers in perfecting the art of cake decorating, declaring that while it may have a "reputation of being more than a little tricky," there are many decorating tricks that are easy to master, impressing even the most critical foodies.

The founder of Annie Pies Bakery, Marnie Zahn-Resnick comments on the challenge bakers face to achieve beautiful cake decorating. "Cake decorating is an art form unto itself," she said. "Even the simplest looking cakes are most likely the result of serious planning and a steady hand. The level of skill depends on the cake shape - and it's all about choosing the right icing."

The article mentions an Australia-based food blogger's favorite: "The Sprinkled Frosting Cake," noting that "it's festive. It's fun. And it requires zero extra effort." Among other favorites was the "Chocolate Drizzle," a cake that requires no skill at all, other than the ability to get a little messy. Zahn-Resnick, comments on the process of selecting the perfect icing. "Depending on the complexity of the design and decorations, different icing works better than others. Learning the art of cake decorating really comes down to the icing and figuring out what works. Rolled fondant, for example, is made out of a dough-like consistency that goes better with firm, textured cakes."

She continues to describe buttercream, a sweet, buttery taste with a thin-to-stiff consistency. "Buttercream is best used to create a smooth finish, creating borders or writing and making flowers," she said. Royal is an icing that is commonly used for making flowers and decorating cookies, as well as gingerbread houses due to its fast-drying consistency. According to Zahn-Resnick, whipped icing is a light, vanilla flavor with a velvety consistency. "Whipped icing is what bakers use to create smooth, fluffy toppings as well as borders, piping and writing," she said.

Not only is selecting the right icing essential in producing a visually stunning cake, establishing the right consistency is also a determining factor. "Thin icing is primarily used for writing or creating vines and leaves," she said.

"Using thinner icing is best when you need steadier lines or when you're attaching letters. Medium icing is often used when icing the whole cake and stiff icing is mostly used when decorations have to stand up on the cake. Stiff icing creates that 'pop up' effect that's really fun."

The article mentions an impressive, seemingly difficult cake decorating trick: "The 'ruffle treatment' on your cake will impress everybody. It definitely wows us every time we come across it - and we know how easy it is to do." Marnie Zahn-Resnick encourages frustrated beginners to master the "rosy cake secret," a swirling finish that is easy to make - even with a shaky hand.

ABOUT:

Marnie Zahn-Resnick founded Annie Pies Bakery in 1991, which she grew into a successful business and then sold to David's Cookies. She is passionate about baking and has earned prestigious recognition for her designs through multiple shows on The Food Network. She currently works as the Florida territory manager of the company and continues to expand the Annie's Euro Bakery line.

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New teacher applauds Michelle Rhee's quick response to problem

Anthony Priest is one of those personnel office surprises -- a 44-year-old just starting as a teacher. He has two degrees in engineering from Georgia Tech and a master's in business administration. He does marathons and triathlons. In 2008, he was project manager for the redevelopment of a 300,000-square-foot D.C. office building.

But he decided it would be more interesting to teach math, so he accepted an assignment at one of the most chaotic public schools in the region, Spingarn High in Northeast Washington. Since then, he says, he has had many adventures, including a first-hand look at the inspiring and results-oriented (at least to him) management practices of D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.

His first contact with Rhee concerned the broken lock on his classroom door. Spingarn has hall walkers, students and non-students who stroll its long corridors and rarely go to class. Every day they would open the door to Priest's classroom, walk in, and yell at his students or him. There were threats, thefts, even assaults. The school's security guards were ineffective. He asked the principal several times to have the door fixed so he that could control his students better.

The principal told him that was not the problem. Three times, Priest said, she told staff members to observe his class and make suggestions. All three said he should lock his door. Finally, he sent an e-mail to the principal and an assistant superintendent asking that the lock be fixed. A week passed with no response, so he sent it again with a copy to Rhee, whom he had met before. Thirty minutes later, she copied Priest on her e-mail to a specialist in such matters. The next day the door was fixed.

The repair, Priest said, became "a huge help on my ability to control the class." But the school got worse. Priest had liked his principal, a Rhee hire, at the beginning of the school year. She once visited his class, something that the previous year's principal had not done. But to his dismay, she mounted a campaign to cut back on suspensions, praising the fact that they were down 60 percent in the first marking period. With miscreants unpunished, order disintegrated, Priest said.

By January, after the school was evacuated to search for a rumored gun, another teacher e-mailed Rhee asking for help. Rhee responded in 30 minutes and soon met the Spingarn faculty, with no administrators allowed. Ten days later the school had a new principal with a different approach to suspensions and other matters.

Priest applauds this, as do many educators, parents and students who have seen Rhee's lightning responses to e-mailed pleas for action. The chancellor has an impatience that many people like. It is the hallmark of her cohort of aggressive younger educators who are working in urban school districts and in some cases starting public charter schools.

As new teachers, they saw their schools were broken, tried to make quick changes and were told to slow down. They decided their students should not have to wait for a decent education, so they charged ahead. Some of the ones I have watched closely have had wonderful results. Others have struggled.

The Spingarn story has been repeated elsewhere in the District. Rhee appoints a principal who looks good but fails to deliver. She fixes the situation as best she can and appoints someone else. She believes, as do business-trained admirers such as Priest, that this is the best and fastest way to make improvements.

An older generation of school managers, and political leaders, tends to disagree. They think patience works better in the long run. Whichever way the election goes Tuesday, in the next few years we may learn who is right.

For more Jay, go to http://washingtonpost.com/class-struggle.

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