Welcome to Ellie’s Dairy-free Kitchen Marketing manager by day, lactose-intolerant food blogger at lunch and dinner. Meet Traverse City-based Instagram food guru, Ellie Kebler. By Ross Boissoneau While living in the nation’s capital and finishing her master’s degree from Georgetown University, Ellie Kebler had an idea. She would leave Washington, D.C., move to a place she’d never been before and, while working fulltime at a law firm, write about food. Her big lifestyle change wasn’t a whim. It was, in part, a logical response to the rest of the world turning upside down. “When COVID hit, I needed a creative outlet. So I started a [food] blog,” she says. The angle of the blog stemmed from a health issue Kebler had developed as a young adult: lactose intolerance. Typically, the onset of the dairy allergy starts in childhood. Many outgrow it. Kebler’s situation was the reverse, but hers came with the usual variety of symptoms: difficulty breathing, rashes, nausea. Since she had long been researching dairy-free recipes, as well as modifying those that weren’t, she had developed dozens of her own dairyfree recipes. The move from Washington, D.C., to Traverse City in particular was largely fate. The pandemic had prompted the Michigan native to return to her home state, where she had a job offer from Herzel Law that allowed her to choose between two locations: the firm’s headquarters in Detroit or a satellite office in Traverse City. Though the St. Johns native had never visited Traverse City, living and working in a small northern town sounded more appealing than in the big city. Given the state of the world and nature of Kebler’s work, she’s able to work primarily from home. She devotes most of her day to her digital marketing work for Herzel Law. “At 8am, I start work for my marketing. At 4, I start to create a recipe or bake. During my lunch hour, I shoot photos,” she says. Creating each recipe is a four- to six-hour process. What are her favorites? Perhaps not surprisingly, given her packed schedule, it’s those that require the least cleanup. “I love one-bowl recipes,” Kebler says. Not only are all her recipes dairy-free, many are gluten-free or vegan as well. She says she has become a regular at places like Oryana, though she notes that things like almond milk (her go-to milk substitute), vegan butter, and gluten-free flour are now commonplace at most grocery stores. “I drink almond milk, but I’ve also had coconut milk, soy, cashew.” When looking for dairy substitutes, she recommends that have the fewest number of ingredients. “A lot of them have a lot of additives. Simply Almond is a great alternative,” she says. Kebler says while she enjoys cooking, she finds baking more appealing. “I’m more a baker than a cook,” she admits. Asked what her goal is for the blog, Kebler says she loves her marketing work but would love it if her food blog became a full-time gig. Is that even possible? Well, her food blog at Elliesdairyfreekitchen.com continues to attract visitors, and she has 3,000 followers on Instagram. Whatever the end game turns out to be, she’s pleased to be able to offer those who like her have food allergies options for cookies, entrees, and snacks. And she promises there’s more to come as she continues to create. “I’m happy to be a resource,” she says. To follow Ellie and find more of her recipes, search “Ellie’s Dairy Free Kitchen” on Instagram.
10 • august 16, 2021 • Northern Express Weekly
