7/29/2019 Dedham Transcript Nov. 25, 2010 Slicing into holiday baking

1/2

SPORTS, 11

Coakley toughs

way through

hard senior year

CAN WEBUILD IT?, 3

Community

helps create

new playground

READERCALL OUT, 2

Want to send a

letter to Santa?

PHOTOS, 18

Dedham

celebrities fill

the squares

NUMBER TOKNOW

117million: Number

of households

across the nation

all potential gathering

places for people to cele-

brate Thanksgiving.

Census.gov

INDEX

Around Dedham 17

Bulletin Board 16

News 3, 13, 18

Opinion 8-9

Our Town 2

Sports 11-12

SEE PAGE 8

NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2010 wickedlocaldedham.com | GateHouse Media New England Vol. 2 No. 9 75

KNOW WHERE

IN TOWN THISIS?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

LETS TALK TURKEY

By Edward B. Colby

STAFF WRITER

Robert Mancuso of Dedhamjust passed an eight-day cooking

exam at The Culinary Institute ofAmerica, gaining him the covetedtitle of Certified Master Chef. Adozen chefs took the exam and five

were successful, including Man-cuso. With their additions, thereare 66 Certified Master Chefs in theU.S. The practical exam coveredeight categories, including healthycooking, freestyle cooking, globalcuisine, Continental/Northern Eu-ropean cuisines, and market bas-

By Andrea Salisbury

STAFF WRITER

At first the room was quiet that is, ex-cept for the snap, snap, snap of apple skinsas knives pierced the green flesh, and theinevitable thuds when the knives hit thechopping board.

After watching executive chef EddieCerrato flawlessly create an apple pie complete with cheddar cheese piecrust nearly 20 participants in the Chef for aDay themed weekend at the MIT Endi-cott House in Dedham rolled out theirnewly-learned baking skills and got to

work.

Though from the crowd, one participantvoiced her concerns because he makes itall look so easy.

From the back of the room, DeniseCarroll, food and beverage director atthe house, explained that the themed

weekends started about four years ago. Andtheyve been taking off in a good direction.

The Endicott House is a historic man-sion on Haven Street in Dedham and isowned by MIT. In his opening speech out-lining a brief history of the home, GeneralManager Michael Fitzgerald said every-one working at the 25-acre estate is an

MIT employee. Most of the year thehouse hosts business conferences, but onselect weekends it offers get-away pack-ages. Each weekend has a theme likecooking, writing or gardening.

It is a great secret that we like to share,

By Edward B. Colby

STAFF WRITER

As the school districts healthdirector cracks down on life-

threatening allergies, the SchoolCommittee is considering amove that would ban bake salesduring school hours in Ded-hams preschool through ele-mentary grades.

Gail Kelley, the districts di-rector for health services, saidshe is not trying to put a squashon fundraisers, but kids safetymust come first in an era whenan increasing number of chil-dren have allergies to peanut anddairy products.

Its a big change. It basicallyis eliminating food fundraisersat the elementary level, such as

bake sales, Kelley told the schoolboard as she presented a revised

version of the allergy policy thatwas approved four years ago.She said there are almost 120

students with life-threateningfood allergies in Dedhams pub-lic schools, and its just gettingmore and more difficult to man-

By Edward B. Colby

STAFF WRITER

Dedhams new library trusteesays he reads about 50 books a

year, both fiction and nonfic-tion. One recent title: WorkSong by Ivan Doig, who most-ly writes about the West.

Thats a story about coppermining in Butte, Montana. Itsa novel about that. And beinga mining engineer, I enjoythings like that, said BradBauer, who was selected by li-

brary trustees and selectmenfor the board last week.

I bring engineering experi-ence with all the project man-agement and things that Ivedone in the past, said Bauer,

The Dedham Food Pantry gave away turkeys and all thefixings to about 115 clients at its Turkey Day at First Churchand Parish on Sunday, Nov. 21.

The fixings were a turkey pan filled with 5 pounds of pota-toes, carrots, gravy, stuffing, squash, and brownie mix, all wrappedin cellophane, said Lindsay Barich, the pantrys co-president.

A Norwood business, Personal Best Karate, made the turkeypans and donated all of the food, including the birds, Barich said.

We didnt have to spend any money this year, which was great,and it saved us all the labor from volunteers putting togetherthe fixings bags, he said.

Mark Downey, who donates his services every Thanksgiving,drove down to Mansfield to pick up the baskets and turkeys withhis truck. It was about six pallets worth of food, Barich said.

First Church parishioners and local students helped out, andMocha Java donated baked goods and coffee for clients and vol-unteers to have, he said.

The Dedham Food Pantrys next big day is Saturday morn-

ing, Dec. 18, when Dedham Police will hand out Christmas mealsthat they are donating, Barich said. That event will also be heldat First Church.

EDWARD B. COLBY

KEITH FERRIS/THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA

Robert Mancuso of Dedham during his cooking exam atThe Culinary Institute of America, where he earned the ti-tle of Certified Master Chef.

Tips from the masterMore on RobertDedham neighborhood helives in: Near the Endicott Es-tate, on one of the presidentialstreets

Age: 41

Name two chefs who inspireyou, and why:Paul Prud-homme, has an unbelievablepallet and is so humble. HestonBlumenthal, has done so muchfor the modern chef through re-search and development.

Favorite contestant on TopChef: You stumped me there,I had to Google the contestantsand Im still not sure who I like.

Q&A WITH ROBERT MANCUSO Executive chef, The Country Club in Brookline

MIT ENDICOTT HOUSE

Slicing into holiday baking

STAFF PHOTO BY ANDREA SALISBURY

Eddie Cerrato, executive chef at the MITEndicott House in Dedham, gives tips onbrining a turkey during a recent cookingweekend at the Haven Street house.

But Wait, Theres MorePhotos: Havent been to the MIT EndicottHouse? Take a photo tour of it at WickedLo-calDedham.com.Video: Catch a few highlights from thecooking weekend at WickedLocalDed-ham.com.

DEDHAM SCHOOLS

Bakesalesnearend?School nurse pushesfor strict allergy rules

BAUER, PAGE 4

ALLERGY, PAGE 6

MANCUSO, PAGE 7

MIT, PAGE 6

PHOTO BY SEAN BROWNE

Volunteer, Cookie Duncan left, 8, of Dedham, looks through the table of bread while her mother Meg Duncan, looks on duringthe Dedham Food Pantrys turkey dinner giveaway at First Church and Parish in Dedham on Sunday, Nov. 21. For more photoscheck out WickedLocalDedham.com.

LIBRARY TRUSTEES

Longtime

card holderon board

No bake sale is worthanybodys life. If(stopping bake salesis) what they need tokeep the children safe,then thats what theyneed to keep the chil-

dren safe.Deirdre Zaferacopoulos

Greenlodge scareInside: Parent talks about sonsallergic reaction during schoolfundraiser/ page 7

7/29/2019 Dedham Transcript Nov. 25, 2010 Slicing into holiday baking

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age during the school day with-out some of these things being

in place.

The tightened-up new policymaintains the current practiceof providing annual training toall school personnel, and stipu-lates that an individualizedhealth care plan, including theaccommodations for preven-

tion, management, and emer-gency response, is developedfor each student with a medicallydiagnosed, life-threateningemergency, Kelley said.

Using food as a reward orincentive during the school daywould be banned. We just feelthat thats inappropriate in thisday and age with the number ofstudents we have with aller-gies, Kelley said.

But the biggest change wouldbe ending the time-honoredpractice of bake sales, and pro-hibiting all such sales of com-petitive food or beverages thatare not sold or provided throughthe school breakfast or lunchprogram.

They are not permitted at thesecondary level during the schoolday, but are allowed afterward,said Kelley, who explained thatby middle and high school, stu-

dents know exactly what theycan and cannot have to eat.

She proposed eliminatingbake sales during and afterschool at the elementary schools.School Committee ChairmanThomas Ryan suggested allow-ing them after school hours be-tween K-12, however.

So if you had Oakdale fami-ly night and youre serving somefood, its not that youre in vio-lation of the policy, its just thatwe have to make sure that everystudent who is on file to have anallergy, the parent would becontacted and have some kindof menu, bill of fare provided tosay this is whats going to be

there, Ryan said.He said he doesnt want topreempt family fun night orthe Avery Spooktacular, butsaid the School Committeeneeds to adopt a more stringentpolicy as peanut allergies explodein number.

Another important changestates that parents andguardians are responsible formanaging their childs life-threatening allergies during par-

ent- or community-sponsoredevents that are held on schoolproperties beyond school hours,Kelley said. That is an expansionfrom the previous policy, whichonly addressed the school day onthat issue, she said.

For such events held afterschool, the expectation is thatparents and guardians are re-sponsible for their child andwill be attending with them, Su-perintendent of Schools JuneDoe said.

After talking with the SchoolCommittee, Kelley said she wouldmake revisions to her draft.

Overall, however, she stuck toa strict, cautionary stance. WhenSchool Committee member Dim-itria Sullivan asked about thegrandmas coffee cake fundrais-er Riverdale just held, Kelley re-ferred to another section whichsays that food is allowed at a cur-

riculum-based event if it is ap-proved by the school nurse andprincipal.

I have no problem with grand-mas coffee cakes as long as thekids are bringing home the orderform, the parents are filling outthe order form, and the parentsare picking up grandmas coffeecake, and the kids arent carryinggrandmas coffee cake home withthem, Kelley said. She added ashort time later, I really think thatfor the most part we need to tryto keep our elementary kids awayfrom the food, even carrying thefood home.

Sullivan agreed that kids needto be protected, but suggested

making the policy more flexible,and giving PTOs more flexibili-ty.

I work extensive hours, and ifI got a note home that said if youdlike to purchase a coffee cake butyou have to come between 8and 3 to pick it up or you cantparticipate in this, Im not goingto participate in it, she said. Ineed some extension on the oth-er end, maybe to 5 oclock, to beable to pick that up.

Ryan suggested that the poli-cy subcommittee have a meetingfor people to voice their concerns.After making some tweaks, theSchool Committee could hope-fully take up the policy again atits next meeting, he said.

Parents say precautionsare justified

Lori Purdy says somethingneeds to be done, especially atthe elementary school level. Herson, who goes to Greenlodge, hasdairy and egg allergies.

During the school day, wheneverybody is involved in some-thing, I dont think theres anyreason why the allergy kidsshould be singled out, becausethey cant participate, Purdysaid. Is my son (having) life-threatening peanut allergies?Absolutely not. But he breaks outinto hives, he throws up.

Purdy said that unfortunate-ly parents with kids who do nothave allergies just dont get it.

It just doesnt even comeacross their radar, she said.Parents complain that kids withallergies are ruining things foreveryone else, but these few kidswith allergies could die fromtheir allergy, she said.

Purdy said one reason she ison the Early Childhood Educa-tion Center PTO, where she ispresident, is to make sure thatat functions where cookies andcakes are served there is alsofood that kids with allergiescan have. At the ECECs annu-al Polar Express book event, I

will have cookies that all the kidscan eat peanut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, she said.

The end of bake sales is thepassing of an era, said Riverdaleparent Meg Duncan, but she hastremendous sympathy for par-ents whose children have allergies.

Theyve already been headingin that direction for awhile.Over the last few years theyveeliminated being able to bring infood for your childs birthday,

she said. So I think this is justextending that policy.

Avery PTO Co-Presi dentMary Von Schoppe took theopposite view.

Weve already lost the class-room party. Theyve taken awaywhat was a fun event, the class-room party, and now theyre socontrolled, she said. The schoolis a place where education is, andI think it would be better ithey educated the children withallergies.

Von Schoppe emphasized thatthe Averys bake sales are onlyheld during parent events. Shewas happy to hear that the banwould only apply to school hours but she also said that she did notsee why they would have to losethe bake sale they were planningfor the Christmas concert.

For the holiday concert, wewould just start the bake sale

right at 3, I guess, she said.Von Schoppe said she under-

stands the nurses concerns,but making the individual childaware of their own allergies, tome, is assisting them more.Food allergies is a way of life, andadapting to them does not haveto prohibit others from enjoyingthose things.

Deirdre Zaferacopoulossdaughter has already had toadapt. The Avery student lovespeanut butter, but Zafera-copoulos said she wont send herdaughter to school with thesandwiches because of the dan-ger to other kids. (Think ohands with the nutty substance

on them.)A peanut butter sandwichdoesnt seem worth it to me toput someones life in danger,Zaferacopoulos said.

No bake sale is worth any-bodys life, she added. If thatswhat they need to keep the chil-dren safe, then thats what theyneed to keep the children safe.

Dedham Transcript staffwriter Edward B. Colby can bereached at 781-433-8336.

FOR BREAKING NEWS during the week visit wickedlocaldedham.com.

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

6 Thursday, November 25, 2010 Dedham Transcriptwickedlocaldedham.com

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Carroll said of the packages.During the various week-

ends, participants get hands-onlessons from experts and spendone night at the home. Pricesvary, depending on the week-end. The chefs weekend start-

ed at $199 a person and the As-piring Writers Weekend host-ed by author Jane Cleland, car-ries a price tag of $495 a per-son. Carroll said the classesare kept small and attract a va-riety of people.

You will get VPs in here,Carroll said. And one minutelater they are all crushing gar-lic together.

Although most of the partic-ipants at the chef weekendheld Nov. 13-14 were in someway connected to MIT, therewas a boisterous group ofwomen from Mass Generalhospital Christine Kennedy,Trisha Luberto and Eleanor

Cotter. The women laughed asLuberto attempted to create arose out of excess piecrust atechnique Cerrato demon-strated only minutes earlier.

Over a table, Stephanie Keel-er and Mark Hansen, of Bel-mont, pinched the crust ontheir creation.

I dont think we are thereyet, she laughed and explained

that Hansen is more of a bak-

er.As the day progressed witha guided tour of the green-house (featuring an orange treeand potted pineapple tree) byhead gardener Andy Turcotte,and a mulled wine demon-stration the crew found them-selves back in the kitchen withCerrato.

You will see lots of garlic to-

day, Cerrato said about his

recipes. Garlic in everything ex-cept for the desserts.From brining turkey, to tips

on creating mouthwateringbutternut squash soup withapples, the chefs in trainingwere guided through the dosand donts of holiday cooking.

The next themed weekend isan Aspiring Writers Weekendand features author Jane Cle-

land. The weekend, held Jan.

14-16, runs $495 a person andincludes overnight accommo-dations and meals. For more in-formation on the MIT EndicottHouse, visit www.mitendicotthouse.org.

Dedham Transcript editorAndrea Salisbury can bereached at 781-433-8322 orasalisbu@cnc.com.

MITFrom Page 1

STAFF PHOTO BY ANDREA SALISBURY

Denise Carroll, food and beverage director at the MIT EndicottHouse teaches how to make mulled wine during a recent cook-ing weekend at the Haven Street house.

STAFF PHOTO BY ANDREA SALISBURY

Participants in the Chef for a Day weekend at the MIT Endicott House learned how to shape arose for an apple pie.

LLERGYFrom Page 1