Ampersand is offering gluten-free Thanksgiving sides and desserts.
Ampersand Oil and Vinegar Tap House goes into the holiday spirit with a gluten-free Thanksgiving class Thursday.
This class offered warm and a delectable selection of different gluten-free treats to try out for a Thanksgiving dinner.
The event provided roasted squash rings with apple stuffing, pan roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and shallots, Asiago potato stacks and pumpkin cheesecake with maple cream.
Elissa Schaefer, Ampersand assistant manager, said their chef has been cooking gluten-free for over 40 years and really knows what it’s like to cook gluten-free and work with it in everyday life.
“This class is helpful for people to learn how to make something delicious, but not spend a ton of money on gluten-free stuff, which definitely stores use gluten-free as like a marketing tool to make things more expensive,” Schaefer said.
She said Ampersand strives for quality products everyday. Its main supplier, one of only 13 in the world, can say that its olive oil is 100 percent certified extra virgin olive oil. Schaefer said it’s really fun to watch people browse their oil and vinegar wall.
“It’s fun to have people try (the product) and have them say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is like nothing I’ve tried before, this is really cool,’” Schaefer said.
Not only does Ampersand offer classes routinely, but it has a variety of products that can help with Thanksgiving season as well.
“Thanksgiving is really important, we’re not open on Thanksgiving and we close early the day before Thanksgiving, but we have so many things in the store,” Schaefer said. “We love Thanksgiving and we have a lot of tools in our store to help with it.”
Ampersand offers a wide variety of classes beyond gluten-free sessions.
“The classes are targeted to people who love cooking and who want an easy way to get awesome flavor in your food and that’s a part of the oils and vinegars because they’re so flavorful. It’s really easy to get into your everyday cooking,” she said.
Schaefer said that quality makes a huge difference in cooking, once cooks switch to high-quality items, it’s hard to go back to lower quality.
“If you use really processed things or just, like, cake mix from a box, you’re not going to feel as good,” Schaefer said. “It’s more sugar and salt than when if you just make it yourself. You have more control over that and you’ll probably feel better from that too.”
Ampersand’s will offer cooking lessons on its website calendar that everyone should attend.