Ann Frommer has found joy in many things: nursing, writing, photography, family. Taking that joy and blending bits of it together, she’s also found a passion for making and serving delicious, healthy and beautifully presented food.

Frommer, who grew up as Ann Arner in Tamaqua, now lives in Chatham, New Jersey. She recently created “Annie Cooks! Family Favorites Adapted for Lactose-Intolerant.”“These are recipes I have prepared for years,” says Frommer. “Some were handed down from my mother or other people. I adapted them for lactose-intolerant folks.”The need for such a specialized cookbook came after her husband, Bob, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, which necessitated surgery. Afterward, he also became lactose-intolerant. A couple years later, Frommer herself began having issues with dairy. She, too, had become lactose-intolerant.“Cooking is second-nature to me,” says Frommer, who grew up watching her mother and grandmother modify recipes for health reasons.Her grandmother had diabetes. Frommer’s father also developed health issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and end-stage renal disease, which necessitated a special diet.Her grandparents came from Lithuania. He worked in the mines, but Frommer says he had a good business sense, so he opened a grocery store on Orwigsburg Street. Her grandmother Agnes Tumas, who had five children, ran the store. Frommer says there was always a big cauldron of soup on the stove in her grandmother’s kitchen.“She would have to have food that she could eat quickly, and then dash into the store and take care of customers. I was always aware of a person with dietetic limitations. My mother was, too.”An only child, Frommer recalls spending hours in the kitchen by her mother’s side, as her mother, Anna Tumas Arner, explained what she was doing and how to do it.Frommer not only learned how to cook; with her artist’s eye, she insisted on creating dishes that appealed to the eye as well as the stomach.“I remember making an omelet when I was about 7,” says Frommer. “I put it on a bed of lettuce to make it look pretty. Little by little, I started doing fancy things with vegetables and fruit.”With lots of encouragement, her mother stood back and let her experiment.“She’d watch what I was doing, but gave me leeway. She thought I had some good ideas.”Growing up, Frommer wanted to be a dress designer, an artist or a writer. Her mother, however, convinced her to go to nursing school, telling her she would always be able to find a job. After graduating from high school, she went to nursing school at Allentown General Hospital, and from there, she moved to New York City where she worked at Columbia-Presbyterian. Thanks to tuition programs offered by the hospital, she continued her education, first at Columbia and then at NYU. She completed her bachelor of science in nursing, with a concentration in dietetics and nutrition. She also earned a BS in nursing administration and later, a master of arts in human resource psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey.As she furthered her education, Frommer always took advantage of nutrition and dietetic classes.“I liked them and I learned so much from them,” she says. “I would take these courses whenever I could. I kept trying to learn and improve my knowledge about it.”After a successful career in nursing, Frommer went on to indulge her other passions, travel, writing and photography.Together with a former Tamaqua classmate, Victor Merkel, she penned two historic war novels, “Tailgunner” and “War Defines Us If We Let It.” With Merkel’s blessing, she put off working on the third book of the trilogy, “Tailgunner R3,” so she could devote the past year to completing this cookbook.An award-winning photographer, Frommer took all the food photos for the book. The recipes, all family favorites that have been revised by Frommer, have been tested and critiqued by her friend and editor, Krysia Pazdzior of Ottawa, Canada.“Annie Cooks!” includes more than 125 recipes. Categories include Herbs, Spices and Flavored Butter Spreads, Appetizers and Snacks, Breakfast and Brunch, Breads, Soups, Salads and Dressings, Main Dishes, Rice and Pasta, Vegetables and Desserts.It also includes an overview on lactose intolerance and a list of dairy substitutes and dairy products that are safe to eat.When asked what her favorite recipe in the book is, Frommer says her “Carrot Yam Soup,” as well as her cold fruit soups, such as plum, peach, sour cherry and blueberry.Taking a cue from her husband’s Hungarian roots, she says these soups aren’t necessarily for dessert.“Europeans might have it first or last,” she explains. “I’ll serve it for a first course in the summer.”“Annie Cooks!” is available at Amazon.com. Visit her website at

https://sites.google.com/site/annfrommerhome/.Frommer is co-author of two historic war novels, soon to become a trilogy: “Tailgunner,” “War Defines Us If We Let It” and “Tailgunner R3.” Her co-author is Victor Merkel, formerly of Tamaqua, now living in Arizona. She is also an award-winning photographer specializing in photographs of European scenes. Her artwork hangs in private collections and galleries. She serves on the board of the Art League of the Chathams.