By The Way, Which One's Betty?

Betty Jean McMillion was born in Oklahoma in the mid 1930's. She was married by the 
age of 15, raised three daughters and helped raise a granddaughter all while 
holding down a full time job. Betty was hardly your typical housewife. Standing 
tall at 5'2" (she always wore heels) Betty was a spitfire to be reckoned with. 
Betty always faced whatever difficulties that came her way (she had more than 
her fair share) with a sense of humor and a strength that made even the most 
hardened of folk admire and respect her.

Life at Betty's home centered around the kitchen. Life's problems were 
pondered, arguments began and ended, many tears and even more laughs 
were all shared in that bright & cozy space. 

Betty's Doctors all said she was healthy. However, she suffered from stomach pains 
after every meal. There were other seemingly unrelated issues as well. Just weeks after
her annual checkup where once again she was deemed "healthy" she had a heart attack while 
walking home from work. She passed away at the young age of 53 on December 23.1987.
 
She left behind a huge family that to this day remember her strength and kindness.  

Betty believed that one should
always be a lady in the kitchen,a lady always wears heals, be true to who you 
are no matter how odd others thought you to be and that every cloud had a silver 
lining. No matter how bad things got she always kept a positive outlook and made 
the best of things. 

It is in that spirit that Betty's was founded by the granddaughter that she 
helped raise and shape. 

Christal McMillion has also raised three children and now has a Granddaughter of 
her own.

Christal has been a professional baker and Pastry Chef for over 25 years. Le 
Cordon Bleu trained, her career has taken her from Oklahoma City to Southern 
California to her current home in Austin, TX.

Diagnosed in 1998 with Celiac Disease, her physician advised her simply to try 
and cut out breads and pasta. Due to the lack of information on the disease and 
the consequences thereof any thought of this diagnosis was quickly forgotten. 
However, a myriad of "seemingly" unrelated health issues continued to spring up 
resulting in countless trips to the doctor’s office and eventually the ER with 
never a thought to the former diagnosis. 

In May 2010 Christal's health took a nosedive so severe she ended up in the ER 
at two in the morning. The Price Paid: emergency surgery. The reason: Organ 
failure due to severe long term malnutrition courtesy of Celiac Disease and non 
adherence to a GF diet. She could no longer ignore the seemingly unrelated 
complications from past years and was further informed that unless she made 
immediate and drastic changes and followed a strict GF diet that the disease 
would continue to make her ill and shorten her lifespan. 

Years of indulging in decadent pastries, bread and pasta, not to mention the 
handling of wheat flours on a regular basis in the workplace had taken its toll. 
No longer able eat as she once had or even work, Christal at first felt 
defeated. Six months spent in the hot Texas sun doing archeological surveys coupled with frustration 
at being unable to find any GF items that satisfied her Pastry Chef taste 
buds, Christal decided it was time to stop feeling sorry for herself and 
get back to doing what she did best. She immersed herself in learning everything 
she could about the disease. Using her vast pastry education and experience she taught 
herself how to cook gluten free. Attempt after attempt went straight into the 
garbage can. 

The search for Gluten free food that tasted the same if not better than its 
gluten laden counterpart was proving more difficult than Christal could imagine. 
Backed by a supportive cast of loved ones and the beliefs her Grandmother had 
instilled in her she found the strength to keep trying. After many months, many 
failed experiments and many more tears later, success was finally had.

Christal is proud to bring to you the fruits of her labor. 

We here at Betty's strongly believe, as Betty did, that every cloud has a silver 
lining. It is our desire to create food that is just as good, if not better than 
its gluten laden counterpart so that you never have to feel deprived again. We 
believe that you can have your gluten free cake and enjoy eating it too. So go 
ahead, indulge in a little glutenless gluttony and enjoy your food once 
again.