Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Friday, 4 January 2013

Resolutions


At the start of 2012 I had two resolutions: to achieve good health, and to have my writing published. Good health is ongoing... Just now is probably not the moment to dwell, let's move right along! As far as the writing went, the story is far more positive. I joined the Domestic Sluttery team in May, as the gluten free columnist, and it has been a brilliant experience. The team of writers over there are intimidatingly talented and every day I feel like I push myself a little bit harder, it's a steep learning curve, but a rewarding one. Later in the year, I had an article published in Your Wellness Magazine entitled, Can You Eat to Beat Crohn's Disease? which was well received and is hopefully the start of great things!

This year, I haven't made resolutions in the same way, more statements of intent. I have spoken to a few people I respect about those statements and I'm feeling very positive about them - more to follow, I promise; I'm not being deliberately vague! I do have list of foods I plan to make this year, it will grow but so far the list is;

  1. souffle - I'm determined to conquer this one!
  2. macarons - I want to try nut-free ones.
  3. fish fingers - perhaps surprisingly, I've never made these.
  4. goat curry - not the easiest meat to get hold of but it's something I've always wanted to try to make.
  5. the perfect chilli con carne - we all have our favourite recipes for this, I want to find the absolute best!
You can guarantee that I'll share the results of this list with you as the year unfolds. What are your resolutions for 2013?

Sunday, 12 February 2012

On the Right Side

In the words of Genie from Aladdin:
"I'm history! No, I'm mythology! Nah, I don't care what I am, I'm FREE!"
I'm out of hospital, I'm free!  I am delighted to be eating my mum's cooking and sleeping in my own bed!  I can't tell you how much of a relief that is.

Don't get me wrong, I am full of gratitude for all the surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, physiotherapists and every other medical professional that brought me to this side of the surgery.  It's just that hospital is not home.  Stating the obvious, I know, but hospitals are places where we go to be mended, the real healing begins when you get back to your family and familiar surroundings.

This operation, unlike any others I have had, involved a rather unpleasant reaction to the anaesthetic and I spent Monday night shaking, vomiting and generally feeling very horrible. (Apologies again to the Husband and friend who were on the receiving end of that!) I have had a fair few general anaesthetics in my time and that was the first to cause that kind of experience, certainly not fun but over by the following morning and, given my condition, probably significantly worse for my loved ones than for me. The next challenge was the removal of the epidural.  Sadly, with an epidural the real benefit is only realised on removal, when the pain it has been masking becomes quite real!  It took a while to settle on a method of pain relief that was both effective and that didn't cause me to fall asleep at the end of each sentence... Once that was dealt with, however, I started to feel more like me again and I just wanted to go home.

As anyone who has stayed in hospital knows, the food is a hot topic of conversation!  As the daughter of an ex-dining room manager of a hospital, I know that the food on the wards often gets unfair press.  I was very impressed by the way the staff worked hard to ensure there was always a gluten free option available for me, even though some days I couldn't even look at food.  I was most excited by gluten free sandwiches some days!
Egg and cheese (gluten free) sandwiches!
I honestly believe that the hospital food issue is a no-win area.  After all, most of the people eating the food are quite ill (and even Michelin starred food would turn their stomachs) and there will always be limits to what hospital staff can produce under the time and money pressures that they already face.  I am grateful for the efforts made by all to accommodate my dietary requirements and I'm hugely appreciative for all that the NHS has given me.

For now, I am quite sore, tired, and the various incisions are beginning to itch, but I don't care!  I am home.


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Sunday, 27 November 2011

The Free From Food Festival

I like to think I'm a bit of a foodie - I'm probably just a piglet.  I love food; cooking it, reading about it, watching it on TV, and (of course) eating it.  I would enjoy farmers markets, food fairs and festivals except for one thing...I can't eat anything they sell!  So, I was beyond excited to go to the inaugural Free From Food Festival at the South Bank Centre in London.  It ran from 25th-27th November, I went on Friday 25th.
Organised by the brilliant Caroline Aherne, of Sugargrain Bakehouse, the Free From Food Festival played host to some fantastic food producers, all who cater for specific dietary requirements.
It was such a liberating experience to wander from stall to stall knowing that I could try the various tempting samples on offer, and knowing that the question "is it gluten free?" wouldn't be met with confused looks.  
Fish and chips, cakes, pies, macarons, bread, and Malysian curry was not off the menu for me here!  Just have a look at the bacon buttie I had, from WAG Free Cafe!  (I also left with some delicious pies from WAG Free, too.)
Some of my favourites were there, Amy's Kitchen were serving macaroni cheese, and delicious soups, and were definitely prepared for the cold weather.  Warburton's had brought some bread and teacakes from their gluten and wheat free range and were pleased to hear from folk who were already fans, as well as introducing their products to others who hadn't tried it.
There were lots of cheeky little treats available, too.  On Cafe were a new find for me and their beautiful, delicate macarons were as good to eat as they were to admire.
The gorgeous bakes at the Sugargrain stall were so mouthwatering that it was tough to pick just one favourite, I opted for the Parsnip, Pear & Sea-Salted Caramel Pecan Loaf, but I could have easily gone for the beetroot brownies, or peanut butter and white chocolate blondies.  
There were some wonderfully informative talks from producers and experts throughout the three days, including Annie, from Annie's Supperclub, and festival founder, Caroline.
(I also had the opportunity to meet the lovely Holly - @coeliacsniffs - in 3D, which was fantastic. It was reassuring to note that she was as excited as I was about all the goodies we were about to stuff ourselves with!)

Monday, 28 February 2011

Ingredients of Convenience

Despite the complete exhaustion I have felt over the last few months, plus occasional bouts of pain/sickness/insanely busy work, I have still been keen to cook meals from scratch.  I don't want to rely on ready made, processed meals; even when overwhelming tiredness is threatening to prevent me from doing anything but sleep.  Apart from the limited choice of gluten free options, they are expensive and full of preservatives and flavourings that are likely to wreak havoc with my Crohn's Disease.  So, if convenience food is out, what about convenience ingredients?  By this, I mean peeled and chopped vegetables, tinned tomatoes with ingredients like olives, onions, or chillies already in there, frozen mashed potatoes, and canned beans, peas, and lentils.  In the past I have been loathe to shell out on prepared vegetables (why pay extra for someone else to chop them up for you when it takes minutes to do it yourself?) and canned pulses (what is so difficult about soaking dried ones overnight before you need them?), but a blood haemoglobin count of 6.8 (normal for me is usually 12, normal for normal people is 15) and a folate count of 2 (normal is 10) have meant that the task of slicing an onion feels like a monumental job, and preparing ingredients for the following day is the last thing on my mind when I'm ready to sleep at tea-time.

So, I swallowed my pride and browsed a whole new section of the supermarket aisles.  I discovered packs of soffritto, onion, carrot, and celery cubed, diced onions, butternut squash and sweet potato - ready to cook, even peeled garlic cloves!  My freezer is stocked with chopped garlic, ginger, and chives, and I have tins of button and sliced mushrooms, chickpeas, potatoes, and fried onion piled up in my cupboards.  This will not be a permanent feature of my kitchen, but while I wait for the various anemia treatments to take effect, it is the ideal way to help me cook home-made dishes for Husband and I. I have only taken the pre-prepared route with veg and pulses, with meat I bought it enough for a month's worth of meals, cut it into portions and froze it, ready for when I want it.

I find slow cooking to be the least labour intensive method at the moment, tonight we are having slow-roasted pork belly.  To accompany it, a chorizo and chickpea casserole (with tomatoes and mushrooms for Husband - they are too high residue for me). The chickpeas, potatoes, and mushrooms are all tinned, the tomatoes were slow roasted earlier in the week, and the chorizo took less than a minute to slice! It's not time consuming, but it is satisfying to know that we can still eat home-cooked meals with little exertion from me.

Sunday, 27 February 2011

Bird-brained and Wood Pigeon.

After almost a year of living in Kent, I finally got a referral to a Gastroenterology consultant at Kent and Canterbury Hospital.  Until now I had been driving the 2 hour journey to Buckinghamshire because I was worried about the consequences of leaving my brilliant consultant there.  It turns out that I shouldn't have been so concerned, there is more the one fantastic doctor working in the NHS.  (Please, don't blame me for being pessimistic - I've had some real clunkers in the past.)  My new consultant (and gastro nurse practitioner) are incredibly thorough and effective - in the 4 weeks that I have been under their care they have treated my iron deficiency anemia with a blood transfusion and a series of iron injections, discovered folate-deficiency anemia and started a folic acid regimen, diagnosed a protein deficiency, and have scheduled a gastroscopy to investigate the reason I don't seem to be absorbing these essential minerals. Oh, and are changing my treatment from Infliximab to Adulimubab.  Phew!

Being anaemic has caused a variety of symptoms, the obvious tiredness, shortness of breath, dizziness, and palpitations are one thing; but nothing has prepared me for the constant loss of concentration!  So far today I have started to saute onions and completely forgotten about them - until the smell of burning reminded me, and left my lunch to go cold.  Cupboards are left open, jobs are half-done, television shows end and I have no idea what happened...  I'm not even sure what day of the week it is most of the time, and this is with treatment!  I do hope that normal brain function returns soon - I've been reading the same page of Bram Stoker's Dracula for three weeks now and I'd like to finish it soon.

Despite all of this, I have managed to keep up with my try-new-things-in-the-kitchen resolution.  This week, pigeon.  Wood Pigeon to be exact.  Not much unnerves me in the kitchen; I can gut fish, joint rabbits, prepare offal, but the frailty of these tiny birds threw me.  I wasn't sure how best to cook them, concerned about overcooking them, unsure if I should joint them, or keep whole, wondered if I should roast, braise, grill or fry.  In the end, I roasted them whole, then removed the breasts and served with boiled potatoes and watercress, with a white wine and roasting-pan-juices reduction.  I found pigeon meat to be a little too strong for my liking, but Husband loved it.  And, it turns out that he has been taking photos of my food with his camera-phone, so I can actually post some evidence of this meal!  I used the leg meat to make a pasta sauce with slow roasted tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, capers, parsley, garlic and olives.  The sweetness of the tomato and saltiness of capers cut through the game-y richness and I enjoyed this far more than the first meal. Of course, the carcasses made a wonderful, dark stock.

"That's too special to just serve with pasta!" (according to Husband).

Saturday, 19 February 2011

Fine Words Butter No Parsnips

It was Christmas at our house last weekend.  Long story short, a friend of ours was very ill in December and consequently was in bed on Christmas day.  His friends thought this was an awful shame (for his wife, too, who missed out on the festivities to nurse her husband) so we endeavoured to recreate Christmas for them once he was better.  Hence, last Saturday I was up at 8am to make the Pavlova, boil the ham, stuff turkey (crowns - it's neigh on impossible to find whole turkeys at this time of year), peel veg, and decorate the house, in order to reproduce the Christmas spirit two months later.

Mostly I cooked tried-and-tested dishes.  The glaze for the ham, duck fat roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts sauteed  with bacon and chestnuts, and apple and blackberry crumble were favourites with various friends and family over the festive season.  The parsnips, however, were a sticking point.  I am not a fan of the humble parsnip and I fully support the French in using them for animal feed.  It's the sweetness that puts me off - we're back to my sweet/savoury combination issues - so I usually cook them with as little imagination as possible.  The only way I have enjoyed the root is in my mum and dad's spiced parsnip soup.  This made me think that a spicy hit was required to make my parsnips palatable!  It's a starchy vegetable, so I was sure it would work as a gratin, and the soft, creamy texture would be a bonus with the sometimes-dry turkey breast. 
The parsnip gratin was the surprise hit of the meal!  Even the most stubborn parsnip avoiders went back for seconds.  Husband, who is usually pretty lukewarm about the parsnip announced "we're having this again!"  I didn't even get a chance to photograph it, the dish was completely clean by the time it came back to the kitchen.  I did write down my recipe, so I can share it with you.  I made 3 times as much as this, but I was feeding 13 people...

A daunting sight for the parsnip-ambivalent


Parsnip Gratin (serves 4 as a side dish)

350g parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced
125ml double cream
1 tbsp (heaped) horseradish sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
whole nutmeg, for grating

  1. Parboil the parsnips for 5 minutes, then drain and allow to steam dry in the colander.
  2. Tip parsnips into a buttered, oven-proof dish.
  3. Combine cream, horseradish sauce, mustard and salt and pepper.  Pour over parsnips.  (You might need to push the parsnips down to make sure the cream mixture covers it all.)
  4. Grate nutmeg over the top.
  5. Bake for 40 mins at 180 degrees Celsius.
I made it again, so here's a wee photo of that one!

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

New Year's Resolutions

Last year was a mixed-bag for me. On the one hand, my beautiful niece was born, Husband and I moved into our own house, I got a job after 9 months of redundancy, and I had some great gluten free dining experiences. On the other hand, I developed more complications with my Crohn's Disease, meaning that my diet is now permanently low-residue, and seeing me in huge amounts of pain, violently ill and exhausted for much of the time.

This year will be better! I'm not big on resolutions, they usually fall by the wayside by January 6th. This year, however, I will strive to keep my resolutions all year.

I have one food resolution. I will develop more skills in the kitchen. I have already decided to make my own sausages - the ideal way of knowing exactly what goes into your food - and this Christmas I boiled and glazed a ham (a first for me). No longer will I neglect to try a recipe because it "looks too hard", or because an ingredient is unusual to me.

As an early start to this resolution, I attempted to confront one of my biggest dislikes. Meat and fruit in one dish... I can't understand why people put sultanas in curries, cranberries with turkey, apricots in tagines, it jars my palate to taste sweetness with savoury meat. I know that I am in a minority in this so I cooked Nigella's lamb tagine with dates and pomegranate juice for our New Year's Eve celebrations. I loved it! This sweet, sticky sauce with rich lamb works so well. I was wrong. So much so that I accompanied the dish with brown rice salad with pomegranate seeds, lemon juice, parsley and coriander. Those juicy little jewels popping in your mouth alongside the tagine made it an ideal celebration dish.

Now, I'm off to find some exciting sausage recipes!

Monday, 18 January 2010

Truffle Shuffling

Yes, yes, I know. I'm a negligent blogger. Last year, I didn't feel like I had lots to write about. 2009 was a year I won't be in any hurry to repeat; recovery from colostomy surgery, redundancy, depression, family bereavement, and unemployment, all meant I was very happy to see 2010 dawn.

Looking forwards now. We are eagerly anticipating our move to Kent, (less eagerly packing boxes, but I work better under pressure) and I am delighted with the kitchen in the new house. While my Husband plans where to put the furniture, I am planning where everything will go in my beautiful kitchen, what I want to cook first in my stunning range cooker, and who should come to all the dinner parties we'll have to host! Sis-in-law and Uncle will be our first house guests, and my brother, his wife, and our new niece/nephew will stay in early autumn, but how to fill the time in between?!

I have discovered the joys of preserving. As I mentioned in my last blog (so very long ago), money was tight at Christmas, so I made our gifts; Tomato and Sweet Chilli Jam, and Cranberry and Clementine Sauce. Everyone seemed to enjoy them, unless they were all just being nice(!), so I feel vindicated to create more chutneys and jams. Now that I've realised the joys, I am delving into learning what makes jam set, what makes chutney into chutney, and the art of ketchup. Once we've moved, I need to find the local markets to make sure I get seasonal fruit and vegetables to satisfy my need to jar!

My other recent success has been Champagne Truffles. My Mum's favourite from a Thornton's chocolate box, I decided to make them for her birthday, to much acclaim. Now, they've been requested for my next visit. In fact, they may have been used in some kind of bribe situation...
I dipped these in white chocolate with a few red candy melts thrown in

Champagne Truffles

450g milk chocolate
100ml double cream
65g unsalted butter
100ml Champagne (I use Jacobs Creek Sparkling Rose, and it works just fine)
4tbsp brandy
Icing sugar, to dust.

Melt chocolate in a bowl sat over a pan of simmering water. Be careful not to let the water touch the bottom of the bowl, or that no steam gets into the chocolate.

Gently heat the cream and butter together in a pan, until it just comes to the boil. Then, pour into melting chocolate.

Add Champagne and brandy, and stir until all ingredients mix together and all chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.

Once the mix has cooled to room temperature, spoon into a piping bag and pipe 2cm blobs on to baking parchment that you have dusted with icing sugar. Place in the fridge.

When the blobs are cold, dust your hands with icing sugar and roll each blob, quickly, into a ball shape.

As they are, the truffles will last 3 days, if you dip them in chocolate (white is good) they'll last up to 3 months.

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

A Lesson in Taxidermy

Last year, after watching Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, my Husband announced that he wanted a multi-bird roast for his birthday meal. With help from Mayo Bros the butcher in Chesham Bois, who did not judge me, but did bone a chicken, duck and phesant for me I suceeded. The Husband had turkey fillets, inside phesant, inside chicken, inside duck, all layered with pork, onion and sage stuffing. To start, smoked mackarel pate and to finish, pavlova and lemon possett. All 12 at the dinner were suitably impressed, I was exhausted. I banned him from watching Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall ever again.

I didn't count on the Husband watching Heston Blumenthall with me the other week...
With just over 3 weeks until his birthday, the Husband has decided on meat trifle to start, followed by a Cockentrice. Dessert is my choice, so far.

Meat trifle (not the beef and custard effort by Rachel on Friends, apparently) is easier than I was expecting. Glynn Purnell made a Rabbit, Pea and Black Olive Trifle on The Great British Menu last year, the recipe is on the BBC food website. I plan to adapt that.

A Cockentrice is a mythical creature. Heston created one in his recent Tudor Feast on Channel 4. He comissioned a taxidermist to create the beast, with the head of a wild boar, body of a lamb, tail and wings of a goose and comb of a rooster. It looked amazing. Inside he placed a "joint" of chicken, pork, lamb and turkey cooked in a water bath. How exactly am I meant to create that at home??! The actual roast meats combination should be similar in theory to last year's multi-bird roast, I need to chat with my butcher about what cuts will be best. I doubt the water bath is an option for me, so I'll need to keep it moist somehow. The actual beast to serve it from, well, I'm not a taxidermist and have no access to random animal parts. I think the neighbours would notice if their cat went missing!

Next year, the Husband is banned from watching ALL cooking shows.

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Monday, 29 December 2008

Stanley and the Bag

I have a new lease of life! Ok, so it hurts to move and I'm exhausted, but I really do feel like a new person. Actually, I feel like a version of me that I thought was lost years ago in amongst all the pain, discomfort and loss of appetite.

After weeks of pain and bowel obstruction, I was admitted into Wycombe General Hospital on 17th December and underwent Colostomy surgery on the 18th. I have now been home 5 days and all the rubbishness of wooziness and epidurals and IV fluids seem like a distant memory. Through the general post-op fatigues and aches I can feel what life ahead of me will be like. No more hideous pain every time I go to the bathroom. I can eat pretty much what I like - no longer shall foodstuffs be omitted because they're "too high residue". I will put on weight, I will have energy and a social life and a pay check without the acronym "OSP" on it! Yay! My optimism frightens me, but there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I have named my stoma, Stanley. Stan the stoma. It seems friendlier that way. My Husband has named it Donald. As in Duck, thanks to the noises it makes from time to time. I prefer Stan. In public, instead of saying to my Husband - "I'm off to change my Colostomy bag" I can say, I'm off to deal with Stanley", much more discrete, I think. So far, only Husband and two close friends have been privy to Stanley's musical aspirations, I'm a little nervous about more public situations, but I suppose I'll deal with them as they happen.

My favourite thing about this whole Colostomy business is that my appetite is back, with a vengeance! The stoma nurse told me to eat as normal when I got home, I have happily followed her advice! Last night I even went out for dinner, to Wagamamas in Wycombe. I was a bit worried about the whole socialising thing with Stanley, but it was absolutely fine. It make a few noises throughout the evening, but the ambient noise of the restaurant was louder, so no one noticed! I am excited about eating again, and about cooking. Possibly Boxing Day was not the right time to try out my rediscovered passion for cooking, as I was barely 48hours from a hospital ward and the simple act of making stock was enough to wear me out. As my energy levels slowly creep up, however, I am able to do more and more in the kitchen. I made, and devoured, a pot of chicken noodle soup from Christmas leftovers (we had chicken for Christmas Dinner, there was only 2 of us and Christmas Eve it not the best time to try to buy turkey...), the traditional Boxing Day turkey (chicken) curry, and fabulous gluten-free Yorkshire pudding. I am anticipating a weekend of making canapes for a small get-together of friends from church on Sunday (no evening service, lots of 18-30s at loose ends and students due to return to uni soon). I am planning mini toad-in-the-hole, five-spice turkey and water chestnuts wrapped in pak choi, mini crab cakes, corn tortillas with Mexican spiced chicken and salsa, mushroom duxelle on polenta crisps and potato cakes with smoked salmon and creme fraiche. If they are successful I will post recipes here next week.

Oh, and seem to have a huge amount of broccoli in my fridge, any ideas about what to do with that?

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

I couldn't live without...

Marks&Spencer's Cumberland Sausages - Part of their regular sausage range with rice rusk instead of wheat rusk. Taste great and have the texture of normal sausages! Yum

Tesco's Free From Hot Cross Buns - I know, it's not Easter but these are delicious. The Fiance said even he couldn't tell the difference between the real ones and these ones. They've become a bit of a breakfast staple for me.

Sainsbury's Free From Part-baked Baguette - As long as you don't burn it (I'm easily distracted...) it tastes great and is lovely and moist. It's essential for picnics, if it ever stops raining! Best eaten warm just after baking.

Dietary Specials' Chocolate and Orange Bars - made with puffed rice. Deliciously moreish!

Bisto Best Gravy Granules - I love gravy, this comes in beef, onion, chicken, pork and vegetable.

Discovery Foods Gluten Free Mexican Kit - You can make all kinds of stuff with this, I tend to make enchiladas. It says it serves 4 on the box, I find it only serves 3 hungry people.

John West Tuna Light Lunch, Nicoise Style - great for when you need to grab something from the shops at lunchtime. Big chunks of tuna, olives, tomato and beans. It's very filling.

Blue Dragon Rice Pancakes - I can have spring rolls again!

Tuesday, 5 June 2007

Energy?

Sooo tired! On Sunday morning I woke up before my alarm, got up, dressed, had breakfast and was ready for church before I realised that this was not normal for me. Where had this energy come from? Could it be the copious amounts of food and 3 different weight-gain supplements I had the day before? Doubtful. I was sick the day before and didn't each much and didn't manage all my supplements. Could I be cured of Coelics?! That seemed unlikely too. I hope that it is part of the exceedingly slow healing process that I've noticed since starting on the gluten free diet. By about 3pm I was exhausted again and ready to sleep for a week, but it was nice while it lasted.

I'm back to complete lack of energy now. It's a struggle to even open my eyes in the morning, let alone get up. I have to force myself out of bed. Throughout the day I feel as if I could fall asleep at any moment and it's quite normal for me to have a nap in the evening. I know that it's a result of malabsorption and once my intestines heal I'll feel better. When will that be? I'm bored of this now. Sunday morning was a glimpse of what I could feel like, it's made me impatient.

Yesterday I was so sleepy in the evening that I couldn't be bothered to cook. This would have been the ideal situation to rescue one of the meals that Lovely Bunny cooked for me to freeze. (If I'm honest, I'm desperate for an excuse to eat one of the frozen meals because they are gorgeous. I tasted a bit to check seasoning and could have finished the lot then and there!) Instead, The Musician decided to make salmon. The salmon, however, was lovely. The accompaniment was achieved by par-boiling then sauteing potatoes, panicking and throwing in some onion, stirring vigorously, then adding chopped peppers! It actually tasted quite nice, I think it could be improved by popping it the oven and roasting for half an hour. Next time!

Today, I think I will cook. I re-discovered Delia Smith's recipe for moussaka and it seems a fairly simple process to adapt it to make it gluten free. I'll let you know if it works!

Monday, 21 May 2007

Gluten free fried breakfast

Yum, the humble fry-up is mainly gluten-free! Add gluten-free sausages and gluten-free bread to fry (this works really well, it comes out nice and crunchy) and you're sorted. The Fiance is delighted, at least one of his favourite meals is still on the menu!

Went to a barbeque yesterday. I quickly realised that there was nothing there I could eat. Fortunately, I had dinner before I went out so it was ok. We're having a barbeque at our house next week (if it doesn't rain...) so I need to make sure there's something I can eat, I could probably cook it on the grill to avoid contamination, or have it cooked first on the BBQ. I'll make gluten free side dishes I think.

I'm quite surprised by people's reactions to this diet. I thought people would say "bring your own food please" when I went to their houses, but they actually say "tell me what you can't eat and I'll make sure my food is ok for you". One friend has even offered to cook me a gluten-free meal so I can put it in my freezer for when I can't be bothered to cook! How lovely. I am still fully prepared to take my own food to places if it make life easier for them or me. People are really interested in what Coeliacs is and what the diet entails. I thought friends would get sick of gluten-free-chat, but they have loads of questions and want to know how I'm getting on. I'm feeling massively encouraged by this. Even though I could eat anything at the barbeque last night, I'm still glad I went. It was the boost I was needing.

Off to find some recipes for gluten-free barbeque food!