Tag Archives: Baking

Cafe Nouveau, Frome

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cafeThere’s nothing better than finding a hidden treasure and this small cafe is an absolute gem. We were visiting friends who moved to Frome at the start of the summer and on recommendation from another friend, decided to try out Cafe Nouveau in Tytherington for our Saturday lunch. Long gone are the days of just dropping into a cafe or restaurant and hoping for a safe meal to feed both children, so about a week before our visit I wrote a quick email to the owner, Susan Green initially asking if it would be possible for us to bring a packed lunch for M to enjoy whilst the rest of us ordered from their menu. Much to my delight, Susan replied offering to prepare a cooked lunch for him based on his 5 safe foods and then impressed me further with some extra questions about which herbs and seasonings could be added to his meal to give a bit more flavour. This was already a meal that was sounding like a success and I couldn’t wait for our visit to see exactly how well it delivered.

img_12441I’ll be honest and say that we didn’t realise at first that the entire menu is gluten- and dairy-free, but as soon as we had established that fact, G was in her absolute element. I cannot adequately put into words her reaction when she realised that she could choose anything she fancied and soon settled on a prawn mayonnaise ciabatta with a small side salad and accompanied by her perennial favourite, a soya milk hot chocolate. When we placed our order for her drink, Susan reassured us that because G needed to be dairy-free, she would use dark chocolate powder to ensure the drink was completely safe for her. They had a fantastic range of alternative milks and milk-based drinks on the menu, including almond, coconut and soya milk as well as some cows’ milk for those customers who don’t want to try something different. We were told that the cows’ milk is kept separately and different containers used depending on the milk used. img_12451M was keen for G to try the “Vanilla Soya Frothy”, which I assume is a vanilla milkshake, but G was determined to indulge and stuck resolutely to what she knows she likes.

Mike and I both decided to take a look at their specials board, which is updated I believe on a daily basis and contained some delicious sounding dishes. I checked to make sure that their soup of the day didn’t contain potatoes and chose the chicken soup with a gluten-free roll on the side. Mike opted for their daily special of a spinach-filled chimichanga, which img_12461Susan mentioned was a fairly small portion and so added the Mezze plate, which included houmous, olives and some delicious seeded crackers. The plates, when they arrived, looked wonderful and the food was absolutely delicious. My soup had that real home-made feel to it, was packed with chicken and tantalisingly fragrant in its flavours. I was impressed with the gluten-free bread, which we were later told is baked off-site in a img_12431bakery that has an exclusively gluten-free area to make sure there is no cross-contamination risk. G’s sandwich soon disappeared and her hot chocolate didn’t last long either! As for M, he was thrilled to receive a healthy-sized portion of plain rice, topped with 2 roasted chicken thighs and some apple and ginger purée. He was a little disappointed that they didn’t stock any rice milk for him to drink, but was happy with the cartons of cloudy apple juice that were on offer instead. We were all delighted by our fantastic meals, little realising that the best was yet to come.

Anticipating that there wouldn’t be much on offer for M as a dessert, I had brought some safe snacks with us for him whilst the rest of us enjoyed a pudding. For the first time ever in her life, G had the chance to experience something that is commonplace for all her friends. She and I went to the counter, where an impressive array of cakes, cookies and other sweet treats were on display and she could eat every single one of them. That is a treat that is absolutely priceless and I loved seeing her struggle to pick just one item to enjoy after her lunch. There was chocolate cake, Victoria sponge, reduced sugar apple cake, flapjacks and some amazing-looking bite-size vanilla and nut ball treats. G finally settled on a toffee popcorn cookie, whilst I savoured a slice of the Victoria sponge.  Neither stayed around long enough for me to snap a photo, so I’m afraid you’ll just have to imagine how wonderful they looked. We were so impressed with the selection that M helped me choose a few to take with us for afternoon tea at our friends’ house and was particularly keen that the man of the house had the chance to taste the allergy-friendly chocolate and orange torte.

Cafe Nouveau really was a most remarkable find and one that the whole family would happily recommend to anyone eating out with food allergies. It is part of a very small development on the edge of 30 acres of parkland that also includes 4-star Bed and Breakfast, The Lighthouse. Susan and her team open the cafe from 7am to provide breakfast for The Lighthouse’s guests as well as other customers, something that I absolutely love as it would save the need to pack boxes of cereal and cartons of safe milk on our travels.

Our marks: 9.5/10

A Mini surprise for a Big birthday

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At the beginning of October, I started my second new job since July after being made redundant just before the end of the summer term. This new position is a really exciting opportunity for me as I become Finance and Administration Manager for a local project and even though I never imagined myself being able to say this, I am now grateful for that redundancy as there is no way that I would have even considered applying for this post if I had still been working comfortably close to home. The biggest change has been the huge increase in my hours and I am fortunate that once again I have found an employer who has been understanding about our home situation with M and my current need to be able to work from home on a regular basis. Bearing all that in mind, you’ll understand why baking has dropped down to being a fairly low priority on my list and the presence of xxcakes or biscuits in our house has been practically non-existent. However, with Mike’s 40th birthday looming mid-month, I needed to find some time to attempt, yet again, a version of his all-time favourite dessert – Lemon Meringue Pie – that would not only keep him happy, but also allow G and M to enjoy it too.

Looking back at my blog posts from over the last few years, this isn’t the first time that I’ve tried to recreate this classic dessert, but every time something hasn’t quite gone according to plan, usually the egg-free, rice-based meringue for the topping. The discovery of both rice protein powder and rice vinegar on the on-line supermarket site, FreeFrom Market, suddenly made the prospect something more than a pipe-dream and the Friday before Mike’s birthday saw me desperately trying to whip up a batch of mini meringues, safe for all members of the family. I’ll be honest, the recipe still isn’t quite there and it’ll need some more tweaking to get my perfect meringue, but they tasted good albeit that they were a little stickier than I perhaps had in mind.

I had decided that trying to create one large pie really wasn’t going to be feasible when it came to either my few-ingredients short crust pastry or the meringue itself and so settled on baking mini pies that would be just enough for a rewarding mouthful. I converted a simple short crust pastry recipe to suit M’s allergy needs and, with a few adjustments along the way, managed to produce some fantastic pastry cases which, much to my surprise, baked beautifully and maintained their shape as they cooled. I had already decided to replace the lemon filling with generous spoonfuls of my M-friendly lemon curd and popped the filled tarts into the fridge to allow the curd to set before adding the final touches. As soon as the mini pies were chilled, set and ready to eat, I dropped img_12221a single mini meringue on to the top of each one before serving to my eager husband and child. I will add at this point that neither G or I partook in this particular delicacy – the sharpness of the lemon didn’t appeal to G and the sweetness of the meringue doesn’t agree with me and my T1D tastes. However, despite the fact that only 50% of the family chose to eat these birthday treats, they were extremely well-received and I am reliably informed by both the men in my life that the lemon zest in the pastry when combined with the sharp lemon and sweet meringue was a taste sensation they very much enjoyed.

Something sweet for the weekend

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If there was one thing we were all in need of last weekend, it was a sweet treat and I really wanted to bake something that I hadn’t made before. M was keen for me to make an entry for Delicious Alchemy’s own version of the Great British Bake-off, the Gluten-Free Magic Bake-off, so I needed something that would feed both children as well as hitting the brief he gave me of “something spectacular Mummy“. Hiding in the kitchen cupboard was a packet of Delicious Alchemy’s Gluten and Dairy-free Vanilla sponge cake mix, an item I’d bought on something of a whim to go with the 5 bags of their Rice flake porridge that would keep da_bake_off_logo_2016M going for the next few weeks. I pondered on whether I could use the mix to bake similar cupcakes to those I would be making for M and settled on the classic flavour combination of pear and ginger that has served me so well in the past. I haven’t made pear and ginger cupcakes before, but combining my recipe for pear and apple cupcakes with that for pear and ginger cookies, I was certain that I was onto a winner.

I started with a batch of M’s cupcakes and carefully tasted the batter mix to make sure that the ginger wasn’t too overpowering, something I’ve been guilty of in the past. Satisfied that the flavour combination was exactly what I wanted, it was time to move on to G’s cupcakes and I couldn’t wait to try out the sponge mix. Such mixes are a convenience I don’t use very often, usually because they don’t meet our complicated allergy needs, but given our last 2 Decembers with M disappearing into hospital and missing G’s birthdays, I figured that anything that could make the whole cake-baking experience a little easier for whoever ends up making her a cake can only be a good thing. I was really impressed with the sponge mix and how easy it was to use. I followed the packet instructions precisely, including using an egg  –salted-caramel-1 I can’t remember the last time I used an egg in my baking – and then added my own twist of pear and ginger. A quick taste reassured me that the flavour was good and then, with M’s cakes already out and cooling on the rack, popped G’s batch in to bake. The results looked and smelled delicious and soon joined M’s to cool, whilst I moved on to think about the icing.

Now this was where I wanted to venture into something completely new. I perfected coconut oil icing for M about this time last year, so it was time to take that knowledge and use it to create a different flavour. I turned to my ever faithful companion on these allergy-friendly recipe hunts, Google and discovered this great recipe combining ginger cupcakes with a salted caramel icing. I’ll be honest, salted caramel is not really my thing, but a couple of months ago, M had asked if I could make M-friendly caramel for him and I decided that there was no time like the present to take on that challenge. Rolling my sleeves up, I followed the recipe carefully, tweaking and swapping out ingredients as necessary to meet our allergy needs. I started with making the caramel and was delighted with the result. It does have a slightly unusual flavour because of the rice cream used to make it, but it wasn’t bad for a first attempt and I was certain that M and G would both love it. Once the caramel had cooled, I mixed it in with the coconut oil icing and then piped it onto the top of my cupcakes. A sprinkle of crystallised ginger added the final touches and I ended up with some beautiful cupcakes to serve. G and M both loved the look of them, but to my surprise the icing proved to be just a little too sweet for my sugar-fiend, M. Nevertheless, they’ve been a hit in our household this week and it’s great to have found a way to make tasty dairy-free caramel.

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Summer Bakes

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tumblr_static_wendy2The first 3 weeks of the summer holidays were filled with clubs and camps and activities and I needed to create some M-friendly bakes that could be packed into a lunch-box or, in the case of
Over The Wall, included as a bedtime snack to share during the evening cabin chat session with the rest of his team. With M’s tally of safe foods still stuck at 5, I wanted to bake something new, something we hadn’t tried before, and where better to start than a quick search using my trusty internet search engine. There are not many recipes out there that incorporate those safe ingredients only, so I looked for some vegan and gluten-free suggestions and decided to do the rest of the tweaking myself where necessary.

The first recipe I found was for Pear blondies, a vanilla version of the ever-popular chocolate brownie without, rather obviously, the chocolate and I was intrigued to see if this could be made for M. Using apple purée as my egg replacer, I stirred my mix and then kept my fingers crossed as the small cakes went into the oven. The smell as they baked was amazing and, as always, a certain young gentleman appeared alongside me as I pulled the final product out, ready to cool. The quantity was enough to make a dozen bitesize blondies, which were perfect as a snack during his busy days. Both children enjoyed the blondies, with IMG_0762[1]M particularly keen on the small chunks of pear that had become melt-in-the-mouth and golden as they baked in the sponge mix.

My second new baking venture were Pear and Ginger cookies, which seemed to me to be a perfect combination of sweet and spice, something I was sure M would love. This was another easy recipe to whip up, made from the staples stored in my kitchen cupboards. The dough made an impressive 18 cookies and within minutes of them hitting my cooling rack, my hopeful duo found something important to do in the kitchen in the hope they might be successful in picking up a stray biscuit as they passed. However, whilst they were tempted to taste one straight from the oven, the lure of the lemon icing to be drizzled when the cookies were finally cooled was enough to gain me around 20 minutes extra before my store started to be depleted. These were an amazingly good bake as the rice flour didn’t make the cookies taste granular at all and the ginger was subtle enough to give a little extra heat without overpowering the sweetness of the pear. The children were both big fans of this bake too and I was intrigued to see which one M would settle on as his final choice for taking to OTW camp. In the end, much as he loved both of these new treats, he decided the pear and ginger cookies would be his cabin chat snack of choice and the empty pot returning from camp was all the proof I needed that they had been a success.

Hollywood-inspired

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13227528_948528031911468_2074589086660293308_oIt never ceases to amaze me that there is a huge number of allergy-suffering children out there who love nothing more to cook despite their dietary restrictions. I know of so many EGID children, even those with feeding tubes, who have a passion to cook and have taken qualifications in food technology, even though there may be very little they can eat. One such story that has recently hit the headlines is of Abigail Carper, who is living with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (Eoe) in the US. She wrote to well-known celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay challenging him to cook using only the limited safe foods she currently has and was delighted when he not only agreed, but invited her to join him in LA, where he prepared a meal that her Mum described as “a heavenly phenomenon“. It’s encouraging to hear that Gordon Ramsay and his staff also took the time to understand more about EGID, how to correctly read food labels and which foods could and couldn’t be used in their tailored meal.

Big thanks to Abby and her Mum for allowing me to share these photos of her amazing day

M and G are no different and both love watching cooking programmes on TV almost as much as I do. BBC offerings such as the “Great British Bake-off” and its recent spin-off, “GBBO Crème de la Crème”, are constant favourites in our household and nothing beats the high-energy episodes of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” on the Food Network Channel when there’s 30 minutes to spare at the end of the day. All of these have led to requests from M in particular for me to enter the competitions or invest in a restaurant for Guy Fieri to visit, thus showing off what he thinks of as my considerable culinary skills. Despite the massive compliments from what must be my biggest fan, I’m not convinced that my M-friendly bakes would live up to the standards expected on our favourite shows and I won’t be entering any cooking competitions any time soon. Unless an allergy one pops up and then I might…just might…be tempted!

As well as being amazed by the creativity and culinary techniques of the chefs on these programmes, I also find myself being inspired by their bakes and thinking through whether any of the recipes can be tweaked to bring something new to M’s diet. I know I’m not the only one as fellow EGID Mum and friend Berenice, kindly wrote a guest post for me last year about her attempt to create an allergy-friendly Madeira cake, after seeing an episode of GBBO. No matter the time of year, there always seems to be one programme or another that we can enjoy together as a family and this May has been no different. All it took was a single 30 second trailer and M was smitten, this time with “Paul Hollywood City Bakes“. 566777371_960, which sees Paul Hollywood, one of the stars of GBBO, visiting cities around the world, investigating their bakes, meeting bakers and putting his own unique twist on a speciality dish in each venue.

M has been entranced by the entire series, which has proven to be a great distraction from his broken leg. From the laws surrounding the baking of a particular cake in Munich, to the bullet-ridden suite, location of a mafia killing at the Biltmore in Miami, he has hardly paused for breath when regaling anyone who’ll listen with the stories that those half-hour episodes have shared. We now have a long list of “must-go-to” holiday destinations that both G and M are desperate to visit as soon as it’s even remotely possible. G was delighted to see a couple of naturally gluten-free bakes highlighted and even better, there have been the occasional bakes which I am sure I could translate into M-friendly versions without too much effort. I’ve yet to decide which of these I will turn my hand to first, but you can be certain that I will share those recipes once they’ve passed the rigorous testing of my discerning duo.

Meeting a knead

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With so much of my time and energy focused on NEAW16 throughout May as well as coping with the aftermath of M’s broken leg, I unusually spent very little time in the kitchen for most of the month, other than to whip up the regular offerings for each meal. Having taken a much-needed short break to recover, it has been time to revisit some of the recipes I’ve spotted and saved over the last few weeks to see if they could be adapted to suit M’s current dietary needs. One of the foods he really misses having is bread and barely a month goes by without him requesting a sandwich made of “real bread”Kneading-dough-007 and not just rice cakes. A couple of years ago I took a Doves Farm recipe and adapted it to suit our then requirements, and it worked. It wasn’t brilliant, but M loved it despite its foibles because it met his needs. Over the last 18 months, I’ve mastered bread-like equivalents such as pancakes and flatbreads, but hadn’t ventured back into the world of bread-making…until now.

The biggest challenge for my current bread-making attempt was the yeast. We haven’t trialled yeast with M as yet and, to be perfectly honest, I don’t imagine we’ll be doing so for quite some time as the nutritional benefit to be gained by adding it to his diet right now is negligible. We will, without a doubt, get there some day, probably round about the time M wants to start drinking beer – though obviously my baby will never be old enough for that milestone to pass! – but it doesn’t feel like a priority for the time being. Instead, I switched on my trusty laptop and started looking for yeast alternatives or, even better, recipes for yeast-free bread and found this fantastic one by FussyFoodie.co.uk, which I was able to tweak further for M. I am, as ever, extremely grateful to those other allergy-aware cooks IMG_0458[1]out there, who take their time to share their recipes via blogs and other websites as their hard work helps make my efforts a little easier as I strive to create appetising dishes for M.

I baked my final recipe twice to try out both my bread-maker and my free form bread-making skills, as well as adding different flavours to see how the end results compared. The machine mixed loaf looked great, but I found that the ingredients hadn’t really been combined enough in the pan and ended up having to remove a good centimetre or so of rice flour from the bottom of the loaf before it could be enjoyed. The centre of the loaf also failed to cook thoroughly, though toasting slices of the bread before serving did go some way to resolving that particular crisis. Both M and G were suitably impressed by my efforts, which encouraged me to give it a go a second time. This time round I hand-mixed the dough, added some herbs for a different flavour and formed small bread rolls instead of a single loaf. IMG_0491[1]These worked much better in my opinion and M certainly enjoyed the crusty outside, reminiscent of a “real” bread roll, almost as much as the warm centre that had been spread with some coconut oil to replace the butter. I will definitely be baking this bread recipe again and may even try to co-ordinate my cooking so that M can enjoy his chicken burgers in a bap!

A Quick Pudding Dilemma

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On Saturday afternoon I spent some time reading back through my National Eosinophil Awareness Week blog posts from previous years, looking for a little inspiration for those I’ll be writing to mark this year’s week, which is fast approaching. I expected to spend a good 20 minutes reminiscing and little else, 0c0dc8797599764caae7d88291139822but instead found myself being led in an entirely different direction as the very first post I re-read inspired me in a completely unexpected way.

I’m always on the lookout for new menu ideas for M and whilst we really don’t need any more sweet options, the lure of a quick and easy pudding was too good to resist. I had a look at the original recipe I had posted, but wondered if there was a more M-friendly one already out there, which would only require the very slightest tweaking on my part. To my delight I found an almost perfect vegan recipe, where all I needed to do was change the flour and oil to suit M’s restricted dietary needs. I was particularly excited about the fact it could be cooked in the microwave as so often puddings for M take a lot longer to prepare and cook, something which requires a level of planning ahead which doesn’t always happen in our household.

IMG_0446[1]Recipe adapted, ingredients checked and with 5 minutes on the clock, I whipped up the sponge batter, set the timer on the microwave and waited with bated breath for that final ping which would tell me if it had been a success or not. As always, the children’s reactions are the best indication of whether I’ll be cooking a dish again and this one has definitely earned a place in my repertoire. It’s an easy pudding to make with only a handful of ingredients and can be cooked in 4 minutes with the help of a trusty microwave. M and G both gave it a massive thumbs up and enjoyed finishing it off for Sunday tea. Even better, I’m sure it can be easily adapted to use my M-friendly lemon curd instead of the golden syrup, or any safe jams to change the flavours, which really does make it a success in my book too.

The Sunday Roast

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It seems to be one of those dishes that is quintessentially British and yet its exact origins are not exactly clear. First published in recipe books dating back to the early 1700s, over the last 300-odd years it has become a key component of the Sunday roast, especially when that roast joint is beef.  roast-beef-hero-006b0a8d-916f-4b1e-bffe-b6f00c34b96d-0-472x310Beef is actually the next on our hit-list of foods to trial with M, but when this recipe for vegan Yorkshire puddings caught my eye, posted somewhere that I can’t quite remember, I knew that, inclusion of beef or not, adapting this to a M-friendly version was high on my list of priorities.

Despite numerous food challenges over the last few months, we haven’t been able to find a new safe food for M to enjoy since last August, when pear became lucky number 5. The monotony of only being able to eat the same 5 foods day in, day out has understandably taken its toll on his spirit and it has become something of a life’s mission for me to create new and varied ways of preparing those foods to help him enjoy them as much as possible. That aim has resulted in the absolute flurry of new recipes that has hit my blog over the last few weeks and which will continue to do so, until no stone is left unturned from a culinary point of view.

IMG_0263[1]The recipe was surprisingly easy to adapt and delightfully successful in its bake. M and G had no idea what I was preparing to accompany our Easter lunch and despite some optimistic guesses of chocolate pancakes from M, neither child got close with their hunches. As ever, I was slightly nervous until they took the first bite, but I really didn’t need to worry. My batch of 12 quickly dwindled down to 3 – well Mike and I had 2 each too, just to taste test you understand – and M declared them a hit. He took great pleasure in stuffing each pudding with some of his seasoned rice, which actually led to Monday night’s dinner of the remaining 3 puddings stuffed with rice, chicken and a home-made and M-friendly dressing. The greatest pleasure for me was being able to turn yet another popular dish into a M-friendly equivalent and know that his EGID and food allergies have been driven into the background once again.

When inspiration strikes

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With the busy-ness of March almost behind me and M trialling cocoa, and therefore dairy-free chocolate, over Easter, you’d have thought that it was definitely time for me to take a step back and relax a little over the long weekend. However, as I’ve found so many times in the past, when inspiration strikes, I just have to respond as quickly as possible or lose the opportunity to act. Call it providence if you will, but the stars most certainly appeared to align on Thursday with the perfect timing of Easter, a different food challenge and a tempting photo on Facebook. It all started when a lovely friend from my Thursday choir shared a photo of the delicious-looking hot cross buns and Easter biscuits she had baked on Thursday. 20140418_154823I made some MEWS-free Easter biscuits a couple of years ago, but I’ve never attempted baking hot cross buns before, so you might wonder, given the complexity of M’s current restricted diet, why I would even begin to contemplate trying to now.

Whether it was the realisation that last week’s food challenge of grapes meant I could possibly create a bake that bore more than a passing resemblance to the “real” product itself, or the addictive sense of achievement that I get when I see the pleasure on M and G’s faces from the taste of something they haven’t enjoyed for a long time, I don’t know, but either way, hot cross buns made in a M-friendly fashion seemed to be a sensible use of my time on Good Friday afternoon – or at least, they did when I was lying awake thinking about it in the early hours of Friday morning itself.

Thanks to the amazing Nathalie of the Intolerant Gourmand blog, I had a fantastic starting point for my hot cross buns recipe. Nathalie’s recipe already replaces some of the main allergens, but M’s list of safe foods meant that I needed to make some more all important tweaks to produce a recipe that would be fine for him to eat. The hardest adaptation for me was replacing the yeast as obviously that’s what gives the bun it’s bread-like texture. IMG_0256[1]After some frantic, yet focused internet research, I found that it was theoretically possible to replace the yeast with a mixture of baking powder and lemon juice and so decided to give it a go.

The dough was surprisingly easy to make and came together really well. I carefully added the cross to the top of the finished buns, popped them into the oven and then spent the next 20 minutes distracting M from what was baking. The end result was not quite as springy as a typical bread dough, rather being a little more like scones, but despite that, the flavours were all Easter and really reminiscent of that popular seasonal treat. I can’t remember the last time that M was able to enjoy a hot cross bun, which probably explains the time it took for him to realise exactly what I had baked – it took me pointing out the cross on top for him to work it out! However, both children enjoyed them and I have to confess to be quietly satisfied with the final bake when I tasted one for myself. Sadly, grapes have not proved to be a resounding success for M, but I’m glad that, when inspiration struck, I took the opportunity to bake him something a little different to eat before reaching that conclusion.

Limping towards the Finish line

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bucket listDo you remember that long, long list of things that I was facing at the beginning of March? With the month-end in sight, I am, quite literally, limping towards the finish line, just thankful that the long Easter weekend ahead means the opportunity for some much-needed lie-ins and down-time; but how did March go in then end?

World book day and required costume x 1 – M decided on what can only be described as something of a left-field choice for your average 9 year-old and dressed up as Ford Prefect from Douglas Adams’ well-loved trilogy of 5 books, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“. It was one of the easiest costumes he’s ever asked me to make and to our delight, he won a £5 book token for the best WBD costume in his class.'Oh yes we're very proud of him. He's in publishing you know!'

Parents evenings x 2 – Both evenings went extremely well and we are so proud of the strides both children have made during this school year. M has been working hard at beating the challenges of his dyslexia and dyspraxia and is developing some beautiful handwriting when he remembers to try. G has settled well into Year 7 and was described to me as a “conscientious, hard-working, empathetic and focused” member of her tutor group. I was delighted to hear that her confidence has grown throughout the year and that she is developing into a well-respected and natural leader amongst her peers too.

School book fairs x 2 – Attended and books bought.

M-friendly croissants – Recipe adapted, croissants baked and hugely enjoyed as part of the school’s French role-play activity. I achieved above and beyond what I thought was possible with so little notice.

Mothers Day – We enjoyed a quiet day together, although sadly my Mum was unwell and not able to come out for lunch with us. We ate at one of our favourite M-friendly restaurants and were once again impressed by the phenomenal memory of the restaurant manager and the care awarded to both children by all the staff. Well done Wagamama!

Riding lessons – G continues to ride every other weekend and her passion for this hobby is growing. Her latest lesson saw her not only trotting and cantering with confidence, but beginning some preparatory steps to get her ready for jumping – scary stuff but she’s loving every moment.

A 10th birthday and a class assembly – These happened on the same day and were both celebrated in style. It’s hard to believe that my little bean has reached the end of his first decade and I can’t begin to imagine what the next one will hold.IMG_1765

Birthday celebrations – M chose a reptile-themed birthday party and I braved holding a tarantula to help encourage G to beat her fears and do it herself. We combined the day into a double celebration and headed out to a local trampoline park in the afternoon with a couple of friends for a belated marking of G’s 12th birthday too.

Dentist and hair appointments – These both happened as planned and really there’s not much more to say.

GOSH appointment – Mike, M and I headed to London for our first appointment at GOSH since the disastrous admission last December. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, not least because the gastro department is currently in a state of great upheaval. M is doing well, even though we haven’t managed to introduce any more foods safely into his diet since last summer and continues to impress us all by drinking the 400mls of E028 necessary to supplement his limited repertoire of food. His weight has dropped on the centile charts and will need some careful monitoring over the next few months as we continue to search for some more safe foods for him. There is, at long last, a chance of some shared care between GOSH and our local gastro team, which would add some much-needed local level support for our family and the next step is really to wait and see when and if that happens.

School play – Thankfully M’s role as Poseidon meant that I could re-use his toga from Stagecoach last year, so that was one costume crisis off my hands. He was only able to take part in one performance as the matinée was on the same day as his GOSH appointment and unfortunately I wasn’t able to see his evening performance as it clashed with G’s parents evening. However, Mike and G went to watch and told me it was great fun and he did really well.

Performing Arts Exams x 2 – Taken by one very-tired G and one determined-to-do-well M. We won’t know just how well they’ve done until mid-April, but I’m told that they both worked hard and performed well on the day. Having watched their performances the week before, I can’t wait to see if all their efforts paid off and are reflected in their marks.index

Spa day – This was a late birthday celebration, a treat that Mike had sorted out for me and my dear friend, and M’s godmother, L. We had a lovely afternoon being pampered, drinking coffee and chatting without interruption by small people, before enjoying a delicious dinner and a few bubbles to mark the day.

Events linked to school topics – This term M’s topic has been India and part of the school experience was to share an Indian meal from a local restaurant. Thanks to previous experience from G’s time in Year 5, I had been anticipating this one for months and a few mini trials of herbs and spices meant that I’ve been able to create a curry-esque meal that’s suitable for M. A mix of cumin, coriander, ginger and rosemary combined with our new discovery of rice cream created the sauce for his staples of chicken and rice. It might not be an authentic dish, but he loves it and it’s meant that he has been able to join in a meal with the rest of his class.

Preparations for G’s sibling camp – I haven’t quite started on this one, but the weekend’s going to be busy as G goes off to camp on Monday. She’s been looking at the list of things she needs and chatting to a friend via e-mail as she prepares for a week filled with fun and activities away from the hustle and bustle of home. She also went to her first Young Carers meeting this week and seemed to settle in really well. There are some other girls the same age as G, including one from her school, who have just started too and she’s looking forward to an afternoon at a local trampoline park during the Easter holidays. Watch this space for more of an update once she’s back and has shared all the news with me!

Easter – Preparations are sorted, food trials are planned, eggs have been bought and I’m looking forward to a peaceful family weekend at home.

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Happy Easter!