Tag Archives: parenting

Battle of Hastings, 1066 (the 2015 version)

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“I can’t wait to tell my class that I was chased by a hawk this weekend when I see them on Monday!”

As you might imagine, with that opening gambit, I couldn’t wait to get home from work to find out exactly how M’s classmates responded to the unusual piece of news that he was determined to share today. I suggested that he might want to explain a little more about our weekend adventures rather than just announcing this out-of-the-ordinary occurrence to the world, but knowing M as I do, I fear the finer details might be missing first time round.

20151010_165603Despite suggestions to the contrary, our weekend was, in fact, spent in East Sussex and more specifically, in Battle at the site of the Battle of Hastings. G has been studying the events of 1066 in her History lessons this term and has shown a real interest in learning about the central characters of this Battle. I have a vivid memory of visiting the battlefield with my parents when I was about the same age as G is now and wanted to be able to create a similar experience for both G and M if I could. What better was to learn more about history than by visiting where it actually happened? I started investigating the Hastings area and was delighted to see that last weekend was staging a re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings in advance of the 949th anniversary of the event itself.

20151010_123132Much to my astonishment, we had a weekend free of any other plans, a rare thing indeed in our household and so we planned for a short East Sussex break, where the Battle of Hastings would be brought to life outside of the classroom and hopefully would become even more real in G’s memory. As always when planning a trip with M, I spent most of Friday rushing around from pillar to post in a mad dash attempt to make sure we had packed everything we could conceivably need during our 2 nights away from home. A slight lapse on my part meant that 3 hours were unexpectedly lost to a forgotten hospital appointment for me and another 40 minutes to training up the new school secretary on how to operate M’s pump, but we got there in the end and as soon as school and Stagecoach were finished, we started our pilgrimage to Battle.

20151010_155222We arrived at Battle Abbey slightly ahead of schedule on Saturday morning and I am so glad we got there when we did. A great tip from one of Mike’s work colleagues meant that we had gone prepared with a couple of folding chairs amongst our possessions and we nabbed ourselves front row seats for the rest of the day. We explored the Saxon and Norman camps set up either side of the main arena, treated ourselves to a few trinkets, drinks and snacks and decided which events we wanted to see. We actually didn’t really venture too far away from the main arena itself as the children were fascinated by all that we could see and experience there. Mike was thrilled to be picked to be part of the first Falconry display and remarked on how surprisingly light the bird was as it landed on his arm. 20151010_155237The children were enthralled by the impressive weaponry display, which showed the different types of weapons that would have been used by the cavalry and infantrymen of both armies and treated us, in our front row seats, to a frighteningly realistic charge by the opposing sides.  For many, the highlight of the day had to be the battle itself, which was acted out in front of us with a mix of live and recorded commentary to talk through and explain the events as they unfolded. I was impressed with G’s understanding of the tactics employed by Duke William’s army and she was able to hold her own afterwards when in discussion with 2 of the men involved in the re-enactment. It was a fantastic day out, the children now both have a greater understanding of this significant historical event and Mike broadened his knowledge of his adopted homeland too!

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Oh yes, and M was chased by a hawk, just as he said. Following his in-depth conversation with the Falconry team during the day, they chose him to be part of the second display and gave him the job of dragging the decoy across the field at speed to show how fast and effective the Harris hawk is when it comes to hunting its prey.

 

Fast food – home-made style!

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We are generally not a fast-food eating family, which, given the array of allergies we’ve had to deal with over the years, is probably a good thing. It’s not something we’ve noticed we’re missing out on and I doubt we’d ever be burger joint regulars even without the allergies, but all that being said, there are definitely times when being able to pick up a burger and chips or to grab fish and chips from the chippie would make feeding the family one less headache to deal with at the end of a busy day. I don’t think the children have ever really felt like they’re deprived in this area, especially as there were occasions before allergies became a big deal or we’d ever even heard of EGID that we would treat them whilst on holiday; GcsqwFsrRVGMfVc18IAf_imagebut there have been a couple of events recently where M has really struggled with not being able to eat on the go like so much of the rest of the world.

The first was back in July, he went to a friend’s paint-balling birthday party, which was followed by lunch and birthday cake at the local McDonald’s. M was brilliant. He was keen to join in and spend the time with all his friends and asked me to take along some safe food for his lunch. He sat with them whilst they enjoyed their Happy Meals and asked his friend’s Dad if he could have a small portion of fries to smell at the same time. This may sound strange and it’s most definitely heartbreaking to see, but is a coping mechanism he picked up from a couple of the amazing children we met during his GOSH stay last year. It is widely reported that if you lose one of your senses, the others become more acute to replace it and it is this theory that has been put into practice here. M may not be able to eat many of his favourite foods any more, but he can still garner great satisfaction from enjoying their distinctive smells instead. When you consider that your sense of taste is hugely influenced by your sense of smell, after all we all know how bland food can seem when we’re struggling with a heavy head cold, then I guess that it’s no wonder that M finds such enjoyment from smelling what he can’t eat.

With the party behind us, the issue of fast food didn’t raise its head again until just a few weeks ago following a family evening out at a local art exhibition. I had managed to feed G and M before we headed out the door, but Mike and I, no strangers to late night meals, decided that the timing was such that we could only grab something on our way back home. We stopped to quickly pick up burgers and almost instantly both children went into minor melt-downs. I knew that a lot of their complaints were the result of the late night and a desperate need to get to bed and sympathised with their frustrations at not being able to eat something, anything “normal” for a change. I put my thinking cap on and determined to create a meal that could somehow replace the humble burger in our household and give the children the taste sensation they were craving. 20150925_190329I remembered that a couple of summers ago, I had created a fantastically tasty lamb and mint burger recipe and I wondered if I could take that basic recipe and tweak it to meet M’s new dietary needs.

The great news is that I absolutely could. We buy our fresh meat, fruit and vegetables from a local co-operative and one of the ingredients I had spotted before was minced chicken. Adding a mix of seasonings and herbs as well as a generous helping of golden syrup, I prepared some great tasting chicken burgers. I whipped up a batch of rice flour pancakes to replace the bread roll for M, though we’ve decided that my flatbreads would work equally well. They were declared an almost instant success by both M and G, who have asked for them on more than one occasion since. Even better, I discovered that I could use the same recipe to create mini meatballs, which M enjoyed with rice pasta drizzled with a little rapeseed oil, some diced cucumber and a handful of additional herbs. So, one simple recipe led to 2 great new meals for my now slightly-less-moody children – a job well done!

The Start of a New School Year

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In barely the blink of an eye, the summer holidays have disappeared amidst a blur of activities, work and holidays and as we say hello to October and the occasional pumpkin spice latte, we’ve already put the first month of the new school year behind us. This year September has been a little different to most with G moving up to her secondary school and M heading into Year 5 and all the new responsibilities that have accompanied both those events. It’s been a month of mixed emotions as the realisation that my babies are no longer that has hit. They’re growing up fast and whilst it’s been wonderful to see them stepping out with a new-found confidence, there’s been the inevitable tug on my heartstrings as I’ve realised that we’ve moved on to the next stage of parenting, especially when it comes to our little Miss.10865938_887210898036761_1768009436261476122_o

For G, she seems to has quite literally grown up over the summer holidays and now stands a good 2 inches or so taller than her closest friend, whilst developing a new sense of independence too. Every morning I drop her at the local corner shop, where she meets up with a couple of friends for the walk to school. They leave laughing and chatting and seem to pick up various classmates and friends along the way. She’s loving all that her secondary school has to offer, even the drip-feed of homework on a regular basis and is fast learning the importance of being organised and keeping track of her things when there’s no peg or drawer in which to abandon her belongings. Every afternoon she meets M and me at our agreed meeting place, strategically positioned between the 2 schools and is keen to find out how M’s day has been as well as sharing parts of her own.

9781408847558And every evening, once she’s tackled her homework and played outside with M, G spends time helping prepare her packed lunch for the next day and chats away with either Mike or me in the kitchen, giving us precious insights into how things are going as we prepare M’s feed or dinner or sometimes both. Some evenings she’s tired and emotional and a little worn down by the events and demands of the day, but on others she’s buzzing with excitement about what she has learned and the things she has done. I’m so proud that she’s choosing to tackle some of the extended assignments she’s been given in class and her latest effort, to write about why she’d like to have lunch with author, Huw Powell, reaped a much-deserved reward at the start of the week when she and 5 other pupils were selected to actually have lunch with the author himself. It’s wonderful to see her blossom so much in her new environment and I can’t wait to see what the year ahead has in store for her.

M has similarly settled well into his new class and is enjoying being back at school, although he’s not such a fan of the increased homework load that Year 5 has brought with it. He struggled on his first day back, sorely missing G’s reassuring presence at the Junior school with him, but he has soon got used to the new reality and looks forward to meeting up with her every day after school. 9781426755514Despite the hopes and original plans of our gastro team at GOSH, M’s NG-tube is still in place and seems likely to be so for the foreseeable future. His friends continue to take it fully in their stride and are happy to help him remember to bring his feeding pump home at the end of each day, something he still struggles to do even after 9 months of having it in place. We’re not 100% sure of all the challenges that this next school year will bring for M in terms of his health, but we know without doubt that there will be some and are glad to still have our wonderful school and staff supporting him each step of the way.

Risotto – the M-friendly way!

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This could come as something of a surprise to some of you, especially when you consider that rice has been a staple ingredient for us since February, but until recently I really hadn’t thought of making a simple risotto for M. We love risotto in our house, which really makes this lack of regard inexcusable: the children have been eating my home-made version since they were tiny and yet I hadn’t ventured down this particular route in my meal creations for him. Keep-It-Simple-Design-SimplicityJust as with the gnocchi – although risotto is absolutely nothing like as complicated to make a those Italian masterpieces – I’ve been keeping to the mantra of “easy meals are best” for weekday evenings and somehow risotto had escaped my attention.

Our dinner out at Trewithen brought this meal back to the forefront of my consciousness, when I enjoyed the most mouth-wateringly delicate and delicious flavours of their prawn and smoked salmon risotto. The perfect balance of strong flavours and the creamy deliciousness of the dish reminded me of just why it has always been a firm favourite of mine and I determined then and there to see if I could create a M-friendly version that might make the grade.

Taking inspiration from the Trewithen marinade for the chicken, which won such huge acclaim from M that I ended up asking the chef for his recipe, I created my very own nod to a stock as M is obviously not able to eat any of the stock-cubes readily available on the market due to their long lists of ingredients. 20150909_173602I cooked off some sage, thyme and parsley with a little salt and pepper in some Cornish rapeseed oil until an aromatic smell arose from the pan and then added the arborio rice and chicken, before adding my final ingredient of rice milk and leaving it all to simmer in my usual “one pot” approach to risotto.

The end result smelt, well, good enough to eat and I was keen to see how my young gourmand rated my first attempt at a M-friendly risotto. He said little, but the resulting request for seconds really told me everything I needed to know and so another recipe has been added to the 7Y2D repertoire!

Merlin’s Magic Wand

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Most of you will know the company Merlin Entertainments, who own and run attractions around the UK such as Alton Towers, the London Eye, Warwick Castle and Madame Tussauds, to name but a few; but how many are aware of their linked charity, Merlin’s Magic Wand? It’s certainly not an organisation I’d ever heard of and knew nothing about until the start of 2015. This charitable organisation was set up in 2008 by Merlin Entertainments to “…deliver magical experiences to seriously ill, disabled and disadvantaged children across the world…” and focus their work in 2 main areas:

  • Magical Days Out at Merlin attractions – over 170, 000 children and their families have been able to enjoy a memorable day out through the provision of entrance tickets and, where necessary, travel grants
  • Taking the Magic to the children – recognising that some children are unable to visit due to the nature of their illnesses or disabilities, Merlin has provided areas such as a “Fantastical Castle play area” in the CHASE Hospice, Guildford and a “Legoland play area” at the Kolding Sygehus Children’s Hospital in Billund, Denmark.

At the start of this year, not long after we’d arrived back home following M’s stay in GOSH for his NG-tube and elemental diet, I heard about Merlin’s Magic Wand and decided to investigate a little further. I wasn’t confident whether M would even be eligible for tickets or not, but thanks to their incredibly informative and easy to navigate website, 20150831_073635I decided to give it a go, working on the principle of nothing ventured, nothing gained. Both children are massive fans of Legoland Windsor and had been clamouring for a visit this year, so I selected that as our number 1 choice and, without saying a word to either of them, sent back the form and sat back to wait and see.

Within a couple of weeks of submitting my application form on-line, I had an e-mail to tell me we had been successful and that 4 entrance tickets would soon be winging their way to me. Unfortunately, a slight delay in their arrival meant we couldn’t use them for our Star Wars trip on May 4th, but the problems were soon resolved, the tickets arrived and I pinned them to our kitchen noticeboard, waiting for the right time to put them to good use. A busy summer has meant that finding that right time to go proved more challenging than we expected and we finally settled on the August bank holiday Monday as something of a “last hurrah” for our summer holidays and before G started her new venture of secondary school.

We set off early on that Monday morning, driving through the pouring rain, confident that, if nothing else, the park would not be too busy, or, at least, not as busy as it might have been if there’d been glorious sunshine. Our travels to Florida last year alerted us to the existence of ride access passes and we were delighted that the same exist at Legoland Windsor. Armed with a letter from our GP confirming the reasons we needed this pass, we headed to guest services as soon as we entered the park. 20150831_114557This is a “benefit” that has obviously been subject to some abuse over the years and Legoland Windsor has stringent checks in place to ensure that only those who genuinely need this assistance receive it.

Our day there was as fantastic as ever and we enjoyed all of our favourite rides (some of them twice!) as well as trying out the brand new Mia’s Riding Adventure, one that G was desperate to go on. This isn’t one for the faint-hearted and there was a slightly panicked moment when we discovered that M’s body-weight wasn’t quite enough to keep the seat back in a comfortable, but secure position for him ride. With some excellent help from the staff manning the ride, we managed to get M settled in a position that allowed him to breathe before the ride started and the screams from my excited duo began. 20150831_100610Mike watched from the sidelines as he and spinning rides really don’t get along and waved merrily to us, slightly misconstruing my attempts to flag a staff member down to help as an unusual display of my own excitement about the ride.

Disappointingly we are no longer able to eat on-site as we’ve found that the cross-contamination is too much for M’s sensitive digestive system to cope with and instead we enjoyed a rather soggy packed lunch, whilst watching both shows – the Pirates of Skeleton Bay and Lego Friends to the Rescue. The children were also able to be part of the audience volunteers at the start of each show, which they loved and which has become an integral part of any day we spend at Legoland Windsor. All in all, we had an amazing day out thanks to the generosity of Merlin’s Magic Wand. The charity depends on donations to help make these tickets available to those children who benefit from them and if you want to find out more about how you can help or show support, please visit their website:

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Cornwall restaurants – The good, the bad and the “could try harders”

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The Trewithen restaurant in Lostwithiel set such a high standard on our very first night in Cornwall that I wouldn’t blame you for thinking that the rest of the week would naturally fade into a desultory second place when it came to our meals out. However, given the extensive food restrictions that need catering for within our family, we ate extremely well and were more than pleasantly surprised by the mix of menu options that were available for us. I thought I’d give you a quick overview of the other great restaurants we visited during our holiday and what allergy-friendly options they were able to give:

The Galleon Inn, Fowey – this harbourside pub in Fowey gives generous servings of delicious pub grub and features fish and seafood on20150822_130543 both their a la carte menu and their specials board. They were able to serve safe chicken, cucumber and peas (his food challenge for the week) for M and, whilst it wasn’t clear what their other free from offerings were, we were able to order gammon, chips and peas for G, which she loved. Although the staff were friendly and helpful, we couldn’t clarify that the chips were 100% GF, so for anyone who struggles with cross-contamination issues, I would suggest ordering a different side.

Pizza Express, Falmouth – we visited the brilliant National Maritime Museum in Falmouth with G’s lovely Godmama and her family and were able to eat lunch at the Pizza Express situated across the square. We were able to order our usual allergy-friendly fare here and although the service was disappointingly slow and the food not quite as good as 20150823_163118at our local Pizza Express, we were still happy with the meal we had. A definite go-to in terms of national chain restaurants when looking for somewhere safe to eat.

Eden Project, Bodelva – following my perusal of their website and an email exchange with a very helpful customer liaison co-ordinator, we had gone well prepared with a packed lunch and range of suitable snacks for both G and M and I’m definitely glad we did. The queues in the main cafe area in the biomes were horrendously long and their staff disappointingly uninterested in speeding things up to try to reduce the waiting time. Mike and I enjoyed our tortillas and the server 20150824_171621I spoke to advised that it was possible to adapt some menu items to be both gluten- and dairy-free and I struggled to find any snacks that were readily available and obviously allergy-friendly. Given how long we did wait (close to 25 minutes for a mid-morning coffee and snack!), I’m glad we weren’t dependent on that to feed G. We loved our visit, but were disappointed by the food on offer and would take food for us all the next time.

Tate St Ives – this was the surprise success story of the week for G and we even managed an unexpected treat for M too. They had comprehensive allergen information readily available and were able to offer all of their sandwiches on GF bread. G was so thrilled, she ordered an egg mayonnaise sandwich with a helping of GF chips on the side and enjoyed every mouthful. I spotted cucumber sorbet on their dessert menu as part of a Pimms jelly extravaganza and asked if they knew what it contained.20150825_150249 The answer quickly came back from the chef that it was safe and so we were all able to enjoy a pudding. G had an orange and polenta cake that barely touched the sides as it went down and M had a couple of inquisitive mouthfuls of cucumber sorbet, although his final conclusion was that he’s not keen to try it *ever* again!

Sams, Fowey – part of a popular Cornish “chain”, perhaps best known for Sam’s on the Beach, we visited their Fowey restaurant, which I can best describe as a Cornish version of the Hard Rock Cafe! Once again, they were able to cook M-friendly chicken and cucumber, whilst G enjoyed fish and chips. Their system of no booking ahead meant we had almost an hour wait 20150825_203618for our food, but we spent it upstairs in the bar area and the time just flew by. I am not 100% certain of just how safe G’s food was, but am reliably informed that their Polkerris location can cook a mean gluten- and dairy-free pizza, an adventure for another time for us.

The Godolphin Arms, Marazion – our day out to visit St Michael’s Mount ended with a table overlooking the Mount as the sun set and we enjoyed our dinner. I knew that this restaurant could provide GF offerings, thanks to this great blog and the opportunity to give it a go and enjoy the spectacular view was too good to miss. M enjoyed a more complete dinner here as they were able to prepare rice, chicken and cucumber for him and G picked the GF burger and chips. We received great service even though the 20150828_194849restaurant was busy, but had a disappointing cross-contamination risk during dessert. Our request for lemon sorbet for M was met, but unfortunately, once he was half-way through his bowl, we discovered traces of a red sorbet mixed in with the lemon. It was immediately obvious that the kitchen staff had used the same scoop to serve his lemon sorbet, even though the serving staff had made every effort to ensure that the sorbet was safe for him. Our waiter was extremely apologetic, was very concerned about the cross-contamination risk to M, who fortunately hadn’t eaten any of the other flavour when he spotted it and spoke to the manager to ensure that the kitchen staff were reminded to be vigilant with the allergy-friendly meals.

The Malt House Harvester restaurant, Exeter – I’d been wanting to give the Harvester restaurants a try for a while and our return home gave us such an opportunity. I love the salad cart that’s available and knowing that both rice and chicken are almost staples to the menu, I felt confident that it could work. On announcing our allergy requirements on arrival, I was handed a massive and somewhat unwieldy ring binder containing their allergen information, which took me a good 10 minutes to navigate. I eventually was reassured that the chargrilled chicken breast would be fine for M and he was able to have basmati rice and cucumber to accompany it. G picked the baby back ribs with chips which appeared to be both GF and DF and enjoyed selecting her salad from the cart. The ordering process may have taken a little long due to the complexity of their allergen information, but the meals at the end made it all worthwhile.

The Tremendous Trewithen Restaurant, Lostwithiel

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We knew this year would be a very different holiday to our last one in Florida or our more regular stints in Portugal, but Mike and I were looking forward to a week off work and hopefully grabbing some last moments of sun before September arrived. As it turned out, we had far more sun than we had originally expected, or as the forecast had suggested and even managed to visit some of the beautiful Cornish beaches as well as our other planned days out. Aside from the weather and the inevitable question of whether we’d get everything in the car (we did – just), my biggest concern was whether we’d be able to enjoy some family meals out during our week away, an integral part of any of our holidays and not least because I was desperate to have some time off from the kitchen and the need to constantly find new ways to tantalise M’s temperamental taste-buds. The time taken beforehand to search out possible restaurants that would be able to cook for M and G proved to be time well-spent and we found some amazing options that we would happily recommend to anyone, food-allergies or not.

Our all-time favourite restaurant and the one we would visit again at the drop of the proverbial hat, was the truly amazing Trewithen restaurant based in Lostwithiel, the ancient capital of Cornwall. I had discovered this restaurant during one of my many sessions on Google (don’t ask me how as I’ve struggled to find that original review again!) and had started the ball rolling by sending an email enquiry to find out if they could cater for M or not.email

This was the fantastic and prompt response I received from Paul, owner and chef, and immediately prompted Mike to ring and make a reservation for our first night there.

Excited by the prospect of a meal that we were confident would be prepared with M in mind, we arrived ahead of schedule (practically unheard of in the 7Y2D household) and were seated in their charming back dining area. The restaurant is set over the 2 floors of a 17th century townhouse, which gives it a cosy atmosphere and you feel like you’re eating amongst friends. The menus arrived at our table and here was the first big tick of our evening. 20150822_190031G was presented with their Junior menu, which had been carefully annotated just for her to show which options could be made both GF and DF as she needed. As she spent time perusing the dishes, M was informed that the chef was busy preparing his dinner – a small touch, but such a thoughtful one as it helped him to feel as much a part of the dining experience as the rest of us. We were given baskets of delicious bread with a variety of butters, oil and vinegar to enjoy whilst we chose our meals and G was thrilled to receive her very own serving of GF bread and DF butter. We had taken some rice crackers for M to nibble on as we enjoyed our starters and, having been informed that they cooked with local rapeseed oil, we asked if he could have his own mini dish of rapeseed oil to dip his rice crackers into – a request that was instantly met and received his great approval.

20150822_194030To our delight, so tempted was G by the menu in front of her, she decided to try something new and picked their Tomato and Basil soup to start, followed by the GF penne pasta with a tomato sauce and goats cheese; and I don’t think I have ever seen her plate empty quite so quickly when out for dinner. M’s meal was equally successful and he enjoyed a “mountain” of rice, strips of cucumber and a beautifully marinated and succulent chicken breast. The waiting staff were knowledgable, polite and helpful throughout our meal and at no point did we feel that our requests were too much trouble for them to handle. The meal was such a success that when asked if we should come back again later in the week, M’s response was an immediate “..of course!..” Even better, we heard what has to be one of the quotes of the week from M that night in response to Mike’s question of whether he wanted to come back because it was “posh”.

“Well yes Daddy, of course. Who doesn’t like posh restaurants?“

20150826_192901Our return visit couldn’t come quick enough for our impatient duo, who asked almost every day whether tonight was “the night” for going back there and that evening didn’t disappoint either. We persuaded G to try something different and she picked GF, DF fish, chips and peas, which were declared the “most delicious ever” and was able to have dessert of DF vanilla ice-cream. For those of you battling with the need to eat dairy-free, you will understand just how excited I was to see this on their menu as we generally find the puddings are either GF or DF, rarely both and usually not something our little Miss Picky will eat. As for M, well that night he ate like a king and I still have absolutely no idea where he put it all! To accompany his plate of safe foods, the chef had also prepared him some apple ring crisps and deep-fried sage leaves and M was in seventh heaven. He not only cleared his plate, but asked for more and the kitchen was more than happy to cook another chicken breast for him as quickly as they could. 20150826_192854I had taken a dish of home-made safe apple crumble with me for M to enjoy, but had no need to produce it at the table as they had lemon sorbet on the menu, which proved safe for him to eat. Our waitress was fantastic in writing down the ingredients for us so that we could check it was 100% safe and the look on M’s face as he slowly swallowed that first mouthful was simply magical.

And really, I need say no more. The restaurant impressed us from the start with their obvious understanding of food allergies, their knowledge about cross-contamination risks and their attention to the fine details which meant both children really could enjoy an excellent 3-course meal with all the “twiddly bits” on offer too. I loved that the menu was carefully annotated to meet the food needs of every individual customer and that the ingredients in the dishes were listed, so you knew exactly what you were eating and there were no hidden extras. They happily swapped my mashed potato for rice on our second night and willingly went that extra mile when we asked if they could cook more for M. They were even happy to give me the recipe for the marinade used for his chicken, so I can attempt to replicate the dish at home. A big thanks to Paul, Claire and the rest of their team, who made our meals during that week an unforgettable experience. I don’t know when we’ll be back, but we certainly intend a repeat visit if at all possible and they well deserve the phenomenal 20 out of 10 that M awarded them!

Inspired by #GBBO

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You might have noticed the extended radio silence over the last 10 days or so as we took a much-needed week away from it all down in Cornwall and the lack of wi-fi in our lodge meant that we almost had a technology-free week too. Despite my lack of blog posts, I did manage to keep up with a current TV favourite and I’m sure I’m not the only allergy-parent out there who looks forward to a weekly dose of the Great British Bake-Off (GBBO), which has recently re-started on our screens.  I spend that hour with Mike, M and G drooling over their masterpieces, cringing over their mistakes and pondering on whether I can adapt the recipes to create my own M-friendly #GBBO-inspired entries. Our household is especially excited about the upcoming episode airing on BBC1 tomorrow night (September 2nd) as the bakers will be tackling 3 different “free-from” challenges, though I’m not sure any are as difficult as baking to suit multiple food allergies! One person I’m sure will be watching with equally avid interest is fellow EGID Mum and FABED friend, Dr Berenice Golding, so whilst I’m beavering away to pull together a plethora of posts to tell you just how fantastic our Cornish trip was, I am delighted to be able to share with you this guest blog-post written by Berenice, in which she talks about her attempts at a #GBBO-inspired free-from Madeira cake.

BGIn our house we love everything Great British Bake Off despite the fact that on a daily basis we are dealing with multiple food exclusions. Diagnosed in 2012, at the age of 12, my son is allergic to wheat, gluten, tree nuts (not peanuts but we still avoid), soya, sesame and coconut. We have many other foods we are avoiding, or trialling in small quantities such as tomato, but the list is quite long… He has also, following total food exclusions last summer when he was fed an elemental diet via a NG-tube, been put on a diet that does not include dairy, eggs and fish. Nevertheless, despite the exclusions, #GBBO inspires us as we both like to bake. In fact, baking is a must in our house as it is the only way that safe cake, as a treat, can be made available.

We have trialled dairy re-introduction to no avail, so this summer, rather than re-trialling dairy due to an impending hospital admission, I opted to trial eggs. We have managed to re-introduce small amounts of fish, but egg was my next big adventure due to his rapidly approaching 16th birthday.

Why egg you may ask?

The answer is simple, I have struggled over recent weeks and months with the absence of eggs and trying to find egg replacements that not only work, but are also free from nuts – it has been a challenge. Then, while watching the bakers produce Madeira cake on #GBBO, I was suddenly drawn towards Lemon Madeira cake as a baked egg trial and began my search for an allergy-friendly recipe.

I have a number of allergy friendly cook books; my favourite, albeit American, is by Colette Martin. I have also recently invested in a book by Pippa Kendrick following a recommendation by one of the founders of Families Affected by Eosinophilic Disorders (FABED). I also had a recipe in my recipe folder – I started compiling this when I realised that baking was a necessity and not just for fun! – by Glutafin, but because the flour they produce contains milk powder, we haven’t been able to use their flour recently and so I consulted the internet and found a recipe by Dove’s Farm. Unfortunately, the recipe contained almonds which meant that I needed to modify recipes to make something safe for my son. This is where the fun began.

11900092_10153541906468739_7334883458966317310_oMy 1st attempt, whilst smelling okay, was somewhat disastrous as I had forgotten that I was using self-raising flour and had added baking powder as I was working with the Glutafin recipe. It did not taste that nice – the texture wasn’t right – and there was no discernible crack, Mary Berry would not have been impressed. The first cake made its way to the bin quite quickly. But I persevered and my 2nd attempt was exactly what I had been hoping for – well almost – the texture was a little dry (this time I opted to trial a combination of both recipes) but once topped with icing, prepared by Benjamin, it was actually quite delicious! I still need to work on further recipe conversions as I have yet to perfect this cake and I will share the recipe once I think it is worth sharing.

My thanks go to Berenice and Benjamin for this great post. Dr Berenice Golding is a Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of Huddersfield. She has a personal and professional interest in the social, emotional and psychological aspects of food. Some of her other posts can be found here and here.

A Pizza restaurant success story

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Over the last few weeks, I’ve been blogging a lot about the new recipes I’ve been experimenting with and some fantastic restaurants we’ve found, who have been amazing at providing safe food for M. With food trials proving to be a far lengthier challenge than the medics imagined, the opportunity to gently encourage M back to enjoying eating out on occasion has been one we’ve grabbed with both hands in order to maintain some much-needed sanity and time-out from the kitchen. pizzaOur latest foray was back to an old favourite of ours, Pizza Express, as in the past 4 or so years we’ve enjoyed allergy-friendly meals out, school trips and birthday parties there. I thought it well-worth a return visit to see whether it could now meet our new and somewhat exacting requirements.

Our lunch-time adventures started with a phone-call to our restaurant of choice to see whether they would be able to cope with M’s diet or not. Whilst we don’t always phone ahead, we were going to be in a part of the city where alternative choices were not readily available and we didn’t want to be trawling the streets with 2 grumpy and increasingly hungry children in tow. Mike spoke to a very helpful woman, who was able to confirm that they had plain chicken readily available and would be able to provide the chicken and cucumber parts of the meal. Unfortunately, as we have found in other restaurants, Pizza Express couldn’t cook plain rice for M, but were more than happy for him to eat from our own stash of rice-cakes or crackers whilst the rest of the family enjoyed our lunch.

 

Armed with the reassurance we were after and having convinced a very reluctant M that we really needed to stop for lunch soon, we headed off to the restaurant. Our waitress was brilliant and didn’t bat an eyelid on hearing our requests for a goldstarsgluten-free, dairy-free American pizza with goat’s cheese for G and a plate of plain chicken and cucumber for M as well as Mike and my more normal menu selections. The plates of food arrived and my picky pair set to trying it all out. The top marks out of 10 (an unbelievable 10/10 from M), empty dishes and requests for seconds that quickly followed were a sure-fire testament to the meal itself and we are delighted to have found yet another M-friendly restaurant for us all to enjoy.

Not quite Mickey-shaped…!

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20140818_143459Around about the same time that I started fondly reminiscing about last year’s holiday to Florida, my FB timeline decided to prompt my recollections with this photo of what turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the vast array of fantastic M- and G-friendly food in Disney. These Mickey waffles were a huge part of what made our trip so successful and are one of M’s favourite memories about his first visit to “the most magical place on earth“. In fact, they were so popular that they have gained the unenviable status of one of the top 10 foods M is desperate to enjoy once he has a few more foods back in his diet. With so many of the key ingredients for your traditional waffle firmly in the “unsafe” camp, I turned my mind to what the basic ingredients of a successful waffle were and whether I could replace them and produce a waffle that might satisfy M’s longing.

I found a great recipe for egg-free waffles and, confident that I could make a replacement that would at very least look good, even if the taste wasn’t quite all it should be, I insisted on a detour during a family day out to buy my very first waffle-maker. I had previously done some research on the various options out there and once we were in-store, 20150809_184330M helped me pick which one he thought would do the best job – a combined waffle-maker, sandwich-toaster and grill! Shopping done and the day’s activities completed, we headed home and I claimed the kitchen as a child-free zone until my experimenting was done.

The first recipe I adapted produced some amazing waffles and I just wish I had a photo that captured the pure delight on M’s face when he first caught sight of his plate full of M-friendly waffles. Needless to say, he was rendered speechless – something that rarely happens as those of you who know us well will know – and he flung his arms around me, squeezing tight as he whispered “Thank you Mummy, you’re the very best Mummy in the world“. Both children declared them an instant hit and the speed at which those first 4 waffles disappeared from their plates would confirm that to be the case. Mike and I shared a fifth one between us and agreed that as delicious as they were, the rice flour had created a granular taste to the waffles, a problem that I have experienced before when baking with this tricky ingredient. 20150809_185211I have found that making a wetter mix has been key in producing a less granular cake, but couldn’t quite see how to make this work with the thicker waffle batter and the limiting factor of only a handful of safe ingredients.

Not quite 100% satisfied with my first attempt and responding to the following day’s request for “..more waffles please!.” from M and G, this time I searched for a recipe for apple waffles and adapted it to suit our allergy needs. I used some apple purée to not only flavour the waffles, but also to replace the egg and add more liquid to the batter without diluting it too much. This batch cooked as well as the first and proved to be an equal success with my discerning duo. Mike also acted as a taste-tester and reported that the granular texture was considerably reduced with the addition of the apple, though it hasn’t disappeared completely. Whilst I will continue to strive for even better rice flour waffles, for now I’m more than happy to have found a way to replicate those Mickey waffles, even if they’re not quite Mickey-shaped!