Gluten-Free Goodies

Everyone in my house is full of allergies. Joy! As such, we're quite the connoisseurs when it comes to gluten and dairy-free food. I reckon we've tried pretty much everything there is to try. Want a recommendation for nice dairy-free biscuits? Come to me! Want to know which gluten-free bread is like eating a piece of polystyrene? I'm your woman. Mourning the loss of those Tesco frozen g/f pizza bases that actually tasted like the real thing? Me tooooooo. Let's all pull sad faces together and then picket Tesco HQ to get them back in the shops.

We're well used to the utter faff that is having to shop in about six different supermarkets to get hold of the best bits. If only one of them stocked a good range! That would be far too easy, wouldn't it?

The Allergy & Free From Show was held in Liverpool last autumn and I trotted off there to gorge on FOOD I COULD ACTUALLY EAT. Not even going to apologise for the capitals there. Unless you are also a special needs food person, you won't understand how exciting this is.

Anyway, amongst many other utterly delicious things, I discovered Udi's there.



I maintain that gluten-free baking is not hard. All of my cakes are made dairy-free and most are gluten-free too and, having sneakily tested them out on the gang at work, I can report that most people don't even notice the difference until you tell them. I could never attempt this with bread products though. Gluten-free bread tends to not be very good. Yeah, it's got a lot better over the years (trust me, it used to be terrible) but you can't quite recreate that proper taste and texture when there's no gluten in it. You just can't.

Must admit that I didn't have high hopes when I toasted my first Udi's bagel.



Then I ate it. YUM! I reckon it's about 90% of the way to tasting like a normal bagel and frankly, with gluten-free bread products, that's approaching miracle status. They are genuinely delicious. We've been buying them ever since and so I was absolutely delighted when Udi's sent me an email out of the blue and asked if I wanted to try a gift hamper.




Having tried and tested most of the rest of their range, well I didn't like the breakfast bars at all but then I don't like the normal version of that sort of thing either, so I kinda expected that. The granola is fab and we've subsequently bought another of their breakfast products - toaster pastries - which have taken a little experimentation to get to the ideal heat/consistency combination but now that's cracked, we love them!

The bagel chips and muffins also get super high marks and I reckon you wouldn't notice that they weren't the real deal anyway. My tester for the cheesey products that I can't eat also reports back that they're delicious (thanks Helen!).

Double thumbs up from me!

*[]*

Thank you Udi's for the delicious goodies - always welcome! I'd been spreading the word about them before that though. A new, great, g/f d/f product is always cause for celebration!

Mmmm, Poppity

I like crisps. Crisps are goooooood.

Am I a crisp connoisseur though? Not really. Food allergies rule that out as a career option for me.

On a related note, I'd still love for someone within the food industry to explain why they feel it necessary to put milk in so many varieties of salt & vinegar crisps. Whyyyyyyyyyyy????  But I digress. I'm talking about Popchips today. These are not your standard crisp.

They do put milk in some of their flavours btw but were most excellent when it came to sending me some samples to try. I got all the varieties that I could eat and none of the ones that would make me ill, hurrah!

That meant I could carry out a serious scientific experiment (aka shovelling Popchips into my gob at a hasty rate) and I'm pleased to report that these are definitely my favourite chip of the popped variety. Much nicer than the Walkers ones, more substantial than the Sainsburys own version and they even beat out my previous favourite, the nice crunchy M&S ones. Yum!

I do like it when I discover a new favourite. The pepper ones are especially delicious. Gorgeous spicy aftertaste!

It was v. sweet of them to include this useful little clip but seriously guys, who leaves half a bag of crisps lying around? Not me! I'm guessing not any of you either.  I'll have to press it into service on something boring like cereal.

*[]*

Christmas Traditions

I'm a big Christmas traditionalist. For me it has to start early as we have events running from mid November onwards at work and they can't be escaped! I like to leave it till later at home though and as I've already mentioned on here, the tree doesn't go up till a couple of weeks before Christmas. Stuff the Coke advert: I don't start feeling properly festive until I've seen the Rotary Club Santa drive down the road.

It's all about going through the Radio Times with a highlighter pen, taking 5 minutes in the morning to sit in a dark living room and watch the tree lights twinkle, putting lashings of curly ribbon on presents, sneaking a candy cane when no-one else is looking, wearing festive odd socks and having a little cry at The Snowman.

I can't wait for it this year. Presents were all bought ages ago and wrapped last week. I've caught up with as many friends as possible before the big day. The house is so clean that I now have to sit very quietly in case I make a mess and have to do more cleaning. The big food shop was done by 7am this morning (yes, it means getting up at 5.30am but I quite like that once in a while). Yup, nothing to do now except sit back, relax, watch some Christmas films, read some Christmas books and eat mince pies.




I don't know anyone else that's ever read Holly in Love but it's the most comforting slice of 80s teen winter romance ever written and I adore it. If it wasn't so massively out of print I'd buy you all a copy.

Tucked away for a little while longer are shiny new clothes. I canvassed opinion about the following on Twitter yesterday and I'm pleased to report that most of you were either fully on board with this already or don't do it but approve of the principle: new pjs must be worn on Christmas Eve. Preferably a pretty new frock on Christmas Day as well.


*waves at Rosie and Maddie who will also be rocking these badgertastic pjs*


A sneaky peek of the pretty Christmas Day outfit I've got planned.

Things have naturally evolved a bit over the years and I'm no longer that child who can't get to sleep because she's so flipping excited. Nowadays it's more the time off work and the chance to see friends and family that I like best, along with a couple of days of serious loafing around. Six-year-old Alex hasn't entirely disappeared though - I do still get quite giddy about it all. It's the prospect of waking up to this:



And getting my two favourite things to eat:


My mother, inventor of the stuffing duck, is a genius.

We have long-standing traditions for present opening, namely open your stocking as soon as you wake up. One before breakfast present is allowed (I have a feeling this rule was invented so I could be given a book to keep me occupied till everyone else was awake) then the rest of them are opened after we've feasted on bacon butties and Buck's Fizz. One thing gets saved as an after-dinner present. It would feel a bit weird to do things differently after so many years but honestly, presents aren't the reason I love Christmas so much. I'm more excited to see how people react to what I've got them this year - I think (or should that be hope) I've picked some fab things!

I have much loafing around to do over the next couple of days and so all the gadgets are going back in their cases. Haven't scheduled any posts as I doubt people will be in a blogging or blog reading mood when there's so much else to do.

I'll be back in the New Year and I hope you all have a fabulous, fun and food-filled time over the holidays.

A Trip To Dublin

Did I mention I went to Dublin? Well I did. In *cough*early September*cough* but due to my general rubbishness at remembering to steal photos from other people, it's taken me this long to blog about it. You don't mind a delay though, do you? Holidays are great and Dublin is BRILLIANT so it's totally worth the wait.

However, hotels there are ball-breakingly expensive. The cheap hotels were still £130 a night which is madness as far as I'm concerned. I want to spend my money on doing things, not on a bed for the night. We ended up staying at a Buddhist centre (as you do) and it was great. Cheap, nice, full of super friendly people and only 10 mins on the bus from the city centre.



So, what did we do? All the cultural things!

Now I don't have any pictures of the Chester Beatty Library because photography wasn't allowed but take my word on it, it is amazing. You must go. We went twice because it was so good and so full of wondrous things that we got kicked out at closing time on our first visit, having only got round half of it. It's like rolling round in booky heaven.

Speaking of which, we also went (as part of a tour of Trinity College) to Trinity College Library to see the Book of Kells. The latter was kinda underwhelming if I'm honest, although I did very much like the Pangur Bán poem in the accompanying exhibition. However, the library itself... *drools*

I'm such a div.


Just to add to the general air of literary love, we also went to the National Library of Ireland. The reading room there is unbelievably beautiful. I want to live in it.



The W.B Yeats exhibition on the ground floor also gets at least four thumbs up from me. Donning my nerdy work hat for a second, it's one of the best pieces of interpretation I've seen in a long time. So much to see and enjoy there. I really wasn't expecting it to be so enthralling.


We also went to the theatre to see Major Barbara, squeezed in a couple of films on the Sunday when nothing else was open (The Way, Way Back and About Time), walked around a lot and consumed a lot of coffee. Naturally.

Oh and we went on a tour of the castle. That was ace too! From high Victoriana to Viking foundations, all in the one place.

Ah, Lord Uxbridge. One of my favourite historical men.




I won't pretend it was all cultural though. Any of my holidays must feature lots of food and drink. It's the law. And possibly a frivolous purchase or two.




This place is amazing.

Sorry to let the side down but I just don't do Guiness.

And to end on a high point, I also encountered a man wearing these tremendously jaunty trousers.

Apologies for the shoddiness of some of the pictures btw. Blame it on phone cameras and Ryanair. Their cabin luggage allowance is now a pathetic 10kg and I couldn't fit all my stuff and my DSLR in the bag!

Going Solo

On the list of Things I Don't Understand, why people can't just do things by themselves is right up at the top. Admittedly, lots of things are better shared (conversations, for example, do not work quite so well if there's only one of you as you tend to look like a crazy person) but doing things by yourself is so liberating. There's no drama, no compromises, no fannying around waiting for other people to make their mind up.

People always react weirdly to me saying that I've gone to the cinema or for a meal/drink by myself. Why?? I genuinely don't get it. Is it because they think I'm a billy-no-mates and pity me? Or is it because they think it's some big, bold thing to do? Cos if it's the former I actually don't give a shit what they think and if it's the latter, they're just plain wrong.

One night last week I did the following:

Went to Yo Sushi by myself.

No laughing at my inability to use proper chopsticks, eh?

Went to Primark by myself. Quickest shopping trip ever. I saw this Kermit onesie in the window and it was so GLORIOUS I couldn't resist. Bish, bash, bosh: in and out in 5 minutes.

Went to see In A World by myself.

Had a glass of wine by myself and read a book.

(see the top photo. Marvel at my first-generation Kindle.)


Went to see Rush by myself.

I didn't do any of it because no-one would go with me or because I was being some kind of brave soldier. I did it cos I wanted to and that was the important thing that night. Pleasing me, not anyone else.

Plus, and I really can't stress this enough, especially for those of you who might be reluctant to try the going solo thing, no-one gives a flying fuck that you don't have a boyfriend/best friend/relative/random stranger with you. Why would they? Doing things by yourself is not weird. Especially not the cinema. You're sitting in the dark! No-one can see you!

Eating Out in Liverpool: Free State Kitchen

Liverpool is great.  You all know this, right?  Well, should you need persuading further, I've decided to start featuring some of the good things about the city - shops, restaurants, things to see and do.  I'm guilty of writing lots about holidays I go on and city breaks I take but my beloved home city never seems to get the same attention.  This will change!

Liverpool One has a lot of big chain restaurants but other than Yo Sushi and Wagamama, I tend not to bother eating there much.  Most of the interesting places are at the other end of town and there are loads of new restaurants popping up around the city at the moment.  I've been hearing good things about Free State Kitchen recently so it was top of my list to try. First impressions were good! Very welcoming staff, nice location and generally a nice vibe about the place.

HONK!

The benefit of being a few minutes walk out of the main city centre streets is that you also get a space like this:

It's not quite finished yet - they were busily watering the new turf while we were there - but it's going to make the most amazing garden space this summer.  We're due a proper summer for once and I plan on taking advantage of and eating/drinking outdoors wherever possible!

Papa Odd Socks (sporting a Frank Zappa tshirt) accompanied me on this visit. 

So, what did we eat?

Maryland crab cakes. They were delicious (and I don't even like seafood that much, so that speaks volumes).

Sweetcorn fritters. Yum!

The Scooch. Which I did order without cheese but the eagle eyed amongst you may spot a layer of it in there. They were super apologetic and made me a fresh one in double quick time, so that's fine by me! It was really, really tasty and those chips were divine.

Free State Dog.

Blueberry cheesecake. Dad ate both of those, not me (due to my stupid dairy allergy) and good noises were made, especially about the cheesecake which he proclaimed to be exceptionally nice.

It wasn't expensive either. I'll definitely be going back! 

If you want to pay them a visit, Free State Kitchen is just off Hope Street, near the Metropolitan Cathedral.