Twice as Nice...1 ingredient, 2 ways. Edition 2: Pumpkin

Pumpkins. As a nation us Brits probably only encounter a pumpkin when Halloween rolls round and even then I doubt many of us eat the innards after we've finished hacking a face into one. I know Pumpkin Pie is a Thanksgiving staple in the U.S but we don't have anything like that here and I think a lot of people are a bit daunted about where to start with a pumpkin and what to do it, and most of the time pumpkins are generally bigger than the International Space Station and unless you have a meat cleaver it's a bit of a battle trying to slice them to bits.

Anyway, there's a pumpkin farm in Slindon close to where we live and every Halloween that put on a massive display of all their different breeds of pumpkins, and it really is a bit mental how many different types of pumpkins there are..although I kept walking past a grey coloured one which I thought looked a bit rank but which then turned out to be a cat. For anyone as ignorant as me, pumpkins are part of the squash family and they literally do come in giant mahusive size and teeny tiny size. We chose a fairly small medium sized stewing pumpkin (the green one) and a smaller 'onion' pumpkin (the orange one). 

My dad has been a member of the British Heart Foundation for almost two years now and every quarter they send out a newsletter with loads and loads of heart healthy recipes (if you have heart problems or know someone who does get yourself signed up to be a member because they're a brilliant charity) and in the last issue there were a couple of recipes Dad and I thought we could tweak and change so they were gluten-free and utilised the pumpkins we'd scouted. Sorted.

Ingredients

• 'Onion' pumpkin or small squash of similar size (around 6oz/175g)
• 1Tbsp of rapeseed or olive oil
• A small onion 
• 1 Tsp of ground cumin
• 2 Eggs
• 2oz Of feta cheese crumbled (or Cheddar grated)
• 100ml milk (I used semi skimmed)
• 1 Pack of Dietary Specials Shortcrust Pastry or if you fancy making your own pastry here's my recipe
• Pinch of paprika 
• Salt and pepper to season

 Extras

• 1 cupcake tray or if you want one big pie a flan tin
• Rolling pin
• Baking parchment
•  A big baking tray
• A wicked sharp knife

Method

• Pop your oven up to around Gas mark 5 and grease your baking tray/tin
• Roll out your pastry fairly thin and then use it to line the tray, before lining each with some baking parchment and weighing it down with baking beans or rice. Pop in the oven and blind bake for around 8-10mins then remove from the oven and leave to one side.
• Whack your oven up to gas 7 and start chopping your veg. The pumpkin/squash needs to be deseeded,skinned and then diced up to roughly the size of a sugar cube. Repeat with the onion but dice it to half the size of the pumpkin.
• Throw the onions and pumpkin in a bowl with the oil and the spices and give it a good mix so its all well coated in the oil before you scatter it on your baking tray. Pop the lot in the oven, it should take around 20minutes to cook and you'll need to give it a bit of a stir and poke about half way through. Turn the oven down to gas 5 again.
• Spoon the veggie mix into the tart cases (removing the parchment first!) and crumble a small amount of cheese onto each tart
• In a bowl whisk the eggs and milk together and the pour an even amount of the milk/egg mixture over the top of the veg mix.
• Pop the tarts in the oven for around 15-20mins, they shouldn't take any longer than that because they're so tiny so keep a good eye on them. They'll be set and the pastry should be starting to golden when they're ready. 
• Take them out the oven and wait until they've cooled down a tad before you try and fish the tarts out of the tray.
• Warning: These are deceptively moreish, make and eat at your own peril!

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp of olive oil 
• 2 white medium onions
• 1lb/450g of pumpkin (or butternut squash)
• 1 1/2 pints of veggie stock
• 2 large sticks of celery
• 2 Tsp of ground cumin
• 2 Tsp of ground coriander
• creme fresh (optional)

Extras

• Food processor or blender
• Large baking tray
• Big frying pan

Method

• Peel and deseeded your pumpkin/squash and chop up into cubes, then pop in the oven at around Gas 6 for around 20minutes until soft.
• Chop up your onions and celery, slug your oil into the frying pan and then throw in your onions and celery and cook until softened. Add your spice and let the whole lot stew for about a minute before adding the pumpkin and stock. 
• Bring to the boil and then turn down to simmer, pop a lid on the pan and cook down for around 20-25minutes, giving it a poke every now and then.
• Once cooked, throw the whole lot into the blender and whizz up until completely smooth and pureed. 
• The soup can be frozen and lasts for about 3 months in the freezer (bonus) but if you want some then and there, pop however much soup you'd like in a pan and heat gently until hot.
• Plop in some creme fresh or enjoy sans creme.

For the original recipes and more recipes ideas visit the British Heart Foundation

Dear Diary

I haven't done a self indulgent update/diary post for yonks have I? This is either indicative of my rather uneventful life or my bone idleness. I prefer you believed the latter!

First off...how do we all like the new look of things around here? I finally got round to putting up the header my gorgeous Skye designed for me a few months back, and I love it. Remember this gorgeous little cupcake cross stitch Skye did for me a while back? Well she's only gone and opened her own online shop i am hand-made stuffed with loads of gorgeous cross stitches (and loads of other lovely things in the pipeline) everything is on sale at the moment so check it out for perfect stocking fillers.

It's a bit of a work in progress as far as the blog makeover is concerned, I wanted to get the whole lot done at once but I've not be terribly well again so I've had to do it in drips and drabs when I've felt well enough, plus I'm not exactly what you would call a whizz with the HTML so sometimes I find it as hard going as my gran finds trying to get out of a beanbag, but I thought my little old blog deserved some TLC after making the Cosmo Blog Awards shortlist!

Ruby over at Rubelle's Moon is giving herself the ultimate Gluten-Free Challenge of trying to cook various gluten-free recipes...kudos to Ruby though, she's doing some tricky things I have never attempted like puff pastry and naan bread. I challenged her too make gluten-free bagels, and gave her my mincemeat recipe shes making as part of her challenge. Shes lovely so go check out her blog and give her loads of support and encouragement!


Caleigh from Gluten Freek has organised a gluten-free 12 days of Christmas and asked myself and a few other gluten-free blogger's to be involved. the premise being that we all cook something different on each of the 12 days. I called dibs on the Gingerbread recipe which coincides nicely with my own Christmas challenge...last year it was to make my own mincemeat with the ultimate intention to whip up gluten-free mince pies for the first time ever...this year I'm attempting a gluten-free gingerbread house. I'm both excited and absolutely bricking it...I don't possess the gentlest of touches so the likely hood that i muck the house up on the first few attempts by putting a finger through the roof or snapping a wall in half out of sheer excitement is very high.

I've created a new page on the blog which is dedicated to readers pictures of my recipes. So if anyone has had a go at any of my recipes and has any snaps do pass them along and I'll whack you up in the hall of fame 'Your Katie-boo Bakes and Makes' what a snazzy page name, eh? Email me at thekatieboobaker@hotmail.co.uk or drop me a tweet @katieboobaker .

A few weeks ago we got a 14week old kitten from the Charity Worthing Cats Protection League-although with this little physco cat it's us that needs protecting more than him. He will eat anything, chase anything and hang off anything. He launches himself at your pj toggles and chews on any stray wisps of hair escaping my pony tail. We literally haven't a clue what the crapping Nora we're going to do at Christmas when the little bugger is left alone with the tree or presents. He's scales the curtains like a commando and uses my room like an obstacle course and I can imagine him mulling over the Christmas tree as some sort of challenge he must complete, like a kitty Everest of sorts. Christ.

Anyway. This has turned out to be a rather wordy post and its going to be rather picture heavy too, many apologies. I shall hopefully be back tomorrow with a Twice as Nice post.

Bought various winter woollies to keep the cold out. Dietary Specials kindly sent me some of the new recipe frozen goodies to try out and I can confirm they were all very yummy. I've started drawing again in an attempt at diverting my attention when The Other Bowel Problems are causing me pain, it isn't always ideal especially when all I want to do is lay down but its helping.

Sorted my baking cupboard out in an attempt at order before the Xmas baking rush is upon me. I'm living off coffee and fruit tea's at the moment with it being so cold. Been trying to sort out my recipe books and order them but I'm rapidly running out of bookshelf space.

Sainsburys' very nicely sent me a selection of the new items from the Free From range, reviews coming soon! Enjoying finding gluten-free goodies, loving this g/f cereal, miso soup and taco trays.

My gorgeous bracelet from Becky as my consolation prize for not winning the Cosmo blog awards! Keeping my hot water bottle topped up in this weather and while I've been poorly and spraying my pillows with this sleep therapy spray to help me relax at night. I've been flicking through my Kath Kidson 'Sew' book for pressie ideas to make for my friends.

Found a lovely frame for my lovely Flo print from Natasha at The Secret Tea Party, discovering gluten-free chips are available at my local chippie ALL THE TIME and once a month you can get g/f onion rings,sausages and fish! Here's Sleeping Physco himself. Finally getting film for my Diana.

Mum bought me this a few weeks ago after I made the Cosmo blog shortlist, the F got bent after the whole thing fell off the top of my wardrobe and onto her head.

Twice as Nice...1 ingredient, 2 ways. Edition 1: Pastry

Another new feature I've dragged out for the depths of my imagination (which, judging by my groundbreaking titles is more like a puddle than a never ending abyss of creativeness).
As you probably gathered from the highly innovative concept, each edition will feature one ingredient used two different ways. The two recipes featured here came about after I was sent the Dietary Specials new recipe Shortcrust Pastry.
I must preface this now by saying this is NOT a sponsored post, I just really love this product. In fact I'd go so far as to say its probably in my top three of favourite gluten-free products ever. Not only because it tastes great, but because it saves me from the colossal ball-ache of making pastry from scratch. Plus you can freeze it until you need it. AND you can roll it out without the whole lot falling apart and sticking to the rolling pin, making you want to throw yourself on the floor in a grown woman tantrum. In short, I am a slut for this pastry.
The first recipe is one that I created when trying desperately to think of something with strawberries in as my recipe that could be made for a Breast Cancer Care Strawberry Tea Party. I wanted something (other than the run of the mill cupcakes) that anyone hosting a party might fancy rustling up.
I don't like to blow my own trumpet, but this recipe is one of my most genius ideas to date. Not genius in a MENSA kind of way, but ye gads its ruddy bloomin' scrummy.
I'll be honest and say the strawberry curd is a wee bit of arsing around, but I promise its so very worth it that it could be sponsered by Loreal.
The second recipe is for a sweet onion tart adapted from an ancient recipe I picked up in Waitrose when I was at uni in Sheffield.
Tarts and quiches with a bit of salad are so nice this time of year around the end of summer and unless your Mrs or Mr Cast Iron Guts you'll never eat a whole tart all at once, so you can pop it in your lunchbox or have it warm for your tea the next day. Economic, no? George Osbourne could learn a thing or two from me.Fact.

 Ingredients

• Nice big wedge of butter (around 25g)
• 2 Large red onions
• 1 Large white onion
• 200g Dietary Specials Shortcrust Pastry (take out a few hours in advance to defrost)
• 330ml Creme fraiche (go lite if your counting the cals)
• 3 Eggs (I use free-range)
• Generous pinch of nutmeg
• 15-20g Chives
• 150 Cheese (Emmental is ideal, but a mild Cheddar works just as well)

 Extras

• Quiche or flan tin
• Rolling pin
• Small sprinkle of plain flour for dusting
• Baking beans or something to weigh down the parchment during blind baking

Method

• Throw the butter to melt in a nice big frying pan. Get a sharp knife (mind fingers!) and chop the white onion up finely, then slice the red onions up thinly. Pop the lot in the pan and cook gently over a low heat for around 30-40mins. Give them a stir every now and then. 
• When the onions are soft and starting to go all lovely and caramelised take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool.
• Whack your oven up to gas 5. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll out your pastry and use to line your tart tin. Use a bit of parchment to line the pastry and pop in a few baking beans or some rice and blind bake for 10mins.
• Take the tin from the oven and take out the parchment and baking beans and pop the back in the oven for 5minutes, it should colour slightly.
• Get yourself a big ol' bowl and pop in the creme fraiche, eggs and the pinch of nutmeg. Use a pair of scissors snip the chives into the bowl, season everything with salt and pepper and spoon in the cooked onions and around half of the cheese. Make sure everything is mixed thoroughly and pour the lot into the pastry case and scatter over the rest of the cheese.
• Return the filled pastry case to the oven and bake until golden and set and the mixture no longer has a wobble. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5minutes before you eat it or tuck in when its cold. Grab a fork, a glass of Chablis and tuck in.Yummers.

   Ingredients

• 250g Strawberries
• 150g Caster sugar
• 2 Eggs and 2 egg whites (I use free-range)
• 60g Butter
• 200g Dietary Specials Shortcrust Pastry (take out of the freezer in time to defrost)

    Extras

• Electric whisk
• Tart/flan tin
• Baking parchment
• Baking beans or rice/lentils
• Rolling pin

     Method

• Crank your oven up to gas 5. Lightly flour your worktop and get to work kneading the pastry for a few minutes and then roll out using a floured rolling pin. Line a tart/flan tin with the pastry and then line the pastry with some baking parchment and throw in the baking beans or rice.
• Pop the pastry in the oven. After around 10mins take it out and remove the parchment and beans and return it to the oven for another 5-7mins. It should be slightly browned but not drastically different in colour. Leave somewhere to cool while you get on with the curd.
• Lop your strawberries tops off and halve them, popping them in a decent sized pan with a few tbsp's of cold water over a medium heat.
• Keep the pan at a simmer for 5minutes or until your strawb's are soft. Transfer the strawb's from the pan into a sieve over a clean bowl (must be heatproof) using a slotted spoon. 
• Get yourself a metal spoon and push your strawb's through the sieve. Add the pulp to the strained strawb syrup left in the pan. 
• Next you need to make yourself a Bain-Marie which is a beyond preposterous way of saying 'bowl over pan of water'. You will need a bowl that fits into your pan without touching the cm or two of water that's in the bottom. 
• Bring the water to a simmer over a medium heat and add 50g of sugar, the eggs (beaten before hand) and butter to the bowl and give it all a proper good stir and keep stirring gently and continuously for about 10minutes.
• Crank the heat up and keeping stirring for another 8-10minutes.Stirring, I know, can get beyond boring...don't be tempted to stop because it will curdle and then you'll be so vexed you'll throw the lot at the wall.
• When the mixture starts to thicken, take off the heat and pour immediately into the pastry case and set aside while you make the meringue.
• Get yourself an OCD clean bowl and make sure your whisk is spanking clean too (any grease etc will stop the meringue from rising, and if you stopped stirring when I told you not to with the curd, your already going to be cross without flat meringues).
• Separate your remaining eggs and plop the whites into the bowl. Using an electric whisk (or a hand whisk if your a martyr to the cause) beat the eggs whites on a medium speed until stiff and foamy. 
• Add a tbsp at a time of the remaining 100g of sugar and continue to whisk it all until the meringue is very stiff, white and glossy. You can  risk it for a biscuit and try the old 'bowl over the head' trick if you want, but if its forming peaks I'd pass on the biscuit risking!
• Spoon the meringue over the curd in the pastry case, make sure you can't see any of the curd.
• Pop back in the oven for 8-10minutes, the meringue should be slightly golden on top. Leave for a few minutes to cool before eating, or gobble it down directly from the oven and burn your entire digestive tract. Claim ownership over this recipe when people tell you how tummy gurgling awesome it is...I'll let you just this one time.

Channel 4 Food

If you follow me on twitter you will have probably seen me babbling on repeatedly about this over the weekend so I shan't hold it against you while you tune out the next few sentences!

So, very recently I was contacted by Channel 4 Food and asked if I would like to be featured on their blog about  gluten-free and allergy friendly food blogs and websites. Obviously I said yes (as if I'd say no!) and the feature went live last Friday, all very exciting non?

I use Channel 4 Food's website a lot so it was beyond exciting to be asked, but to be called witty (By CHANNEL 4 no less) almost made my head rotate at great speed a la Beetlejuice. It was also totally eye popping to be dubbed one of the best gluten-free blogs, as hard as I work and as many hours I put in on my blog, I never believed for a ruddy second that I was on a par with some of the other amazing gluten-free blogs out there so it was all very humbling.
Yet again I'm feeling so very grateful for the opportunities my blog has afforded me, especially after a slow couple of months recently where  the frequency of my posts have been concerned.
I just want to take a moment just to thank Becky and everyone at Dietary Specials for their support over the past year. They really are an awesome bunch and a great company, I'm not sure my blog would have got off the ground if it wasn't for them championing me from the start.
If you'd like to have a nosey at the Channel 4 feature click here there's 9 other brilliant blogs featured which all deserve a follow so go and peruse at your leisure.

On to even more shameless self promotion...

The Cosmo Blog Awards 2011 are coming up and it would be super duper ace if you could vote for me on their site under the category Health, Diet and Fitness.If I win (not very likely but still) I shall keep you all in cupcakes for a year, or failing that I'll dish out some hugs. Bet you can't resist now, eh?

Thanks for all the positive feedback from the Speedy Sides Feature, if you have any speedy side recipes you think would be suitable to be featured email me and let me know I'm always on the look-see for recipes, and don't be shy, I'm like a dopey Labrador and not in the least bit vicious. Have a fab week, it's almost hump day! (as in the middle of the week, not the other...).

Welcome to Bad-Blogger-Ville. Population:1

Hello there my lovelies!
I really am the blogger of broken promises aren't I? Annoyingly I can only blame part of my absence on the shocking service provided by Google Blogger recently (no signing in for 4 days anyone?).
Although I am not as one anon suggested 'a lazy bitch', I have had a lot of difficulty getting myself motivated in the face of The Other Bowel Problems and it's attendant miseries of late. Believe me when I say, no-one gets more annoyed when I don't post than me. And I'm mean to me.
I love my blog and I love writing it, I've put a lot of the proverbial blood, sweat and tears into it's content over the past year and I really am massively grateful for the opportunities it has afforded me, the people it has bought into my life and the outlet it provides me when things are difficult and the outlook is less than rosy (more a murky brown sometimes.Yum).

Anyway.

Hooray and Thank-you, I reached 100 followers on Google. Gaining readers and followers has been a steady process and I'm grateful for everyone that reads, follows and comments and to those who big up this blog. Although I don't rate my blog in terms of how many people are following me it's nice to know that folks enjoy what I write and like my recipes.

Nothing terribly exciting has been happening...oh, apart from me being featured IN A MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE MAJOR GLUTEN-FREE COMPANY DIETARY SPECIALS. Sorry, got a bit carried away there for a minute (be glad you missed me strutting around and getting my gargantuan head stuck in doorways and the like). For anyone that missed my star turn, here it is for you to peruse at your leisure. Muchos gracias to the ever lovely Becky and Michelle for asking me to do the reviews in the first placed, I loved every minute and thank-you for the huge parcel of goodies you sent my way, it thawed the icicles of my stone cold heart and bought a tear to my bone dry eyes. It also fed me for a week.

I got to spend a few marvelous days house sitting with Mr. Katie-Boo while my parents were away in Rome. Not sure if it constitutes house sitting when it's your own home, but we had a lovely time none the less. It was touch and go whether the 'rents would actually make it to Italy because in some vomit-inducing-Home-Alone style nightmare their alarm failed to go off. When 4am rolled round (a good hour after they were due to get up) my mother could be heard screaming 'WE SLEPT IN' at the top of her lungs. If you heard something that sounded like a banshee screaming in the early hours of last Tuesday, now you know what it was.

For now I'm going to refrain from making any promises about blog posts and upcoming recipes (mainly so I don't annoy myself more than anything) but I'm going to try my best to post as and when I can. I know that's irritatingly vague but unfortunately while The Other Bowel Problems ride shotgun, this blog and many other things in my life have to take a back seat while I try to get better both physically and emotionally. I hope you all understand and will bear with me for the time being.

Teenage Dream

Hello my Katie-Boo Babes!
Long time no see. I've been a bad blogger again. Although for good reasons this time other than The Other Bowel Problems (which are more bain of my life than mere problem at the moment.
Did anyone see a certain Miss Katie-Boo in the Dietary Special's e-newsletter last week? I got a mention for my Dietary Specials/Co-Op post that I did last week. It was quite exciting seeing my name in print(ish).
I've been out and about, despite feeling rough, visiting a few restaurants for another project coming up soon, and I've been rushing around with a Biro in my top knot screaming 'I've got a deadline!' to an  audience of my 3 cats and dog.
There have been some paranormal happenings happening at casa de Kate. Gary the Ghost has morphed from a mild mannered Casper like chap into a raging violent poltergeist. Pictures and the like have been flying off the wall and smashing, and I've taken to sleeping with my hardback copy of Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince under my pillow as its the closest thing to a weapon I have.
Wednesday was mine and Stevie's (The Boyf's) 6 year anniversary. I really have him to thank/blame for my fairly recent interest in food and baking, after feeding and cooking for me for three years at uni he graduated, leaving me to fend for myself thus forcing me to cook (direct any hate mail his way!). He's also put up with many a gluten-free induced tantrum over the years and has trudged around various cities and towns with me to find places to eat while I've wailed, 'I can't eat another jacket potatoooooooe!'. He really should be nominated for the New Years honour list.
I'm in the process of making 'labels' which will be on all my recipes to indicate whether they're gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or low fat. I was also thinking of putting easy to hard ratings on all the recipes too, what do you guys think? I've also been having a rethink about the photos that accompany the recipes, would you like to see pictures of recipes in stages? I like to think my recipes are pretty straight forward but I'm more than happy to do photos of the process as well as the finished product, I just worry it would make for a rather picture heavy post. Let me know your thoughts on it.
Tomorrows recipe is a cracker, I know I say this about every recipe but this one is an all round winner, plus it'd be something Mum's up and down the country would appreciate come Mothers Day, so stay tuned.
I'll leave you for now with a few pictures of me and The Boyf through the years. Baking related it ain't..vomit inducing it could quite possibly be.

L-R 2007, 2007, 2005, 2010, 2006.

Dietary Specials at The Co-op

6 years on from my Coeliac diagnosis the one thing I still um and ah over is mealtimes.
In a perfect world I’d be Jamie Oliver-ing it in the kitchen getting knife happy with exotic looking veg and cooking everything from scratch . This however, is not a perfect world and I don’t have the face shape or bone structure to pull off Jamie Oliver's hair, and the most exotic veg in my local green grocers is some questionably shaped carrots and swede.
On the days when you’ve got in after dropping an all time record of 7pint glasses at the pub, or tripped an old lady up whilst showing her the cod liver oil, or a day when you hoovered your own skirt up in the Henry Hoover and flashed your knickers to a line of waiting traffic outside the shop (just a few examples of the stressful working days I’ve had in various employments) the last thing you want to do is go out of your way to pick up a quick dinner at the Big Supermarket.

And by Jove that will not be me anymore (or you either if you have a local Co-Op) because my newly appointed Co-Op mere sneezing distance from my house will now be stocking various frozen delights from the Dietary Specials range. Yes, my friends I’m now one of those people who can say ‘yeah, I think I’m just going to pick up a pizza on my way home from work’… I will be a NORMAL person (well, y’know as normal as a nut like me can get). Its all very well and good cooking everything from scratch and yes sometimes I’m massively smug about it, but I want to be able to get home from a stressful shopping trip (during which I couldn’t find a)anything I wanted and b)my mate found everything she did) and pop something easy in the oven while I chill out on the sofa in my scruffs with the best of ‘em.
As well as the Margarita Pizza, the Co-Op will also be stocking my all time favourite and lunch box lovely the Sausage Rolls and also the never be beaten Yorkshire Puddings which as an honouree Yorkshire lass myself I can vouch are A-mazing!
I've said it once, and I'll say it again it ain't all about the biscuits and cupcakes, it's brilliant to see meal options locally available from Dietary Specials. Bon appetit!

Check out Dietary Specials site To find your nearest Co-Op stocking these goodies.

"I'm ready for my close up Mr De Mille"

Alright my lovers?
I have yet again been in another Other Bowel Problem's induced blogging hiatus. With all the appointments, procedures, medications and jabs I've been feeling rather uninspired and 'A Girl's Guide..' has suffered considerably as a result. So, many apologies and air kisses for the absence.
Nothing particularly exciting has happened since the last time I posted, apart from my turning 26. Luckily I look like a cabbage patch doll and haven't aged a day since the age of 13 so turning 26 is nothing but a number to me since I get asked ID for lottery tickets and can get cheap fare on the bus thanks to my doughy cheeks and woefully ignorant bus drivers in the South. Thank-you for all the birthday messages and tweets I had a lov-er-ly day and was spoilt rotten.
The day after Valentines day I had to go to hospital for another colonoscopy (which to those not in the know, is a camera on the end of a glorified hose pipe that they put where the sun doesn't shine) so my consultant could have an up close and personal butchers at The Other Bowel Problems.
So Valentines day was spent drinking bowel prep with is a nice way of saying Super-Duper strength laxative.
Along with The Tweenies, Westlife and that scary Evian advert with the babies on roller skates, Picolax (the official name for the bowel prep I have) can be categorised under the heading of The Work of the Devil. Although admittedly it wasn't as bad this time round as it has been previously.
Typically I'm never lucky enough to have a marginally OK Picolax experience and get away with it and I knew my body would compensate me by making it nigh on impossible to get an IV in.  Two nurses tried and then sent in the big guns in the form of Gavin the gastro registrar and even he was flummoxed (poor devil). He fannied about for a while, digging around in my hands and arms like he was looking for The Lost Treasure of Atlantis, pausing every now and then to wipe his brow and sip a Red Bull. Finally he went in the underside of my wrist, which even though I'm not scared of needles or being cannulated made me want to be sick in his lap. As he was poised needle in one hand my wrist gripped in the other, it was all I could do not to leg it out of the endoscopy unit, hospital gown flapping in the wind and my bare bum exposed to all and sundry.
Thankfully after my cocktail of pethidine and an unspecified sedative (neither shaken nor stirred) I had a fairly good doze only waking up a couple of times as Dr D wove the Kodak Camera From Hell round my colon.
Moving on.
Everyone in my household forgot that it was pancake day on Tuesday and when we remembered none of us could muster up the enthusiasm to cook them, so we had our pancake day this morning. A few people have asked me what pancake recipe I use and to be honest in the past I've always used an old recipe from Good Housekeeping with a few of the ingredients tweaked for my G/F purposes. However I found a yummy sounding recipe in Delicious magazine that I wanted to try.
Now, I believe that you are either a good pancake maker or not, there's no in between. While I consider myself a good pancake maker, I'm not a very good tosser (ahem) I do admire people who have the knack of tossing pancakes but the reality is if I attempted such showmanship I'd end up with red hot oil in my face and 3rd degree burns. I know this recipe is a bit belated,but I think it's good to have a few basic recipes in your arsenal that you can use whatever the occasion.
Glutafin have invited me Gluten Free World Days in Southampton in June, I've never been to a gluten-free food/trade type show before so I'm quite looking foward to it, I'm also very excited about meeting my pal Becky from D/S at last. Is anyone else going? Let me know, I'd love to meet any and all of my blogging lovelies!
I'll leave you with a few pics from the past couple of weeks. I've decided to give up on my 365 project and just post pictures in general posts instead of under a separate link. I can never seem to find something different to take a photo of everyday and I more often then not totally forget to take my picture for that day.
Hope you all had a lovely jubbly weekend!

The Pain In The Arse IV. 2 seconds after this was taken my Dad got a gob full from a jobsworth nurse who told him off for taking a picture, 'for confidentiality reasons'..its MY hand lady!

My much hyped new electric blanket.Oh yeah.

Pretty cupcake notelets.

The big 2-6.

My pretty new bed. Thanks Grandad ;) x

Birthday cake

Pretty birthday roses from Tasha

New bedding (H&M home) and pretty Rose garland (Sass&Belle via Amazon).

I ♥ Mince Pie's

An ability to produce homemade mince pie's is a skill in other people that I greatly admire, and at the start of the year I decided I wanted to be one of these clever people and endeavoured to make my very own mince pies, from scratch, from the pastry to the mincemeat, every last bit of it would be made by my own fair hands. I talked about the hitch I had with the mincemeat, but luckily I found a Gluten-Free mincemeat recipe (god bless Nigella) which I made at the very start of November, and finally this week I decided the time was right to unite mince with pie and bake a batch. Now, while I used my own pastry for the first batch, I wanted to test the Dietary Specials roll out pastry (which is AMAZING by the way and everyone should buy it) so the pictures here are with the ready made pastry. Should you want to make your own pastry click here for the amounts, ingredients and method. I really won't blame you if you want to use the ready made stuff, pastry, especially gluten free pastry is a colossal ball ache, throw in the pressures and tensions of Xmas you might be hitting the mulled wine at 10am.

Ingredients
Makes 32 pies

• Home made or ready made pastry.
• Jar of home made or shop bought mince meat (if your buying in remember to check the label for gluten)
• 1-2 Tsp's icing sugar
• 1-2 Tsp's cinnamon
• I Egg
• Round and star or heart cutters
• 12 Hole cake tray

Method

• Whack your oven up high to Gas 7.
• Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with some plain gluten free flour and roll out your pastry, fairly thin but not drastically so, if you can see your boyfriend through it when you hold it up its probably a tad too thin.
• Cut out 12 rounds with your circular cutter, (I usually use a medium sized tumbler) and then mould gently into the holes of your cupcake tray, don't be too over zealous moulding them in or it will be nigh on impossible trying to take them out once they're cooked.
• Next spoon around a teaspoon and a half of your mincemeat mix into the pastry rounds you've just moulded.
• If you want your mince pies to have 'lids' you'll need to cut our a further 12 rounds and 'glue' them into place with some egg wash. If your making heart of star topped mince pies then cut out 12 of whichever your making and gently place them on top of your mincemeat, giving the a brush with your egg wash.
• Pop in the oven for about 10minutes, I find the ready made pastry doesn't take quite as long as the homemade kind, and will burn quickly if you don't keep an eye on it, so keep checking your pies every now and then.
• As soon as they're cooked take them out of the oven and then remove the pies from the tray straight away, if you don't they'll carry on cooking in the tray, and burn and go all horrible and bitter and you don't want that now do you?
• When the pies are cooled sprinkle with a little bit of icing sugar and weeny bit of cinnamon. 
• Enjoy with an Eggnog while you write your Christmas cards and misspell the same persons name 4 times and have to rewrite the card again. And again.

Katie-Boo k

 

Ha Ha's and Doo Dah's.

Yesterday my cousin and I ventured into Brighton for a pre-Xmas shopping trip, which quite frankly we must have been bonkers to do since the wind chill coming in off the sea was like minus a million or something stupid. We had parked on the top floor of The Highest Car Park know to man, and I literally thought I would be able to snap my fingers off they were that cold, blue and lifeless.
I Managed to sneak in a few cheeky Eggnog Lattes from S-Bucks, although half of it ended up down the sleeve of my coat when I was trying out the Strobe Cream in Mac. We had a yummy Gluten-Free lunch in Ha Ha Bar which was lovely and it looked so pretty in there with all the Christmas lights and the huge chandeliers. Shame the service was crap, I wanted to leave a good tip mainly because the waiter looked like Ryan Reynolds, but I was loathe to leave one when the service was so bleeding awful.
There's this lovely chocolate shop near the Laines in Brighton called ChoccyWoccyDooDah, and in the window they had this massive reindeer which we are still undecided as to whether it was a huge cake or made out of chocolate, if it was chocolate I want to know where you can buy a slab of chocolate that huge!

Picture via Facebook (mine was rubbish!)

Today I made marshmallows, which was majorly exciting. As with everything I've never done before I slotted making marshmallows into the 'gotta be very hard' category. But it was so easy and I felt dead clever, like I'd had a hand in building the pyramids or something equally as epic. I'm just waiting for the mixture to set so I can slice it all up and then I'll post the recipe.
I've done that really daft thing of believing this weeks horoscope in Heat. Apparently I'll give myself too much too do and will work myself to the bone and to a frenzy trying to get various things done for Christmas. And I have, I actually have done that, I've not even written my cards, I've only wrapped The Boyf's presents and I haven't even finished buying the rest of my Xmas presents yet or finished doing the ones I'm hand making, but then knowing this I've been fannying about making marshmallow, swanning off to Brighton shopping and reading Marie Claire while I watch Glee.
I forgot to say at the end of the last post (the FAQ guide) a big thanks to Becky who as always gave me some great suggestions and comments on the post.
Also, while I'm on the subject of gratitude I'd just like to say a big Thank-you to everyone who commented, tweeted or emailed me regarding the FAQ, I'm glad everyone took it in the light hearted manner in which it was intended and that it was actually of some use!
I know I promised a snowy days cupcake recipe, but the pictures I took were really bad as it was in the evening and the light wasn't my friend, so unless someone specifically wants the recipe I won't be posting it, but leave me a comment if you do.
I was having a flick through my holiday pictures from Florida last year, and found a picture I took in the Ye Olde Christmas Shop at the Magic Kingdom, I've got it as my wallpaper now, but I thought id share it on here because its so christmassy and festive.
Also, the hour is nigh for Mince pie making time to commence. My mincemeat has been stewing away in it's jar since the start of November and at the weekend it will get its debut in my first ever mince pies, the recipe of which will be going up on Sunday, and the marshmallow one will go up tomorrow.

A Girls Guide To Coeliac and Gluten-Free FAQ

I know it can sometimes be incredibly frustrating and at times ruddy irritating to be asked questions about coeliac's or being gluten-free that can seem very obvious to you, but if your anything like me, you sometimes forget that in general coeliac's is not a particularly well known illness and unless they live with you or are close to you, most people will not know the ins and outs of a ducks arse where coeliac's is concerned. So I've devised a sort of FAQ guide that might be helpful for the not so well informed in your life, some of these questions may seem daft but all of them have been asked of me, and probably of you at some point.

Q. "Can't you eat just a little bit?"
A. No, No and er, No.  We could eat a teaspoon amount or a milk float load of gluten the result will still be the same..we will be sick on your shoes.

Q. "Can you eat potatoes?"
A. Yes. And swede and carrots and peas and beans and rice. Any and all fruit or veg or pulse.

Q. "What would happen if you ate gluten?"
A. It varies. The most common symptoms are an upset tummy (that's putting it politely) sickness, bloating, fatigue, anaemia and tummy pains. Still going to offer us that Hobnob?

Q. "If I were to wipe a slice of bread over your face would you have a reaction?"
A. I wouldn't personally and to the best of my knowledge I don't think other coeliacs do either, my Doctor didn't say, 'listen, Kate, whatever you do don't wipe a slice of bread over your face', but I'm fine when I make sandwiches for others, I just give my hands a good wash afterwards.
Q. "Is it an allergy?"
A. No, coeliacs is an auto-immune disease, which means when a coeliac eats gluten their body goes mental and starts attacking itself, like Ed Norton in Fight Club. Of course there are people with gluten allergies and people with gluten intolerance's, but these are both different from each other and coeliacs.

Q. "Do you need an EpiPen?"
A. No, EpiPens are for allergies and allergic reactions.

Q. "Would it really be that bad if you just carried on eating gluten?"
A. Would it really be that bad if I slipped arsenic into your dinner every night. Yes, it would be that bad. Aside from the symptoms I mentioned above the long term exposure to gluten can be very damaging. The villi in your bowel (those are the Cadbury's finger type things waving about) get squashed and scarred with exposure to gluten, this in turn stops you absorbing vitamins and all sorts of other lovely (and rather vital) things from your food. Coeliac's have a greater risk of developing osteoporosis, suffering miscarriages and are at great risk of bowel cancer. In short you'd be a grade A tool to carry on eating gluten.

Q. "Do you ever just feel like cheating and eat a Rich Tea?"
A . Sometimes, but whether we actually eat the Rich Tea is another question.


Q. "Do you ever cave and eat the Rich Tea?"
A. Maybe a few times at the beginning but not now, not ever, but I can only speak for myself.

Q. "Do you miss the food you used to eat?"
A. A lot of people are diagnosed with coeliac's as a kid, so the question doesn't perhaps apply to them as much as it does to people who are diagnosed when they're older. My answer would be yes and no, I'd be lying if I said that it's easy and that sometimes I just wish I could walk into M&S and pick up a sandwich for lunch, but as times gone on I've forgotten what things taste like, like many other things diet is down to habit forming, and eating gluten free goes from necessity to habit really quite quickly, so it becomes ingrained in your routine and lifestyle.

Q. "You don't mind if I just use the knife I used to butter my sandwich to cut your toast do you?"
A. Do you mind if I put laxatives in your porridge? I'ts a common misconception that large amounts of gluten have to be consumed in order to have a reaction, buts it's actually one of the easiest ways to get a 'glutening' . Think seperate toasters, cutlery, crockery and tupperware.

Q. "Aren't you just being fussy and neurotic?"
A. If we could eat gluten we would. People under estimate how bloody hard it is to eat gluten free 24/7, you have to be constantly vigilant (and patient with people who ask, 'aren't you just being fussy?') and it's not an easy way to live, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's not a fad diet or a 'I'm cutting out bread because it makes me a bit bloated'. We aren't being awkward, or fussy and we're not on a diet to fit into our size 10 jeans. It's an illness which can be managed through diet alone, we have to do it, and so would you.

Q."Can coeliac disease kill you?'
A. No.

Q. "If you eat gluten will you be well again the next day?"
A. This again, varies, some people are ill for 24 hours, others for weeks.

Q."Can you tell if something has gluten in?"
A. We're not sniffer dogs at Gatwick Airport you know! Being coeliac doesn't mean we have an inbuilt gluten radar, we only know if somethings got gluten in when we eat it and have a reaction.

Q."Can you take medication for it?"
A. No, as of yet scientists have not found a cure or developed drug therapy for coeliac's, mainly because they've been fannying around cloning sheep and genetically engineering brussel sprouts to grow to the size of apples.

Q."Will you get better? Can you grow out of it?"
A. At 25 there's not much I will ever grow out of, even if I was a rug rat i still wouldn't grow out of coeliacs, it's a life long illness.

Q. "Is Coeliacs contagious?"
A. Yes, because if it was I'd have been breathing in your face for the last half an hour wouldn't I? No, its not catching, but every time someone asks me this I wish that it was, even more so if they assume that it is and then avoid me until the end of time.

Q."Will it hurt me to eat your food?"
A. No, there's nothing in gluten free food that you wouldn't find in your everyday diet. It's not medicated and it's safe for everyone to eat.

Q."Blimey, your bread is over two quid for a loaf, why is gluten free food so expensive?"
A. Scarcity drives the prices up! Not only is it expensive to produce gluten free food, but its classed as specialised and is often expensive as a result, but there are a lot of gluten free companies that produce good quality food that is value for money such as Dietary Specials, Glutafin, Tru Free and Doves Farm and coeliacs get a lot of food on prescription.

Q. "Are all coeliacs able to get food on prescription?"
A . Most people upon diagnosis can get food on prescription from their doctor, but sometimes things like age, gender, and location affects what you can and can't get on prescription varies.

Q."Chuffing Nora, if I were you I'd never go out to eat ever again, how do you manage it?"
A. As I've mentioned before dining out is no picnic (excuse the pun), it can be a royal pain in the arse, but there are restaurants and waiters and companies in the know, and who are willing and able to make dining experiences easy and safe for coeliacs. are we worried we'll get glutening when we dine out? I'd be lying if I said no. If you or your 'coeliac' need a helping hand in the dining out department check out my guide to dining out.

Jam, balls and Snicker-doodles.

Today I made strawberry jam. If anyone knows an easy way to making jam I want to hear it, because it was a total ball ache from start to finish. I shan't be doing it again, and I'm actually going to stop talking about it now, because I'm still terribly vexed about the whole thing.
However, my first attempt at the infamous Snicker-doodles turned out rather well, I was very pleased, and they were really easy to make, which as you know for me is a pre-requisite for any recipe. Rather stupidly I thought Snicker-doodles were THE new baking craze on the block (Nigella's in her Islington home wringing her hands at my total ignorance). I'd been having a research online for new baking fads, and came across Snicker-doodles, so in my defence I was mislead by the site on which I found this information, but also rather stupidly I hadn't noticed that the sodding recipe was actually in my Nigella How To Be a Domestic Goddess book (did I mention it's signed?). Didn't I feel like a pillock.
Anyway, my stupidity aside, Snicker-doodles (I'm going to call 'em Doodles because I'm getting irritated calling them by by the full name) are very very yummy, and because they have cinnamon and nutmeg in they're  a very christmassy type biccie/sponge hybrid which would make a nice pressie in a pretty bag, or you could keep them in a box under your bed and keep them for yourself. I know a lot of American recipes use vanilla ice cream to sandwich them together, and other recipes I've seen have used a cream or frosting but since this was the first time I made them I haven't made a butter or frosting or cream to eat them, but I can see why they would be even yummier with such an accompaniment, and it's something I'll probably do next time I make them.
In other news I got some really pretty vintage style baubles from Sainsbury's of all places and they're so lovely, very shabby chic. I used to have a lovely big hand painted bauble that I used to hang in my room, and then I had an accident and it smashed..OK that's a lie, my MUM actually broke it, but in her defence I had hung it on the back of the door, and hence when my bedroom door was open it would push against the side of my wardrobe, so upon an over zealous door opening from mother my poor bauble got crushed in between.
Crushed balls aside, I'm getting on with making my pressies now, I successfully made an owl a la Emily (at the moment sans wings) and I must remember to send her a pic of my (dire) attempt, I'm not sure its going to make the grade to be given as a present yet, but we'll see, I might get desperate.
I've managed to wangle an interview with one of Dietary Specials lovely staff, so that's coming up soon, probably in the new year when I pull my finger out. Also, I have a FACQ guide, (Frequently Asked Coeliac Questions) that you can pass on to family, friends and all those people who ask (stupid) questions about the ins and outs of coeliacs.

Awkward as arse jam.

P.s. Sorry for the crap title name, It's a constant effort to be witty. Stayed tuned for the 'Doodle' recipe tomorrow, if I haven't commited Jam-O-Cide and thrown the whole lot out the window.

Review: Tru Free Mince Pies

The low down
Established in 1999 Tru Free are considered one of the leading manufacturers of wheat and gluten free snacks and treats, as well as gluten-free versions of well known and favourite biscuits such as custard creams and digestives. Tru Free are relaunching their mince pies at ASDA for Christmas this year.


What Tru Free say
"Our delicious new Mince Pies are ideal for those following these special diets but are equally tasty for the whole family"

Price
RRP £1.50 for a pack of 4

My take
In a word...yummy. The pastry has the same crumbly and soft texture as a non gluten-free mince pie (and dare I say, nicer than some non g/f mince pies) and isn't powdery and chalky like some gluten free pastries, the worst thing in the world is biting into gluten free pastry and feeling like you have a full of talcum powder, so I'm glad to report this isn't the case with these.
The mincemeat is moist, and doesn't have hard bits of chewy peel that you sometimes find. I know some people may like brandy or similar in their mince pies, but I often find it a bit overpowering and you can't taste the mincemeat properly, luckily the Tru Free pies had not even a whiff brandy, but still stayed lovely, moist and gooey.
The pies are a good size with none of those gluten-free mini portions you come across sometimes (very annoying!), I liked the shape and also the ratio of mincemeat filling to pastry.


Verdict
As always Tru Free delivers on value, taste and quality. The easy recognisable packaging reminds you of how popular the brand has now become, and how trusted it now is. The mince pies are soft, buttery with a lovely moist filling, perfect for Xmas and delicious with a glass of mulled wine after dinner. Yum! They were gobbled down within 24 hours! I hope they come to Sainsbury's soon because they really are great value for money for one of the best gluten free products on the market.

Lassie Come Home

Some of you may remember a while ago I was complaining because Sainsbury's (the Judas') had failed to stock my local store with they're regular mince pies and have instead got an iced version on the shelf, which while others may like, I detest, what was wrong with the good old fashion version? If it ain't broke...
Anyway.
As luck would have it the ace team at Dietary Specials send me a box of their sister brand Tru Free's mince pies. As is generally the case with me, I promptly dropped them as I took them out of the envelope so they were basically smashed to bits when I came to eat them, but still really quite yummy. I've done my first mini review of them after this post, so I hope you enjoy it, I was a bit scared doing it, not that I wouldn't not say if I didn't like them, but I'm glad they were nice so that I didn't have to say anything mean!
Anyway, I went to see my doctor today, who is a total gem of a GP. She's a bit like Lassie, if she can't help, she runs off to find someone else to pull me out of the well (sort out my ailments, you know what I mean). I think she enjoys my visits, she looks at me with a long suffering expression mixed with amusement. I had my flu jab as well, which always makes me feel a bit invincible which is just ridiculous since it's not going to stop me getting hit by a bus.
Also, I wanted to say quickly before I dash hello to my new followers..'Hello!' and also to those who've left some lovely comments and those who's sent me some sweet emails, it's all really appreciated, I read every comment and I always always reply, it's nice to know people enjoy what I write and have taken the time to tell me, it always puts a smile on my face and makes me happy for the rest of the day (easily pleased me!).