The Mentalist.

The last few weeks have been a smidgen fraught although fraught makes it sound more like I was having trouble finding a dress in my size in the Topshop sales.
My poor old moggie Max was put down which was really more upsetting than I ever thought it would be. And after all the ball aches and mess around's and appointment changes RE my barium meal I finally had the ruddy thing done, but it took an age (my tum decided that was the day it would have a 'slow bowel transit'-couldn't have done that at my graduation could ya un-coperative bowel) and by the time I'd left the radiology unit day had turned into night and I felt like David in Flight of the Navigator when he wakes up in the boat in the dark and finds out he's been transported to the future.

This is probably far to much information than anyone reading this blog wants to hear, but I very recently stopped taking 'the pill' after 8 long years, due to The Other Bowel Problems rendering it quite useless, and being 'with child' is one more ball than I think I can juggle at the moment (although I don't juggle as such,just pass two balls back and forth between two hands).
For years I thought the pill was the only thing keeping my wild emotions sedate enough that I didn't kill anyone. But it turns out sans pill I am not as violently angry as I believed myself to be, belligerent yes.Pathologically violent,no.Well,maybe sometimes.

Although it turns out I'm even more tearful than I first realised. And highly strung.And emotional.
During a shopping trip to Brighton I cried in the middle of a restaurant. Steve was mortified. The waitress turned tail quick march when she spied me blubbering and the couple at the table next to us, at first thinking Steve was proposing in some restaurant with low lighting engagement scenario, quickly realised this was not that case and hide their acute embarrassment behind a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Poor Steve couldn't do the same as he'd only ordered juice and sat looking ready to bash his brains out with the pepper grinder.
My  lovely buddy Skye (go read her blog,shes the most darling person I've ever met perhaps ever) had told me about The Angel Food Bakery in Brighton so Steve and I took a stroll down The Laines trying to dodge the hoards of exchange students who had chosen that day to descend upon Brighton despite the miserable weather.
Sadly no dice at the bakery as they'd sold out but do follow the link if you fancy pre ordering your own cupcakes (the non g/f ones looked yum-tastic so I've high hopes for the g/f versions).
I don't want to cast aspersions on lovely European people, but my god some of the exchange students were rude, I was practically thrown out of the way by one very rude mare in Starbucks who very nearly ended up with my skinny caramel latte in her lap.The only thing stopping me was that I had queued since the year dot for the ruddy thing in a line longer than the equator.

Anyway folks, I'm looking for some gluten-free recipe for future Twice As Nice posts and also for my Your Recipes tab so if you have some yummy yummy in my (or your) tummy recipes knocking around the place email me at thekatieboobaker@hotmail.co.uk. it doesnt matter if they're non gluten-free as I can convert them easy enough (depending on what it is, I'm not Jamie Oliver).

Anyway my lovers, I hope your all fine and dandy, and 'hello!' to my new Katie-Boo Babes-I'd like to tell you that my posts aren't always so nutty, but that'd be a bare faced lie. Enjoy!
I'll be back at the weekend with the first edition of Twice as Nice,which I have long promised and have only just got round to doing. See you all then!

First try at homemade gluten-free duffnuts (donuts)

My lovely old moggie Max (right)

Taking refuge in my cluttered but cosy bed-byes on poorly days.My mother constantly wonders how theres room enough for me

 

Yummy quinoa salad, recipe here

My gorgeous new Diana F+ that my gorgeous boyfriend bought me. Smug?Me?Yup thats right!

The Importance of Being Ernest

Here's dear old Ernie with a bottle of Vino and a very awesome looking kitty.

The title was my attempt at being a smart arse, since today's quickie recipe is for Daiquiri's and one of the most famous Daiquiri's on the block is the Hemingway Daiquiri. Anyway.

On Monday I had a trip to the hospital for a Gastroscopy. Happily my pre-gastroscopy stats put my blood pressure within the normal range, not something it tends to be. I think nerves and panic pushed it up out of my boots where it usually resides.
 The Marvelous 'Sister B' (that makes her sound like shes part of some sort of hiphop/rap crew-she's not as far as I'm aware) who had done my gastroscopy/colonoscopy spit roast  in 2008, did my procedure, and she and the nurses assisting were lovely. We had a chat about this blog etc and Nurse S asked to be remembered as beautiful and talented in any memoir of the day I might write (promise kept!). I didn't like to argue since was holding a needle and foraging for a vein in my arm, and was also about to participate in a procedure where a camera was to be forcibly inserted down my throat. I thought it best to stay on her good side.
All in all the morning wasn't too bad, the staff were lovely (they're beginning to recognise me now, I'm there so much, quelle horreur) and the sedative induced a four hour nap when I got home. Lovely.

I was meant to have a Barium meal today, but I haven't been all that well so I had to cancel. God knows how they get away with calling it a 'meal' since its hardly spaghetti and meatballs. A friend of my Mum's can't tolerate Barium and apparently they give her marshmallow's instead which work the same as barium and is highlighted on x-rays (I'm not sure if this is medical fact so don't quote me!).
I did mention the possibility of Flump's Vs Barium to my consultant but he looked at me like I'd just sneezed in his coffee. No harm in trying though right?

Has anyone seen the new Waitrose gluten-free sandwiches? I gave up being excited about this sort of thing after Marks and Spencer's bought out gluten-free sandwiches with the crappiest availability known to man. So it was with very low expectations that I staggered into Waitrose after my gastroscopy in search of gluten-free gold dust-and man alive, as if they didn't have not one, but both fillings! I bought one of each, resisting the urge to relieve the Worthing branch of Waitrose of their entire stock of gluten-free sandwiches.
I can confirm that the egg salad one was lovely, I wasn't massively keen on the prawn mayo, but that has more to do with my dislike of prawns in sandwiches than any failing on Waitrose part. Just the novelty of being able to buy a sandwich alone contributes 70% to my overall enjoyment! Waitrose, I'm sorry I ever doubted you.

As I mentioned at the beginning, today's recipe is for Strawberry Daiquiris, although a Hotpot would probably be more weather appropriate at the moment. Don't worry if your not on/off the wagon, the method caters for a rum riddled recipe and a virgin version as well. I'm too good to you. Enjoy!

A Week in Pictures

 

 

♥ End result of The Jam Saga, easily the most irritated I've been in my life. Maybe.
♥ The Boyf's presents ready and waiting to be posted.
♥ Christmas candles.
♥ Lunch at Ha Ha Bar Brighton.
♥ Tags for my homemade presents.
♥ Miniature Christmas tree which was once my Mum's.
♥ Sainsburys' Vintage-style baubles.
♥ Life Class, Pat Barker. Possibly one of my favourite authors ever.
♥ Tree decoration which came on a present last year from my mum and dad, pretty on my mirror dontcha think?
♥ My pink fairy from The Boyf, Xmas 2005.

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.

Make Mine A Large

There are three things that always bring infinite joy to my life.
Pajama's.
Baking.
And cups of coffee.
To say I'm reasonable without a cup of coffee would be fair. To say I'm a snappy moody psychopath would probably be more accurate. Coffee is my life blood and has served me well through early mornings, uni deadlines, hangovers, illnesses and many a energy dive.
However, I'm not one of these people who need twenty cups of coffee a day in order to function and are so jacked up on caffeine you can see their eyeballs shaking. I'm a one-big-cup-will-do kinda gal. I'm sure they must put mood enhancers in the coffee at Starbucks because nothing makes me as happy as a Skinny Caramel Latte, and now that red cups are back for Christmas with it has come my all-time-favourite-coffee, The Eggnog Latte, two cups of which I've enjoyed already since the start of red cups season. If Starbucks were a religion, id be the patron saint, I've never been let down by the coffee and to make life even better they do their own gluten free cakes and sandwiches. This folks, is what heaven looks like.
Anyway, This post isn't meant to be me waxing lyrical about S-bucks. Hey, I know not everyone likes coffee, some people like tea...I know a girl who doesn't even drink hot drinks (you know who you are you weirdo!) everyone has their poison and mine is coffee. I've got more coffee mugs than the queen has hats.
I'm very much from the school of thought that coffee can come in any guise as long as its a cup of coffee, because lets face it not everywhere has a Costa or Starbucks or even a decent peculator, some places only survive (god help them) on vending machine coffee. If the need is strong enough its any port in a storm.
However. There are several instances of coffee cruelty I can't abide, these include cold coffee (if I wanted a frappe I'd have asked for one), De-caff (I can sniff a placebo a mile off), Mocha's (the coffee wusses drink of choice) and the mother of all coffee insults...weak coffee. Ugh. Anaemic coffee is quite frankly an insult.
Back to the post. I've been making coffee cake and coffee cupcakes for a good few years now, and its always a crowd pleaser, but several weeks back I decided a good coffee cake shake up was in order and had a good scour of all my baking and cook books for some ideas. In the end, I thought of something all by myself (I'm like that sometimes, I'll have a flash of brilliance once a decade), Latte frosting, genius right? I'm sure its been done before somewhere out there, but I tried it using cream cheese and it was a hit, using the cream cheese does make for a sloppier runnier frosting which you can't pipe, but its so sticky and yummy and goes so well with the coffee cake that you won't care its running off the cake and up your sleeve. 

The heavenly Eggnog Latte

Just a fraction of my mug collection

L-R, Starbucks mug which I in no way pilfered, and my uber cute Paperchase mug

International Woman of Mystery

The week with my beloved is now over and I waved tearfully from the platform as his trained rolled off into the distance. OK, that's a lie, I went back to the car and we drove home because it was freezing and I was wearing leggings and there's a hole in the sole of my Ugg's.
We had a great time as per, and had a lovely shopping day in Brighton where we discovered a bakery that does gluten free cakes, but more on that later.
People often ask me  how The Boyf and I cope when we live so far apart, especially after going from being at uni together and sharing a flat for 3 years to not seeing each other for weeks on end, but to be honest aside from the fact we miss each other and obviously would rather be together in one place we actually appreciate each other much more when we see less of each other, sort of like Carrie and Big's arrangement in SATC2.
They say spontaneity is the spice of life, but I tend to thrive on routine and predictability, probably because The Other Bowel Problems are anything but. The Boyf is much the same (good match us!), and his visits tend to run on the same vein of shopping, dinner, DVDs and cooking, and it suits us down to the ground.
We had dinner out on Tuesday night and I got to finally wear my leopard print asos top that Ive been squirrelling away for a nice occasion and then Thursday we had a long leisurely day in Brighton, trotting round the Laines, drinking coffee and having lunch at Donatello's, where The Boyf stole my after dinner mint and I went nuts much to the amusement of the french couple sitting on the table next to us.
Down the Laines we discovered a fab little bakery called Cloud 9. I'm not sure how long its been there because I have the attention span of a gnat so it could have been there since the dawn of time, but I suspect its new. It was so cute inside and they did the yummiest choccy cake/brownie thing I have ever tasted (and you know how I feel about brownies) and also a few other gluten free bits and pieces. The girl who served us kindly let me take some snaps for my blog,which I've posted at the bottom for you viewing pleasure.
Saturday I awoke to find the ever-so-lovely Becky at Dietary Specials had popped a box of Tru Free (Dietary Specials sister company) mince pies in the post for me, which couldn't have come at a better time really since I discovered that Sainsbury's have well and truly ruined Xmas this year by stocking icing topped mince pies instead of the usual pastry tops ones. That's killed Christmas. I've got a little review lined up for the Tru Free mince pies though so stayed tuned.
I'm finally getting into the swing of preparations for Xmas now, and have written up a Kate's Master Christmas Plan which will hopefully keep me organised and on track with all my present giving, food making and card sending. Not that I'm generally unorganised but I like to have a list to keep me on the straight and narrow when theres lots to think about. I've cleaned out the news agents buying foodie mags for Xmas dinner ideas as well as home made gift ideas, the only trouble is I flick through them and get all excited for Xmas and then I cant sleep and when I do sleep I have nightmares that its Christmas morning and I haven't done any Christmas shopping. Dreadful.
Sunday was dominated by Formula 1, Motor GP and Rugby, none of which I have much interest in, expect maybe Formula 1 but that's mainly because my dad conditioned me to like it from a young age.
So I decided to whip up a round of cupcakes (what else) and also brew up a batch of mincemeat for my homemade mince pies. Accordingly to Nigella (whose has signed my copy of Domestic Goddess  by the way, just in case you missed my first overexcited post on the matter) you should make your mincemeat a good few weeks in advance of when your going to use it so that the flavours can infuse and so everything can get all nice and syrupy and lovely. It's a majorly easy recipe (do I ever do anything but?) and only takes around 30-40minutes. So after you have perused this post and the accompanying pictures, one of which is an ACTUAL picture of me on our way out to dinner, which I included as I was starting to feel like the Scarlet Pimpernel, international woman of mystery.

The Gruesome Twosome.

Cloud 9

To the right, the yummy gluten-free choccy cake.

Cloud 9

Cloud 9. I was never going to resist a pink bakery.

Reading material for my Xmas prep