CAKE!!

Sorry, that was quite loud, but cake it is. A decent amount too. And one more success sojourn into gluten free, dairy free baking.

Sadly, the gluten-free thing was a success - I do feel much better. Having dinner outside of home, especially restaurant, is a bit of a trial. The whole thing feels so embarrassing, asking so many questions, and then feeling bad for not always believing them (though not without good reason).

Cooking at home is challenging, but is improving. Having bought an adult GF cookery boook, I found a lot of the recipes a bit, well, antsy. Then I discovered 'The Gluten free cook book for kids'. Yes, I know - I always did have a taste for children's books.

Not so Gluten free for kids. Chicken nuggets, meatballs, Spanish tortilla, meatloaf. And brownies.

Oh, those brownies!!....ah hem.

I have stacks of recipe books, but probably ever make one or two recipes out of them. This one already has a very wrinkly spine, additions written in biro and post-its coming out of every side.

An old university friend came to stay last weekend. Katie and I would have been friends six years this September just gone. It feels like we've always been. I really value her faithfulness, her love of books (especially children's ones!), her willingness to keep visiting even though I've yet to make it to the Isle of Wight. She is very kind. And because her mum has coeliac disease, she has no fear of gluten free baking. Hurray! A partner in crime...

We baked togther on the Friday evening: I made banana bread with walnuts, she made lovely little cup cakes, both from Adriana Rabinovich's fabulous book.

I would like to experiment and see if I can eat oats. If not, I may buy some gluten free ones in now and again as a treat - I would like to try Leila's fruit crisp topping. I mean, how good does that look?!