Pastry - U

Small-N-Grubby announced that he wanted an apple pie, now that apples have been added to his diet. I haven't made pastry since I was a child but nothing ventured nothing gained. Turned to Delia for the basics. She recommended 4oz of plain flour to 2oz of fat. So I made up the minimum using butter for the fat.

Sieve the flour well to add air. Gently rub in the room temperature fat until you have a bread crumb consistency. Bring together into a dough using water which has been cooled in the fridge. Add the water a little at a time. Bring the dough together with a knife initially, then get your hands in! Form into a ball which should pick up any loose mixture from around the bowl. If it won't pick up it needs a tiny bit more water. Wrap the ball of pastry in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 20-30 minutes.

The pastry is now ready to use. Roll it out and cut rounds for small pies. The 4oz portion will make six pies with tops or about 9 with a little pastry left to decorate on top.

Now you can add what ever filling your diet allows. I cored and peeled 3 eating apples and cooked them on the hob with 2 tablespoons of water and 1oz of sugar for about 10 minutes.

I mashed them up a bit to reduce the size of the chunks and drained off any excess water before filling the pies and adding the top decoration. I used milk to stick the lids on but water can be used instead. Cooked at 200c for about 20 minutes.

The results weren't too pretty but the pastry was good and they disappeared fast!

** Kate **

New Foods Added

Small-N-Grubby had a huge temperature in the night. Kept looking for spots to appear and arguing about what he had been fed! He is much better this morning and no spots, so far so good. Here's the list of items we have added to his diet since I last updated.

• orange juice
• fresh tomatoes
• apple
• raisins (without any glazing)
• grapes
• green beans
• raspberries

Its going really well but I don't know what to move forward with next. We haven't added anything for a few days, its all been so hectic with end of term things. He asked for pancakes today, but I can make them using things he already eats. Hopefully, lots more fresh fruits will be coming into season soon and we can crack on.

** Kate **

Pancakes

Not been very active on the cooking front at the moment. Its getting near the end of term and with both children starting new schools in Sept my schedule is full of end of term/leaving events and new school visits/taster sessions. I expect to get a lot more experimental cooking done in the holidays. I've been gluten free for a couple of weeks now and it's definately suiting me. Though I do have cravings for a large jam doughnut.

Over on Anso's blog she's been experimenting with gluten, dairy and egg free pancakes and scrapping the results of course! Have a look here.

** Kate **

1 Month Hospital Check

Just a quick note to confirm all was well and there had been no need to worry. Test levels were normal and we are on the emergency only list. Which means no more appointments with very long waits (see the rant on my Craft Life blog).

Just continuing with the diet, heading up to hospital if there is a major problem or for allergy testing if any foods give a slight response.

Feels like that should be it now, but reintroducing foods is going to take forever!

** Kate **

Latest Diet Details

Since my last update Small-N-Grubby has eaten :

• strawberries
• pasta
• lemon juice (in a recipe I didn't just force feed him with it!!!)
• cheese (a variety where the only additional ingredient was vegetarian rennet)

He's already chosen orange juice for tomorrow and the frozen orange pops have gone into the freezer tonight.

Haven't really had to experiment with any recipes lately as he is choosing his new foods and they are all very instant. I'll be incorporating the citrus into my baking once he has tried it over the next couple of days.

Off to the hospital on Wednesday (one month since our first visit). A little worried as we should get back the test results for all the real nasties. Fingers crossed though as the chances are very rare and I think he is just too well in himself.

** Kate **

Urticaria Diet Update

We have re-introduced

• Plain white wheat flour
• Banana
• Cherries (not sure if they were banned anyway)
• Cucumber

He's also had no ill effects from his inoculations.

Today he has asked to try strawberries, his dad's going to bring some home for him after work. Fingers crossed as they are one of the known allergens for this sort of rash.

I've run out of homemade sweets so this will be a good opportunity to photograph them in the making for the blog. Cue disastrous mounds of molten sugar and burnt fingers.

One interesting thing that we have noticed is that Small-n-Grubby is MUCH more bouncy and lively on this diet. Not sure if its all the sugar in the homemade stuff or the effect of removing processed foods from his diet. Will be asking the doc about this at the next check up. He's certainly more of a handful than ever!!!!

** Kate **

Lemon Pie Dreams

Well more precisely Lemon Meringue Pie Dreams. I think it is my #1 tasty treat. So a wheat-free, possibly soon to be gluten-free diet makes such things a little on the tricky side. Until, that is I found this book.

I saw a magazine article about it and rushed straight out to buy it. Believe me I cried when I read it, honestly I cried. It was like a weight had been lifted from me. You know that feeling that you are constantly depriving yourself of those little treats that really cheer you up and subsequently you just feel miserable. Well no more. Birthdays, Christmas, indulgent weekends, the food you want its all in here. Totally flour-free so none of that ground up rice stuff that claims to be a flour substitute. The recipes rely heavily on nuts though so sorry to those who have a nut allergy, this also means most of them are quite fattening, but hey everything in moderation, right?

One other very important thing to mention about this book is that every recipe I have tried has worked, even stuff I never would have attempted in a wheaty world. The pictures are also fab, mouth watering temptations. So if you fancy mince pies, samosas, lasagne, shortbread, cookies, and cake of every variety give it a try!

Oh, and of course there's a recipe for Lemon Meringue Pie too!!!

** Kate **