Limbo

Hey, Merry Christmas.......or is it Happy New Year.......er.....ahhhh, well it's kinda a limbo period isn't it?! Christmas overindulgence and merriment over with and now gearing up for round two later this week! Anyway, I hope you all had a fun packed, gluten free Christmas! I left you on a GF cliffhanger at the end of my last blog and I bet you've been on the edge of your seat all through Christmas just wondering how the Aero Mint Bubble cake turned out?! Well let me put you out of your misery.... Ta daaaaa...

Yep, it's meant to look like that...honestly! Soooo easy and sooooo good! Thank you very much to @bakingqueen74 (www.bakingqueen74.co.uk) for her amazing recipe. (I just replaced the flour with Doves Farm GF flour). I can't wait to try some of her other slow cooker recipes from her blog!

To be honest, I don't want to blog about Christmas too much. We all know how fab Mrs Crimbles stuffing is and Marks and Spencer's do amazing GF party food etc etc so I thought it best to stick to new stuff! 

Disaster struck when Sainsburys sold out of The Black Farmer sausages.....on a whim I braved the Waitrose pre Christmas crowds to see what I could find and I must say I was plesantly surprised!

Have you heard of The Good Little Sausages from The Good Little Company (www.goodlittlecompany.com)? No, neither had I but as well as making delicious "normal" GF sausages, they also work with Christan Aid. Therefore, for every pack you buy someone in a developing country is given the means to grow their own meal every day for 2 weeks! Worth checking out eh?! I forgot to take a photo though so you'll have to look on the website! (Sorry!! I made the website bold for you instead lol!)

I also found these

.....never heard of Musk's either (where have I been living?!) (www.musks.com). These were quickly fried up for a Christmas Eve blow out

and they certainly did the job! Good texture (fairly coarse for all you sausage connoisseurs!), quite peppery in taste! All in all, I will be visiting Waitrose again in the near future!!

You may remember a while ago I wrote about how thrilled my Mum was at the prospect of creatingher famous   trifle using Savoiardi "lady fingers" bought from Freego (www.freego.com). I can confirm the trifle was a big hit and the GF lady fingers successfully fooled all the family! Didn't crumble, didn't go soggy....everything you could hope for and more!

Ok, ok, not an appealing pic (it looked so pretty in the cut glass bowl) but I wanted you to see some of the sponge.....it's in there...trust me!!

Dale and I paid a little visit to Winterville (www.winterville.co.uk) in Victoria Park near Bethnal Green. It was awash with trendy street food stalls but sadly lacking in much (obvious) GF food. Nevertheless, I had a bowl of rather tasty veggie paella from @paellaandtapas

It was a very welcome, warm, hearty meal on a cold evening!

Buzzing from the glorious success of the Aero slow cooker cake I decided to turn my hand to the necessary, seasonal gingerbread house. I'll leave you to make your own decisions about how it went....

What WOULD Mary Berry say lol!?

Anywaaaaaaay, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and I'll see you all again in 2015!!!!!! Xx (@lizprice79)

Underlay! Underlay!

Please note, today's blog post is the punchline to the following joke, "What do you call a Mexican carpet fitter?" It is also the groan worthy, eye rolling punchline to the joke Dale proudly delivered on more than one occasion during our visit to Chiquitos (www.chiquitos.co.uk) last night! Let me set the scene....

During our "Christmas visit" to South Wales to see Dales family, our lovely niece suggested we might like to pop along to the brand new Chiquitos in Talbot Green. This served the double whammy of sampling the "Gluten Intolerant" menu and seeing our niece in action during her new job! I must admit, after mixed GF reviews on Twitter I approached with some trepidation but was up for a try!

The smiley girl at the door greeted us enthusiastically and I was impressed to see the Gluten Intolerant menus were given pride of place on the counter right next to the regular ones! I was even more excited when I opened the menu and saw I had a choice....a choice of many things....to eat!!!

Yep, that's right my anti gluten friends, all of this has been given the big GF thumbs up! Can you see why I was excited!? The small print explains that there are no separate fryers so that ruled out some items but there was still plenty to choose from! So much so, I drove everyone mad changing my mind!

I was also happy to see the small print stated that more info could be given on specific allergens
in each dish if required! (Happy new food labelling legislation!) if you squint you might make it out!!

So, here I am with GF corn tortilla fajitas and corn on the cob

.......can you sense the excitement?!

I can officially give Chiquitos a big GF hoooraaaay! I was totally impressed from start to finish. Ok, I'm a little biased on the service (lovely niece did fab!) but all staff were helpful and efficient, the menu was great, food tasty and I left completely stuffed!!

Infact the whole weekend proved to be a quite successful eating experience! Had a major "stock up session" at Tescos! They have either upped their game recently or Welsh Tesco is just better?! Either way I spent far too much and enjoyed making the most of the 3 for 2 offer on Udi's! Absolutely delighted with my Free From Christmas Tree crumpets which I am saving (like a good girl) for Christmas Day breakfast!

My mother in law also bought me some Free Fron Angel Cake slices from Tesco

They look just like the real thing don't they?! More importantly.....they taste like the real thing too! Happy days!!

My really exciting find were these

in Holland and Barrett, (www.hollandandbarrett.com) in their Christmas section. Regular readers will know I blogged about Love More (www.lovemorefoods.com) Jammy Wheels a couple of months ago. These are just as good! What a great company and what a shame they aren't as easily available as some brands. Nevertheless, I am seeing them more and more now so here's hoping they continue to grow. I'll keep voting with my mouth, I'mmore than happy to support them that way?!! ;0)

During my shopping spree in Cardiff the munchies struck! Disaster! My GF stash was foolishly left in the car and I couldn't face the Christmas queues in Starbucks. Halfheartedly, I popped into the Little Waitrose to see if I could find a rice cake/ bar of choc/ piece of fruit and stumbled upon these...

I haven't come across these before but they were exactly what I needed! (www.munchyseeds.co.uk) Kept the munchies at bay and were surprisingly filling. They not only state they are GF but also that they are Safe for Coeliacs! Marvellous! 

Look what arrived in the post today.....a little Christmas present to myself from Freego (www.freego.com) 

I LOVE this company!! If you haven't had a look at them yet what ARE you waiting for?? However, I should warn you that ordering from them is addictive and your bank balance may not thank you! I can't wait to get sampling!

Well, the Christmas hols have begun and that can only mean one thing....Dales precious kitchen / appliances are no longer safe! I, the novice baker, have sprung into action working my way through the fool proof recipes I have been collecting since the last school hols! I currently have an "Aero Mint Bubble Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake" baking, Yep you heard me right....slow cooker!! Dale has been looking at me as if I'm mad but I have faith!  Have a fab fortnight everyone and a very Happy Christmas! I'll let you know how successful my cake is next time BUT here's a sneak peak..... (@lizprice79) xx