A spot of crabbing anyone?!
Today is cold.
Today is dull.
Today is quiet.
Today marks the first day back to school after half term and I am feeling rather lonely!
Granted I have loads of jobs to catch up with, writing to do, contacts to email…but it is quiet and the sound of laughter and lively play is not echoing around the house.
Last week we had a fabulous time on holiday just outside Looe in Cornwall. We spent most of our days rockpooling and crabbing and having carefully planned the eating situation I had very little cooking to do in the evening…thanks to mum cooking one night, an Ilumi meal another night, a few simple meals like jacket potatoes and some gluten-free meals ‘out’.
One of the many poor crabs we caught!
Mr M did some research even before I did and discovered that there was now a chippy in Looe selling gluten-free fish and chips (The Catch). Great news since Roo and Pickle both love fish and chips and it meant another night not having to cook!
I was rather disappointed by the offering though.
You almost needed a hammer to break the batter and it wasn’t all that tasty. On top of that there was very little fish selection considering that Looe is a fishing port! I guess we have been spoilt by our ‘local’ once a month gluten-free fish and chip offering at Greendale Farm, where there is a far greater selection of fish and lovely light crispy batter!
Another place that we discovered on our last trip to Looe was a little pasty shop that can make gluten-free pasties to order. Sarah’s Pasty Shop is always busy so we were looking forward to tasting one of her gluten-free offerings. The kids were unimpressed (but then, they don’t really ‘do’ pastry!) and I wasn’t all that fussed! The pastry was very hard but the filling was delicious. Even though the kids weren’t impressed it has inspired me to have a go at creating my own to see if I can do better!! Watch this space!
One little gem that did stand out for gluten-free cake was a tiny cafe called Daisy’s. Here we had the most divine lemon cake made with carrot and parsnip (it got eaten before any photos could be taken)! It was moist and moorish and we could all have happily devoured the whole cake! Along with gluten-free cake they have gluten-free pasties and they stock gluten-free bread. I would highly recommend this place since the owner is absolutely lovely too!
Anyway, on the subject of food…well what else, I have been reading more about arsenic in rice today. Another study has been carried out, this time in Belfast, looking at the arsenic levels of rice-based foods. It concluded that more that half of these products exceed new EU limits for arsenic. You can read the Daily Mail’s report on that here. It is the Daily Mail though so take it with a pinch of salt!
On a positive not, another interesting study carried out in Belfast might just save the day! Researchers have found a particular protein in rice that prevents arsenic from building up in the rice grains. If they can find rice plants with high levels of this protein, or genetically engineer plants with high levels of the protein that could be the answer to the problem. You can read more here.
In the meantime I will continue my strategy of trying to reduce the amount of rice we consume!
Kate - glutenfreealchemist says
Seeking out GF fish and chips is always an absolute necessity for us when on holiday in the UK! Some are good, some are bad…… We have an amazing F&C shop in the next town to us which has a permanent separate fryer for GF and also does home made GF fish cakes, chicken nuggets and sausages too….. everyday! How lucky are we???? Now pasties? I have yet to find a decent one GF anywhere shop-wise and have often thought ‘I really MUST make my own’…… Let me know if you do and how you get on!
Vicki Montague says
Wow Kate, I am seriously jealous!!! What an amazing chip shop! Where do you live? I still haven’t experimented on the pasty front but can’t see it being that tricky (??!!!). Anyway, they are quite far down the list because I am lazy. I cook food that all of us will eat and if I make pasties I know I will have to cook a separate meal for the kids!!
Kate - glutenfreealchemist says
I know what you mean Vicky……. when you’ve got kids you tend to prioritise the things you know they will eat… I’ve made great GF pastry before, which has made great pies, so I am sure pasties won’t be that hard. I might even get round to it myself. As for Fish and chips…… we live on the North Kent Coast. If you are ever down this way, let me know and I will tell you our favourite GF haunts!
Vicki Montague says
Ah thanks Kate! Sounds like you have some more super places to eat out near you! Let’s get onto the pasties then! I love them, and pies so the kids will just have to have pasta one night 😉
Mel says
Sounds like a great holiday. Last week was so mild; it felt like spring rather than autumn. That lemon cake (with carrots and parsnips?) sounds intriguing…
Vicki Montague says
I am going to have to start experimenting with carrot and parsnip now. It really was delicious! I see you have another giveaway…will have to pop by!
Vikki Cook says
Glad to read that you all had such a nice holiday. Cornwall is just such a wonderful place for a holiday, isn’t it?! Going to have to go back there at some point, and when I do, I shall be looking out Daisy’s because that cake sounds delicious!
Vicki Montague says
Hi Vikki! The cake was delish! I hope we will be able to link up when I come to Bournemouth at the end of the month?
Vikki Cook says
Yes please, that would be awesome! :0)
Vicki Montague says
I will email you to let you know when we are there.
Vicki Montague says
Someone else mentioned about organically grown rice. I have no idea, but if the water it is grown in has arsenic in it, being organic wouldn’t really have any affect. The problem for coeliacs is that most things they eat are made from rice and you certainly cannot get all organic rice products :(.