Spring Baby?

Celiac Disease, one of the most confusing diseases you can have. It is different with every person, some experiencing digestive symptoms, some have skin problems, some have mental issues (brain fog). The doctors are always discovering more links in the chain that is celiac disease.

However, nobody seems to know why certain people get celiac disease. We know it is genetic but it can skip generations, some people in a family are born with it, some develop it later in life and some never develop it at all.

I read an article today that noticed that in a study of 2,000 people with celiac disease, more of them were born in the Spring than any other season. This result has been confirmed in three other studies. They seemed to think that this was a very important finding, a possible clue as to why some people develop celiac disease!

The reason for this excitement is the theory that most babies are exposed to gluten at around six months. This would mean that spring babies are exposed to gluten at about the same time as the flu and other viral infections are at their most prominent. Their theory is that early exposure to viral infections can play a role in how the body reacts to gluten, that early life experiences can lead to an auto immune disease later in life.

I am not a doctor, I am not a medical researcher but I'm sorry! I find this to be an utterly ridiculous study.

In my family alone, we have five people with celiac disease. Birthdays are March, April, June, July and December. Two in spring, two in summer and one in winter.

There are three more in our family, they were born in May, December and February. None of them have celiac disease. All of us have had the same early life experiences!

Also in Ireland, no baby is exposed to gluten until they are at least one year old. All the baby cereal is made of rice. We were always told that babies under the age of one were unable to digest gluten as their digestive systems were not developed enough.

If the theory were to hold water, that would mean that in Ireland, most of the celiacs would have winter birthdays!

I am glad that doctors are studying celiac disease, I am glad that they are interested in trying to find a cure and a reason for it, but, like with autism, I would really prefer if they would not publish "theories" until they can be really sure that they make some sort of sense. It is a confusing enough disease, we don't need any more confusion around it.

Having said all that, it is good to end on a positive note. I just made the most delicious coffee cake, perfect with your cup of tea or coffee. The recipe comes from the Betty Crock gluten free cook book but you can use any all purpose gluten free flour.



1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup Nutella
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups gf all purpose flour blend
1 1/2 teaspoons gf baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix brown sugar and Nutella. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips, set aside for topping.

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar until smooth. Stir in butter and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle with topping mixture.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Easy and delicious!!!

Easter Sunday Feast

Easter is next Sunday. After Christmas, it is our largest holiday for food. In Ireland, we wake up to find large chocolate eggs have been deposited by our beds by the Easter Bunny, then church, then the whole family come together for Easter dinner.

Our Easter dinner would usually be a smoked salmon starter, a leg of lamb or a ham with mashed potatoes, carrots and parsnips for our main course and then dessert! Dessert in our house was usually pavlova, a delicious meringue, cream and fruit concoction that is the one thing that instils silence at the table while we eat!

I, personally, find it very difficult to make a pavlova. Every time I do it is either overcooked or raw. There is a knack to it that I do not have. However, I have discovered a recipe that is fool proof and is impressive enough to serve at any dinner party and is totally gluten free, and if you use a non dairy cool whip type of cream it can also be dairy free.

This is my rolled over pavlova. It is like a Swiss roll made with meringue. Delicious! In case you are looking a great dessert to bring to your Easter feast, here is my recipe for Rolled Over Pavlova.

Rolled Over Pavlova

5 egg whites
5 oz extra fine sugar
5 oz confectioners sugar
2 tsp corn starch

Line a baking tray (about 9 x 13) with parchment paper and spray with Pam. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat the egg whites and extra fine sugar together until you have stiff peaks. Be patient, it must be very stiff. Fold in the confectioners sugar and corn starch.

Gently put the mixture into the baking tray and spread out to corners. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes. The top will be a little crispy and the inside will still be soft and gooey.

Let the pavlova cool in the tray and then turn out carefully onto another sheet of parchment paper. Gently remove the original parchment paper from the pavlova. Spread whipped cream or whipped filling over the pavlova and then drop in fruit of your choice. I love raspberries or strawberries but I have used kiwis, blueberries or pineapple.

Now take one short edge of the parchment paper and gently roll the pavlova over and over to make a pavlova Swiss roll. On the last roll, place the edge of the pavlova at the edge of your place and roll the pavlova onto your display plate.

If this sounds a little too difficult the first time out, just cut the pavlova in thirds and gently place one layer on top of the other and turn the top layer cream side down to create a layered pavlova dessert.

Decorate the pavlova with blobs of cream and fruit along the top of the roll.

It is easier than it sounds when I write it out1 Try it, you'll enjoy it.

Ireland- Home of the Celiacs!!!

I am back from Ireland a week now. What a great trip! So relaxing!

I went straight from the airport to a hotel with my mother and sisters. How nice to be able to tell the staff at the hotel that we had a number of celiacs in the party and then forget about it for the weekend. At every meal, gluten free bread rolls were placed at our table and every waiter and waitress was knowledgeable about what on the menu was gluten free and what could be adapted to make it gluten free.

After the weekend, I went home to visit my parents. Again, when we went out to eat at two local restaurants, we just let them know we were celiacs and gluten free food was readily available and delicious!

Finally, we went to the grocery store. Gluten free products were part of the normal inventory. A fresh bakery had a dedicated gluten free oven from which we bought a multi seed fresh loaf of bread and some freshly made hi fibre bread rolls. Fantastic!

The relaxing thing about the trip was not so much that gluten free food was available everywhere we went, but more that I never had to worry about somebody misunderstanding what I needed. That I could trust that what I received would be gluten free.

It is such a weight off your shoulders not to have to consider what you are going to eat, how they are going to prepare, whether it would be completely gluten free. To order something and enjoy it like a normal person was such a treat! I know that having celiac disease is a very mild problem to have compared to many other illnesses I could have, but it was so nice and relaxing to be almost normal for a couple of weeks.

As a recipe for this week, I am giving you a real Irish soda bread. A little late for St Patricks Day, but delicious any time!

White Soda Bread

10 oz rice flour
4 oz tapioca flour (or 14 oz of gluten free flour mix)
2 oz dried milk
1 tsp bread soda
1 heaped tsp gf baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
2 Tblsp sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
10-12 fl oz buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Sift all the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Lightly whisk the egg and buttermilk together.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in most of the egg and buttermilk at once. Using one hand, with your fingers stiff and outstretched (like a claw), stir in a full circular movement from the center to the outside of the bowl in ever-increasing circles, adding a little morej buttermilk if necessary. The dough should be softish but not too wet and sticky.

The trick with white sode bread is not to over-mix the dough. Mix it as quickly and as gently as possible. When the dough all comes together turn it out onto a rice-floured work surface.

Wash and dry your hands. With rice-floured finglers, roll lightly for a few seconds - just enough to tidy it up. Pat the dough into al round, pressing to about 2 inches in height.

Place the dough on floured baking tray. With a sharp knife cut a deep cross in it. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F for a further 25-30 minutes or until cooked. If in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread. If it is cooked, it will sound hollow. Cool on a wire rack.

Note: Soda bread is best served the day it is made. However, it tastes great toasted the next day. Any bread left over on the third day can be made into breadcrumbs.

Is Rice Safe?

The nutritionist at the meeting is a celiac herself and had, in fact, attended one of my cooking classes last year. Rather than giving a speech, she asked if anybody had any worries or issues that they wanted answered.

Daniel asked about good food for endurance athletes and she gave him good advice regarding that.

Then somebody asked about rice. There have been reports recently that rice has large amounts of arsenic in it and should not be eaten too much. However, we all use rice flour in our cooking and many of us drink rice milk if we have problems with dairy.

The nutritionist acknowledged that it is a problem with many areas of the country that used pesticides during the seventies. She suggested that people limit their use of rice milk and rice, if they also use it as flour in baking. However, she said that as with all things, moderation is the answer and that we do not really have to worry unless we are using rice excessively.

I have to say, that since the meeting I have changed to eating quinoa (one of the ancient grains that she recommended) instead of rice with our stir fries and I am using almond and coconut milk as well as rice milk for Daniel's smoothies. But that could be because I really like quinoa and just needed an excuse to feed it to the family!

One thing I was surprised about was when one of the attendees said that she always used brown rice to try to improve her fibre intake but the nutritionist said that brown rice has minimally more fibre than white rice and that she would be better off just eating beans for fibre. In fact, she said that when she has patients, she encourages them to eat beans regularly for very good fibre intake.

I really enjoyed the meeting and got a lot of good information. Even if you are gluten free for a long time, it is good to attend these support meetings every now and then. New information is always emerging and new products arriving ready to be discussed. The meetings take place in the cafeteria of Rex Hospital on the third Thursday of every month. Hopefully I will see you there!

Back at Last!

Apologies to all for my blogging absence the past two weeks. I have been away in Ireland, enjoying family, delicious gluten free food and researching gluten free food providers. However, all that is for another blog entry as I do want to talk about the Raleigh Celiac Society meeting I mentioned in my last blog. I think I will be writing a couple of blogs this week to catch up.

As I had mentioned, Daniel and I were attending the celiac society meeting as they were having a pharmacist and a nutritionist in to speak.

The first speaker was the pharmacist who freely admitted that until she was asked to speak about gluten free drugs, she hadn't really considered how drugs would impact gluten intolerant patients.

Her main advice was to look up your drugs on a list that is available on the internet at www.glutenfreedrugs.com/Glutenlist.htm and if they are not there, you need to call the drug company and confirm that they are gluten free.

The ingredients that you read on the side of the packet do not consist of ALL the ingredients in the medicine. Sometimes there are fillers and things to help the active drug work that are not on the ingredient list. The drug company will be able to look up all the ingredients for the drug and confirm that it is gluten free.

A problem can arise when generic drugs are used, but if you cannot confirm that your drugs are gluten free, the pharmacist recommended that you ask your doctor to prescribe the brand name drug that you know is gluten free and to send a letter to your insurance stating that you must have the brand name drug due to your specific health issues. Many of the people at the meeting did not know you could do that and were very relieved with the information.

Luckily, at this moment, I do not have any prescription issues but many celiacs have to think about this every time they go to a doctor. It is always good to go to a doctor armed with information so you can get the medical care that you need.

Come back tomorrow for the nutritionist info.

Non Responsive Celiac Disease

I am looking forward to this week. Daniel and I will be attending the Raleigh Celiac Society meeting on Thursday where there will be a nutritionist and a pharmacist talking with us regarding celiac disease.

While I was chatting with a client about this meeting, she mentioned that she is still having some gastronomical symptoms even while she is on her gluten free diet. I have heard this, over and over, from many of my clients both in my cooking class and when they are ordering their cakes. Many are wondering if they have something other than gluten intolerance or celiac disease.

I decided to research the phenomenon and got some very interesting information. While there are a couple of conditions that can cause the continuation of symptoms such as colitis, bacterial overgrowth and in very rare cases, cancer, the overwhelming cause of non-responsive celiac disease is ingestion of gluten.

In a study of 112 people, 12 people did not have celiac disease. 10 had irritable bowel disease, others had colitis, medication induced diarrhea, lactose intolerance and bacterial overgrowth but the largest number of 45 turned out to be ingesting gluten either inadvertently or through carelessness. (The World Journal of Gastroenterology)

The study showed that breakfast cereals, beer, cooking sauces and processed foods are the main source of accidental gluten ingestion. Misunderstanding labels or contamination in the factory is commonplace and if your gluten free diet contains a large amount of processed or factory made foods, the likelihood is that you may be ingesting gluten.

For this reason I am convinced that it is vital to continue to educate yourself about gluten free ingredients, about the best dedicated gluten free products.

If you are experiencing symptoms while you feel you are gluten free a visit to a knowledgeable dietitian to check what you are eating might be a good idea and finally cooking at home in a clean, gluten free kitchen where you can check all the ingredients that you use is a great way to maintain and improve your health.

Below is a quick recipe for you to have something nice with your cup of coffee so you are not tempted by glutenous treats. This cake lasts for 4-5 days in a plastic container or for 4-6 weeks in the freezer.

Cinnamon Raisin Coffee Cake

8 oz gluten free all purpose flour
2 teaspoons gluten free baking powder
4 oz butter, diced
4 oz light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 oz raisins (I often use craisins instead)
4 oz walnuts (or chopped almonds)
2 eggs beaten
150 ml milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 2lb loaf tin. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and lightly rub in the butter. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and dried fruit.

Add the eggs and milk and mix together until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture in the loaf tin and level the surface.

Bake the loaf for about 1 hour or until firm to the touch and lightly brown. Cover the cake loosely with foil towards the end if browning too quickly.

Remove cake from oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out.

(please note that weighing gluten free ingredients instead of measuring with cups tends to produce better and more consistent results)