Here are a few photos of our Christmas day with nineteen family members, a whole lot of presents and a table groaning with food. We had a lovely time and even the rain held off for several hours. This is a special time of the year when all the family get together. My sisters and I have turns hosting Christmas and starting next year my older sister's two grown children who have homes of their own will be joining the rotation. We all share the food cooking so the load is not too heavy and it seems to work well. … [Read more...] about Christmas Day Lunch
Christmas Cookies – gifts for all – gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free
It's Christmas Eve and I have spent a lot of the day baking cookies for little gift bags I want to give to each of the 19 people present at our family Christmas lunch tomorrow. I tested some on Saturday using recipes I found on gluten-free or paleo food blogs but two lots of the resultant cookies were pretty awful … [Read more...] about Christmas Cookies – gifts for all – gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free
Salmon & Feta Pizza with Cauliflower Base – gluten-free and why I am taking this path
I am trying grain-free at the moment - paleo diet style. You might ask why I am doing first sugar-free and now grain-free. Well, I am trying various different options in an attempt to eliminate certain issues I have been having for years. Probably since I was born actually. When you know no different, it takes a while to click that perhaps this is not the way it should be. I won't go into unnecessary details but I will tell you that it got a lot worse six years when my father died and I took on a very stressful job. Until then, I had coped but now it was painful and limiting. I tried seeing doctors but that can be a useless path to take if you don't have a broken bone which is easy to diagnose so I eventually gave up on that. I then tried to analyse the situation and narrow down the triggers, but it was too complex and I was too busy to spend the time needed to do the job properly. So on it went with no relief. A little over a year ago, I finally left that stressful job and started … [Read more...] about Salmon & Feta Pizza with Cauliflower Base – gluten-free and why I am taking this path
Three dinners in small servings – Shepherd’s pie, Chicken Sliders and Thai Crab & Shrimp Pies
Here are three dinners we have had over the last week. As you can see, I am still doing the small servings thing so I stop eating once my portion is finished. I made four of the shepherds pies so Adriano could eat two. I made three seafood pies because I decided not to eat any carbs and ate only the filling you can see in the small pot in the photo. But as far as the sliders are concerned, I made six and I ate one while Adriano ate the other five (Dario was at his girlfriend's). I still find this grossly unfair. I have to eat so little and he can eat so much, just to stay the same size. [print_this][/print_this] [print_this] [print_this][/print_this] … [Read more...] about Three dinners in small servings – Shepherd’s pie, Chicken Sliders and Thai Crab & Shrimp Pies
Chocolate Marshmallow Slice – gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free
Today's offering is multi-layered and quite delicious. It is, of course, gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free. The only part I might need to play with is the base. I found the recipe for it on The Healthy Foodie blog. I did, however, use brown rice flour instead of spelt flour and added raisins to the mixture. Because of my stupid, erratic oven, the top started to burn before it was cooked so I placed some tin foil on it but I think I still pulled it out of the oven too soon because it was a bit sloppy. Of course the changing of the flour might have mucked around with the chemistry a bit. It also was not very sweet at all and a little tasteless but this doesn't matter because of the top two layers. I think I will try a different base next time. The marshmallow layer worked really well but you do have to follow the directions carefully. I found the recipe at The Urban Poser blog. The top frosting is the same that I used on my chocolate carrot cake and is totally delicious. I … [Read more...] about Chocolate Marshmallow Slice – gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free
A Cocktail Party to Remember
Last week, we went to my sister's annual cocktail party for her family, friends and clients. She always holds a stellar event with sparkling guests, gorgeous food and a great environment. After living in houses with a large garden, she now lives in a fabulous penthouse apartment with a small garden. It looks out over greenery and the sea. Unfortunately, in the photos there are too many people to see the apartment itself but I can assure you it is spectacular. Anyway my focus, of course, was on the food. Lots of yummy finger foods was carried through the crowd by young helpers to the delight of the guests. I hope the photos give you a small sense of how delicious it all was. At a certain point in the evening, out came the sweet treats and they were worth waiting for. Mini this and mini that - just the way I like them. The light was gone by this point so the photos are not so great but I'm sure they give you an idea. Those that stayed long enough, got … [Read more...] about A Cocktail Party to Remember
