The Anonymous Widower

Gluten-Free Egg Sandwiches From Boots

This morning, I had to pick up a prescription from Boots on Moorgate in London.

I use them, as they are by the 141 bus stop, that I can use to get home, so I pass their outlet regularly throughout the week.

After picking up my prescription, I looked at their small food counter. I was actually looking for milk, as I am out and nowhere on the West side of Moorgate sells small one pint bottles.

They didn’t have any, but they did have two flavours of gluten-free sandwiches; cheese and egg.

So I bought a pack of the egg sandwiches.

These pictures show the one, I have just eaten for lunch, with a beer and a banana.

Note.

  1. In the last picture, the Adnams 0.5 % Ghost Ship can, is marked with the gluten-free symbol.
  2. The only allergens noted on the sandwich packet are egg and mustard.
  3. The bread looks like it could be Genius, which is a brand of gluten-free bread, that I trust.
  4. The packaging can be recycled.

The sandwich was excellent, but then on past experience at the Tate Gallery and Blackburn Cathedral cafe, gluten-free egg sandwiches are a good combination of flavours.

 

So next time, I’m hungry, I’ll march into Boots.

August 29, 2024 Posted by | Food, Health | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How I Was Imprisoned In A Pizza Restaurant And Driven Home By The Metropolitan Police

At lunchtime today, I received a phone call, saying that my GP’s surgery could see me at 16:30 this afternoon, to discuss my lack of sleep, arthritis and various strains and pains.

My middle son; Henry had expressed a desire to be at such an appointment, so I said, that if he could chauffeur me to the GP, he could come along.

His diary co-operated and he duly arrived outside my house at 16:00.By the time of the GP’s appointment, we had parked conveniently outside the surgery and we had been ushered into the GP’s consulting room.

We had a good meeting and by just after five, we had broken up and agreed a comprehensive plan for the diagnosis of my problems.

Henry had three problems of his own.

  • He had legal work to do for the morning.
  • He needed to do some bits of shopping.
  • He also said, that he was feeling rather hungry.
  • I too was hungry and needed to do some  shopping.

So I suggested we drive to Southgate Road and see if we could get a pizza in Sweet Thursday.

  • They do gluten-free pizzas, so I would have no dietary worries.
  • In previous meals, I have found the quality excellent.
  • There are shops nearby, where we could shop, if we needed.

As I approached the restaurant, I decided we had made the right decision, as there was a parking space about twenty metres from the restaurant.

We both had similar meals.

  • Ham and mushroom pizzas, although mine was gluten-free.
  • I drunk a zero-alcohol Lucky Saint, whilst Henry had a Diet-Coke.
  • We both finished off, with two scoops of appropriate ice cream.

It was only, when we had paid and tried to leave that we got a very big surprise.

Parked in front of the restaurant with its disabled ramp extended, like some beached airliner was a 141 bus, that was empty of passengers.

  • There was broken glass at the front of the bus.
  • Was this evidence, that the bus had hit something or somebody?
  • The police had strung white tape everywhere.
  • There were half-a-dozen police cars and ambulances blocking Southgate Road.

Henry’s car wouldn’t be going anywhere for some time, as it was blocked in by two ambulances and a police car with flashing blue lights.

  • So, Henry and I each had a coffee, to pass the time.
  • We also made friends with others trapped in the restaurant.
  • Henry also obtained information from the police, that no-one would be moving, until it was known that no-one would be moving until the full state of the injuries of the person hit by the bus was known.

So Henry and I just sat there with several others on the hard chairs in front of the restaurant.

In the end, for me, it was over very quickly.

  • I live about a kilometre North of the incident.
  • Some were walking from the incident to the Balls Pond Road to get a bus.
  • I am fairly sure, Henry had told the police, that it was far too far for me to walk with my arthritic hip.

I was put in the back of a police car and ferried home, at about 21:45.

Thanks to the Metropolitan Police.

I have some further thoughts.

Do I Drink Enough?

Since lunchtime, I have drunk the following.

  • 4 x 330 ml – Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 % Beer
  • 1 x 330 ml – Lucky Saint 0.5 % Beer
  • 300 ml – Assorted water and juices.
  • 1 cup – coffee.

Is that enough?

I certainly slept better last night!

 

 

July 30, 2024 Posted by | Food, Health, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

My Alcohol-Free And Gluten-Free Real Ale Has Arrived

I have been drinking Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% beer for some years now.

It should be noted that as a coeliac, I have to drink gluten-free beer and because I am on Warfarin, I can’t drink much alcohol.

My body has certified the beer as gluten-free, ever since it was released a few years ago.

On Saturday, my first consignment of the new Ghost Ship 0.5% beer arrived, which is properly certified as gluten-free.

This paragraph from this page on Adnams web site describes what they mean by gluten-free.

Ghost Ship is inspired by tall tales of the ghostly ships that haunted the shores of Walberswick. The seeds of these stories were likely sown by smugglers in a plot to keep the Suffolk coast clear. In contrast, Ghost Ship 0.5%’s creative new look invites you in, flying the flag for low-alcohol beer. It has been painted by a talented local artist with a love of that very same coastline. Adnams invested in a de-alcoholiser specifically to craft Ghost Ship 0.5%. This reverse osmosis plant allows the team to brew and ferment Ghost Ship 0.5% like all our other beers and then, at cold temperatures, remove the alcohol. It leaves all the lovely flavours from a full fermentation in the beer, allowing it to sail away with those original characteristics. Our Ghost Ship 0.5% 330ml cans are validated as gluten free. When producing Ghost Ship 0.5%, we use an enzyme to help with filtration when using our de-alcoholiser. This breaks down gluten-type molecules which helps with the process, reducing gluten content to below 20 parts per million (ppm). Only foods that contain 20ppm or less can be labelled as ‘gluten-free.’

I’ll go along with that!

But then I’ve been drinking Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% beer for at least five years and I’ve never had a reaction.

December 11, 2023 Posted by | Food | , , , , | 1 Comment