Tiptree Tomato Sauce
I found this sauce from Wilkin and Sons, the jam makers in Waitrose. It isn’t cheap, but you wouldn’t expect that from a quality company.
On the other hand it is rather addictive and goes well with the potato-topped pies I have in the freezer.
It doesn’t say it’s gluten-free on the bottle, but then it doesn’t say that on the jams or marmalade. But none of the ingredients contain gluten.
Sheffield United 1 Ipswich 2
Yesterday, I went to see Ipswich play at Sheffield United and they duly obligued with a reasonably tidy win, that puts them sixth in the Championship.
It was a good trip as I went up by train from St. Pancras with a friend and his son, who support the Blades. It took just over two hours to get up and we had a sensible lunch in a Greek cafe called Hellas close to the ground.
I had a ra
Hellas Cafe near Bramall Lane, Sheffield
ther nice bean soup with some salami and home-made humous. I wouldn’t recommend the cafe to super-sensitive coeliacs, but I had no reaction at all. The toliets were also very smart and had that important accessory of a coat hook. Why should I try to prop my coat on the door handle or put it on the floor.
I’ve been to Bramall Lane three times now and it seems to get better every time, which is something you can’t say about all stadia in the Championship.
Bramall Lane
As I’ve said in other posts, at some places the security is rather over top, but it is best to say that at Bramall Lane, it was sensible and fair, which can’t be said for every ground.
It was a short walk back to the station from the ground and then another two hour train ride back to London. We were in one of the Meridians and I managed an hour’s sleep or so. i’ll be glad when I finally move to London, as I’ll be able to do more trips like these without the inconvenience of going cross-country from Suffolk.
Lorenzo’s Ristorante in Crystal Palace
On Friday night, I went out with friends to this restaurant in South London. They were very friendly, the owner checked everything and all in all it was a good meal.
So if you’re in that area, it’s worth trying out. They have a web site at www.lorenzo.uk.com. I think they’re within walking distance of the train station at Crystal Palace, which is now on the London Overground.
One In and One Out!
I had a bone density scan some weeks ago and as I’ve not heard anything, I asked the nurse to see if there was anything on their computer, when she did my Warfarin blood test and gave me a shot of B12 today.
There wasn’t any news and judging by how I feel, my bones may not be tip-top, but they certainly aren’t in falling apart mode, as I would have hoped that I would have been called in for the bad news.
It strikes me that there could be a big increase in efficiency here, with possible cost savings!
If you have a test that can be quantified accurately and you are well on the right side of the problem level, surely, you can be told the results either by a more or less standard e-mail and/or letter.
With my bone scan, it might say that I’m reasonably fine, but I should come back for another scan in say six months. A copy could also go to my GP, so she would know as well. I have a feeling, that a lot of communications from hospitals to GPs are actually letters not e-mails and are scanned in the surgery. If I’m wrong, which I hope I am, about these letters please correct me!
There must be hundreds of instances in the NHS, where a sensible bit of automation could save money and redeploy staff to more important duties, than writing lots of similar letters.
We are seeing instances of automation, like appointments systems that text you reminders, but we need to see more. I personally would like to see a better system for anti-coagulant testing.
A Slow Bus from Cambridge to Ipswich
After the film, I did a bit of window shopping in Cambridge and then had lunch in Carluccio’s before catching the four o’clock bus to Haverhill, where I was going to get the coach at six o’clock to Ipswich for the football.
The weather was atrocious and it was almost pleasant to be at the front on the top of a warm 13 bus, as it meandered its way through the villages to Haverhill. At least, I had a little shelf in front of me, which allowed me to do the Sudoku.
Haverhill though is not the place to spend an hour at five ‘oclock on a very wet Tuesday afternoon. There was no cafe open and the one or two pubs that were looked very much like the places I would only visit in direst need. The rain looked friendlier! I walked up to Tesco’s as I needed a banana and a juice with which to take my Warfarin. They did have single bananas, but I couldn’t find any small drinks of juice or smoothies. As everything was in litre bottles or larger, I decided that it would be better to try elsewhere. I got what I wanted in the Co-op. But they didn’t have a gluten-free section, so my thought of buying a packet of suitable biscuits went out the window. Tesco’s did have a gluten-free section, but it was rather poor, with no nice biscuits. I did ask in the Co-op about gluten-free and they said it had been successful, so they stopped it.
So supper consisted of some sandwiches, I’d made before I left, some chocolate, a smoothie, a banana and a 5mg. Warfarin tablet.
The coach from Haverhill to Ipswich was probably the fastest part of the journey as the weather seemed to have kept the crowd very much below what I would have expected.
The Corner House, Newmarket Road, Cambridge
After the CT Scan, I was dropped at the Park and Ride in Cambridge and took the bus into the city centre. I had the intention of seeing the film, Made in Dagenham before going to see Ipswich play Northampton in the evening.
This pub caught my eye from the bus and you can see why in the picture.
The Corner House Pub, Cambridge
You probably can’t see it in this small photo, but under the “Home Cooked Food” banner, it also says “Including Gluten Free”.
Now I’ve never seen any establishment, broadcast that fact in so large letters. Certainly, if you were looking for a gluten-free meal and you were driving past, you’d take notice and might try it. They do have a web site.
Perhaps, the message is getting through.
Gene Therapy on the Horizon
Horizon tonight was on gene therapy. It really did give people with genetic diseases hope.
As both my wife and our son died of cancer, it was thought that he may have inherited a faulty gene. He hadn’t, but I can understand how much something like that, would blow families apart.
On the other hand, I have an inherited genetic disease in coeliac disease. Would I want to be cured by gene therapy? Probably not now, as I control my symptoms through diet, but it would have been nice to know, I carried the faulty gene earlier and I could have modified my diet accordingly.
Doves Farm Tricolour Pasta
I cooked a pack of this for supper with my son and a friend. They both liked it.
Doves Farm Tricolour Pasta
So thev sauce was a bit runny, but it was just created with two onions, some garlic, some tinned chopped tomatoes, some chopped salami and possibly too much stock.
But it tasted good and everything was eaten up!
Every Town Should Have One!
Nottingham is one of the best places to visit as a casual visiting supporter, as the station, town centre and the football ground are all within about twenty minutes walk. I have eaten in the centre before a couple of times and have never had a problem. I walked up the town to a restaurant I know, called French Living, where I had a simple lunch of an ommelette with all the trimmings and a glass of house wine for just £9.85.
They are a bit more than a restaurant and bistro, as you’ll see from their web site. They sell cheeses and other products andare also in quite a few respected guides.
It would be nice if this concept of shop/restaurant/bistro was to be repeated all over the country. After all judging by the full restaurant on a wet Saturday in October, it is a concept that works.
Especially with a one course lunch with wine for just £9.85!
Gluten Free Goes Mainstream
There has been an announcement that Genius gluten-free bread is going to spend £3million on a television advertising campaign for their products.
It’s even got a mention in The Sun.
I probably wont see the advert, but it will be interesting to see if it raises the awareness of coeliac disease and gluten-free products.
As to their gluten-free bread, I usually have a loaf in the bread-bin for sandwiches and toast. So I can’t say that I’m unhappy with the product.
The Anonymous Widower 