A Gluten-Free Bacon Sandwich
I bet some people who end up here, didn’t think it could exist.
A Gluten-Free Bacon Sandwich
It was made with organic bacon from Waitrose and a couple of slices of Genius brown bread. I didn’t use butter, but Benecol.
It was a very nice sandwich! I would say that wouldn’t I!
Now I’ve Got A Gammy Knee!
Over the last couple of days, I’ve had a minor difficulty getting up from a chair. I was just getting a bit of pain in my right knee. I had to see the GP yesterday and she looked at it. I had thought it might be something to do with the stroke, but it was just a touch of arthritis. As I was seeing the physio after the GP, she had something else to do and she gave it some therapy. It’s a lot better this morning.
The gastroenterologist I saw on Friday last week told me that I had some sort of bio-chemical problem and this was resulting in my poor nails. They took some blood to check what it was.
Now before I was diagnosed as a coeliac, I had lots of problems and pain in my left knee. These had started when I was about 25 and one doctor in those days, suggested I had an operation. When we moved to Suffolk in 1975, a new doctor, recommended some exercises and except for the odd stickiness when I got up from the floor, I never had any more problems.
All of these knee problems got a lot better with a gluten-free diet.
So now it’s the other knee!
Ever since I’ve had the stroke, I’ve worried that something is wrong with the bio-chemistry of my body. I’ll laugh like a drain if I’m low on vitamin B12!
But what do I know about medicine! Not a lot! But I do know my body!
In addition to the knee and nails, I’ve also got a certain amount of the runs and I am sleeping a lot and very well. The latter is probably due to the body needing time to recover.
Lizzie’s Gluten Free Tins
It has just been pointed out to me that Lizzie’s tins of dog food are gluten-free.
Butcher's Gluten-Free Dog Food
Does Lizzie care?
I asked her and she didn’t answer!
Decoding the Wheat Genome
In some ways I am pleased that scientists at mine and C’s old university, Liverpool, have led a team that has decoded the wheat genome.
I could make a sarcastic comment about what good is that to me as a coeliac, but it should help to ease the problems of feeding the world. Something that is needed even more given the problems in Russia and Pakistan, which may well be repeated elsewhere. Although new varieties will come too late for the current crisis.
I do suspect though, that science that works for wheat will also work for rice, maize and the other staple cereals. This is actually confirmed in the BBC Report, which says they are less complex and have already been done.
A Dastardly Plot
I am a coeliac as well as being an Ipswich Town supporter. A couple of years ago, Delia was on the radio promoting one of her books and I got to ask her about gluten-free food. She admitted she didn’t know anything about it.
So why at the next away Derby match at Carrow Road don’t we give Delia a test? Let’s get four coeliacs and book a table for lunch before the match. I should say that I’ve asked Ipswich hospitality and they can do gluten-free as can Newmarket Racecourse and the two Premier League Clubs I’ve contacted.
There is one point has to be said. I also talked to Gordon Ramsey about gluten-free food in a restaurant. He said that if you book at least 24 hours before and say you want a gluten-free meal, the restaurant has no excuse for not giving you what you need. I have found that his advice usually works, except in a couple of cases where they have said they can’t, so I’ve just gone elsewhere.
Let’s hope she gets the message.
I always wonder if she got those “Wish You Were Here” postcards Town fans sent on the European adventures a few years ago.
A Good Trip to Crewe and Chester
It was a good trip, not only because Ipswich won and I was able to renew old memories in Chester, but also because of the little things that happened and that I discovered.
- Virgin’s First Class lounges made travel in my condition a bit easier.
- The Crewe Arms offered a comfortable bed and good coffee in the morning close to the station and the football.
- I had a very good curry in Passage to India in Crewe.
- The staff and stewards at Crewe Alexandra were pleasant and welcoming.
- Real pubs still exist in the most unlikely places.
- I got a nice complimentary gluten-free salad on the way back. So Virgin can do gluten-free, despite what I said earlier.
I shall definitely go to Crewe again, if Ipswich play there!
The Albion, Chester
I was walking the Chester city walls with the intention of going back to a nice restaurant in Bridge Street, when I saw this pub called the Albion.
The Albion, Chester
What had caught my eye was the various chalked boards on the outside of the building. This one which was readable from the walls, said that this could be pub that was to my taste.
Perfect Advertising for a Pub
So did the Albion live up to what it said on the outside. I just had a half of cider to drink. This could have been better, but then I come from Suffolk, where they make the best;Aspalls. As they do sometimes have Adnams on draught, it shows how much the county of my conception is influencing the taste of discerning drinkers, all over these Isles.
As I said, I was ready for lunch, so I chose a cottage pie from the menu.
Cottage Pie at the Albion
I suspect it was wrongly named as it is more of an individual house pie. It was of course gluten-free. It was certified by the pleasant barmaid, who said that her mother was a coeliac like me!
I should say that the Albion also does bed and breakfast, which if their beds are as well-proprtioned as the pies, might well be something.
Crewe
After reading the Wikipedia entry for Crewe, I was apprehensive, as it is not complimentary and quotes Bill Bryson as saying it isw the armpit of Cheshire.
But I also have had the other view from the late MP for Crewe; Gwyneth Dunwoody, who used to be my next door neighbour. She was the sort, that if you went to borrow some sugar, you didn’t return until after several stiff drinks.
Even last week at Crystal Palace, a fellow Ipswich fan had said that he’d enjoyed a couple of trips to the town to see Ipswich.
The Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe
I stayed in the Crewe Arms by the station, which is typical of many station hotels all over the UK. It has mahogany panelling, deep red carpets and brown leather sofas. One unexpected thing it has is free and high-speed wi-fi. It definitely didn’t have that in 1880 when it opened.
I slept reasonably well too, as the bed was comfortable. The room was very clean with a bathroom that looks like it had been refurbished in the last year or so.
In the morning, I skipped breakfast because I ate well the previous night, but the coffee I had in a proper china pot was of a high standard.
I would certainly stay there again, if I went back to the football at Crewe.
The town centre was fairly clean with a lot of flowers and had most of the usual names.
Shopping Centre, Crewe
But the highglight last night was an excellent Indian meal in the Passage to India.
Passage To India, Crewe
The building was best desribed as clean, smart and comfortable, the staff were polite and professional and I give the food at least five bricks in honour of Brick Lane, where C and I had one of our most memorable Indian meals together. How about this for a seious shami kebab.
A Serious Shami Kebab
Nothing Gluten-Free on Virgin Trains
There were complimentary sandwiches, but nothing that was gluten-free, except for an apple, coffee and diet-Pepsi.
Sandwiches are always a problem, as you can’t expect gluten-free ones. I would have liked a banana, as I find apples a bit difficult with my mouth from the stroke.
Virgin’s First Class Toilets
Some coeliacs can be paranoid about toilets as many like me, have had so much diarrhoea, that it becomes a way of life. Now that I’m strictly gluten-free I rarely suffer that way, but I still sort out the best toilets. Certainly, one of the pleasures of travelling on Virgin is the quality of the First Class Lounge at Euston The free toilets were definitely up to the best standard expected.
On the subject of toliets,those at Portman Road are pretty good. It will be interesting to see how Gresty Road stacks up tonight.
The Anonymous Widower 