Welcome

Welcome to our spring newsletter! At long last it looks as though we may be on our way towards what we hope will be a more normal time. By now many of us will have had our first jab (not too many side effects, hopefully) and some even the second one. All this means that at last the committee can start thinking about what get-togethers we might like to organise when government restrictions allow.

In the summer we hope to have a picnic where we can catch up with old friends and meet new ones, and before then we are planning a Zoom meeting with Laura, the coeliac dietitian from Basingstoke hospital. More details below. We hope to see you at either or both of these events.

Since we still can’t go out to eat in a restaurant we have included some recipe book recommendations, so we can get creative with eating in. There are so many lovely books available that it can be difficult to choose which to get, so we hope these will be helpful, particularly if you are new to gluten free cooking.

As always, we would love to hear from you, whether you have a recipe you think we would like to try, any suggestions for great places to eat out (when we're allowed to!), ideas for Zoom get-togethers, or just to say hello, please do contact us. Our website, email address and Facebook details can be found at the end of the newsletter. 

All of us on the committee would like to wish you a very happy Easter.

Margaret, Tom, Keith, Lesley, Gemma, Carol, Paul, Clare and Coleen

North Hants Easter bake off

With Easter shortly upon us, we would like to invite our members to join us for an Easter themed bake off.  To take part, all you need to do is bake and decorate either gluten free cupcakes or biscuits and send photos of your creations to us by email (northhampshire@coeliac.org.uk) or post them on our Facebook group by Sunday 18 April. We can’t wait to see what you make and look forward to hearing how delicious they taste!

We have included below a cupcake and biscuit recipe that you can try, or feel free to use your own recipe if you prefer.

Easter themed cupcake recipe:

https://glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk/2020/03/29/gluten-free-mini-egg-cupcakes-recipe/

Easter biscuit recipe:

https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/gluten-free-easter-bunny-biscuits

Recipe books - some personal recommendations

Rather than keep our favourite recipe books to ourselves, we thought we would share a few of our best-loved tomes.  Given that we may have accumulated some over the years, we are not sure that they are all still in print, but hope that you might be able to obtain them second hand.

Prior to even beginning a culinary journey, I must say that Dana Korn's Living Gluten-Free for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, 2013) lifted the lid on concepts of which I was hitherto completely unaware.  The section explaining the glycaemic index was a particular revelation.  A good portion of the book has some inspiring recipes.  In fact, the original work is now accompanied by four other volumes: Cooking, Baking, Coeliac Disease and Student Cooking.

Perhaps those who joined Coeliac UK recently may not have encountered Phil Vickery's Seriously Good! Gluten-Free Cooking (Kyle Cathie, 2009) and Seriously Good! Gluten-Free Baking (Kyle Cathie, 2010).   His Gluten-Free Cooking is so straightforward that some of the recipes don't even require cooking.  And, usefully it is not just about baking.  Margaret tells us: The first gluten free cookery book I had was Phil Vickery’s Gluten Free Baking. I found it really helpful because as well as some wonderful recipes it explains a bit about why gluten free baking is different and what you can do to try and compensate. It has lots of everyday recipes like carrot cake and polenta cake but he also includes more exotic sounding recipes as well, such as tangy beetroot and blackcurrant muffins.

Lesley is a fan of Cake Angels: Amazing Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Cakes by Julia Thomas (HarperCollins, 2011).  One of Lesley's favourite recipes from the book is the Orange, Polenta and Poppy Seed cake which works equally well with lemons.

Gemma has been alert to one particular new publication that we hear is being reviewed by Coeliac UK as we speak. "Becky Excell's book How to make anything gluten free (Quadrille Publishing, 2021) has become a firm favourite since I bought it last month. Her focus is on making food that isn't naturally gluten free, especially all the food you really miss when on a gluten free diet. I have already made pizza, chicken leek & bacon pie, toad in the hole, chocolate chip banana bread and more (all delicious!). She uses the minimum number of ingredients necessary and wherever possible uses "normal" ingredients that most people usually stock, rather than fancy flour blends etc. 
Becky has a website (https://glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk/) with lots of free recipes on there too, as well as videos to show you exactly how she makes them."

For someone whose career is in the food industry, Emma Goss-Custard must take the biscuit.  Her Honeybuns gluten free baking (Pavilion Books, 2012) is definitely for those with a sweet tooth.  It does not appear to have any savoury dishes.  Yes, she is the founder of the eponymous cakemaker, but the book is not overly promotional.  

Lastly, perhaps some members reading this have been fortunate to have seen Coeliac UK Ambassador, Jane Devonshire, cooking in person.  Until that opportunity can return, we recommend her Hassle Free Gluten Free (Absolute Press, 2018) and Vegetarian Hassle Free Gluten Free (Bloomsbury, 2020) - both available from the Coeliac UK shop.

We hope that our members would like to share their own recommendations and would gladly feature them in future newsletters.

Dietician Virtual Q&A Event

We are delighted to announce that we shall be holding a virtual event with Laura, a coeliac dietician from Basingstoke hospital on Monday 26 April at 7pm.

Please email us at northhampshire@coeliac.org.uk if you would like to attend, including any topics or specific questions that you would like covered. The deadline to confirm if you will be attending and to send us your questions is Tuesday 20 April. The event will be held on Zoom, with login details to be shared with our members who register their interest.

Coeliac awareness week, 10-16 May

As you may be aware, Coeliac UK hold an awareness week every year with a different theme each time. There is always lots to get involved with, so watch this space.  Further details will be published here in due course.

Please do get in touch if you have any ideas as to what we can do as a local group to get involved and mark the occasion.

Summer event

It has been such a long time that we have held a physical event with our members that we are keen to do so once restrictions have finally eased, to give our members an opportunity to meet other members of the coeliac community in their area.  Whilst it is too soon to make any solid plans at this stage, our intention is to hold a summer picnic in a park in the Basingstoke vicinity during a weekend before the school summer holidays.  This will of course be dependent on any restrictions in place at the time. We shall share further details in due course, once we receive the go ahead from Coeliac UK.

And finally...

Visit our website (https://www.coeliac.org.uk/local-groups/north-hampshire/) for a map of accredited venues in the North Hants area, updates on future events and other information.

You can also find us on Facebook, where we have a  public Page and a private Group.  To join the group, please ensure you respond to the two membership questions.

It is great to receive suggestions from our members of what you would like to see from your local group. If you would like to get in touch, you can email us at northhampshire@coeliac.org.uk