SCDee: February 2015

Thursday 26 February 2015

I bought a smoothie maker at my school fair for a euro!! Works perfectly. Enjoying lots of kefir smoothies this week. This one is kefir, banana and elderberries. Yum! #gaps

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"You haven't lived until you've had pineapple fried in bacon fat" - Sally Fallon Morell. I agree!!! #gaps

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Tuesday 24 February 2015

Dorothy's Birthday Cake

My beautiful daughter is 15 today and this is her all-time favourite birthday cake. She requested it first a few years ago after my fantastic sister went to a lot of trouble to make it for our first GAPS Christmas. It was the most wonderful dessert on Christmas day and it has become a family favourite for all kinds of special occasions. No-one would ever suspect that it was any different from a standard lemon meringue pie, except that it tastes even better! There is a bit of work involved but believe me it is worth it! I have been asked for this recipe so many times over the last 4 years so I'm sorry you've had to wait so long!!!! I like to make the pastry the night before you need the pie, then make the filling in the morning, then make the meringue and put it all together just before you need it. That way, you don't feel like you've been cooking all day!

Lemon Meringue Pie

First make the pastry:

180g of ground almonds,

60g butter, cold and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon honey

a pinch each of baking soda and salt

Just put everything into your food processor and blitz it until it starts to form a ball. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Next you need to roll it out to fit your tin. I use a 9" springform tin but you could also use a pie plate. The rolling out is the tricky bit. Pastry made with almond flour needs to be handled a bit more delicately than regular pastry so use a sheet or two of parchment. Flatten your ball of dough onto parchment, I like to use a long piece and just fold it over the dough. Then roll it with a rolling pin until it is about 2 inches wider than your tin. Carefully lay the pastry into your greased tin, you need to do this very gently! Stick the pastry to the sides of the tin and cut the top so it is even. Stick it back in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up, while you heat up the oven to 170 C, gas mark 3. Cook in the oven for about 12 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool.

For the lemon filling you need:

6 egg yolks

125g honey

120ml lemon juice (juice 2-3 lemons)

60g butter, cold and cut into pieces

Put the egg yolks, honey and lemon juice into a glass bowl and sit it over a pan of gently simmering water. Whisk just enough to blend fully. Then add the butter - add a few pieces at a time and whisk gently until the pieces melt. Continue this way until all the butter has been added. Then let the mixture cook gently without stirring for 10 minutes until it is set. Take it off the heat and let it cool completely. When cool, spoon the lemon filling into your pie base and use a knife to level it.

And lastly make the meringue:

4 egg whites

a pinch of salt

3 tablespoons of honey

Preheat your oven to 190 C, gas mark 5. Put your egg whites and a pinch of salt in a clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly drizzle the honey in as you keep whisking. When the last of the honey is mixed in, the mixture should form stiff peaks and be slightly shiny. Spoon the meringue onto the top of your pie base. Use a large spoon to form peaks. Bake in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, keeping a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn. Without sugar, the meringue mix won't get very stiff, but it is still sweet and sticky and delicious!

Monday 23 February 2015

Pork liver pâté - with pork belly, liver and rashers from Rigney's Farm in Curraghchase. #gaps #wapf

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Saturday 21 February 2015

Lucky me - one large pig's liver with my name on it!! Thank you @rigneysfarm !! #gaps

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Sunday 15 February 2015

Wise Traditions Ireland 2015

Sally Fallon Morell, founder of the Weston A Price Foundation with the organisers Brendan O'Brien, myself, Caroline Rigney and Anne Maher

Thomond Park in Limerick has been the setting for many epic days. From the infamous win over the All-Blacks in 1978 to the more recent "miracle match" against Gloucester in 2003, this is hallowed ground, a place which holds Limerick people's hearts, even if you are not a rugby fan.

Last weekend was another epic event, a two-day conference focusing on food, nutrition, farming, and most of all, empowering people to take control of their own health, and the health of their children. The Wise Traditions Ireland event was huge. Huge in the numbers of delegates, huge in the message being delivered and huge in the emotional impact it had on its attendees. They came from all walks of life - nutritional therapists, farmers, food producers, special needs parents, bloggers, and others who simply wanted to educate themselves about real nutrition. The numbers were particularly impressive given that the Weston A Price Foundation is not well known in Ireland. The number of members is low and there are only 3 local chapters. That, I suspect, is about to change! I am just about to return my local chapter application in the next few days and I believe there will be more.

One of my personal highlights from a busy weekend was the raw milk debate - which was a bit one-sided(!) but which saw raw milk farmers and advocates, including Darina Allen, speak so passionately about the benefits of drinking raw milk and also of their efforts to ensure the sale of raw milk will not be banned in Ireland. The panel asked the audience how many people present drink raw milk on a regular basis and were surprised to find that about half the delegates raised their hands! Raw milk and raw cheese was on sale at the exhibitors stands from the Little Milk Company, Derg Farmhouse Cheese and Frank Shinnick.

We were lucky to have such a diverse range of exhibitors, from milk and cheese producers to nutritionists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, dentists and supplement producers. They were all very busy over the weekend. We had exhibitors from all over Ireland, the UK and even a wonderful couple from Austria who gave out so many samples all weekend, of their deliciously healthy goodies. My son who still eats grain-free and sugar-free was delighted that Mum came home with a huge bag full of tasty healthy "Free-Of" treats! Martin and Karin Staple were another highlight of the conference and I think they will remember fondly their week in Ireland! I could talk all day about the friendships forged and the connections made last weekend, it was a special event, filled with genuinely special people.

My big stand-out moment though, was when another GAPS mum, introduced her son to Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride for the first time and posed for a photo. I was completely overwhelmed with emotions. Gratitude - for this amazing woman, for her book and for the lives she has changed, and possibly saved. Pride - in myself for taking a leap of faith in GAPS, for persevering through difficult years and continuing to nourish my son, and pride in all the other Mums for taking that same leap in the first place! There was also relief - relief that I was given that book early enough to make a real difference to my son. It was a flood!! By the time my own son came to have his picture taken with Dr Natasha I had calmed down and regained my composure!

There were so many highlights in the process of putting on this event - the teamwork between the four of us organisers was fantastic. The incredibly hard-working volunteers who gave hours and hours of their time on Friday, Saturday and Sunday working like crazy obsessed people stuffing bags, sticking up signs, fixing chairs and tables and basically telling me to calm down! The staff of Thomond Park who were genuinely interested in our message and approached everything with a wonderfully pleasant attitude. Philip who came over from London and was a mine of information! The chef and catering company who produced such wonderul food, and who were encouragingly enthusiatic about our very precise requests surrounding the menu! The exhibitors who were so friendly and pleasant and delighted to be there. Thomond Park itself, like a shining beacon of hope and expectation. You get the idea, it was a very positive experience!!

On Sunday after Dr Natasha had finished the last talk, there was a standing ovation. It was fantastic! And then Anne Maher called Brendan O'Brien, Caroline Rigney and myself to the stage, where we were treated to another standing ovation. This was undoubtedly one of the proudest moments of my life. I hope and pray that everyone present took away the same positive uplifting memories that I have! As the audience stood, Sally Fallon Morell took the microphone and spoke to the audience about the importance of becoming members of the foundation. She told us that New Zealand has more members per capita than any country in the world. She challenged the Irish to beat New Zealand, and Brendan took the microphone and explained to Sally that she was in the right place to issue a challenge like that!!