Happy New Year / Chinese New Year / Valentine’s Day

The Cake and Crumb Bakery
Recently, we have had the pleasure of sampling some products from The Cake and Crumb bakery in Emyvale, Co Monaghan. We had Apple Tart, Carrot Cake Cupcakes and Rocky Roads and they were all a real treat. Tina said they were just like “home made” only better! Even the non Coeliacs in the family were impressed – they couldn’t tell that they were Gluten Free!
Look for The Cake and Crumb name when you are out and about and buy yourself a treat!
More information is available on their Facebook page at –
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-cake-and-crumb/116795791685094

Flavour Magazine
The latest edition of Flavour Magazine has arrived with us and, as usual, it’s jam packed with all kinds of foodie goodies!
It’s available now in the shops and supermarkets so go and get yourself a copy and note that the next Edition will include articles about FreeFrom f

If you have come across a new Gluten Free product that you believe would be of interest please tell us about it and share the experience.oods – don’t miss it as FreeFrom covers Gluten Free foods!
st like “home made” only better! Even the non Coeliacs in the family were impressed – they couldn’t tell that they were Gluten Free!

Ulster Hospital Coeliac Support Meetings
Last November Noelle Power, a Nutritionist with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, held a series of three Coeliac Information evenings with the first two in the Ulster Hospital, Belfast and the final one in Lagan Valley Hospital, Lisburn.
The evenings were very well attended with between 80 and 100 people arriving at each event, a reflection of the interest folk have in learning more about the Coeliac condition and how they can help themselves cope with it on a day to day basis.
Each evening commenced with a cup of tea or coffee and gluten free goodies supplied by companies such as Glutafin, BFree Foods, Juvela and Kelkin.
The real business of the night then got under way with a talk by a Doctor specialising in Gastroenterology in which we learnt about the history of Coeliac Disease, the cause and effects it has on the body and what research is being done to try and improve the outlook for patients.
This was followed by a Gluten Free Cookery demonstration by Michael McCamley – Coeliac UK’s Gluten Free Chef of the Year in 2010 and 2011!
Judging by the interaction between Michael and the audience not everyone has found Gluten Free baking to be a doddle but I know he has passed on some tips and recipes many folk will find useful in the kitchen. More information on Michael can be found on his website – www.venuecatering.net and we must give his excellent new book a mention “Gluten Free Baking” – available from his website or Amazon. (A great idea for a present if you have a Coeliac family member or friend – hint hint!)
The audience then had the chance to stretch their legs with a short interval to allow people to visit the various stands around the hall, including the Gluten Free Ireland stand.
Eating out is one of the biggest problems faced by Coeliacs and we had been invited to participate in the events as our website provides a very useful service by identifying eating venues across Northern and Southern Ireland where Gluten Intolerance is recognised and catered for –www.glutenfreeireland.com
The event concluded with Noelle giving a very interesting and informative talk entitled “Healthy Eating and the Gluten Free Diet”.
Topics covered included the critical job of Reading Labels, Healthy Eating, Ingredients that are not Gluten Free, Storing and Preparing Food, Labelling Legislation, Travelling Safely within Ireland and travelling abroad using Airports and Airlines.
The evenings finished with a Prize Draw and everyone went off with a Goodie Bag of products provided by Glutafin –www.glutafin.co.uk
All in all a very useful exercise by the Hospital with special thanks going to the “boss” Noelle and her willing assistant Danielle not forgetting the other Dietitians and Student Dietitians  from the hospitals who helped to make the evenings such a success.
Some of the ladies from South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust who made the Coeliac evenings happen – from the left, Kate Murphy (Student Dietitian), Fiona Armstrong (Dietitian), Noelle Power (Dietitian and Team Leader), Danielle Kinnear (Dietitian), Marianne McGovern (Student Dietitian).

New Titanic Restaurant – 222, Newtownards Road Belfast
The recent Union Flag protests in Belfast have been causing problems for a number of shops and businesses in central Belfast and on some roads leading into the city. (The media figure of a £15 million pounds loss to the NI economy is debatable as much of the money has probably been spent in other areas of Belfast or in the surrounding towns! We all know how the media love a “bad news” story!)
However, the trouble has caused serious damage to specific businesses on some roads including Mr JD’s New Titanic Restaurant at 222, Newtownards Road Belfast.
They are strong supporters of the Coeliac Community so, if you like your Fish & Chips, let’s support them at this difficult time and pay them a visit. Their GF Fish, Chips, Pasties etc are hard to beat! http://www.newtitanicrestaurant.co.uk/

Emergency Food Supplies – are you prepared?
No doubt many of you reading this article will be familiar with the terrible floods people in England and Wales experienced last year and the more recent snowfalls across the British Isles.
I know there has been localised flooding in parts of Northern and Southern Ireland in the past but not, I believe, on the same scale as we have seen in GB.
Watching the television pictures of the snow and floods and the ensuing rescue efforts made me wonder how Coeliacs would cope if caught up in such an emergency?
In one village the flood water rose to a depth of 4 Feet in 30 minutes giving folk little time to rescue anything never mind trying to put together an emergency pack of GF food!
In the USA there are companies who specialise in providing emergency food packs (including Gluten Free food with a long shelf life). Is that something Coeliacs who live in areas under threat from flooding etc should be thinking about before the next natural catastrophe overtakes us?

Facebook
Our Facebook page is now very popular and, to date, we have 929 “Likes” which is tremendous and leaves us heading for our first thousand! While we are getting a reasonable level of interaction on our page we would love to see more folk use it to tell everyone about their favourite GF watering holes, support groups, or whatever Coeliac related experience you have had! Let’s be hearing from you!

Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB)
The NITB has added us into their Discover Northern Ireland web site –www.discovernorthernireland.com/food as they recognise the demand from visitors for Gluten Free food and the need for Tourist Information Centres to give suitable advice.

New Advertisers on our Website:
Karaun House – a Coeliac Friendly B&B in Stradbally, Clarinbridge, Co Galway. See them on our website or give them a call on +353 91 796182

Marble Arch Cave Restaurant (Camlake Catering) at Florencecourt, Co Fermanagh. The restaurant is open from March through to September and they are very Coeliac Friendly! More details on our website.