Milk at lastThe lovely PR, Chris, from Lactofree sent me some vouchers so I can drink milk again. Yay! It tastes great and am loving drinking milk again. Only problem is that it is not sold at my local grocery store so needed to go to Selfridges to get this carton. Hopefully Tesco will start selling it soon but I don't mind going to Selfridges as there is always something interesting to look at there. Thanks Lacto-free people!

Check out their website for more info. http://www.lactofree.co.uk
There is news, advice and more information about lactose intolerance and Lactofree milk. There is even a community hub and a guide to restaurants that cater for lactose-intolerant people, making it easier for them to choose where they eat out in the UK. How helpful!

Use Lactaid to make yoghurtI was almost poisoned 2x this week by milk related activity. First I think I was served a regular latte at the Sanderson Hotel, but I asked for a soy one of course. During my meeting I was feeling very ill, was sick a few times and felt off the whole day - the only thing I could attribute it to was the latte. It also took a long time to get the latte, it had to be ordered a few times and chased up and I think in the delay there was a mix up of the milk used. I was pre-occupied with the meeting so didn't really examine the taste but think it was definitely the cause of my seeing stars at one point in the day. oh joy!

And, while in Canada I bought this little bottle of drops which I thought would allow me to drink milk daily again. Instructions are to add 15 drops to one litre of milk and then let stand for 24hours to kill all the lactose. I did as directed, and the next day had cereal and milk for the first time in ages, but it tasted a little funny. I ignored that and thought about the next day's breakfast. Day 2 - I open the milk and there is a funny rotten smell - like yoghurt that has gone off. I rush off to work without drinking it as not too sure about the smell. When I get home that evening the container of milk is completely turned into some sort of slushy, solid pudding. It was gross and in the bin it went!

The next day I am taking my calcium pill at work and moaning about it -wishing the milk brand Lactancia was sold here and up pops an email from a nice young man saying he has been reading about my lactose intolerance on the blob (as my family calls it) and he wants to send me some samples of lactose free milk to try.
Hallelujia!

Will let you know how the new product goes - am sure they don't sell it in my petrol station super market.

A question I have been asking is, if you don't drink milk or eat any dairy, what are other food sources provide calcium?

TLCA mother's love for her sons was a topic of conversation yesterday. It is a great thing to hear about or witness first hand. A & I spoke about it over lunch at Mercatto on Toronto Street (yum!), he mentioned how he really appreciates his mother and really can see how much she means to him more and more as an adult.

I see it with my sister and her two little boys, who are under the age of 5, who are completely smitten with their momma. Then there is teacher Tami has three little males in the house that she is completely enamored with, rightly so, as they are all wonderful little people. She made these cakes for two of their birthdays; she and her husband the Karate Kid were up until midnight crafting these yummy, lactose-free creations. The soccer ball was a difficult one to make and needed extra engineering at the last minute. Will try and post the recipe - you could never tell that there was no milk in any of these cakes.
Not sure if this is completely accurate but perhaps, like fine wine, men appreciated their mothers more with age?

And yesterday's lunch with Burger and Bloomfield The actor, actress and I ventured through the pouring rain, Bloomfield (in pic) and the Burger almost got hit by a God Saves bus, how ironic, and I almost got in the way of a motorcycle - after a few screams we made it safely across the road to the shelter of this old man's boozer. Once inside The Shipwright's Arms we looked out our window and saw the traffic lights a few yards away - we then used them on the way out.We ordered the usual pub grub - bangers and mash (bangers = sausages), club sandwich, and tuna melt - which is two pieces of bread with tuna layered on and then a hefty amount of melted cheese to secure it all together - for a lactose intolerant person the amount of melted cheese in one go looks painful.

The presentation is not the greatest, as you can see from the gravy drips on Bloomfield's plate, but the service is good and it does give you that old, authentic pub feel. It is a bit run down but has character and is comfortable and relaxed. All pubs seem to be turning into cool, trendy gastro pubs so this was a nice change. As Burger said, 'a proper old man's boozer.' The Brits love to use the word 'proper' when describing things they like.

What to do with half a bag of almost rotten carrots?

Like Clara says, 'it's just wrong to let things go to waste,' but.... she believes that to be true with Guiness Beer but doesn't eat leftovers?! Go figure.

Anyhow thinking about her words I decided to make something with the half bag of almost rotten carrots in the fridge. What to do? Nothing too fancy, threw them in a pot with boiling water a whole onion and a few potatoes and some garlic and voila some soup for the chillier nights that are approaching. I added an organic stock cube and lots of chili pepper and salt and ground black pepper. Once it was a little cool, I threw it in the blender and voila I will have soup for dinner the next few nights -although I am out each evening for the next few nights so those carrots may have been cooked in vain :)


And read on Wiki yesterday that almost 70% of Sicilans and descendants from the Mediterranean are lactose intolerant (LI) in comaprison with 5-10% percent of northern Europeans and Americans. All of this new LI info is fascinating.

Come to think of it I never saw my grandparents drinking milk or having cereal...I think my grandfather drank goats milk while he was making his cheese on the farm but that may be it...will have to check with the aunties and uncles about their milk consumption. Giovanna - does your mother drink milk?


x

Lacto-loaf
The title of the blog is All Things Dolce but when it is your birthday we all know that sometimes you don't always get the sweetest deal. If you are lactose intolerant you can't really have a creamy, rich and richly delicious cake as most likely there will be a lot of milk and milk products in it.

Lactose intolerance happens when the digestive system is unable to break down the sugar called lactose found in milk.
It is estimated that around one in ten people in the UK suffers from lactose intolerance to some degree, but it often goes undiagnosed. Symptoms include vomiting, wind, stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

So what you must do is settle for an alternative; in the case of T.Lio's b-day it was this lactose free loaf from Hermes bakery (2885 Bathurst Street). It didn't look too hot but it was actually delicious in a coffee cake sort of way.

I guess when you reach her age two candles suffice? Awwh you look fab for 25!

Wikipedia has more info for those who want to delve into the topic more.