my dairy prayers have been answered!

image of Guernsey milk from Mojo creative

I was told I was lactose Intolerant back in my early 20's, and so pretty much since then I have been cold turkey.  I don't have a really bad reaction, its just uncomfortable so if someone served my white coffee or butter on my sandwiches I didn't fuss.  But I would have to turn down such delicious things as Lasagne and Cauliflower cheese.

I remember the sheer bliss when I was living in Sussex and I discovered that Cornettos were so synthetic, that I could eat them, they really had never seen a cow in their life!  Later I found this also applied to Mr Whippys and Vienettas. Not the classiest of ice cream, but if you cant have the real thing.....

At the same time my awareness of the amount of sheep and goats cheese out there grew
as did my love for it, especially Manchego, Pecorino and Ossau Iraty. Heaven!

Recently I decided that I would only have things in my kitchen that I could (if push came to shove) make my self, so margarine had to go.  So in the bin it went.  And I decided that I would rather have just a little bit of butter ever so often, and I didn't seem to suffer.

At the end of June I had my cousin round for lunch and had a very decadent pud, Tarte Tatin, puff pastry and apples oozing in lots of caramel, all made with proper Guernsey Butter! And the devil in me said, well you are going to suffer, so sod it have some cream on it too, so I did! 
It was so so gorgeous, the cream, caramel and the juice from the apples formed a ambrosic nectar, that I can still taste in my mind, and do you know what,I was fine.....

This triggered a memory of a comment on another blog, by a lady who was also LI, who had found she could eat cream.  So I started googling and found this article and others similar.
It basically says that lactose is mainly the whey of milk, so the higher the fat content the less lactose.  For example you would have to eat more than 12 spoons of butter to get 1 gm of lactose, where as there are 13 grams in a in a glass of milk..
So basically I can now eat cream, butter and hard chees,
but need to stay away from, milk, yogurt and cottage cheese!!!!!!!!

Life changing moment,
my body is telling me to eat all the delicious stuff,
and stay away from the healthy stuff! Oh happy days
xxx

ma petite crevette gris

It was my birthday at the beginning of the month, and I was lucky enough to celebrate it down in the South of France with my husband, a gorgeous few days of sun, rose, river swimming

and Crevette Gris! (brown shrimps)

I joke to Chris that I am a cheap date, as this is my all time favourite shellfish, maybe even food!

Now you can get them here, but they tend to always be shelled, I could go down to the beach, but the one time I did that, I only caught one, bonded with him, gave him a name and ended up setting him free ( I know, not normal).  So these days crevette gris (with their shell on) is a treat reserved for when we are on holiday in France.  Just like orangina used to be when I was little.

And to top it off, look what my lovely sister gave me for my birthday!

Two stunning Emma Bridgewater plates, one covered in langoustine

and one covered in my crevette gris! Perfect, thank you Serena xxxx

Heaven is Moulin Huet this morning

 Summer has arrived!

So Chris and I headed down to Moulin Huet for breakfast

 An hour before low tide, its Neap tides at the mo, so neither highs or lows are that great.

 Straight in and it was beautiful, as you swim out its a sandy bottom and a joy to swim, we were out floating and swimming for a good half hour.  And it really was only the need for breakfast and coffee that got us out.

 Jazz hands!

 Then a perfect place for coffee, and as it was about 11 by then, so more of a brunch, crab sandwiches, delicious.

 This little cafe feels alittle like its straight out of the 1930s,

And the view certainly does not remind you are actually in 2016, and I love it.

such a Guernsey moment

Cobo Bay, sadly not that sunny this morning...

This morning Chris and I were down at Cobo, helping steward the Tower to Tower walk for 'Guernsey Alzheimer's'.

Then just as we were packing up this chap came up to me and said
'I know this is a strange question, but what is your name?'
He didn't seem nuts and had just seen him getting his children into the car, so I said 'Caroline, why?'
'Well I seen you around and I think we were both in the Maternity ward being born at the same time?!!! My name is R****** N*****.'
And I wasn't freaked out cause I remember that name from when I was very very little!  But really how often are you recognized when last seen as a baby or maybe a small toddler!
We passed the time of day, congratulated each other on our 42nd birthday just gone, and went on our way.
But really, where else but Guernsey?????
And I thought the moment in Paris was weird.........