It's been one hell of a week! 
On Thursday afternoon I attended a tea party at the House of Lords, hosted by Coeliac UK. It was a gorgeous summer's day and we were escorted into one of the rooms on the river overlooking the Thames with the London Eye in the background. Many of the people attending were the movers and shakers in the industry including a handful of UK suppliers. 
Dr. Chris Steele was there as Ambassador to the charity and braved a trip into London from Manchester despite feeling poorly. Dr. Steele has recently been diagnosed with Coeliac disease and spoke eloquently and movingly about the difficulites of living with this condition, how it can hamper and impair your every day life and how if left undiagnosed, can have many multiple and serious repercussions. 
Following on from Dr. Steele, was the celebrity chef Phil Vickery who represents the food side of Coeliac UK. It was great to have the opportunity to talk with him and to find out a bit more about his new book which I believe is due out in the Autumn. Many of the new MPs were in attendance and the room was a buzz with conversations about gluten free food and where the market is heading.
The next day I flew off to Edinburgh to attend Coeliac UK's annual conference which was held at Napier University. There were loads of gluten free suppliers on hand, with plenty of samples for tasting. To my great delight, Bob's Red Mill will soon be hitting our UK shelves through an exclusive distributor. Watch this space as this is great news for all us fans of Bob's gluten free flours and mixes. M&S were also there sampling their new range of gf breads, cakes and brownies. I did a cookery demonstration before lunch to a substantial crowd who were hungry and wanting to sample the cheesey snakes, the cupcakes and the chicken nuggets. In the cook off we also saw an amazing demonstration of how to make gluten free beer sorbet without using an ice cream maker! It was pure theatre and although I didn't get the opportunity to try the sorbet, I did have the venison and gf haggis, which was delicious. I also managed to eat my own body weight in shortbread (the non-gf variety I'm afraid) but it has spurred me on to re-look at the shortbread recipe. Adding chocolate chips and some crystalised ginger are definate possibilities.
As I was waiting for my bag, I had a text from my friend Jane, to say the baby was on it's way. I rushed home, dropped my bags and went straight to the hospital delivery suite. A few hours later, the gorgeous Elsa Hope was born. Mum and baby are doing fine.
