A Very Merry Gluten-Free Christmas To You

Veronica's Crisps

Choices Buttons

As we get closer and closer to Christmas, there are many weird and wonderful types of sweet treats floating around the office. Most of them are not good for me or anyone else for that matter but I don't want to entirely skip satisfying my sweet tooth cravings. I have discovered two gluten-free treats: The first, an organic gluten-free packet of crisps that was purchased for me by a sympathetic colleague. The second, chocolate buttons which are also gluten-free and therefore do not taste like true chocolate more like the cooking variety, but are still delicious.

I purchased the buttons in my local Super Valu, I'm impressed to see that their range is continually expanding. Every time I venture into the gluten-free aisle in Tesco, I'm amazed to see how many people are looking for alternative foods to purchase. I've also been impressed to notice that some of my favourite restaurants in Cork, will create your desired pasta dish using gluten-free pasta. They do sometimes charge an extra euro extra but Cafe Bar Deli, one of my most visited spots, don't include any extra charge. It's definitely a restaurant worth checking out when looking for a gluten-free dinner. We've been experimenting with our gluten-free pasta dinners at home too. My boyfriend recently concocted a most delicious dish which included spaghetti with salmon, onion, carrot, tomato and mixed herbs:

Yummy Gluten-free Spaghetti

I also recently discovered a very unusal salad combination in one of my favourite hotels in Killarney, The Ross. This salad had a base of green salad leaves but it also included pancetta, poached egg, black pudding, pear and croutons:

Black Pudding & Pancetta Salad

Anyway, enough of all this food talk. Time to start thinking about the Christmas holidays and the adventures of 2013. I'd like to wish my readers a wonderful Christmas season and a prosperous New Year. I hope you can enjoy a couple glasses of bubbly and a well deserved break over this festive season.

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