Allergy test results

Allergy testing hives

Ever have an itch you can't scratch...

So, after the allergy testing yesterday, the platter of Quality Street Chocolates for G is out as is the hunk of blue cheese.  If you look at the photo above… those four nice round welts along the bottom are the milk tests.  This wasn’t much of a surprise.  Having spilled milk on G when he was a baby, I know first hand what evil milk had wrought (once again, SO sorry G).  I was actually hoping that egg would be reduced, but see that big amorphous welt in the crook of his arm… that’s the egg white test.  Guess it’s not reduced!

If you’re not familiar with allergy testing, here’s a quick primer.  Pen marks indicate where a small drop of serum containing the allergen is put on the skin.  A tiny scratch is made on the skin where the serum is and then you wait to see what happens.  Sometimes it’s quite spectacular, but what you’d rather see is nothing.  I must say, G displayed incredible self control.  Just looking at his arm made me itchy.  Poor guy was going out of his mind wanting to scratch!

There is actually something positive that came from the testing, I mean the test was negative which was positive….Oh what ever, it was good news. G requested to be tested for pistachio nuts and to his delight it was negative.  Forget the Quality Street and blue cheese, on our way home we stopped for a slushy and a small bag of pistachios (with a Benadryl chaser).

 

Chocolate Strawberry Short Cake – dairy-free, egg-free

chocolate strawberry shortcake

After the stellar breakfast I was served on Mother’s Day (see Mother’s Day blog entry) I decided to make my own Mother’s Day dessert.  This is what I came up with.  It’s a modified scone recipe.  What makes it special is the whipped topping called Nutriwhip.  I discovered this through allergymom.ca (Thanks Noha!).  This is the only truly dairy free topping I have found that acts like whipped cream.  Healthy??  Who cares, this is dessert!  If you know of another that works as well, please let me know!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1tablespoon brown sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/3 cup dairy free margarine
1 cup soy milk
Topping: Nutiwhip, Strawberries

DIRECTIONS:
Chocolate Shortcake
Oven to 425F.  Mix together dry ingredients so there are no lumps (sift cocoa if needed).  Cut in dairy free margarine.  Mix in soy milk to form a soft dough.  I do all this in a stand-up mixer.  If too wet, add a tiny bit of flour.  Turn out on a floured surface and form dough into a ball and cut in half to make it easier to work with.

chocolate scone dough

Pat out dough to 3/4 inch thick.  Cut out desired shapes (circles or triangles).

chocolate scone dough

Move to cookie sheet (I cover my cookie sheet in parchment) and bake at 425 F for 12 minutes.  Cool

chocolate scone

Topping
Remove stem of strawberries and cut to desired size.

strawberries cutFollow Nutiwhip package directions to get whipped cream like topping.

nutriwhip
Cut open shortcake and layer strawberries and whipped topping.

chocolate strawberry shortcakeEnjoy!

In The Beginning

G was an easy newborn.  The only thing that I didn’t expect was that he refused a bottle and boy do I mean REFUSE.  Oh well, breast is best as they say and cheaper! Talk about shocking when one morning I accidentally spilled milk on G and where the milk touched his skin big welts arose.   As I rushed him to the bath to rinse it off I was thinking, surely this must be a one off thing.  Milk can’t be harmful, didn’t Cleopatra bathe in it?!  Was it my lack of coordination or fate that caused me to once again spill milk on G a few weeks later.  Why was I eating milk laced cereal while balancing G on my lap after what had happened the first time?  Stupid, stupid, stupid!  Nothing like doing an unplanned allergy test right in your own home!  By the way, we don’t do this any more – we try to keep G away from falling milk and allergy tests are saved for the doctor’s office.  He was only a month old when I first spilled milk on him and by the time he was a year and a half, he had been properly tested and shown to be allergic to eggs and dairy. Since then he has developed a peanut allergy too.  No wonder he refused a bottle!  That hysterical screaming (from him not me) was his plea for me to stop.  What a learning curve – and the knuckle balls keep on coming!