Warrens Bakery

Now don’t get me wrong, in my pre coeliac days Warrens Bakery wouldn’t have been my first choice for a pasty, but quite frankly I’ll now go anywhere that has gluten free pasties!

I had heard on the grapevine that Warrens had started selling gluten free pasties towards the end of 2017, so when I went back to Cornwall earlier in the year, it had suddenly become extremely convenient to try them, as my parents had not long moved to within a few metres of one of their smaller shops in Penzance!

My mum had done a bit of research at the local shop for me and found out that as long as I pre-ordered the day before I needed them, they would make sure that they had some available and precooked by the time we collected them. They have two gluten free flavours (cheese and onion and a traditional steak), so naturally I ordered one of each!

Before I get on with the review, here’s a little bit of information about Warrens Bakery and their gluten free options, taken from their website:

In St Just, near Land’s End, 150 years ago, two families united bringing together the freshest local ingredients and traditional craft bakery skills. Making hand-crimped pasties, freshly baked bread and prized scones and biscuits, Warrens Bakery soon became firm favourites of the miners, farmers and the local community.

Not A Trace Awards 2016

Regular readers will know that each year I have my own little awards ‘ceremony’ where I acknowledge the best products / companies in various categories.

The awards for 2016 are obviously a little late(!) and as my blog posts were few and far between last year, due to a certain little person taking all my attention, the 2016 awards are more a summary of my blog reviews from last year.

Despite my inability to blog of late, it’s great to have had over 58,000 blog views since Not A Trace began. I am also very proud to see the constant stream of views every day even if I haven’t blogged for a while. Thank you to you all!

So, on to the awards / 2016 round-up….

Renaissance Cafe Bar Restaurant, Penzance

Back in April we went back to my home town of Penzance to celebrate my birthday and to see my friends before we had the baby (we knew we wouldn’t be back home for a long time once we’d had him).

I wanted to get everyone together in one place which meant that I needed to find a suitable venue to accommodate a large group, as well as one that could cater for my dietary requirements.

Situated in Wharfside Shopping Centre overlooking Penzance harbour, I’d been to the Renaissance Restaurant on numerous occasions both before being diagnosed and since then, so I knew that they could safely cater for a coeliac, making it the perfect choice.

I’m back!

Since the early part of last year things have been pretty quiet on my blog for various
reasons. Firstly I was busy planning our wedding, then we moved house and now we have a baby! As a result blogging had to take something of a back seat.

However, there’s good news….. I’m back! 🙂

Not A Trace Awards 2014

Slightly later than last year, here are my Not A Trace Awards 2014. These awards provide me with an opportunity to look back over the last year and remind you of my highlights.

Unfortunately my blogging has taken a bit of a back seat over the past year due to work commitments and this year my time will also be restricted due to house moving and wedding planning, but I hope to blog whenever I can to bring you all the best brands, restaurants etc.

This time last year my blog had passed 9,000 views, and I’m extremely delighted to say that my views have now passed 28,000 which is a massive jump, so thank you all so much for continuing to read my blog! 🙂

So, let’s kick off the awards…..

The Godolphin Arms, Marazion – the perfect example of how to turn things around!

Back in April when Rich and I went back to Cornwall for my birthday, we decided to have a family meal at the recently renovated Godolphin Arms in Marazion.

If you don’t know the area, the restaurant is located directly opposite the stunning St Michael’s Mount.

When I was still living in Penzance, my friends and I would regularly visit the Godolphin, with many of my friends working there over the years, but having not been for a while I thought this would be a great place to celebrate my birthday with my family.

I was aware of the stunning views from the Godolphin across to St Michael’s Mount, but there recent renovation meant that they now had windows across the full length of the wall, which would make the view even better. Amazing!

I contacted the Godolphin beforehand to double-check all things gluten free and they assured me that they had no problem catering for dietary requirements, so it all seemed perfect.

My Gluten Free Cornish Birthday Celebrations!

As part of my birthday celebrations last month, Rich and I went back to Cornwall to visit my family, and on my actual birthday we spent some time visiting St Michael’s Mount and Marazion.

First up was our trip to St Michael’s Mount.

To most local folk who have been away, you know you’re home when you see St Michael’s Mount on the horizon. It’s certainly been a tearjerker for me when I haven’t been home for a while!

Rich had never visited the Mount himself so I was keen for him to visit and take in the beautiful scenery. For those not familiar with St Michael’s Mount, there are two ways main ways to get there (unless you fancy swimming!) and those are by boat or by foot across the causeway. Obviously there are only certain times when the causeway is accessible due to the tide so I made sure we visited during these times, as I’m not a massive fan of boats myself….

Trevaskis Farm, Gwinear, Cornwall

To celebrate my sister’s birthday (and my best friend’s hen do) a few weeks ago I went back home to Cornwall for a few days. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to visit Trevaskis Farm as I’d heard so much about it from my friends, and from following them on Facebook I could see that they had a lot of gluten free products available in both their shop and restaurant. As a result, I suggested to my sister that we paid it a visit.

Firstly we visited the farm shop where I found a massive selection of gluten free goodies. My haul included easter eggs, sweets and gravy mixes, but they offer much more than this at very good prices.

Here’s some more information about the farm shop taking from the Trevaskis Farm website:

Trevaskis Farm presents the Trevaskis Market, from May 2008 – West Cornwall’s first farm market, offering the ultimate in convenience shopping with the uncompromising quality of a farmer’s market. Featuring not only the finest fresh fruit and vegetables, butchery, fishmongers, deli, dairy and bakery but everything you need for your weekly shop at competitive prices, all under one roof.

The quality of the farmer’s market with the convenience of a supermarket.

Guest Blog Post: The Tea Room, St Ives, Cornwall

This guest blog post is courtesy of the lovely Steph, aka @gfandfabulous in the Twitter and blogging world!

Steph lives in my home county of Cornwall, very near to where I grew up, and she kindly offered to review a venue that she’d recently visited. Here’s her review:

Like many holidaymakers and Cornish folk alike, I love St Ives. I love the beach, the sea, the artisan food producers, the people and the art scene. It’s impossible to feel anything but serene sitting outside in St Ives with a cuppa or an ice cream. OK, so there are a few ‘friendly’ local seagulls that like to try and kiss your skull with their sharp beak but apart from that it’s a lovely little town!

St Ives was always my ‘go to’ day out destination before I was diagnosed and, to be honest, it still is. The town is quite well known for being a little bit more worldly than some other parts of Cornwall due to the influx of tourists during the summer season. There are a few places I’ve been to try out various gluten-free offerings in St Ives but my favourite, by a Cornish country mile, is The Tea Room.

The Assay House Restaurant, Penzance

As many of you will probably know I’m originally from Penzance in Cornwall and when I was first diagnosed with coeliac disease my Mum mentioned to me that a restaurant in Chapel Street was advertising that they offered gluten free options on their menu. This combined with a recommendation from @gfandfabulous on Twitter meant that I just had to try it out!

According to their website, Assay House offers freshly sourced local produce for lunchtime and evening dining and their menu includes local Newlyn fish, a wide selection of gluten free and vegetarian dishes with a well chosen wine list caters to all tastes. It certainly sounded great, and I was delighted to finally get around to visiting it a few weeks ago.