I am a very happy lady today!
I just came back from the hospital with Jumpy who has had skin prick tests for the first time. After her trip to A&E ten months ago, she had blood tests to assess what allergies or sensitisations she might have. She has also had a soya challenge (passed that one – she is only intolerant) and a baked egg one (did not pass) in hospital so far.
Today, she was due to have seventeen skin prick tests, but they did not have chickpeas at the hospital so she only had sixteen. The nurse started by writing numbers on the forearms and for each item tested, she put a drop of the food’s essence or rubbed the item on the skin and then did a tiny prick on the forearm. After fifteen minutes, if a bump had appeared, it was meant to indicate a reaction to the item being tested: simple.
I was not surprised to see that Jumpy’s skin had reacted to egg white, wheat, peanuts as well as most nuts. However, much to my surprise, she did not react to walnuts, a couple of seeds and cow’s milk. Now that was an amazing moment! My baby did NOT react to cow’s milk! Hello, people! Cow’s milk means being able to give her milk, use dairy in cooking, give her yoghurts, ice cream and cheese! The possibilities are endless!
Obviously, I am not allowed to change Jumpy’s diet right now or start giving her dairy today. I have to wait until we see her consultant and I suspect she might have a cow’s milk challenge in hospital before I can start introducing any of the above in her food intake, but this little glimmer of hope has made my day!
For the past hour, I have been ecstatic about all the new doors this could be opening! In fact, I have been so excited that as soon as we got home, I gave Jumpy a dose of Piriton to ease the itching of those bumps and put her to bed for a short nap and checked my fridge for cheese (as you do!). I then took a photo of all the varieties we have at home today, just to show you how much of a family of cheese lovers we are.
I wonder what cheese might be Jumpy’s favourite. Hubby loves hard crust varieties like Beaufort or Emmental. Crevette is into the plain ones at the moment and tends to go for cream cheese. Beanie is like me: the stronger, the better! When I was little, I asked for “fromage qui pue” (“stinky cheese”) in a posh restaurant. It was one of those foodie places where they give you a delicate little amuse-bouche between all courses and all plates are covered in silver cloches when they serve your food. My mum and grandparents were livid and the waiter just laughed. I did get to eat my smelly cheese. If I remember well, it was Munster in the end.
What is your favourite cheese?
If you do like cheese, you would love it with my easy, no-nonsense (no kneading or bread machine required) crusty bread. The recipe is just here.
pour mon fromage préféré je dirai le Bresse bleu. J’adore!!!!!!!! ou le reblochon cuit ou le fromage à raclette ou…..comté ou ….. je crois que j’adore presque tous les fromages!!!!! typiquement française, non???
C’est vraiment une super nouvelle que Jumpy puisse à nouveau prendre du lait, je compatis pour faire la cuisine: la crème fraiche, le beurre, le lait, les yahourts, le fromage, les petits gateaux, les chocolats!!! quel plaisir de la voir manger des aliments que tous les enfants consomment sans se poser de question!!!!! C’est une belle victoire et qui sais d’autres produits seront peut etre aussi des intolérances et non des allergies, on croise les doigts!!!!
Tu peux peut-être commencer par des produits laitiers adaptés aux bébés comme les yahourts 1er âge sinon???
bisous xxx
Pareil, trop difficile de décider celui que j’aime le plus! Pour l’instant, elle a juste eu ce test cutané, et il faut que j’attende des nouvelles de son allergologue. Son prochain rendez-vous est en novembre donc j’espère qu’il me donnera le feu vert pour essayer avant ça. Gros bisous !
That’s such great (potential) news Mel! And wow what a cheese board!! I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you that Jumpy turns out to be dairy tolerant. I love cheese too but not quite this much! I always like cambazola (sp?) or ‘blue brie’ – yummy! I love a nice extra strong cheddar – Sainsburys do one called Barber’s Crunch which is delicious. I like to buy local cheeses from places I’ve visited in England too like Cornwall and Yorkshire. It makes a great holiday pressie for my mum and dad (who also love cheese!). There is a pub in Devon called The Nobody Inn (brilliant name!) – you have to drive into the middle of nowhere (so it seems to an outsider) although I don’t think its too far from Exeter. It is reknowned for its interesting and varied cheeses and wines – a lovely place to visit if you’re ever in the area! X
I have never heard of cambazola and had to look it up. I would love that cheese! We are going to Devon next month actually, where exactly is that pub? Just the name would make me go! x
Its in a place called Doddiscombsleigh Mel – here is a link to their website: http://www.nobodyinn.co.uk – full of history and character and very well recommended!
Thanks Sam, hubby knows the place. We will be going there! x
Ooh let me know how you get on! Its years since I’ve been there but the thought of all that wine and cheese is giving me a bit of a yearning! We are going to Devon this year in August too so I’d be interested to know if its at all child friendly! X
I have never wondered whether a place was child friendly or not! I just bring them along, haha! I will let you know whether people frown. Do you think they might ask us to leave them outside? x
I’ve no idea! I think I just haven’t train my two to have any decorum!! X
My three can be pretty wild! They can make a boring lunch a lot more entertaining for all the diners in the restaurant or pub we choose. x
Such good news, a kitchen of opportunity is almost upon you both!
What a great story from your family history, if I had to pick my favorite cheeses they would include British Camembert, Danish Blue, Cheddar and Wensleydale, all yummy but most probably not chic enough for French Cheese board!
I know, exciting times! We just have to wait to hear from her paediatrician. I would definitely have the Camembert on my cheese board, too! x
I love stinky cheese too and probably epoisses is my favourite, although this gives MOH a headache trying to find a wine to match with it. Great news that cheese could be back on the menu for your little one too.
Époisses is yummy, but oh so expensive here (and so smelly you really have to eat it quickly!). I like it with a nice Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Saint Émilion, but I know very little about wine. Mel
Oh wow! That is such brilliant news, as a massive cheese lover I know exactly where you’re coming from. I am rather partial to brie, I eat tons of the stuff x
I love Brie, too and have not been too good at avoiding it during my pregnancies. x
We are big cheese fans, we all love it! My favourite ones have to be manchego and goats cheese. Our Friday night treat is a selection of cheeses and a nice bottle of Rioja x #TastyTuesdays
We have both in the fridge (3 types of goats’ cheese to be precise!). Nice Friday night treat!
That’s brilliant news! A life without cheese is barely worth living! Very impressed by your cheese selection – and jealous! #sharewithme
I agree! Can you imagine how happy I was at the thought my girlie might be able to try cheese for the first time?
Ahhh fab post. I love cheese. All of it. So yummy. Mr P doesn’t even like me eating cheese next to him he hates it that much.How can anyone not like cheese. I think buba is going to be the same but MM loves it so far. lol Thanks for linking up to Share With Me linking and for the blog support. Enjoy your cheese! #sharewithme
There is very little cheese left already. We are serious cheese-eaters! I am glad hubby is a fan as well. Poor Mr P, smelly cheese in the fridge cannot be very nice for him if he does not enjoy eating it. x
That’s great news Mel. I’m seriously impressed with the variety of cheeses in your fridge. I love Parmesan and a really strong cheddar. x
I have to admit our fridge is not always that full of cheese… my mum is over from France! x
I/we are not the adventurous type when it comes to cheese. Only cheddar, gouda and edam in here. This is such a good news and hopefully they can finalized that she can eat cheese as it is really nice & healthy as well for kids. #sharewithme
I love Edam! It would be so good if we could introduce dairy in her diet. If a cow’s milk allergy goes so quickly, I am hoping she might grow out of some of her other allergies at some point. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Great news, we love cheese in our household too! Hubby is a Feta man, I love all hard cheeses and Emma loves BabyBel and string cheese. We will see what the wee man will like in a few months.
Feta in salad, yum! Hope your little man likes cheese, too!
that’s wonderful news Mel! I hope the milk challenge goes well and you both can start enjoying dairy!! We don’t eat a lot of cheese at our house- as I’m yeast intolerant and cheese makes me feel really sleepy!! as does wine and beer! weird!! but I can eat cream cheese/cottage cheese though, does that count? 🙂 They do say a lot of children grow out of diary allergies by 1.5 years so hopefully Jumpy will be one of them! xx
Thanks Susan! If she has grown out of that allergy, I will be a very happy mummy! Cheese makes you feel sleepy? That’s a great ice-breaker for parties, hihi! x
I love the comment about “fromage qui pue”! Génial! I love beaufort, morbier, but my absolute favourite that I can’t get enough of is Mont d’Or – to die for! What a relief re the dairy allergy, that would be really hard in our house!
#TastyTuesdays
Believe me, it is really hard in our house! I am not even sure I have ever tried Mont d’Or. What kind of cheese is that? Wait, I will google it… ooooh, that looks like my kind of cheese, is it like Époisses? I must try it on my next trip to France.
It’s quite similar but maybe not as strong. Soooooo good!
Yum! On my list for August. I am glad I asked people about their favourite cheese. New ideas and great reminders. One of my friends on Facebook mentioned Cancoillotte. I have not had it in years!
Just realised I commented above with my Franglaise Mummy head on, not my Franglaise Cooking one – whoops! I love Cancoillotte but it was the only cheese I ate during my pregnancy with our youngest, C, so I’m a bit sick of it now! You can get some great French cheeses from the Reflets de France range at Ocado – not the same as the massive range you can get in France though 😉
I am glad you had your Franglaise Mummy hat on as it made me go to your blog. I subscribed to receive posts a few weeks ago but have never received anything. Just read your latest. I can imagine you might not fancy Cancoillotte for a while!
That’s a bit worrying – thanks for flagging that up. Hubs has looked into it and I think it’s because I’ve got a bit of a weird plug-in for emails, I will be changing that shortly, so you might want to follow me on Bloglovin’ for the time being or on Facebook otherwise (Franglaise Mummy on both). Thanks for following in any case!
No worries, I have just started following you on Facebook. x
Luka had a cow’s milk allergy when he was younger, which was hard enough. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be to feed a child with lots of allergies. Hope your little one gets to eat more varied foods soon!
x x
ps I’m not a fan of ‘stinky cheeses’ I’m afraid 😀
It was really overwhelming to start with, especially since I am a food addict! The more I manage to adapt my recipes for her, the better it gets. How old was Luka when he grew out of his cow’s milk allergy? x
P.S. Stinky cheeses are not for everyone! Let’s just say it is an acquired taste…
Beautiful, so, so happy for Jumpy (sorry she is/going through a lot with her allergies, Oliver recently became allergic to penicillin and Dad after years of eating nuts had shocking reaction to brazil nuts)-my throat becomes itchy with nuts so dr has warned me to stay away for years-anyway, fab, fab news, mwah x
I am really hoping her paediatrician tells me to try dairy soon rather than having to have another challenge in hospital, but the safer the better, really and I have to learn to be patient! Aren’t allergies odd? It is really strange to develop them later in life, especially after having no previous issues with what you are becoming allergic to… x
Great news Mel, you must be over the moon xx
I am! Just waiting for the paediatrician to let us know what is happening next. x