Well I had intended to make this post during the week but it was a very busy week last week at Lev3l 3, but better late than never!
This is the first post where we are going to introduce you all to our crafters, and the honour of being first on the list has to go to Sue. Partly because she is the driving force behind Lev3l 3 Crafters and partly because we are still in Coeliac Awareness Week - only just though!
Sue is the proprietor of Rainbow Cakes and Bakes and as some of you may already know she specialises in gluten free cakes, pies, scones and biscuits (or cookies as they seem to be called these days!)
Sue was diagnosed with coeliac disease when she was in her twenties, after being ill for about five years. This means that her body reacts badly to the gluten in certain foods and in order to be well again she had to cut gluten out of her diet completely. Finding gluten free food back then was quite difficult, and also expensive, and so Sue started to make her own. Although there is more awareness of coeliac disease now, and more choice, it is still quite limited, and still quite expensive. A couple of years back her niece sowed the seed for Rainbow Cakes and Bakes by suggesting she made gluten free for others too. Today Sue has a number of regular customers, with new ones coming to her every week.
After talking to her customers every week Sue realised that many of them were also lactose/dairy/soya intolerant too and so now she also makes many of her cakes lactose/dairy and soya free, as well as gluten free.
Here are some of the delicious things that Sue produces - they are good, standard everyday items - the old favourites that we all love - though she can, and does, do really "special" too!
Scones
Sue always has scones on her stall - both savoury and sweet.
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| Cheese Scones - lactose, soya and gluten free |
And the price? 70p each.
Pies
Gluten free pies are quite hard to get but Sue has a range of pies available every week.
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| Cheese and Onion Pies |
And the price? From £1.25 each
Cakes
Sue makes a wide range of cakes - and they are all truly delicious (and we at Lev3l 3 Crafters can personally vouch for that as we fight one another to be "quality control"). She tries to bring as varied a selection to the market every week as she can. Here are just a few of them.
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| Orange sponge (gluten, lactose and soya free) topped with dairy free orange choc |
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| lemon and blueberry (gluten, lactose and soya free) |
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| Toblerone Cakes |
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| Sprinkle Cakes - gluten, soya and lactose free |
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| Mini cherry loaves - gluten and dairy free |
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| Vanilla Sponge - gluten, lactose and soya free |
And she also makes a delicious vegan chocolate cake too!
Cookies
Many of Sue's customers are children - the youngest is just a year old - so with them in mind she makes a range of novelty cookies.
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| Gluten, dairy and soya free |
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| Chocolate cookies - gluten, lactose and dairy free |
Sue is always open to new ideas so if you would like to discuss your own personal requirements with her then please send her a message on her Facebook page or ring her on 07515 934467 - or of course you can call in to see her at our weekly Saturday market.. You need to get to the markets early if you want a good choice though as everything sells very quickly each Saturday. Or give her a ring in advance and arrange to place an order to be collected from the market.
A bit more about Sue
As well as making scrummy cakes and pies for her customers, Sue also holds down a full time job, is mum to Lucy, aged 10, and is Craft Director of Digital Community Youth Ltd - the organisation behind The Venue, the home base of Lev3l 3 Community Crafters.
This involves a lot of behind the scenes work - liaising with the management at Manor Walks and our local Guide Dogs team (our chosen charity for 2015), organising and running the kids crafting sessions, interviewing crafters who have asked to join us, doing rotas for our Saturday markets, and generally chivvying everyone on. It's a good job she can function on very little sleep!
And finally, you can find more information about coeliac disease HERE.
Many thanks for visiting our blog.
Lev3l 3 Community Crafters
This is a great example of what every group should be doing. It is only right that the people that give so much to the community should be recognised for their efforts. There is too much take take take and it is great that people like Sue and the Crafters are acknowledged and promoted for their heroic efforts in making the community a better place.
ReplyDeleteWell done the Crafters -
Thank you for your support - it's much appreciated
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