I learn something new every day, but I just wish for once that I'd learn something that would make my life easier.  Like eating a diet rich in tortilla chips con queso would help you lose extra under-arm flabbiness, now that would be something great to discover.  Instead, today I learned that we have a few more food allergies to add to our list.

For the past three years we have avoided dairy due to Sophie's allergy, learning how to cook and bake without it.  I feel like we have that one under control, and for the most part don't feel like we're missing very much.  And, like I always say, at least it's not life threatening.

But starting today, I'm on Walnut Watch, my arsenal loaded with Benedryl and an EpiPen at my side - the potential for that one is severe and could be life threatening. 
The Good: Really, it's not that hard to rid your life of walnuts.  No walnuts in cookies or brownies?  I say they're better plain anyway.  No more salads made with walnut oil, which is fine because it gave me an excuse to throw out that walnut oil that was taking up all that space in the fridge door.
The Bad: Not much really, walnuts are a take it or leave it kind of thing.  We can do this one, and it shouldn't be too tricky.

In addition to Walnut Watch, we're also on Almond Alert.  Not as serious as walnuts, but still on alert. 
The Good: Almond Joy has nuts, but Mounds don't. Which would be fine except that Mounds are still covered in chocolate, which contains that all-delicious dairy.  So never mind, nothing good here.
The Bad: Stupid almond allergy, you've ruined my game.  I had Sophie convinced that Fruit & Nut Granola Bars WERE candy bars.  Now, thanks to you, my ruse is up.  And I guess I'll have to give up that idea of forming wee little treats out of marzipan, which of course is made of ground almonds.  We'll have to really sacrifice and use imitation almond extract instead of the real thing.  And maybe the worst?  Goodbye Honey Nut Cheerios. 

Last on our serious list is Pecan Patrol.  This one is not so funny.  I love peCANS as well as PE-CANS (depending on where you're from).  My parents even have a pecan tree.
The Good: Stuff that contains pecans are pretty easy to identify, so avoiding it shouldn't be too difficult.
The Bad: Pecan pie.  Pecan clusters.  Mini pecan tartlets.  Pralines.  Chocolate covered pecans.

Still on the safe nut list (other than me) - peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts.  Good news on the peanuts and cashews, because they're so prevalent and obviously delicious.  But really, who cares about Brazil nuts?  No one goes out and buys a bag of Brazil nuts.  They are the space filler of mixed nuts, which are now out because of nut proximity to almonds.

There are some nuts we didn't test for, but could be potential hazards, so we'll have to watch for those or just avoid them all together.  On this list, we find pine nuts, hazelnuts, filberts (same as hazelnuts) which won't be a problem until gimlets come into the picture. 

So for now, I'm cleaning out the cupboards and ridding our house of foods to avoid.  I'm doing some reading and learning more about the hidden nuts in all kinds of things.  The good news is that since I love cooking, understanding what goes into foods helps me to better understand what to avoid.  We'll have to figure out just how sensitive she is when considering products that are made in facilities where walnuts/almonds/pecans are used.  I'm hopeful that since we haven't seen any issues so far, that avoiding direct contact with the nuts on our list will be enough.

And I can do this.  We can do this.  It occurred to me today when we were in the appointment with the allergist, answering millions of detailed questions about what she's consumed and when, that I knew the answers.  There isn't anyone else on earth who could have answered those questions, and it made me glad to be that person for Sophie.  To be her voice, her memory, her advocate - what an honor.

All in all, it could be a whole lot worse.  And today, when I was thinking about all of this, I found myself whistling a little tune.  It's a song that's been stuck in my head on and off for a year now, since we saw this performance in London with Sevda and Blake.  And now it will be stuck in yours.  Forever.  You're welcome.