Dad's Illness

This week has been quite stressful, both physically and mentally. 

The CT scan and the MRI showed a cancerous mass in my Dad's bile duct.  On Monday, we went to go see a surgeon to go over possible treatments and procedures.  He got my Dad scheduled for an ERCP (endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography), which involves running a camera-loaded tube down his esophagus, through the stomach, then up the bile duct.  They will insert a stent to open up the duct and hopefully clear up the jaundice.

This is all in prep for the major surgery in the beginning of June.  The surgeon plans to remove his gallbladder, bile duct, and about half of his liver.

Yesterday was the ERCP.  The gastroenterologist doing the procedure was running behind, so we ended up waiting for 4 hours before it was my Dad's turn.  It was additional two hours for the procedure and the recovery from anesthesia.  During that time, Mom and I went to the hospital's bistro, which had a good selection of drinks and dishes (served buffet style)--we were starving by then!  And I saw the most unusual flavor of hot chocolate--Red Velvet Cake.  It was really red too.  And indeed, it had that cake-like flavor in addition to the chocolate.

We picked up Dad who said he was already feeling a lot better.  What a relief...

But now we have to load him up with nutritious foods and proteins.  And of course that includes desserts, right?  I wanted to make him a light, nutritious, refreshing dessert, low in fat, but high in protein.  This calls for....

...Gelatin-based desserts!  Mango and Almond Tofu (or panna cotta) verrine, with strawberry coulis, and fresh fruits.  The texture of the tofu turned out perfect, so smooth, almost custard-like consistency.  Almond tofu is a Chinese dessert, traditionally made from almond milk and agar (which makes this also vegan).  Modern version (which is what I did) uses dairy (i.e. milk or cream), gelatin, and almond extract. 

The one in the wine glass is just Almond tofu, with strawberry coulis and fruits.  Even with his nausea (which hasn't gone away yet), he was able to eat this.  Gelatin can be used to make high-protein, low-fat (as long as no high-fat dairy products are used...), healthy, easy-on-the-stomach desserts.  Perfect for Dad!  I'm so glad he can finally eat desserts. :)

Hmmm....guess I'll be developing more gelatin-based desserts, especially with the upcoming warm weather...