Since going gluten-free, I have wanted to stay home for the holidays. I am tired of negotiating which part of the meal will be gluten-free and figuring out what gluten-laden dishes/desserts the other family members “can’t live without.” I would love to be able to help my mother fix the Thanksgiving meal from start to finish. It is not because I need all the food to be gluten-free or that I am afraid of cross-contamination. It is not even about my love for cooking.
It is about the mother-daughter ritual of preparing the holiday meal that I miss. I can only help prepare part of the meal. The part that is gluten-free. I hate that I can’t help roll out the pie crusts or sprinkle the streusel. I want to be involved in the entire meal. It is like our Thanksgiving dinner has gotten a divorce.
And I really hate the imposition I put on my relatives.
Last year, my mother bought a $70 fresh, organic turkey to make sure I could eat it.
[that's love]
Sometimes things are just too hard. Going gluten-free should be my burden.
I feel even worse when explaining my situation to my husband’s family. They live in CA- far away from the safety of my gluten-free kitchen. Either I impose some sort of menu change or I eat nothing (or few things) and make the hostess feel bad. [I suppose] the third option is to borrow their kitchen for a few hours to make alternate gluten-free dishes, but this causes quite an imposition when the hostess is making her holiday feast.
The hardest thing about being gluten-free is feeling like you are a complete inconvenience to everyone else.
Explaining once again that you really don’t mind that the cheesecake is not gluten-free.
Yes, really.
Please just ignore that I am eating green beans and mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner.
At least I don’t have to worry about gaining five pounds at the holidays.
Our Thanksgiving Resolution:
Since Thanksgiving is at my mom’s this year, my mom is making sure that most of Thanksgiving will be gluten-free. She called on the way to find that overpriced, out-of-this-world organic turkey. She is going to make the gluten dishes/desserts on Tuesday, and I am going to come help with the gluten-free dishes/desserts on Wednesday. This will limit the chance of cross-contamination and it also means my mom and I will get to cook together on Wednesday!
Our Gluten Free Thanksgiving Menu
Turkey
gravy (thickened with arrowroot starch/flour)
Oyster dressing (we are going to use Whole Food’s Prairie bread)
White Acre Peas (with rice)
Homemade Cranberry Sauce or Homemade Cranberry relish
Possibly Shrimp (if I can convince mom they are necessary)
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Gluten Free Menu of the Week
Sea, over at Book of Yum, has graciously agreed to host the swap this week.
You don’t want to overtax the cook the week of Thanksgiving. I think it is important to make dishes that can be made quickly or meals that can stew all day in the crockpot. You never know when relatives are going to arrive hungry!
Monday: Vegetable Cabbage Stir Fry
Tuesday: Chili
Wednesday: Tinkyada Pasta with tomato sauce and Al fresco brand chicken sausage
Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner
Friday: leftovers!!
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Posted by Natalie
Filed under: gluten free menu
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