Gluten-free Thanksgiving Meal Recap

This year we did something we normally don’t do for Thanksgiving. We hosted a ‘friends only’ holiday dinner at our house. Lots of recent travel didn’t have us in the mood to get in the car once again and all our family members live out of state. Needless to say the meal was completely gluten-free, though a couple of glutenoid guests enjoyed a gluten beer. One of our gluenoid guests actually asked where he could buy Bard’s Tale beer. He can drink ‘normal’ beer and he thought Bard’s Tale was good enough to purchase himself!

While a few dishes were finishing up in the oven, guests snacked on Mixed Nuts from Planters and celery stalks filled with Peachtree Pimento from American Agra-Frutti. Everyone loved this brand new pimento cheese spread (without mayo), which began rolling out to Atlanta area Whole Foods stores this week.

Gluten-free Thanksgiving Menu:

• Roasted Turkey (Butterball frozen)
• Homemade Gravy
• Southern Cornbread Dressing (cornbread recipe from Pamela’s website)
• Green Bean Casserole (Creamy Mushroom Progresso soup and homemade fried onions made with Jules gluten-free flour)
• Spicy Mac-n-Cheese (ordered from Jamie’s GF Kitchen)
• Candied Yams
  
• Green Salad
  
• Cranberry Sauce (both types from Ocean Spray)
• Honeybaked Ham (yes, it’s gluten-free!)
• Pineapple Casserole (made with Udi’s White Bread)
• French bread slices (from Island GF Bakery)
• Pecan Pie (crust made with Jules gluten-free flour)
• Carrot Cake (from Whole Foods – World’s Best Carrot Cake)
• Chocolate Cheesecake (with cookie crumb crust)

Until you experience it for yourself, you just can’t imagine how great it feels to just enjoy all the lovely food presented before you and not worry about any of it making you sick. There were not two dressings (one with and without gluten) or even gluten dinner rolls being passed around the table. It was simply marvelous!

The best part is that all of the food was exceptional tasting! No one felt deprived or missed any gluten – that’s for sure. Not having to worry about a misplaced serving utensil contaminating otherwise safe food just added to the enjoyment of the gluten-free guests, including myself. Also missing were the rants and raves about Aunt so-and-so’s pie that of course, you can not have. You know, it’s kind of annoying when you are surrounded by food you love that you can’t eat – especially during the holidays.

Most of us are not going to be able to totally avoid situations where we feel left out or deprived in some way. The whole world is not going to wake up tomorrow and decide to start eating gluten-free. So it’s nice when every so often, you can take advantage of a special totally gluten-free gathering with people that are more than happy to be sharing the bountiful of gluten-free food offered them. And when the glutendoids in your life love the food as much as you do – it’s even better!

Instead of being depressed if your family get togethers are more stressful than fun regarding food, try and show the glutenoids in your life that gluten-free can be as delicious as anything that contains gluten. It’s a myth that we’re eating cardboard tasting food and I, for one, am going to try my best to kill that particularly offensive myth. If any one out there is eating food that tastes like cardboard – go directly back to the store and get your money back. Thanks to Gluten-Free Dee for this wonderful idea. Stop eating bad food people – there is simply no reason to do it these days!

Special thanks to our gluten-free Thanksgiving guests for your wonderful contributions to the meal and most of all for your valued friendship!