Gluten Free for the Holidays: A Blogging Event!

(A word of warning…make sure the person packing your groceries puts your fresh cranberries ON TOP of your 4 pounds of oranges. Especially if you may be taking pictures of them. )

My first Gluten-free Holiday was Thanksgiving… and my wedding. We were married the Friday after Thanksgiving and had a two day wedding/celebration. For Thanksgiving, my good friend/practical sister Alice, made my first ever gluten-free Thanksgiving meal for not just me – but my entire family. She cooked gluten-free for 20 people when I could barely muster gluten-free for just me and my love. Some people are blessing beyond what they will ever know. Alice is exactly that – a woman I adore and appreciate beyond what she probably knows. She made our first GF Thanksgiving to be a dream (I still crave her Jambalaya!) and with ease. That was what the whole weekend was all about – Family and Love. Alice is amazing.

I know not everyone has an “Alice” in their corners come Holiday time. There are many approaches to staying gluten-free during the Holidays. It depends on your situation. There are three basic approaches from what I’ve seen/experienced:

1. Make food for yourself either to bring or eat before you go if the celebration isn’t at your own home.
2. Bring part of the meal (with serving utensils) and set it up away from the gluten-laden foods to avoid cross-contamination.
3. Host the celebration and make it gluten-free all the way.

The first option (eating for one) has never appealed to me. I know it works for others, but food is such an integral, social part of the Holidays. It’s what makes being gluten-free this time of year difficult – you WANT to blend in and partake equally. I have only chosen this option when I’m eating with colleagues or people that I don’t know well (like work parties at the office/school, etc).

The second option is one I’ve chosen more frequently with friends. It makes sense for all of our budgets, actually, that everyone would bring a dish to share. I make a huge pot/dish of something I’m craving and bring plenty to share. Most everyone wants to dig in – they don’t care nor are they even aware 99% of the time that it is gluten-free. Those friends who are aware want to try it to see “what gluten-free tastes like”. Let’s just say, I try to make these the tasty dishes and don’t guinea pig my new gluten-free baking on my unsuspecting friends. LOL. Nah. That’s an honor I reserve for my family. 🙂

The last option is what we like the best. I say “we” here, because my love has expressed how much he prefers it too. Not because he gets to cook/clean with me (even more so because he’s the amazing chef of the house!), but because he *hates* how sick, crabby, unfocused, and altered I become after ingesting gluten. It’s true. While my body pays the price for any cross-contamination, he pays for it too with a wacky-spouse for several hours – even a couple days – after these incidents.

We keep a journal of our favorite recipes and ideas for the following Holidays/years to come. A few of the dishes we love making are:

• Triple Cranberry & Ginger Dressing
• Cornbread and Sausage stuffing
• Wild Rice Salads
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Cocoa-roasted Cauliflower
• Pumpkin Brulee.
• Garlic Scalloped Potatoes
• Yin & Yang Sesame Shrimp
• “Uncle Fallen’s Chicken Lollies”
• Black bean & Corn salsa
• Homemade Naan
• Lobster & Watermelon Salad

Ok. I could go on and on. But that’s not the point here. The point is, the longer we work with gluten-free foods and become familiar with what we can/cannot eat, life is easier. Holidays are easier. Now it’s time to share out and be the virtual “Alice” for someone else.

While I’d love to invite you all over for Thanksgiving, I’m fairly certain that we won’t all fit in my house. And I’m positive that my love would … well.. freak out. LOL. So instead, let’s have a virtual Holiday Blogging Event!

Here’s the image to use:

• Who?
  • Anyone who would like to participate – blogger or non-blogger alike!
• What?
  • Share recipes/photos for any Holiday dishes that you and your family love.
  • All dishes/recipes must be Gluten-free to be included.
    • Dishes may also be free of other allergens, but Gluten-Free is the goal of this blogging event.
  • Maximum of 3 recipes with photos per entrant, please. Choose your most delicious dishes. 🙂
• Where?
  • Any blog can post their images/recipes and then link back to this post. A summary of the recipes/posts will be created at the end of the event.
  • Please include the logo above in the post(s) as well.
  • It would be a great idea to share the images with the two Flickr Gluten-free Groups. (Coeliac Living and Gluten-Free Goodness)
  • Non-bloggers are welcome to submit recipes/photos via email to Cheekalina AT gmail DOT com.
• When & to Whom?
  • Well, this was the tricky part. The “Holidays” means many things to many people – and many Holidays! For the purpose of this event, I ask that submissions be submitted over three deadlines as follows:
    • Thanksgiving submissions/dishes: November 1 – November 30, 2007
      • ROUND UP POSTED HERE
        
    • Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa dishes: December 1 – December 30, 2007
      • ROUND UP POSTED HERE with Sally @ Aprovechar
    • New Year’s dishes: December 15 – January 5, 2007
      • Please send your posts/links to Ellen from “I Am Gluten-Free”
• How?
  
  • Link backs and emails please. That way I can figure out which event you are submitting for.

If you have any ideas or an offer to help, I’m all ears! Maybe we should divide the Holiday Events to different hosts? I’m all ears! (Or eyeballs in the case of email. 😉 Just let me know! If you would like to host one of these, please HOLLER via email!)

Happy Holidays & GF Eating all!
Kate