Thankgiving

Thanksgiving. Yes a time to gather with friends and indulge in life’s little delights. A time of smiles and satisfaction where bellies are full and taste buds are dancing.  For most that is. If you are gluten free, you can agree with me when I say that this image is the farthest thing from the truth.

Having a severe allergy to common ingredients such as wheat and gluten, can single you out like a cowboy in a gay bar. You simply cannot participant in any festivities of the evening. Therefore, it’s vital that you turn this event into one where you can. And it’s easy to do!

First off, this massive meal can be relatively simple and traditional with the addition of a few gluten free products. Firstly, make the commitment to go all gluten free or nothing. Even if your are serving your whole family, chances are they will not be able to decipher which stuffing is gluten free and which is not. So save yourself the hassle of worrying which serving spoon was placed where and which surface the breads crumbs may or may not have fallen on. Just don’t play that game and make everything gluten free and worry free.

For starters, chicken broth is a major gluten bomb since it contains straight wheat flour. Trader Joes offers a simple gluten free chicken broth at a cheap price that can easily be swopped out. Several products offer gluten free bouillon cubes as well if you are feeding an army.  Now that the turkey is simmering away in g-free broth, and the organic can of cranberry sauce chills in the fridge, we can move on to the next traditional dish. Mashed potatoes check! Those babies are naturally gluten free however you decide to dress them up. Minus the gravy of course. Sweet potatoes check! Those babies contain zero gluten. (The pound of brown sugar and candied coated pecans we pour on top have no gluten either!) Green beans? Lets leave them out for this meal, we eat enough greens on a g-free diet right? And on to the best part of the meal…the stuffing. Stuffing looks quite intimidating for people like us but it is not a problem as long as you are willing to go homemade.  Last year I used Trader Joes, Food For Life Brown Rice Bread. It feels like a brick and it is dry and god awful to eat by itself. Trust me, I thought I dented the shopping cart when I threw it in like a football. However, it holds up perfectly for stuffing. It’s thick enough to hold all the gluten free chicken broth, onion, celery, apples and sausages you want to add to it. My family members all preferred it over the traditional stuffing too. I’m telling you, just make the whole meal gluten free! As for dinner roles, I own a bread maker and it creates loaves of bread that taste as if they are made fresh from an Italian grandmother. Carmela’s Wheat Free Bread mix is a great buy if you own a bread maker. Cause lets face it, your going to want to make a turkey, stuffing, cranberry left over sandwich the next day. Be prepared.

And for the Grand Finale…pumpkin pie!! Pumpkin pie is one of the greatest deserts to go g-free. Absolutely nothing about the filling has to be altered. Who would have thought right? You can whip up a huge batch and cook it in ramekins and enjoy all the flavors of the season. However if you wish to have the traditional pie, you also have options. You can of course go homemade using g-free flours of your choice or you can forget that and take me up on my advice.  Many gluten free stores and major grocery store chains alike, carry a gluten free graham cracker pie crust in the freezer isle. Unfortunately, they do not make traditional pie crust gluten free. At least not yet. But I give you my word, using this graham cracker crust is still beyond delicious. However, we havnt even gotten to my favorite part of the meal yet.

This of course would have to be pumpkin bread! Ooy gooy moist and decadent pumpkin bread really signals the holiday season as arrived. I was in no shape or form willing to give up this experience for the gluten fairy.  And I don’t have to! I follow any traditional pumpkin bread recipe and use my own flour with a touch of xanthan gum. I like to use Bob’s Red Mill Flour. It has never steered me wrong. So when a recipe called for 2 cups of flour, I throw in 2 cups of good old Bob. It’s that simple. The xanthan gum allows for the bread to have the consistency gluten would have given it. It truly gives the bread the texture you always miss when eating other g-free products. I recommend Bob’s Red Mill Xanthan gum for this too. Buy one bag and you will use it your whole life since most recipes only call for about a teaspoon of the xanthan gum. This treat will then present you with the hardest decision of the night. Do you go pumpkin pie or do you go pumpkin bread for desert? I suggest making the bread the week before, eating it for a week and a half, and then having yourself one huge slice of pie on this thankful day.  So tell grandma to step aside and pull up to the table. It’s time to eat.