Thanksgiving!

[ajay]

Okay, I've never tried posting a poll before... Let's see how this works.

So DH and I are hosting (his) family for Thanksgiving. They live halfway across the country, so we've never done Thanksgiving Dinner together before... Just today I realized that one of their traditional Thanksgiving dishes is pecan pie... And that involves both wheat (crust) and corn (syrup)! In my kitchen (shudder)!

I'm trying to figure out how to deal. I can't really ask my MIL to bring it already made, because she'll be traveling for a few days before she gets here. So it will have to be prepared here. One idea is to ask her to make it on Wednesday, so there isn't flour flying around the kitchen (and in my mixer! ack!) while the rest of the feast is being prepared. Thoughts from the board? Ideas?

I should add that the in-laws are very cool and kind. MIL has gone out of her way to prepare food that I can eat whenever I visit. Last year, she adapted her top secret family Christmas Cookie recipe and made a whole batch that was gluten-free! *and* guarded them from the many other cookie lovers in the family. They're usually very considerate. Plus, Thanksgiving tends to be full of family traditions. I don't really want this to be the Thanksgiving That Was Lousy Because We Didn't Have Stuffing. I mean, I know folks can adapt. But since they've really made a remarkable effort for me, I want to be able to meet them halfway. Well, without getting sick, obviously. I think most of my kitchen stuff has never seen gluten. What do I need to do to decontaminate it afterwards?

As always, thanks for any suggestions.

-aj

[jmengert]

I don't have recipes for these two things, but I'm sure someone will chime in with some.

I would make a gluten-free pecan pie; the only thing that needs to be altered is the crust, and I make pie crusts using Pamela's shortbread cookies, crushed with melted butter. I serve it to my non-gluten-free family, and they love it (I make a chocolate pie with this crust). I think that this crust would work well with a pecan pie.

And stuffing can easily be made gluten-free; you can make cornbread stuffing, either by making homemade cornbread, or buying the prepackaged kind at Whole Foods. I am the only celiac in the family, so when I go home to my parents' house for Thanksgiving, I cook the entire meal gluten-free, and no one cares because it's so tasty! It sounds like your family is very understanding, so hopefully these two ideas will work. You could also try making stuffing with your regular recipe using Kinnikinnick bread, which is the best pre-made gluten-free bread I've found.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

[jerseyangel]

Since I do all the cooking, the entire meal will be gluten-free, as it was last year. The only exception is a basket of "regular" rolls. Kept way up at the other end of the table

For your pie, you could use The Gluten Free Pantry Piecrust Mix--it's fantastic! In place of corn syrup, for the pecan pie, you could substitute pure maple syrup--I think I'm going to try that this year--it actually sounds better than plain old corn syrup!

[Corkdarrr]

I remember reading when I first went gluten-free a few months ago that there is almost always a way to substitute a recipe to make it gluten-free. Plus you said your family is SUPER understanding - which is a huge bonus. So, they have to use a different pie crust...big deal. At least they can sit and talk to you while they eat that pie instead of listening from afar while the unfortunate side effects of cross contamination set in...

I have seen post after post about how people made gluten-free substitutes and gluteny people never even notice. My boyfriend and best friend both like the Kinnickinnick pizza crusts better than anything they've ever had!

I wouldn't want to take the chance of getting sick over the holidays when you're supposed to be enjoying it with your family. Of course you want to meet them in the middle, but personally I shudder at the thought of decontaminating a whole kitchen. If you must, perhaps a single dedicated countertop? I'd research some more recipes, though. There's bound to be substitutes.

Courtney

[shai76]

I HATE Thanksgiving. I'm allergic to turkey, and wheat, and milk (so no pumpkin pie). Everyone else sits around stuffing their faces and then complaining about how good it feels afterwards. I hate everyone on Thanksgiving. I would rather stay home, but my family would be so mad at me for it.

[kbtoyssni]

If it were me, I'd make the meal completely gluten-free. I don't cook with gluten so if people want to eat what I make then they eat gluten-free. No one ever seems to mind and everything I make looks pretty much "normal" to them. They'd never know it was gluten-free if they didn't know I had celiac.

You can still make stuffing. Last year was my first gluten-free Thanksgiving and we used all our failed, crumbing bread experiments for breadcrumbs. Most of my meal is turkey and veggies which are naturally gluten-free. I'm lucky that my family has never been big on adding things to the veggies so the only subsitution we had to make was the stuffing.

[lonewolf]

I HATE Thanksgiving. I'm allergic to turkey, and wheat, and milk (so no pumpkin pie). Everyone else sits around stuffing their faces and then complaining about how good it feels afterwards. I hate everyone on Thanksgiving. I would rather stay home, but my family would be so mad at me for it.

Oh no! You can still have a great meal. Can you eat Cornish Game Hen? If so, bake one for yourself. It will look like your own mini turkey. I'm allergic/sensitive/intolerant of gluten, eggs, dairy and soy and I still have pumpkin pie. Who told you you can't? You just have to make it homemade with a few "tricks". Mine is more like a pumpkin jello/pudding that you put in a premade crust, but it's actually good and way better than doing without. I'll post my recipe if you'd like. A gluten-free crust isn't that hard and you can even get mixes.

Don't despair! Start loving Thanksgiving again! You can make stuffing, gravy, potatoes - the whole meal. There are lots of alternative recipes posted here - a simple search will do it.

[mouse]

Shai76, why don't you take a ham to the Thanksgiving dinner. We were invited to a friend's home last year and he was cooking the turkey on his contaminated grill. I asked if I could bring a ham and some sweet potatoes. So, I enjoyed the company and was able to stuff my face also.

[lonewolf]

ajay,

You've gotten some good advice. You can also buy (shudder) a premade pecan pie if you don't want to "make" them eat everything gluten-free. I like Patti's idea of using maple syrup and a gluten-free crust.

For rolls, I've made a batch of gluten-free Pantry Country French bread and put it in muffin tins. Put them in the oven 20 minutes before dinner is served and everyone will love the fresh, warm bread. No one will think they're yucky! I did it for Thanksgiving and Easter last year, even with company.

[almostnrn]

Ok so while a completly gluten-free meal would be wonderful, I just have one option for you if you aren't wanting to do that (although it would probably taste better gluten-free ). Instead of whipping up a pie crust from scratch and having all that nasty bad flour flying around your kitchen have you considered trying the pillsbury premade crust? Its usually in the fridge section of the grocery and I believe in a red box even. I can tell you from my pre-celiac days I never used any other crust. It is unbelieveably wonderful and so easy. Good luck with your Thanksgiving...it will be wonderful!

[PatBrown]

Thank you for this thread. I have been thinking about Thanksgiving. I was really going to miss the stuffing. Can I make regular stuffing without adding cornbread? Also I would like to try that Kinnickinnick pizza. Is that a mix or frozen? I really miss my Greek Pizza and was thinking that I could replicate it. Pat

[shai76]

Oh no! You can still have a great meal. Can you eat Cornish Game Hen? If so, bake one for yourself. It will look like your own mini turkey. I'm allergic/sensitive/intolerant of gluten, eggs, dairy and soy and I still have pumpkin pie. Who told you you can't? You just have to make it homemade with a few "tricks". Mine is more like a pumpkin jello/pudding that you put in a premade crust, but it's actually good and way better than doing without. I'll post my recipe if you'd like. A gluten-free crust isn't that hard and you can even get mixes.

Don't despair! Start loving Thanksgiving again! You can make stuffing, gravy, potatoes - the whole meal. There are lots of alternative recipes posted here - a simple search will do it.

What do you use instead of condensed milk? The game hen idea is good. I will definitly do that. How do you make stuffing? I know I can get pie crust mix from the health food store, but I've never found an alternative for the condensed milk in the pumpkin pie.

[jmengert]

I'm currently dairy free, and in my pumpkin pie, I use rice milk instead of evaporated milk. However, I use less of it than the recipe calls for since rice milk is thinner. My pie sets up just fine, and it tastes yummy!

[sparkles]

I make stuffing using gluten-free bread.... I make it several different ways. At first, I would dry out the bread in the oven but I really don't even do that anymore. I just add a little less liquid as the bread is not dried out. I would think that you could use any bread stuffing recipe as long as you use gluten-free bread. It was several years before I ventured trying gluten-free stuffing. Sage stuffing was one of the things I really hated giving up and I didn't want to be dissappointed by making stuffing with gluten-free bread.... BUT to my surprise, it was great!!! I savored every bite!!!!! I don't make it often as I tend to think that it all belongs to me and I really don't need all those calories but every once in awhile as a special treat. When I went gluten-free, I started growing my own herbs and I think what really makes it great is the fresh sage!!!! I like the idea of a cornish hen... I think that I am just going to cook my own mini Thanksgiving dinner and take it to my DIL's house. In the past, I have just eaten what I could .... salad... veggies... last year I had some turkey. My DIL is really good about cooking gluten-free but at Thanksgiving, she likes to make certain foods and most are on my NO NO list! It isn't any fun watching everyone else eat.... smelling all that great food... having people say, "Oh you must try this..."shoving it in your face and then saying "Oh I forgot...." This year I take my own dinner..... with my really great stuffing.

[lonewolf]

What do you use instead of condensed milk? The game hen idea is good. I will definitly do that. How do you make stuffing? I know I can get pie crust mix from the health food store, but I've never found an alternative for the condensed milk in the pumpkin pie.

I use rice milk - like jmengert - and use less. I was thinking about experimenting with Vanilla Almond Milk, since it's thicker. I thicken mine with unflavored gelatin, since I can't have eggs. It's like making pumpkin jello or pudding on the stove and then pouring it into a pre-baked crust. You have to learn to think outside the box!

For stuffing, I cut a whole loaf of Ener-G Brown Rice Loaf into cubes and dry them in the oven until they're pretty hard and dry. Then I make stuffing following our traditional family recipe (that's in my head). I use chicken broth, olive oil, onion and herbs. Last year I added dried, cubed cornbread, raisins and chopped apples. Everyone loved it and I was even surprised at how well it turned out.

Oh, and you have to make homemade cranberry sauce! Follow the recipe on the package and throw in a chopped up satsuma orange. I'm salivating at the thought...

[Guest Kathy Ann]

Lonewolf,

I'm marveling at your ingenuity and apparent skill in the kitchen. I'd love any recipes you care to give out. It sounds like you have really solved a lot of recipe problems already and can save us all A LOT of time and effort. I'm all ears! You could start with that great sounding pumpkin pie recipe.

[lonewolf]

Lonewolf,

I'm marveling at your ingenuity and apparent skill in the kitchen. I'd love any recipes you care to give out. It sounds like you have really solved a lot of recipe problems already and can save us all A LOT of time and effort. I'm all ears! You could start with that great sounding pumpkin pie recipe.

There are LOTS of people on here who are great cooks and have good ideas. I think I'll start yet another Thanksgiving thread for people to post their favorite recipes. I'll start with pumpkin pie.

[tarnalberry]

I HATE Thanksgiving. I'm allergic to turkey, and wheat, and milk (so no pumpkin pie). Everyone else sits around stuffing their faces and then complaining about how good it feels afterwards. I hate everyone on Thanksgiving. I would rather stay home, but my family would be so mad at me for it.

You could have everything on my menu except the turkey - including the pumpkin pie. You'd be stuffed. Seriously, it's not a huge adaptation, though it takes some time to think about and prepare for in the kitchen. Heck, you could even go with a nice ham or salmon instead of a turkey.

[daffadilly]

I just made a pumpkin pudding (same thing as a pie except no crust) & used coconut milk in place of the canned milk - it was delicious & set up perfectly. I got the recipe from the "Super foods" book by Steven Pratt M.D. & Kathy Matthews. But any pumpkin pie recipe should work...

I have a completely gluten-free house & no wheat things are allowed. I am sure your MIL would not expect you to have something in your kitchen that would make you sick. We have a gluten-free bakery (she has a second kitchen that is only for gluten-free stuff) that makes FABULOUS cakes, pecan pies, bar cookies, cookies and the like. & I am the most sensitive celiac person on earth & I do not react to any of her stuff!!! Do you have a gluten-free bakery in your area?

My son has always been allergic to turkey, he can eat chicken, but no turkey, so we always have "creative" meat entrees. Pork Roast is good...

[Guest nini]

I thought I was allergic to Turkey and Chicken for years until I figured out that turkey and chicken are loaded with antibiotics and hormones, DUH! I'm allercic to antibiotics and hormones! No wonder it made me ill for years... Now that I've discovered organic "clean" poultry I no longer have that issue. I can eat chicken and turkey with no problems.

As far as T-day is concerned, we will eat at my moms, but almost all of the food will be gluten-free. Anything I prepare in my kitchen will be gluten-free, and most of the main side dishes my mom does are all naturally gluten-free. I'm sure there will be some non gluten-free pies and other deserts as well as rolls and bread, but I'll be bringing my own. I make a pumpkin pie with The Gluten free pantry's perfect pie crust mix and no one ever knows the difference. I also make a cornbread stuffing using my granny's recipe, just substituting gluten-free breads and it always turns out awesome.

I've also got a recipe for a gluten-free tofu turkey if anyone is into the meatless feast...

[zachsmom]

Okay, I've never tried posting a poll before... Let's see how this works.

So DH and I are hosting (his) family for Thanksgiving. They live halfway across the country, so we've never done Thanksgiving Dinner together before... Just today I realized that one of their traditional Thanksgiving dishes is pecan pie... And that involves both wheat (crust) and corn (syrup)! In my kitchen (shudder)!

I'm trying to figure out how to deal. I can't really ask my MIL to bring it already made, because she'll be traveling for a few days before she gets here. So it will have to be prepared here. One idea is to ask her to make it on Wednesday, so there isn't flour flying around the kitchen (and in my mixer! ack!) while the rest of the feast is being prepared. Thoughts from the board? Ideas?

I should add that the in-laws are very cool and kind. MIL has gone out of her way to prepare food that I can eat whenever I visit. Last year, she adapted her top secret family Christmas Cookie recipe and made a whole batch that was gluten-free! *and* guarded them from the many other cookie lovers in the family. They're usually very considerate. Plus, Thanksgiving tends to be full of family traditions. I don't really want this to be the Thanksgiving That Was Lousy Because We Didn't Have Stuffing. I mean, I know folks can adapt. But since they've really made a remarkable effort for me, I want to be able to meet them halfway. Well, without getting sick, obviously. I think most of my kitchen stuff has never seen gluten. What do I need to do to decontaminate it afterwards?

As always, thanks for any suggestions.

-aj

Okay, I've never tried posting a poll before... Let's see how this works.

So DH and I are hosting (his) family for Thanksgiving. They live halfway across the country, so we've never done Thanksgiving Dinner together before... Just today I realized that one of their traditional Thanksgiving dishes is pecan pie... And that involves both wheat (crust) and corn (syrup)! In my kitchen (shudder)!

I'm trying to figure out how to deal. I can't really ask my MIL to bring it already made, because she'll be traveling for a few days before she gets here. So it will have to be prepared here. One idea is to ask her to make it on Wednesday, so there isn't flour flying around the kitchen (and in my mixer! ack!) while the rest of the feast is being prepared. Thoughts from the board? Ideas?

I should add that the in-laws are very cool and kind. MIL has gone out of her way to prepare food that I can eat whenever I visit. Last year, she adapted her top secret family Christmas Cookie recipe and made a whole batch that was gluten-free! *and* guarded them from the many other cookie lovers in the family. They're usually very considerate. Plus, Thanksgiving tends to be full of family traditions. I don't really want this to be the Thanksgiving That Was Lousy Because We Didn't Have Stuffing. I mean, I know folks can adapt. But since they've really made a remarkable effort for me, I want to be able to meet them halfway. Well, without getting sick, obviously. I think most of my kitchen stuff has never seen gluten. What do I need to do to decontaminate it afterwards ........

As always, thanks for any suggestions.

-aj

Have you thought of ordering the pies out.. that are gluten.. and or making the ones you want to eat with gluten free flour. the post of the flour is someplace here. ... But then that way if you order them out you dont have to gluten ize your home.