Loving This Hoilday Season!!

I have been having lots of fun the last few weeks and have not posted this week. My apologizes. Truthfully jet lag got the better of me. I usually do not suffer this long from jet lag but this NY trip was different. It took 5 days to recuperate  from the trip. I am finally back on CA time and feeling alert and creative again. I now have the energy to continue my holiday adventure.

As a child, I loved the holiday's. For me, it meant the smell of homemade cookies, meat sauce brewing on the stove for hours, the sounds of gifts being wrapped and joy... Family gathering together for days, laughing, talking, and playing games are all memories I carry with me. I have taken many of these traditions into my adult life. This year is no different.

Loving This Holiday Season

We spent Thanksgiving in New York with friends and family. I could write a screen play about the week. My loving dysfunctional family's antics filled the air. (I am no exception). We celebrated a wedding, Thanksgiving, birthdays and adventures. I used to see these dysfunctions as a bad thing but this visit was different. I watched and listened with so much love for these people that the craziness I once viewed as a negative thing just felt like home.

Why the shift in perception? I felt so loved from everyone. The care my family took to ensure that Richard and my food was gluten-free and dairy-free was so touching that I could tear up right now as I write about it.

This is my 2nd NY trip since changing the way I eat and I am very impressed with how much everyone has learned since the last visit. There was no celery (I am deadly allergic to it) in anyone's home this trip. The chicken broth used in some of the meals was the brand without celery. Meals were made with gluten-free and dairy-free options, and the gluten-free food was displayed separately. 

The sweetest act of love, was on Thanksgiving! We were staying at my niece's house. I prepared some GF/DF side dishes as well as GF/DF dessert. My niece's (now husband) planned to fry the turkey. He purchased 2 turkeys and borrowed a second fryer so we could have a regular turkey and a gluten-free turkey. You can not get any more caring then that.

Thank you to all of my friends and family for your heart felt love and concern! 

Photo by: http://ezdecorating.blogspot.com/2012/11/delightful-christmas-ornaments.html

The Holiday's and Living Gluten-Free!

It has been almost 5 years since my household has been gluten-free (GF) & dairy-free (DF). Celebrating the holiday's locally has become easy. Some of my friends and family are also GF and/or DF. Those that are not understand and respect the way we eat and are more than willing to accommodate us. 

Photo by: http://experience.usatoday.com/food-and-wine/

This year we going to NY for a wedding, so we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my NY family. Several of them are DF but none are GF.  They are caring people and will do what needs to be done for us. I am also helping with the cooking.
The key to having a successful holiday is to be as prepared as possible. Planning ahead is the key.
1. Discussing the menu with the host.
2. If possible, choose to cook and/or bake the obvious foods: stuffing, gravy, pies, etc.
3. Make some inquires about which local stores carry gluten-free items.
4. If possible, have someone who lives where you will be, purchase items for you ahead of time. 
4. Purchase parchment paper & parchment paper bags ( line the dishes that may have once had gluten in  them). Aluminum tins can be used to cook things in.
5. Find a $1 store or inexpensive stores;  purchase cooking utensil, pots, etc that you can use    and leave behind. 
6. Knives need to be cleaned and re-cleaned to be sure gluten is not stuck on them. 
7. Before going away, research local GF bakeries and restaurants. 



Photo by:  http://experience.usatoday.com/food-and-wine/