Holiday Food Blues – Which Way to Hollywood

There are a few holidays that I truly enjoy. They’re some pretty awesome times of the year where fun abounds. I love Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day.

And then there are holidays that I enjoy for food alone. Those food holidays are very few and far between. Thanksgiving has historically been one of those holidays for me.

I do love a traditional Thanksgiving meal. I love almost everything about the food. Though, honestly, I could go without pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes. But I love everything else.

However, this year is going to be drastically different.

This is the first year where I’ve been gluten-free. This year I can’t really eat everything that I love. I can’t have stuffing and gravy. I can’t have the green bean casserole that I love. While I would love that my family would actually attempt a full gluten-free Thanksgiving dinner… I know that they’re not going to make that big of a change to the dinner for just one person.

So, instead of eating what everyone else will be eating (or trying to eat it and making myself sick for days afterwards), I’m going to be eating something different.

While I like the sound of what I’m eating. I feel as though I’m missing out on something I love. This is the first time that I’ve felt like I’m being excluded because of my dietary restrictions.

And, I’m going to admit it, it makes me quite sad that I can’t eat the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Watching all the ads about Thanksgiving food and all the cooking shows that are focused on all those comfort foods that I love. I have to admit, I feel left out. I can no longer enjoy the food of the day that I love.

And now, I’m at the point of where do I go from here?

All I can figure is that I need to mourn that I can no longer partake of what I love. I could cheat and eat everything, but what would that do for me? What would that do for my health? Since we’re still not 100% sure if I have Celiac’s Disease or not, I can’t take too many risks.

These are the time of year that make it difficult for me to eat. I want to eat everything that I can’t have.

All I have to do is remind myself that I have 2 more months of this… only 2 more months. If I just tell myself that, maybe it’ll make it better. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around next year, I may have properly mourned not being able to eat the normal holiday meals that I love.

Katrina says:

November 14, 2012 at 10:01 pm

How to Make Gluten-Free Gravy

Once the bird is done, remove it from the pan and place onto a board or large plate to carve. Let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving to let the juices go back into the meat.

Place a fine mesh strainer over a 2-quart saucepan. Pour the pan juices, vegetables and all into the strainer. Use a large spoon to press the veggies into the strainer to get all the juices and flavors into the saucepan. Discard the veggies and herbs into your compost.

I usually just eye it and don’t measure. So if you don’t make gravy that often I would suggest pouring the pan juices into a 2 or 4-cup liquid glass measuring cup to see what you have. Add water or stock until you reach 1, 2, or 3 cups to get an even measurement if needed.

Use 1 tablespoon of sweet rice flour or arrowroot power per 1 cup of pan juices. I prefer using superfine sweet rice flour. This is what was used in the photos here. For a slightly thinner gravy use 1 tablespoon flour per 1.5 cups pan juices.

If you let the pan juices cool to room temp you can simply whisk the flour right in. If the pan juices are hot, then pour the flour into a small bowl and whisk in a little cold water to make a thin paste. Pour the paste into the saucepan with the pan juices and quickly whisk together. If you whisk in dry flour to hot liquid you will have lots of clumps.

Place the saucepan on the stove and turn heat to medium-high. Whisk the flour-paste and juices together until thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes. Season with Herbamare or sea salt if needed. Serve and enjoy!

November 14, 2012 at 10:03 pm

This is my first celiac thanksgiving too. Since finding gluten free bread mixes like pamela’s kitchen and Bob;s red mill… I don’t feel as deprived. Oh and you can also use corn starch to thicken…but I haven’t mastered it yet… it ends up tasting like uncooked corn starch. (blech)

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