A GF Thanksgiving Pep Talk for You
We’re 9 days out from Thanksgiving! Where are you on your holiday prep list? What do you mean, you don’t have even have a prep list yet??? Just kidding! Whether you have one or not, I’m here to tell you It. Will. All. Be. Fine.
I’m here to give you a little pep talk that you absolutely can have a delicious gluten-free Thanksgiving, one where everyone can enjoy the food safely and then fall asleep watching football later. This year marks my family’s 15th year of gluten-free Thanksgivings, so I speak from experience. I’m going to give you a few dos and don’ts to make the day run more smoothly.
DON’TS:
Don’t put your gluten-full stuffing in the turkey.
I mean, don’t do this anyways. The stuffing inside the turkey never crisps up and is just asking to create some kind of gross food poisoning situation. But, really don’t put your gluten-full stuffing in the turkey because you’ll make the entire turkey unsafe for your GF guests.
Don’t use any condiments or spreads in the preparation of your dishes that you’ve used in the past for other cooking projects.
That stick of butter that you used to slather some butter on french toast a few days ago is cross-contaminated and will make someone with Celiac very sick if you use it to baste your turkey. Do you double-dip when baking? A scoop of flour and a scoop of sugar with the same measuring cup? That sugar is now be unsafe for someone with Celiac. Avoid all risks of cross-contamination by using new GF-safe containers of ingredients.
Don’t cook with wooden spoons, use colanders you’ve used to drain gluten-full pasta, or prep vegetables on a cutting board you’ve used to slice gluten-full breads.
Certain cooking utensils are notorious for being difficult to completely rid of gluten. Avoid using any plastic or wooden kitchen tools while prepping for the big meal.
Don’t assume you know everything there is to know about cooking gluten-free. Ask questions
Your GF guests will feel so much more at ease if you ask them questions about the best way to keep them safe at your dinner. Not only will it show them that you care about their safety and take their dietary needs seriously, but it will also make them more comfortable and feel more included when they sit down at your table.
DOS:
Do let friends and family contribute to the celebration.
Just because your house is GF and the entire meal will be GF doesn’t mean that non-GF guests can’t help out. Cheese, crackers, and fresh fruit for a snack board are a wonderful ask. Most cheeses are naturally gluten-free and it is very easy to find safe gluten-free crackers. Mary’s Gone Crackers and Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thin Mini Crackers are a few of my favorites. Just kindly ask your guests to bring their snack board provisions still wrapped in their original packaging and suggest they assemble the snack board once they’ve arrived. This allows you to check labels and ensure that the cheese and fruit are sliced on a GF safe cutting board. Plus, it’s always more fun to cook with friends!
Other easy asks include ice cream for dessert— many easy-to-find brands are great at labeling like Haagen-Dazs and a few extra-gourmet brands like Jeni’s also label well.
Drinks (wine, sparkling cider, even GF beer like Ghostfish) and flowers round out the list of easy things guests can bring from home.
Do outsource trickier, more time-consuming dishes to trusted gluten-free brands.
Can’t handle adapting your grandmother’s pie crust recipe to gluten-free? There are plenty of store-bought GF crusts. Trader Joe’s carries Wholly Gluten Free Pie Shells in the freezer section. Schar’s makes a frozen GF Puff Pastry and King Arthur even makes a boxed GF Pie Crust Mix that I’ve tried in the past and thought was pretty good. There are even places you can safely buy a full GF pre-made pie. (Insert shameless plug for butter + sugar’s Thanksgiving Special Menu here. NOTE: orders close this Wednesday (11/20) and I have limited space for additional orders!) If you’re not local to Stamford, I have seen GF Thanksgiving pies for sale from Modern Bread & Bagel and Erin McKenna’s Bakery. Just be aware that deadlines for shipping are FAST APPROACHING!
Mmmm… Caramel Apple Pie!
Do think outside the box.
Stuffing doesn’t have to come from a box. You can dry out your own gluten-free bread to use in any kind of stuffing recipe you like. Serious Eats and Food52 all have amazing recipes for stuffing that are fairly easy to adapt to GF. Remember to check that all ingredients you throw into your stuffing are also gluten-free. Kitchen Basics and Pacific Foods boxed stocks are well-labeled. Double-check that any sausage you add is also GF. And, of course, if you start by making your own GF cornbread, there’s always cornbread stuffing!
Finally, Thanksgiving rolls don’t have to be the traditional Parker House roll. Mix it up and serve Brazilian Cheese Rolls which my family gobbles up faster than I can make them! Trader Joe’s has a delicious frozen version of these that is dead-simple to heat up and throw on your table.
Do advocate for yourself.
Thanksgiving is about coming together and sharing some joy around the table with family and friends. No one wants you to leave the table feeling sick… unless it’s because you ate too much pie. ;) If you’re a GF guest celebrating at someone else’s house, it is your chance to spread the word about Celiac, about how many people it affects, about the challenges of living GF in a very gluten-y world. Most people will bend over backwards to make a guest feel safe and taken care of. Speak up if you’re concerned about a dish. And, when in doubt, just skip adding that dish to your plate. There is always other safe food at home for you.
Really, though, you got this! Whether you’re a GF guest headed to someone else’s house for dinner or you’re hosting your first GF Thanksgiving meal this year, you can fully participate in this American holiday. After all, in the end, it’s not about the food or the tablescape or even what kind of cranberry sauce is better (the canned jellied one, of course). It’s about being together with the people who mean the most to us— whether that’s family or friends— and sharing whatever we can with others. We need to care about each other and make our tables bigger.
May your Thanksgiving celebration be filled with love, laughter, and plenty of leftovers! Happy eating!