Gluten-Free Thanksgiving 2012: The Leftovers.

Ahhhhh.....Thanksgiving.  

I love Thanksgiving.  I love the food, the friends, the festive atmosphere in the air...the cooking, the prepping, the planning.

I love it all.

But I especially love the leftovers...

I'll get to those in just a minute...

First I want to tell you about how we had two delicious feasts this year.  We spent Thanksgiving Day with Heidi and her beautiful family.  We love these people.  Seriously. Spending Thanksgiving with them felt like we were hanging out with our own extended family.

Heidi is one of those friends who loves to cook...and I've never, EVER, eaten anything from her kitchen that wasn't absolutely AMAZING.  But, aside from that, Heidi knows that our family has to deal with that pesky celiac disease "thing".  Toting celiac along to holiday meals can be a pain.  Sometimes it seems like there's gluten in everything, and it's hard to be the "problem child", always asking about ingredient lists for all the dishes and whatnot.

Except, we never have to worry when Heidi is cooking.  She keeps some GF flour on hand, and happily modifies anything she can.  I never asked her to...she just does it.  And she doesn't make us feel like we're being picky or hoity-toity, because we need something gluten-free to eat.  Some of the best gluten-free stuff to ever pass these taste buds have come straight from her kitchen...and no one in her family even needs it!!!!  From appetizers with GF crackers, to the BEST GF streusel topped sweet potatoes, to chocolate torte and pecan pie...she just made it work.  If I'm honest, THAT fact is what really made our Thanksgiving so special:  The fact that we have friends like Heidi and her family in our lives.

On Friday, Mr. Rose and I cooked up a feast of our own!  My father and step-mother, along with her father and a cousin joined us for dinner.  We had planned to eat at 6:30, but dinner didn't actually make it to the table until 7:30.  OOPS!  Such is life when you only have one oven and three littles wandering in and out of the kitchen all day :)

So what DO you serve for a gluten-free holiday feast?

You might be surprised at how easy it is.

Here...let me break it down for you:

1. Mashed Potatoes -- potatoes, butter, milk, salt.  Nope!  No gluten!
2. Stuffing -- I used some random GF bread that had been in the freezer for awhile, along with some Udi's and made THIS recipe.  It was DELICIOUS!
3. Cranberry Sauce -- From a can, but I added the juice of 2 clementines and some chopped pecans to make it look fancier.  I'm the only one who eats it...but I want to make a fresh batch one of these days anyway.
4. Bacon-Wrapped Green Beans -- I just made up my own recipe, but I guess it's kind of like this one, except I like more sugar and don't add the garlic salt.  Again...no gluten! 
5. Gravy -- I was always afraid of making gravy before going gluten-free forced me to start making my own sauces, creamed soups, and gravies.  With Jules Gluten Free Flour, it's just a matter of substituting the GF flour for regular flour, and moving on.  Again, it's in my head, but here's a recipe that should work for you :)  PS -- My gravy got great reviews this year!
6. Pecan Pie -- Heidi sent us home with some of her GF pecan pie.  She tells me this is the recipe she used, along with a GF pie crust from Whole Foods Market.  All I know is that is was SCRUMPTIOUS!!!!
7. Sweet Potatoes -- Okay, mine weren't as fancy as Heidi's.  But they were still mighty delicious :)  I used Kraft Marshmallows, because #1) They're my favorite and #2) They're GF...though I have to admit that I've never found a marshmallow that wasn't GF.
8. Marshmallow Salad -- Speaking of marshmallows...this is a dish I grew up with...but we add walnuts and maybe some other stuff too.  Bottom line:  My holiday table wouldn't be the same without it.  This year, my dad brought it along...every time I eat it, part of my heart is transported back in time to when I was a little girl.
9. Turkey -- OF COURSE!  We aren't turkey professionals, but our bird was pretty fantastic this year, if I do say so myself :)  PS -- Here's a list of GF turkeys.

Oh, but there was more!!!!

Fried Rice -- ?????  WHAT????  Yes.  Have I ever mentioned that Mr. Rose is half Japanese?  Well, when I asked him what Thanksgiving dishes remind him of his childhood, he started rattling off things like "wontons" and "duck" and "fried rice".......so...... there ya have it.  His fried rice has been one of the most popular dishes at our Thanksgiving table for as long as we've been married.  His recipe is top secret (and DELICIOUS!!!!!)  I do know, however, that he uses San-J GF Soy and Teriyaki Sauces.

Ham -- Yeah, we had a GF spiral ham in addition to the turkey.  More leftovers :)

I should also mention that I made some of these GF crescent rolls, except I forgot about them so they didn't actually make it onto either plate.  I ended up using the dough to make cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning.

And, of course, we had REAL whipped cream to top our pie :)

(Hey, I never said our feast was healthy...just that it was gluten-free!)

A1(c) Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies

Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote THIS post.  I was freaking out about Sugar's November endo appointment, because I knew in my heart that her A1c would be elevated.

Fast forward to today, and.....NOTHING SEEMS TO HAVE CHANGED!  Today I was still stressing the A1c, because I know how difficult her numbers have been lately.

This past week has been HORRIBLE.  HOR. RI. BLE I TELL YA!!!!!  And...OF COURSE those are the numbers that get printed off for review.

So I made cookies.

Yes.

I said cookies.

I mean, what else are you supposed to do when preparing to face a brutal reality in black and white?

Her A1c was 7.5%.  It's higher than I'd like, but still in her target range.

Tomorrow is a new day.

And it just might call for cookies :)

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Here's my very most favorite gluten-free sugar cookie recipe:


(Copied from HERE)

¼ cup shortening (e.g. Earth Balance)
¼ cup canola oil
2/3 cup granulated cane sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla extract
1 ¾ cup Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour½ tsp. salt
3 Tbs. water (as needed)
food coloring (optional)

Cream shortening, sugar and oil several minutes with an electric mixer, until very fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla extract and food coloring, if using. Mix in the dry ingredients, adding in tablespoons of water as needed to keep the dough together and avoid dryness (err on the side of this dough being wetter so that after refrigeration, it’s not too dry). Pat the dough into a disc shape, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough until very cold, at least 3-5 hours (overnight is best).

Preheat oven to 350 F (static) or 325 F (convection).

Lightly flour a clean rolling surface with Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Roll the dough to approximately 1/8 inch thickness and dust cookie cutters with flour before using to cut out shapes. You may also roll thin coils of dough of different colors and braid into candy cane or other fun shapes.

Place cookies onto parchment-lined (or greased) cookie sheets and decorate with colored sugar, if desired. Bake approximately 8-10 minutes, or until they begin to lightly brown at the edges. Cool on a cooling rack and frost with gluten-free frosting, if desired.

GLUTEN FREE WAFFLES!

Did you catch the guest post I wrote regarding celiac for the lovely Kelly Kunik (a.k.a. K2) while she was in Washington DC for JDRF Advocacy last week?

If not, check it out HERE!

I mentioned the other day that I was making pumpkin waffles for dinner.

There were a lot of folks inquiring about my recipe, and I'm happy to share it!

Step 1:  Combine wet ingredients and smashed fruit in medium mixing bowl...

3 egg yolks (reserve egg whites)

1 1/2 c milk

1/2 c canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1c smashed fruit

(bananas, pumpkin, sweet potato, butternut squash -- or whatever you'd like to try!)

Step 2:  Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form

Step 3:  Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl...

2 c Jules Gluten Free Flour (can use regular flour if you don't need GF waffles)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

Step 4:  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined (do not over-stir)

Step 5:  Gently fold in stiffened egg whites until all the white has disappeared.

Step 6:  Scoop out 1/2c at a time and pour onto preheated waffle iron to cook as directed.

I've been tweaking this recipe for quite some time.  Sometimes I use Agave Nectar in place of the sugar...honestly, this is the first time I've written it all down.  I always make a big batch and freeze some to use during the week when we need a fast breakfast on the fly before school!

On a side note, I really have no idea how many carbs each waffle ends up being.  I usually guess 25 carbs each, and get it right most of the time...but I haven't done the math to figure it out.  SORRY!

ENJOY :)

HAPPY SATURDAY!