A Thanksgiving "gluten-free-for-all"

Our Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch with plenty of gluten-free dishes for everyone to enjoy. Not only did my in-laws prepare a separate turkey with gluten-free stuffing, we also had mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, a few appetizers, and the bread pudding and cheesecake I prepared.

In an effort to be a good Celiac Mommy, I left the few gluten-containing items off of my plate so I could share with Buttercup.

I did mention in a previous post that I would update on how the desserts turned out and the bread pudding was a success. It's sweet enough to put someone in a sugar coma, but a few bites are heaven! The Japanese Cheesecake, though, was a bit dry and not at all moist and creamy like one would expect cheesecake to taste. It wasn't bad, per say, just not as good as I had hoped.

My plan is to tweak the recipe and see if maybe a bit of extra cream cheese and/or buttermilk will help, but Celiac Dad and I were thinking that maybe this recipe is just meant to come out like this. If so, and my tweaking attempts fail, I probably won't use this one again and instead just doctor a traditional cheesecake recipe with a gluten-free crust.

We still have one more Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate on Thursday, and for that I'll be making gluten-free stuffing for the whole family to enjoy. Aside from the turkey, it will likely be the only "safe" food for Buttercup, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for any relatives who have "forgotten" about my daughter's diet.

Thanksgiving: Celiac style

I love baking for fun. And if this makes me a bad mom and wife, then so be it...but I hate baking because I have to.

It's one of the reasons the holidays become a little more stressful for me (and for you, I am sure!) No matter whose house the festivities are being held at, we have to make sure that dishes are gluten-free for my husband and daughter. Usually, we make stuffing, gravy, and desserts that can be enjoyed by all. There might be a dish or two that are off-limits, but we are thankfully made aware of what to stay away from.

This year, my husband has to leave on Thanksgiving morning on a business trip, so we are celebrating on Sunday with the in-laws. And thanks to some great timing, we are also celebrating my mother's 50th birthday early on Saturday. That leaves me with basically no time at all to prepare a gluten free cheesecake and an altered gluten-free whiskey bread pudding.

Remember, I am not a chef so most recipes I post will be attributed to the proper source.

For the cheesecake, I will be using a Japanese Cheesecake recipe from Recipezaar. It's our first time trying it, so I will let you all know how it turns out.

The Whisky Bread Pudding recipe presents a bigger challenge, since in order to make it safe, I first need to prepare a gluten-free french bread recipe before I can make the actual dish.(And no, Buttercup isn't going to be eating any of this tasty little dish.)

Since time is crunched this year, I am taking the easy way out and preparing an all-purpise baking mix in the breadmaker and then making the pudding. It's cheating, I know, but I deserve a break here and there.

I'll post later on how the cheesecake turns out.