A World Without Wheat....Hosting a Holiday GF Meal

Not to scare anyone but if you are throwing a holiday party and plan to serve delicious food to someone who is gluten free you need to do a few things to ensure their safe eating.  There is a lot of information here and I am betting you might know some of it already but I wanted to gather it into one posting for those entertaining over Christmas and the New Year holidays.

1.      Wash all the cooking and serving items from pots and pans to utensils so you are starting with safe wheat free equipment and serving dishes.

2.      If you are serving GF and wheat foods on the same table please set them far away from each other and never put them on the same serving plate. You should probably put a label near each item so those eating gluten free will know what is safe.  Safer yet is to have a separate GF table at your buffet.

3.      Remember there are lots of foods that are naturally GF.  Like fruit, cheese (except blue cheese) and veggies.  If you make a dip be careful with prepared mixes as they often contain wheat. There are crackers in the grocery store that are GF.  You could serve just them and no one will be the wiser but your guest will thank you!

4.       Most alcoholic beverages are safe except beers and wheat based vodka.  You can get GF beer for those who are GF and must have it!  Hard cider and wine are naturally GF.

5.      Look for the letters Gf on the packaging to be sure.  Read the ingredient list for all prepared or snack foods. Some cheese curls are GF and some are not.  Ditto for tortilla chips. Be careful about rice mixtures as the seasoning packet often renders them unsafe.

6.      Seafood is a good choice except for imitation crab and seafood as they are wheat based.  You can buy GF crumbs for breading things including for putting in your homemade crab cakes. Ready-made crab cakes are not GF.

7.      Sweet rice flour makes excellent gravy, get it at a Chinese grocery store.  I use the same proportion as any flour; just dissolve it in cold water before adding to a hot broth or blend with fat/butter before adding.

8.      Don’t put wheat croutons in the salad; serve them on the side for those who can eat them.  You can set out slivered almonds to add crunch for GF eaters.  Or make your own croutons from GF bread cut into cubes.

9.      Follow the recipe very closely if you bake a GF bread or dessert as they should not be altered if you want good results.

10. There are GF cake mixes that can be whipped up just as easily as regular wheat based cakes.  Most frosting recipes are GF so you can easily make a tasty dessert for not that much cash (as compared to buying a GF cake from a bakery) and you get the satisfaction of having made it yourself.

11. Of course, you can make a pudding or serve fresh fruit.  There are GF pie crusts out there so pie is certainly a yummy option.  I have a GF chocolate cookie readymade crust I plan to use over the holidays for a quick pudding pie dessert.

12. Be careful about candies and chocolates.  Read the label before you put out that candy dish. Wheat abounds in them! 

13.  Ice cream makes a great dessert but don’t serve cookie dough ice cream or any other flavor that has crumbled cookies or pretzels in it.  Do it yourself Sundays are a great dessert idea.

14. You could make those tasty dinner rolls I gave the recipe for recently or the brownies I also posted.  I will be posting a gf cookie recipe in a few days.

15.   Most of your meal will likely be GF if you cook from scratch: it is the pre-made and packaged stuff that tends to have wheat in it so scratch cooking is safer and frankly tastier!

16.  Check on the internet or at the library for GF cookbooks to help you make delicious meals for GF friends and family. 

17.  There are GF bakeries out there, one in Coopersburg and another in Bethlehem.  Great for a hassle free gf dessert option.

18. Save all food labels/packaging in case your GF guest has a question or wants to view the ingredient list themselves.  Not that unusual a request for anyone with celiac disease.

It is not the end of the world to have to cook and eat GF but it always feels nice when someone makes a homemade and safe meal for me to enjoy.  So give it a try in the next few weeks if you know someone who can’t eat gluten.  You can do it and you will thrill them!