s/ Thanksgiving tips for hosting, gluten free, vegan and vegetarian guests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My tip is don’t. Don’t bend over backwards. The allergen people can and should bring their own sides.

I don't understand why people like you would even want to host. I understand not feeling comfortable with cooking for a celiac for fear of cross contamination, but vegetarians or nut allergies are pretty basic...

+1 Don’t host.

When I host I’m not hosting for myself; I’m hosting for my guests. If I don’t want to prepare for my guests, I don’t offer to host.

+1

[Anonymous]

We found it easier to have an Indian menu for thanksgiving. No one is fond of turkey either, so we cook other meats.

[Anonymous]

I have vegetarian and gluten free attendees, in our small group of seven. I don't make anything special, but I have options for both.

Obviously vegetarian doesn't eat turkey or gravy.

GF doesn't eat stuffing, rolls or gravy. Everything else is open, and there's plenty to be had.

[Anonymous]

How GF are they? I've done a celiac Thanksgiving and you have to be very, very careful about cross contamination.

Vegan can be tricky too due to a lot of classic dishes having dairy in them (mashed potatoes).

I feel like I could manage one of those but both together is a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We found it easier to have an Indian menu for thanksgiving. No one is fond of turkey either, so we cook other meats.

This would not be gluten free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How GF are they? I've done a celiac Thanksgiving and you have to be very, very careful about cross contamination.

Vegan can be tricky too due to a lot of classic dishes having dairy in them (mashed potatoes).

I feel like I could manage one of those but both together is a lot.

I don’t host Thanksgiving, but I would never expect the host to be responsible for having gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan versions of everything - especially vegan (many thanksgiving dishes are so good because of butter!).

The vegan person should be bringing a vegan side & dessert!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We host a large crowd.

GF - be mindful that some Turkeys are injected with solutions that contain gluten. High quality organic birds are usually safe but check first. Thicken gravy with cornstarch or arrowroot not flour. Serve two stuffings -one traditional with bread and one with rice/grains. Have a GF dessert. If the people are bring dishes ask the GF people to bring their favorite dessert. Make your own salad dressings or buy the GF ones.

Vegan/Vegetarians- try to make vegetarian dishes vegan so it serves both types. Mashed potatoes made with olive oil and roasted garlic are amazing. Roasted butternut squash, and pumpkin are great. Do not mash them. Grilled and charred sweet potatoes are great. Carmelized onions and green beans or roasted brussel sprouts are great. Have a few desserts that are vegan.

We lay things out buffet style and have a toppings section that we call the fixins. This is where the boomers get their butter and bacon bits. I also put out Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, chives, sour cream, different nuts etc.

I get label each dish so people know if it’s gf, vegan or both.

Wow. I eat butter and bacon bits and I'm not a boomer. I don't want to go to your party filled with vegan and gluten-free youngsters.

[Anonymous]

Thank you OP. I take note of your tips!

[Anonymous]

Honestly, if I am hosting, you can find something to eat or offer to bring something gluten free. This gluten free thing is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I ain’t doing all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We found it easier to have an Indian menu for thanksgiving. No one is fond of turkey either, so we cook other meats.

This would not be gluten free.

Most Indian food is actually gluten free, as they don't use soy sauce generally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if I am hosting, you can find something to eat or offer to bring something gluten free. This gluten free thing is ridiculous.

My DIL has a severe gluten allergy. It's not ridiculous at all. But I never worry about cross contamination, it's not peanuts. I don't make pasta or pie crusts when she's around. But I do make stuffing, gravy, without issue. She just doesn't consume those items.

[Anonymous]

We have a regular guest (extended family) with Celiac, so we always have GF options and are careful about cross-contamination. But we're well set up for it because it is a regular guest - we have a set of GF cutting boards, etc.

GF is not hard to accommodate. We use a GF flour blend for thickening gravy as we like the texture better than cornstarch (I honestly can't tell the difference between it and gravy thickened with regular flour). We have a mix of regular pie crusts and GF pies / other desserts that are naturally GF. GF person just skips the dressing and rolls, we don't make special versions (GF person doesn't really like them anyway).

Vegetarian wouldn't be too hard (put bacon bits on the side, not mixed into the green beans, and have something other than turkey for a main ... although TBH most vegetarians I've known - and many meat-eaters! - are perfectly happy just skipping turkey and making a meal out of the sides).

Vegan is harder. I wouldn't skip butter/milk in mashed potatoes and everything else for the entire group, or prepare two separate bowls of potatoes / etc. I would invite the vegan to bring their own dish or pull a portion of each item before I finish it off with butter and milk. But I'm not making an entire bowl of olive oil potatoes alongside the regular bowl of milk/butter potatoes, sorry.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I’m not making two kinds of mashed potatoes, I’m only making the olive oil ones. I’m not making gravy with flour and gravy with cornstarch. I’m just making the cornstarch ones. My point is that it’s actually really really easy to not cook with butter, flour, lard and chicken stock for every dish. Adding the fixings table lets the bacon butter eaters be satisfied. Putting nuts, stronger cheeses, dried cranberries etc etc make the topping table popular with everyone.

I stopped looking at it as making a special different dish.

[Anonymous]

For olive oil mashed potatoes, use Yukon gold. They have a creamy texture and golden color. Roast the garlic and use high quality olive oil or olive oil infused with herbs. I use a potato ricer never a food processor or electric mixer. I have one aunt who is convinced they have butter and does this stupid wink wink thing.