Oh hello there. Since the last time I blogged, I’ve gone from NYC to Franklin Lakes to Margate and back to Franklin Lakes and finally back to NYC.
A friend lost her grandmother during the hurricane, so a few of us went to the memorial in Margate today, but first, we went to Franklin Lakes so I could get my car and drop off Bailey.
And clearly none of us could turn down a home-cooked meal by my mom. Shannon is gluten-free, so I asked my mom if we could prepare plenty of food she could eat, rather than leaving her to have to eke out a weird meal based on the few gluten-free options.
We had some roasted vegetables in this grill basket, or veggie jail, as I called it. (The top keeps the veggies in so you can flip the whole basket.)
We grilled them along with some chicken. (By we, I mean Lacey. She is a veggie-grilling pro, so she kept an eye on the veggies.)
I made a quick spinach salad with goat cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette.
Roasted potatoes. These were delish!
There were also a few gluten-full options, like this eggplant parmesan.
And asparagus with bread crumbs and eggs. (Shannon’s husband was very excited about all of the gluten-full options.)
Bailey offered to help with the cleanup.
Lacey brought Baked by Melissa cupcakes, which we all inhaled before they could even get to the table for dessert. Oops?
I love this little guy.
I’m usually pretty adventurous in trying stuff like gluten-free or vegan food, but these cookies were kind of lame. But Shannon liked them, which is all that mattered, since she’s the one who can’t eat gluten, not me.
Strawberries for everyone!
Question: what do you do when you have guests that have a food allergy or sensitivity, or just eat totally different from you?
Being gluten free changes the idea of how things “should” taste. So when they are awesome we G-freers (totally made that word up) are super happy.
I’m sure she was ecstatic for all the care you put into having lots of options for her.
You’re an awesome hostess – I never expect anyone to go out of their way to find osmething for me to eat, but if they do… I am so excitd!
Golden rule. I know I would love someone to think of me if it were me, so I do the same for others! Also, my mom was the hostess so I really just suggested stuff to her 🙂
Bahaha veggie jail! I diee!
In the past I’ve always been the one with the food restrictions- none of my non-blog friends are GF or vegan or anything! But I know that I hated when people made a fuss. As long as there were sides I could eat, I’d be fine.
@Gabriela @ Une Vie Saine: If I hadn’t intervened, most of the sides would have been stuff like that eggplant parmesan 🙂
I haven’t experimented much with the gluten free foods… The doctors thought I had Celiac’s disease this past year so I went a month without any gluten- dang, it was tough! I def love my carbs 😛
@Allison: I had a Celiac scare last year, too and tried going g-free. It is really difficult!
Like Gabriela, it’s usually me who has to carefully review the food options to find something I’ll eat. When I host, I simply try to provide at least one or two choices in each maIn category – meat eaters, vegan, allergies, etc. Usually, the omnivores will eat anything but that way every person feels like their tastes were considered.
mmm that looks fantastic!
and congrats on your long run! 🙂
That’s heartwarmingly sweet of you to do for your friend.
As a GF gril, I normally eat right before I leave the house, carefully inspect what sides I could try, and hope like hell I don’t get sick from random gluten. I like to play it on the edge like that… Because after a while, it gets to feel rude to grill everyone on each ingredient. I don’t advise it. Every time I go home to visit my family… or worse to visit my husband’s family I get sick because someone just doesn’t “get it”. My FIL tries to get me to eat Lasanga… It goes like this… “P, I can’t eat that, there’s gluten in there…” “Well Mindy why not eat some cake…” “P, I can’t eat that, anything with normal flour makes me sick…” “But Mindy, you certainly can have a cookie then right??? ” At this point my MIL just starts to lecture him on gluten. Hilarious. 🙂
@MindyG: Golden rule 🙂 Also, I had a celiac scare last summer and I completely empathize now. When this group of friends and I were down the shore earlier in the summer, our friend’s mom kept forgetting and kept trying to serve her bagels. Each day, she calmly said “nope, can’t eat that, but thank you.”
I’m one of those guests– I always offer to bring my own food, and often do. There are only a few people who are comfortable cooking for me, and I do still quiz them quite strongly as I’ve been almost fed things like beer battered peppers (GF flour, normal beer…). My general rule is to pack or eat first and have a glass of wine if it’s not someone I can cross examine.
BTW, great gluten-free cookies in NY: Cookies By (For?) My Dad.