Sunday, January 1, 2012

What are you eating today?

I have a big batch of cinnamon buns rising.  Half are regular cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting.  The other half are caramel apple.  So good!

For dinner we are having my son's girlfriend up.  She has had a lot of appointments while home on school break so this is actually the first time we have seen her this visit.  Justine has just been diagnosed with celiac disease so I am experimenting with rice noodles in the lasagne for the first time.  And we are having salad, 2 kinds of gluten free bread and crustless cheesecake.

Tomorrow we are meeting her parents for the first time.  The original plan was that they would come here but her dad is on call and can't travel that far so we are now meeting in our hometown, which is the halfway point.  For dinner.  Between her dietary needs and our anaphalactic for peanuts nephew who is with us there are no "safe" restaurants.  I guess we will have to take him back home or to his grandmother's while we eat.

When I was growing up all the holidays were celebrated by feasts with visiting relatives.  Now the thought terrifies me.  In our immediate family we have lactose intolerance, people with arthritis flare-ups from potatoes, peppers and tomatoes, one flexitarian (a vegan who will eat seafood), 2 peanut allergies and the new celiac.  What to serve?  No pasta because the sauce is either creamy (with dairy) or red (with tomatoes).  And we may have to substitute rice pasta - but that is not a big problem.  If we have a roast, ham or turkey I also have to do rice because of the potato issue.  Thai food and curries aren't liked by everyone.  The vegan would be happy with shrimp or fish but a lot of others don't like fish.  We can all eat a green salad (as long as the tomatoes are on the side).

So what are you eating today?  Do you have to deal with any of these food issues?

And Happy New Year to all!