A family member told a family member told my husband that we are hosting Thanksgiving. I checked in with my family; the group we always see basically said no, they don't want to do the drive (um, cause that's worse than cooking for days?) and the other group said awesome. That group has never been over yet so I'm pretty excited. And they have lots of little kids to play with the kids on my husband's side.
I read a little about g/f turkeys and hams but other allergens weren't addressed too much. I started with the turkey, which my husband is going to smoke in his Green Egg. I ended up ordering one at Sprouts. Afterwards, a coworker told me they also have organic fresh turkeys, but I don't know that I would have ordered organic. I looked at frozen turkeys while at Fresh & Easy because I got a free turkey. My shopping day happened to be a free turkey day for purchases of $30 or more. Both brands of turkeys they had included ingredients that I definitely can't have. The Jenny-O turkey that was free had a trifecta of allergens, so I'm going to donate it.
The hams didn't really say that they had wheat, diary, or soy in them, but they had a lot of questionable ingredients. I asked at Sprouts if the hams were g/f and was told that it would say g/f if they were. Well, I'm not sure that's right, but I had heard that Honey Baked Ham had a g/f ham so I called. The lady confirmed that their hams are g/f and read the ingredients. I commented on the ones she could barely pronounce and she said that's why you can keep it in the fridge for a few days. Hmm, okay, that's my back up plan.
Someone mentioned Whole Foods to me, so I decided to check it out. I needed a refill of the local BBQ sauce we use when I haven't made sauce, so I was planning to go anyway. They had fresh organic hams--large and no weird ingredients, going as far as to be labeled g/f and "lactose free" which I'm going to say means dairy free. The guy working there chatted with me, told me to get the uncut (not spiral) for my crock pot ham recipe, and said his parents smoke their turkey and it turns out fantastic. I asked if they carry twine I could buy and he gave me some "premium--the best twine" from behind the meat counter. I also bought a whole lotta coconut milk ice cream since they had them on sale for $4.99 a pint. That's the best price I ever see them sold at.
While I was at Sunflower Market getting some taco shells (they carry Garden of Eden yellow or blue corn hard shells; Sprouts doesn't carry them so I'm nervous that they won't have them anymore after the "official" transition in January), I found the most amazing thing. Wholly Wholesome pie crusts--frozen crusts without wheat, dairy, eggs! Oh, yeah. I got a package and then found frozen rhubarb! I've never used frozen rhubarb but I'll give it a try--I love strawberry rhubarb pie when I can find it. Or at least I used to.
I'm sure I'll go overboard, so I'm trying to restrain myself. My tentative menu is smoked turkey, crockpot ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, "buttered" carrots, salad, gravy, cranberry sauce, olives and sweet pickles, and strawberry rhubarb pie. And others are bringing stuffing, corn, crescent rolls, deviled eggs, and pumpkin pie. Too much?
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