Yeah, I know it's only August. But this year Thanksgiving is going to be extra special at the Nut House. Not only will we be giving thanks for all of the blessings we've been given this year, we will be celebrating it with some extra Nut House FAMILY!!! WOOO HOOO!!!
Traci, Sean and Hollie are coming from Washington, Ryan is now here from Colorado, Ally's sweetie will be back on the same continent and we hope to have some time that day with Justin, Jayme and my little "boo smoochie" Mason. :) (Poor kid. This is the nickname he now has from his loony Aunt Andie. I can't help it. He is my Kryptonite.) he he he
Anyway, being able to have the extra family around is exciting and reason enough for wanting to get started on the prep. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays anyway so I'm always happy to get to spend extra time prepping for it. Any excuse will do. This particular crowd poses some new challenges, too. We have some celiac folk, some gluten intolerant folk and a full blown anaphylactic dairy allergy to work around. More than anything, we want this holiday meal to be one that NO ONE has to stress about. We want it to be a time of just being thankful and with loved ones. That means we are starting early on the prep.
The Nut House research guru, Ally, is combing the web for recipes that will accomodate everyone. We will be doing trial runs on some of the more tricky recipes ahead of time. Traci is working with Ally on compiling the needed information.
What blows my mind? I'm totally excited about it. Me. The girl who had no interest in cooking until a few years ago. I actually like cooking. It's fun. And accomodating for specific things like celiac or dairy allergies? Well.... I've seen firsthand what happens to people who have these allergies and conditions. I've seen how not only the allergy itself plays out but how the constant vigilance and awareness of what they are eating and how it's prepared can be wearisome and stressful. I know what it means to them to be able to eat a meal that they didn't have to prepare completely themselves and not worry about cross contamination or talk to a manager about it first. I love the look on their faces when they can relax and just ENJOY the meal.
I'm excited about hopefully preparing a Thanksgiving meal that itself is a thanks-giving. :)
Ah Sis :) You are amazing and the heart you have for loving people inspires me. I adore being the research guru and I can't wait to see how these "new" meals will be received. It's gonna be an adventure, but hey would the Nut House clan settle for anything less?!?!?!?!
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