Hello, everyone! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! First, let me apologize for the late blog. I had planned to get this posted by December 6th and I kept pushing it back. Nonetheless, it is now complete and ready to be viewed by the public. Let me know in the comments what you were/are thankful for this year.

I just want to start this off with one reminder this holiday season: be aware of food allergies or dietary restrictions your guests might have. Don’t let your guests feel left out by asking them to bring their own plate of food or not telling them before they arrive that you did not plan on making food that met their dietary needs. Put yourself in that person’s shoes; would you rather feel included or feel outcasted by having to eat a different meal than everyone else? There are plenty of food bloggers out there providing recipes for the holidays (i.e., Mama Knows Gluten Free, Good For You Gluten Free) and you can easily swap gluten ingredients with gluten free ones in your go-to holiday recipes, like substituting wheat flour for cornstarch to make gravy.

Growing up, my food allergies were never a problem. If I was unsure about a particular dish, I would either avoid it or ask my mom to double-check that it was safe to eat. After 2018, I became more aware of how holiday meals are handled when it comes to dietary restrictions. I felt like having to go gluten free was a hindrance for those around me. For my mom and I, we just figured out what I needed to avoid and how to make our go-to recipes free of gluten. However, for others who wished to include me in their holiday meals, it seemed like a chore or challenge to make food that only I would end up eating. I am not trying to upset anyone in my family who may end up reading this as I do appreciate the effort.

Being told “I don’t know what they’ll have that you can eat” or “You may want to bring your own food” oftentimes leaves me feeling depressed. This is partially why I prefer hosting the holidays. If you are planning a potluck make sure everyone gets a bite of every dish. They may be surprised to find a gluten free dish made well can taste just as good as one with gluten. No one in my family can ever tell that a dish is gluten free.

This year is no different than any year before as we will be hosting again. I think this just becomes routine for us. We did have a request to just have chicken if we couldn’t find a turkey. However, we were able to buy frozen turkey breasts from Whole Foods at the beginning of November. We also made chicken broth and froze it ahead of time, but we did not use it. Keep in mind, that we do use turkey broth when roasting our turkey and in the gravy as well. You will find our menu for this year, images taken, and any recipes with links and modifications down below.

Before, I get started.  I did not take many pictures this year as we ended up taking Thanksgiving to my Grandmother’s house as her knees started bothering her and she was experiencing dizziness after changes to her medication due to her recent AFIB diagnosis (update: the cause for her dizziness was found and her medication has since been updated).  My mom decided it was best to keep her stationary so that nothing happened while she was driving.  Now moving on to what we ate.

A lot of dishes we have tried in the past and were favorites. Other dishes are new to our menu; I did try the pumpkin chocolate chip cake previously and decided it was perfect for our dessert. I will admit three of the items on our menu are store bought to save time and because I am a little picky; those are mashed potatoes from Wegmans, canned French style green beans from Harris Teeter, and Extra Creamy Reddi Wip from Harris Teeter. I also forgot that my mom made lima beans as well. There is nothing fancy with them so I won’t include a recipe; she just cooked them in a pot on the stove the night before.

Side Dishes

Chicken Broth

First, let’s talk about the chicken broth. I would like to point out it was my mom’s idea to include this in the blog even if we did not use it for our Thanksgiving meal. She has been trying to get chicken bones from a local farmer at the farmers market for the past few months, and it just never happened. One day at Whole Foods, we came across frozen chicken backs and my mom decided she would get them. She found a recipe, Chicken Broth in a Slow Cooker, that we used and also modified based on comments.

To start, we did not use dried basil. Per one of the comments, we added 15 peppercorns, 2 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf, and 3 cloves of smashed garlic. I did find this to be a little bland, but that’s okay as you can add some seasoning to it based on whatever you’re cooking with it (i.e., soup, gravy, etc.). We put everything in the slow cooker on low for 10 hours overnight. The house smelled amazing when we went to bed. Once it was completed, we strained the broth using cheese cloth and a strainer to catch tiny bones, vegetables, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, and peppercorns. We then divided the broth into our 1 cup and 2 cup freezer trays, purchased from Amazon. We made sure to save about a cup to use for our dinner that night, in which we made gravy to go with our chicken.

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Originally, I did not realize my mom was still planning to make cranberry orange sauce this year. However, as she put it, “Grandma has to have her cranberry sauce.” This year, she decided to make cranberry sauce recipe she found by Joanna Cismaru of Jo Cooks. She asked me if I thought it was gritty after she made it, but it just tasted tart to me and not at all gritty. Even on Thursday, the taste wasn’t bad. However, as this was made on Sunday, November 24th, my grandmother and I discovered, the cloves that my mom had added to the sauce gave a strong taste of cloves the longer it sat. Again, it wasn’t bad but I don’t think cloves was necessary. This was the recipe she used:

Ingredients:
- 12 ounces cranberries, rinsed
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (ground)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- she also sprinkled in ground cloves to taste (unless you like cloves, I do not recommend adding them; each day the taste of cloves will begin to overpower the sauce).

Directions:
1. Add all the ingredients to a smaller pot and stir to combine. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2. Reduce the heat to a medium and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You will notice the cranberries will burst as they cook.
3. Let cool completely at room temperature before serving. (note: not sure when, but my mom did put in a few jars, 1 for us and 1 each for two co-workers).

Cranberry Honey Butter

This was new this year. I am not sure what led my mom to want to make it, but if anyone has ever had the butter from Great American Restaurants (Silverados, Sweet Water Tavern), this tastes just like it but with dried cranberries. Spreading some on a roll from Rise Bakery (not sponsored), reminded me of having Ozzie rolls from one of the Great American Restaurants. Nonetheless, this butter recipe is pretty simple; just make sure you soften the butter not melt it (I did this accidentally) as it can take a while to set up so you can roll or mold it. For this recipe, we used a block of Kerry Gold salted butter, Ocean Spray dried cranberries, honey, no salt as the butter was salted, and no orange zest. We made two small logs and I only took a picture of the small amount we put in a jar. Below is the modified recipe we used.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup finely chopped dried cranberries (we used a small food processor)
- 1/4 cup honey

Directions:
In a small bowl, beat all ingredients until blended. Store in an airtight container in the fridge up to 2 weeks or freeze up to 3 months.

GF Mac n’ Cheese - my version using Jovial’s Recipe

Before going gluten free, I made a three-cheese mac n’ cheese using cavatappi pasta.  I can’t remember exactly when I started using Jovial’s recipe, but I can remember that I bought their pasta and came across the recipe online before noticing the recipe was on the back of the box of elbow pasta.  This year, I was planning to use Jovial’s pasta shells.  However, Amazon delivered a very damaged and opened box of pasta, and there is not a store close enough to us where we can just pick up a new box.  In the end, I decided to just use their elbow noodles.  I pretty much follow the recipe to the T, but in place of water, I use vegetable broth as it provides more flavor (substitute the same amount of broth for the same amount of water).  For cheese, I used Boar’s Head white Vermont Cheddar and Pecorino Romano.  I did half the amount of paprika as well – this is optional. 

This is the perfect recipe for those who don’t like breadcrumbs on their mac n’ cheese and only want to use one pot.  I recommend making this the day of your gathering as it will taste better.  For leftovers, if you need to reheat it, just add a little bit of milk and some shredded cheese (I use Cabot Mexican cheese).

Ingredients:
- 2 cups water (or broth - chicken or vegetable)
- 2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons butter (I used salted)
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated (you can use any cheese you like)
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika, optional
- 12 oz jovial Elbows (or any pasta)

Directions:
1. Slowly bring water(or broth), milk, butter, and salt to boil.
2. Add 12 oz of pasta, stirring until the water and milk come to a boil again.
3. Adjust heat to keep a slow, steady boil, stirring occasionally. Cook pasta for one minute more than time indicated on box (in the case of elbows, cook for 11 minutes).
4. Turn off the heat and stir in cheeses and paprika. (I usually leave the pot on the burner)
5. Let stand a few minutes before serving.

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

Last year, my mom and I saw oven-roasted butternut squash in the deli window at Whole Foods and decided we would try to recreate it for my grandmother to have.  However, the butternut squash we picked up had gone bad before we were ready to use it and when we went back for more, the dates were not any good.  This year, we decided to try again and decided to buy frozen butternut squash in place of fresh.  The recipe does call for fresh butternut squash that you peel but frozen took less time and the dish turned out perfect.  My grandmother loved it; this is probably a dish we will be making more often. Below is our recipe with modifications as the bag of frozen butternut squash was only 10 oz. Click on the name of the dish above for the link to the recipe for 2 lbs of squash.

Ingredients:
- 2 lb. diced butternut squash (we used Stahlbush Island Farms, bought at Whole Foods, and is 10 oz)
- 4 tablespoons avocado oil (we use an avocado blend and we eyeballed)
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (pretty sure we eyeballed)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen (we used frozen and thawed them in the fridge)
- 2 fresh rosemary sprigs, roughly chopped (we laid them on top)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Prep a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Prep the butternut squash - in our case, with using frozen, we let it thaw before pouring it into a glass bowl.
(If using fresh click the name of the dish above for the original recipe)
3. Drizzle on the oil, maple, and season with salt and pepper. Toss until all the pieces are coated, then pour onto a baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Roast the squash in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Remove the squash from the oven and flip the pieces with a spatula so that the other side caramelizes. Sprinkle the cranberries evenly over the squash on the baking sheet and lay a few sprigs of rosemary on top.
6. Roast the squash for another 20 minutes, or until caramelized and fork tender. Keep an eye on them, as we don’t want them to burn and every oven is a little different.
7. Serve immediately, and enjoy! (In our case, we reheated it in the microwave the next day until warmed through and it was delicious according to my grandmother).

Biscuits

We did pick up rolls from Rise Bakery but did not bring them as my mom picked up Sister Schubert’s dinner rolls.  In addition to rolls, I made gluten-free biscuits.  The recipe can be found on the back of the King Arthur gluten-free all-purpose baking mix box.  I added a cup of Cabot Mexican cheese and a little bit of chives (not sure I will add chives in the future as I wasn’t a fan of the flavor).  I typically knead the dough in the bowl, then divide by hand into dough balls, and place on the sheet pan (I use aluminum foil).  My mom and I don’t have counter space for me to dump the dough onto the counter to knead and cut with a round cutter. The recipe also calls for bacon but I did not want to add it this time around.  The recipe with modifications can be found below.

Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Biscuit and Baking Mix
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used Cabot shredded Mexican cheese)
- about 1/8 cup of chives (this is estimated as I took out the ones that looked good, roughly chopped them, and did not measure them)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Stir together baking mix, cheese, and chives. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk; mix into dry ingredients to make a soft dough. Knead the dough and fold in thirds like a letter. As I said above, I do not have counter space to turn the dough out onto a dusted surface, so I do the rest of step 1 on the box in the bowl.
2. Divide the dough into about 6 to 8 dough balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet; I lined the pan with aluminum foil. I tend to do a form of drop biscuits but my mom suggested flattening them out the next time I make them.
3. Bake in the center of the oven for 16 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Note: if you are not sure of the timing, my mom recommends picking a time in the middle of the range - in this case, the range is 16 to 18 and the middle would be 17 minutes

Turkey and Gravy

Like usual, we brine our turkey before we roast it in the oven.  Each year, our brine changes.  In the past, we have used Spice Islands Garlic & Herb Turkey Brine kit (this one is hard to find in stores, so it has been a few years since we last used this) and Spice Hunter Turkey Brine & Bag, original (we used this in 2023), both say gluten-free on the packaging.  This year we used a recipe for rosemary garlic turkey brine, which we used a few years ago (recipe included below).

Ingredients:
- 5 quarts water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1/8 cup peppercorns
- 3 to 4 small dried red chilis
- 6 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 4 sprigs rosemary

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a large stock pot over high heat.
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow brine to cool completely before using.

After brining the turkey for a few hours, we then rinsed the turkey (I realized later we were not supposed to do this), put it in a new freezer bag, and placed it in the fridge to be cooked the next day.  On Thursday, we placed it in an aluminum baking pan with orange slices, carrots, celery, and onions.  We did add a little bit of Pacific Foods turkey broth before placing it in the oven. The recipe for this can be found below.

Ingredients:
- 5 to 7-pound fresh turkey breast
- 5 quarts rosemary garlic turkey brine
- 3/4 unsalted butter

Directions: continuing from where the brine left off
1. Place turkey in a brining bag, large enough to fit your turkey (we had a turkey breast and our bag was very big)
2. Pour brine over turkey, making sure to get all of the rosemary, garlic, peppers, and peppercorns into the bag, and seal. Refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours and up to 2 days.
3. The night before cooking, remove the turkey from the brine and pat it dry. We placed it in a ziplock bag in the fridge overnight.
4. Set the turkey out of the fridge about 45 minutes to 1 hour before roasting to allow it to come to room temperature.
5. Preheat oven to 425 F.
6. Melt butter in the microwave (about 30 seconds) - our microwave has a melt button, which we use when we need to melt butter.
7. Place cheesecloth in melted butter, turning so that the cheesecloth can soak up all the butter.
8. Place turkey in an aluminum baking pan on a bed of orange slices, carrots, celery, and onions. We did add a little bit of turkey broth to the pan.
9. Drape the buttered cheesecloth around the turkey breast, covering as much as possible. We also stuck in a thermometer in which we made sure the cheesecloth wasn’t hindering the thermometer.
10. Place turkey in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.
11. Reduce heat to 325 F and continue cooking for an additional hour or until internal temperature registers 165 degrees,
12. Allow to stand for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

For the gravy, my mom took some broth from the pan we roasted our turkey in and added it to some turkey broth in a small pot. While this was heating up on the stove, she made a slurry using cornstarch and some turkey broth. I don’t have exact measurements as she tends to eyeball, but I do know you would need enough to thicken the gravy. Once the slurry has no more lumps, add it to the pot and whisk together. The gravy is ready to go once it has thickened to your liking. We always struggle with ours as it ends up being a little thin but it still tastes good and was perfect with the turkey and mashed potatoes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

I came across this while looking for a recipe on pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I decided to hold off on the cookies and make a cake.  The pumpkin pie spice I had was out of date, so I chose to make my own.  This reminded me of a pumpkin pie but in cake form.  It was so good that I often find myself wanting another piece.  The Reddi Wip was perfect for the cake and made it even better, in my opinion.  Even my grandmother said the next day that it tasted as good as it smelled the day before.  The recipe can be found below.

Ingredients:
- 160 grams gluten-free multipurpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 65 grams white sugar
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 125 grams oil
- 230 grams of pumpkin puree (for Thanksgiving I used pureed pie pumpkin; the first time I used canned pure pumpkin)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 100 grams of chocolate chips (I used Guittard semisweet (46%) chocolate chips)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F, line a square 8” pan with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs.
4. Add the pumpkin puree and oil, and whisk until fully combined.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk together to combine. Switch to a flexible rubber spatula and fold everything together making sure there are no pockets of dry ingredients left.
6. With a flexible spatula fold in the chocolate chips, reserving some to use for topping the cake batter.
7. Transfer the cake batter to the prepared cake pan and smooth it out evenly. Top with the remaining chocolate chips.
8. Bake the cake for 32 to 36 minutes, until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean or with just a few cake crumbs attached. I believe we baked it for 34 minutes and it was perfect, but everyone’s oven is different so keep watch.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely before slicing it. This cake is delicious while still warm but can be messy to cut due to the melted chocolate chips. I baked this the night before and cut ours the day of Thanksgiving.

Apple Pie and Chocolate Pie Bites

To make these bites, I used Sweet Loren’s Pie Dough.  This dough can be found in the freezer section at select stores.  Ideally, you can use the pie dough to line a pie plate and put in your choice of filling with a crumble topping (i.e., Dutch apple pie).  If you wish to create a lattice or use pie dough to top your pie, you will need a second roll of pie dough as Sweet Loren’s pie dough only comes with one 9-inch round pie dough.  We took the dough and cut circles in the dough to fill a mini muffin pan (we had 15 mini pie cups).  We could not find our pie beads so I docked it with a fork.  We baked the dough into mini pie cups. I followed the timing found on the package.

In the meantime, my mom made apple pie filling: half without cinnamon (for me) and the other half with cinnamon.  Despite being my mom’s first time making apple pie filling, it was the best I had ever tasted.  Once the mini pie cups had cooled, we filled them with apple pie filling (5 with no cinnamon, 5 with cinnamon) and Kozy Shack’s chocolate pudding (the remaining 5 cups).  These were the best apple pie bites ever.  Find the recipe for the apple pie filling below. (note: I am allergic to the combination of apples and cinnamon, which is why some were made without cinnamon).

Ingredients:
- 5 apples, medium-large sized; peeled, cored, & roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup water, my mom did have to add a little more
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions (if making a batch with no cinnamon and one with cinnamon):
1. Split the apples roughly between two medium saucepans over medium heat. Add the water and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, first combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk well to combine.

Making one with NO cinnamon:
3. Take about half of the mixture and add to ONE of the saucepans and stir to combine, coating the apples. Simmer an additional 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Making the other with cinnamon:
4. With the remaining dry mixture, add the cinnamon. Whisk well to combine. Add this mixture to the other saucepan and stir to combine, coating the apples. Simmer an additional 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

7. Once cooled, take some of the mini pie cups and fill a desired amount with the apple pie fillings.

I want to apologize if my descriptions seemed rushed or if I left anything out. I did not write some of these until December and it was hard to remember what I was planning to say. I want to say this again, any recipes provided in the blog are modified recipes of the originals, which are linked in the title of each recipe section. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below and I will make sure to answer them all. Feel free to send me any food blog ideas, recipes to make gluten-free, or product recommendations at blueoceans.sanddollar@gmail.com or comment down below. 

Until next time.