My First gluten-free Thanksgiving Dinner

[imsohungry]

Hi everyone!

We were invited by our neighbors to their house for Thanksgiving. I knew that they were cooking almost everything with gluten. So, I made my own dishes and took them with me. (I told my neighbor in advance so she would understand).

I made:

thanksgiving "dressing" (a.k.a. stuffing)

sweet potato souffle (a.k.a. casserole)

a coconut cake

a chocolate crunch cookie/bar

They all turned out wonderful! My hubby actually preferred my souffle and my neighbor loved my coconut cake! I spent five hours in the kitchen that were well worth it!

Happy Thanksgiving all! -Julie

[zansu]

Congratulations! See, it CAN be done...

(I make a pretty mean sweet potato casserole myself!)

I also made a pumpkin pie with the Gillian frozen pie crust. Pretty good.

[Guest nini]

Yay! Congrats on your success!

Mine was successful too! My mom really helped a lot and I truly pigged out. I made my pumpkin pie with The Gluten Free Pantry's Perfect Pie Crust mix and it was truly perfect if I must say so myself!

[MySuicidalTurtle]

That's great, Julie.

[tarnalberry]

Congrats! I'm glad it went so well!

[Cheri A]

Congratulations!! Can you post the recipe for the coconut cake? Sounds yummy!

[jerseyangel]

Julie,

That all sounds great! Glad everything worked out so well

Ditto on the GFP pumpkin pie, Nini--I can't stop eating mine

[diamondheart]

Recipes! Please share your recipes, especially the sweet potato souffle/casserole ones.

Claire

[imsohungry]

Thank you everyone, and congrats to you all too for your gluten-free successes!

My Coconut Cake recipe came from a friend (so I can't call it mine...I wish I was this creative; I'm just happy that I can bake it)

Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

Yellow gluten-free Cake (boxed or recipe)

Cool Whip (softened)

Cream Cheese (softened block)

1 can Cream of Coconut (I usually find on the wine/alcohol aisle at the grocery store)

Coconut flakes

Directions:

Make cake (round or flat). I used Gluten Free Pantry's cake mix; I followed their directions EXCEPT that I divided the batter in half and baked it in two round 9" cake pans instead of one. And I lowered the oven temp. by 25 degrees and baked until it was done. (It doesn't matter how you bake your cake though)

Allow cake to cool.

Punch holes in cake (an inch or two apart) with end of wooden spoon (or anything else that would make holes in a cake)

Whisk cream of coconut in a bowl and pour over cooled cake (the holes allow it to sink in)

Beat together cream cheese and cool whip until well blended

Spread blended icing on cake

Sprinkle coconut all over the cake (as much as you want)

Refridgerate to store (seal well to keep moisture in)

Enjoy!

[Sweetfudge]

this sounds delish! i'll have to give it a try!

[DILIROTH]

The Coconut cake sounds delicious and I would love to make it for a future Holiday gathering.

But, I am not sure what cream of coconut is? Is it some form of coconut milk?

I live out of the country and I can get coconut milk and maybe add ingredients to it to make it creamier but wasnt sure what to add?

I have the GFP mixes send over to me b/c I think they are the best and my family also loves them.

Thanks for posting the recipe!

Theresa

[imsohungry]

Diliroth,

I buy cream of coconut in a can on the alcohol aisle of any of my local grocery stores (and I live in a fairly rural area myself). It is used in Piña Coladas, so most stores carry it. If your grocery store doesn't, try an alcohol/wine/beverage store. It comes in a slender can and often has a picture of a Piña Colada on the label! (however, cream of coconut can be used in a variety of recipes).

Hope this helps! -Julie (p.s. I had no idea what it was either the first time I baked this cake...now I just go straight to the alcohol aisle!)

[heathen]

i just had my first, too.

roasted cornish game hen

gluten-free cornbread stuffing

pumpkin/cream cheese pie

i was happy. and full.

[brendygirl]

I never liked coconut until I went to Hawaii and a native climbed up a tree and plucked one for me and cut a hole in it so I could drink the milk and then cut it into pieces. YUM!

Love coconut ice cream, too.

CAN't wait to try this coconut cake!