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Now that we’ve finished filming for the Gluten Free Gigi Holiday Guide 2011 (the “Guide”) and it is just about ready for release, I wanted to tell you a bit more about the project and why I decided to take on something like this during what is perhaps the busiest time of the year for most of us.

Like many of you, I live every day on a special diet and have for over 4 years now. While my kitchen is entirely gluten free, I sometimes need to remind myself that not everyone’s kitchen is. The holiday season, at least for me, is perhaps the biggest reminder of this.

The concern often begins, at least for those of us with younger children, with the Halloween candy and rapidly turns to the Thanksgiving menu. If you visit relatives for the holiday, it can be a bit scary in terms of foods served. Families with the best intentions sometimes just don’t understand what it’s like to live on a special diet. They may know that turkey is “safe” for you if you’re on a gluten free diet, but they may stuff the bird with a gluten-filled bread stuffing and remain completely unaware that not only can you not eat the stuffing, you can’t even eat the turkey at that point!

Of course, you could just avoid the issue all together and take your food along, but let’s face it, no one wants to take an entire “special” meal. It’s just no fun! Most of us really don’t want to draw extra attention to ourselves, especially in terms of what we’re eating at the holiday table! I know I don’t.

Even if you host the holidays in your own home and have complete control of what is served, there can still be a degree of anxiety over how your “special” food will be received by your guests. Unfortunately, when people hear that something is gluten free, they often equate that with taste-free or some other negative thought. How about coming to my house for the holidays to hear that you’ll be eating a meal that is not only gluten free, it’s also dairy free, soy free, and nut free?! Throw in the fact that many of my dishes are vegan, vegetarian, or raw foods, and even from my extended family, there are the occasional raised eyebrows!

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