Big BBQ

Today I spent 2 or 3 hours sourcing foods we will be serving at our Fourth of July BBQ. I wanted to do a BBQ with my family since it feels like forever since we got to talk or spend any time together. I've been dealing with my son's allergy flair-ups since Memorial Day weekend when we ended up at the emergency department to get a steroids - Prednisone plus another course since then. Many nights of waking with him itching and itching, tossing and turning and waking us up to help him because he's been so uncomfortable. Man you feel bad when all you want it for it to stop so you can sleep. But that's a different story.

At first I thought I'd do it all. All stuff my son can have. But when my family asked about doing potluck, I decided to think about it. We decided I would divvy out the things I know my son won't eat. That way I get some of the bad stuff and most of the stuff we will have that he can have.

Tomorrow I'm trying my hand at cheesecake made from soft goat milk cheese and goat milk plain yogurt. I'm going to strain the yogurt a bit to get it thicker. Think I will use a combination of flax egg substitute and Ener-G egg replacer since I think all flax will make the cheesecake too runny. I found a recipe for "graham" crackers from a cookbook by Carol Fenster - Cooking Free. My son loves these with just peanut butter.

BTW, her book is a WONDERFUL book! Met her at a class at Bob's Red Mill. She talked all about gluten free cooking and her new book, made some breads which were very tasty, and then signed copies of her book. But the best part about meeting her was asking her which cookbook would work best for my family and then asking how do I use her flour blends when sorghum is one of the ingredients. Sorghum is a grain and since we can't do grains when mixed with yeast, was he destined to never have peanut butter and jelly again? She said taking Bob's Red Mill creamy buckwheat cereal and grind it to flour consistency and use that instead will work just fine. That was the best news ever! Although it took me a while to understand my coffee grinder would grind way better than my blender or food chopper. I don't think my coffee grinder has seen coffee now in so long...

I have a whole pile of cookbooks now that I've picked up over the last year. I like The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook by Marilyn Gioannini, and the Kid-Friendly Food Allergy Cookbook by Leslie Hammond and Lynn Marie Rominger. Both offer substitutions for common allergens/ingredients and each has given me ideas on what to cook him. I don't use the Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread much because I really haven't found a recipe with bean bread that I like. Carol's have worked out better for me. Check them out. Don't know if you've spent hours in the cookbook isle before, but checking each of these out before buying will ensure you've got one that has a couple of recipes you'll use over and over again.