In 2008 I moved in with my now Husband Michael and our friend Keil, and we all lived with each other until 2011. During that time period, we had dubbed ourselves the ‘McAwesomes’ and our place became the gathering hole for many of our friends quite often. Just prior to my Celiac Disease Diagnosis we had a period of time where once a week we held a potluck of sorts at our house. We would gather with friends, make food, have fun, and share the responsibility of cooking and cleaning between all of us. It had a real communical atmosphere, and these times are some of the events I remember most fondly.
After going gluten free however this tradition sort of fizzled out, and all together stopped after we no longer lived together. Since then, we’ve made attempts to make these potlucks happen again, usually stopping at the simple discussion of it and never bringing it into action because, as with so many things, life gets in the way. Well, after enough let downs, I finally got the ball rolling on revitalizing this tradition by creating a ‘Potluck Dinner Club’ group on Facebook. We set some general guidelines for the ‘club’:
- Hosts and ‘theme’ will rotate.
- Individuals are expected to pitch in in some way which can include bringing food, drink, or serving/cleaning/cooking supplies, or helping to prepare, serve, or clean up after the meal.
- Food should, but didn’t have to, take into consideration the dietary restrictions of our group of friends including: Dairy free, Gluten Free, Pescatarian, Nut Allergies, and Vegetarian.
- Asking questions, thinking outside the box, and creativity are encouraged.
The idea took off with enthusiasm and this past Sunday we had our very first Potluck Dinner Club Dinner, Version 2.0! This first Potluck was at Michael and I’s place, where the theme was Asian and we got to use many of our wedding gifts for the first time. With the exception of one dish, EVERYTHING was gluten free and it felt great to know my friends are so passionate about each other’s dietary needs. I was absolutely thrilled at how great it went, and couldn’t wait to share it with you to show it CAN BE DONE! Here’s some photos from the event:
The Spread including: Edamame, white rice, Japanese Cucumber Salad, Sushi (Vegetarian, Shrimp, and Salmon), Tamagoyaki (Egg Sushi), Four tips (Soy sauce, Garlic Chili Sauce, Peanut, and Asian spices), Vegetarian and Shrimp Spring rolls, rice noodles, vegetables for rice noodle toppings, sriracha, Thai Ice Tea, Sake, and more.
Vegetable and Shrimp Spring rolls, with rice noodles in the middle tier (Note to the left is a Korean spoon and Chop stick set, given to us as a wedding gift from Korea from a friend who is currently teaching there).
Close up of the Sushi, garnished courtesy of my Sister-in-Law.
Close up of the Bento Box style Tamagoyaki, made with gluten free soy sauce!
Everyone filling up their plates with the Asian goodness.
My plate filled to the brim with food, with a side of Thai Iced Tea over ice! (to the left you see we had a sake set out for use!)
All in all it was a delicious and wonderful experience, and I am so happy to have regained this tradition gluten free style. I was not expecting so many of the dishes to be gluten free, but so many people came through! So, you may think a potluck isn’t in your future but doesn’t this show you otherwise? When friends pull together, value one another’s company, and love food anything is possible! I sure hope this tradition sticks!
We’ve already set the date and theme of the next potluck. The theme: Southern Food.
What Gluten free Southern Food would you bring or like to see at a Potluck?
Celtic Celiac @ http://celtic-celiac.blogspot.com/