Sharing Food...and Germs

It never fails that I'm sick right after Thanksgiving. Between Mom's family's day-of dinner and Dad's family's weekend-after dinner, I come down a cold that laughs at my puny immune system and leaves me huddled up in front of a space heater, absolutely useless. Not only does a fever impede my dinner prepping abilities, but it makes it hard to write too. I have to take the good with the bad; with togetherness comes germ-spreading.

This Thanksgiving, though, was healthier than last in a different way. Back in June, I decided to experiment with my constantly-problematic stomach by going gluten free. It's taken almost six months, but I'm finally starting to feel more like a human, and what do you know, I don't miss bread that much when I feel better! And one of the things I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving was my sweet mom's ability to take my favorite holiday dishes and make them gluten free.

I LOVE this mac and cheese and we made it with gluten free corn pasta and gluten free all purpose flour. The cornbread and breakfast sausage dressing was made with this gluten free cornbread mix. And all of it came from Kroger, so that was convenient and didn't involve some trek through the great country backwoods to get to a specialty market. When you live where I do, if they don't have it at the closest available store, you're not getting it.

This year, I was also so thankful for my loving, supportive family, for my animals, for rural Georgia, for the chance to do what I love most and for the inspiration and crazy streak that have led me to indie publishing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and please enjoy this random, irrelevant picture of a tree because I pass by it on the way to the barn every day and I think it's pretty.