Food allergies at Thanksgiving?

 

In keeping with Spending Holidays Alone This Year, we will be having a very small Thanksgiving. There will only be 4 of us, and we are all staying here at the house.

It seems like it's an awful lot of work for me to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner for 4 people. Whether you cook for 4 or 20, it's the same amount of side dishes. And not that much work for me to cook for a bigger crowd.

A friend mentioned that she ordered a catered dinner through a local restaurant. Hmmm. Tempting. 

But.....

We have food allergies.

And it's hard to trust anyone else to cook your food and be careful about food allergies. 

Like most people with asthma, we also have environmental allergies (dogs, cats, trees, flowers, dust, etc.) And just for fun -  Son #2 and I also have food allergies. 

Which makes it a little nerve wracking when we get take out (or the neighbors drop something off.) It's not that we don't trust people. It's just that we don't trust people!

For people who don't have food allergies, they just don't understand it. I've had people tell me that they don't believe I can be allergic to seafood because "I ate it when I was a kid."

Did you know that you can develop a food allergy at ANY time? Even if you have eaten that food before?

 The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says"

"Although most food allergies develop when you are a child, they can, rarely, develop as an adult. The most common food allergies for adults are shellfish – both crustaceans and mollusks – as well as tree nuts, peanuts and fish. Most adults with food allergies have had their allergy since they were children. An allergic reaction to a food can sometimes be missed in an adult because symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea can be mistaken for the flu or food poisoning. Adults don’t always pay close attention to symptoms, which can be dangerous since crucial hints can be missed and place the adult at risk if they continue to eat the food."

You would think Thanksgiving dinner would be safe - but everyone uses different recipes. I have seen oysters show up in stuffing! Wha?????

Son #2 has a tree nut allergy and it's VERY difficult to find a dessert that doesn't have tree nuts or hasn't had cross contact with tree nuts.

In fact, Son #2 and I have both had accidental exposures to our allergens. Sadly, some kitchen staff are careless and use the same cutting board, utensils, etc for multiple foods. And we have both had severe reactions as a  result. 

We have both had events in the past where we have RSVPed to the event and were very clear about our food allergies. Well, I ended up with shrimp in my baked beans and Son #2 ended up with roasted pine nuts in his salad. This was AFTER we warned them of our food allergy AND scanned the menu when the food arrived. 

So, even though I considered how nice it would be to have someone else cook a Thanksgiving dinner for us. I can't risk it. 

2020 is scary enough! I'm not going to chance it!