Gluten Free Thanksgiving with My Dad (LOL)

What I wouldn’t give to hear my dad joke and carry on about the gluten free sugarless sweet potato pie I made for him about 3 Thanksgivings ago. See what you don’t know is my dad had diabetes and other health concerns, so I felt it was my job to make sure he was eating right (at least when in my presence). And boy did he fight me about it. He wanted to eat and do and smoke as he pleased. In his mind he was a grown man and can take care of himself. So, anyway that Thanksgiving I decided to try out gluten/diabetic-friendly dessert recipes just for my dad.

I was so excited for my dad to come over and try the dishes I made with him in mind. We drove out, picked him up to bring him to our home. The moment he walked thru the door he immediately started complimenting the delicious aroma that filled the air. He couldn’t wait for me to serve him a plate of food, but honestly neither could I.

My dad and my son were playing video games and watching TV and talking. They were having a good time, while I was in the kitchen adding the finishing touches to our dinner. Things were going according to the way it all played out in my head. The holiday spirit was definitely present.

It was about 45 minutes later. It was time to set the table and pray over the food. As we bowed our heads, my dad led the beautiful prayer of thanks for family and the food, of course. Finally it was time to carve the turkey and serve my dad his food. Again you can’t imagine just how super excited I was with a little hint “nervousness” sprinkled around. At this point, I’m staring at my dad intensely waiting for him to take his first bite. It almost felt like I was a contestant on Top Chef after frantically running around a cramped kitchen with 12 other contestants. The judges: Dad and Sunny. The challenge was fierce. All I knew was I didn’t want to be told to “pack my knives and leave” in the first round. That would have been a pure tragedy. After all I cooked with love. But luckily for me I hit a home run with my savory dinner. So good he asked for seconds. The judges were more than pleased. Phew, I was delighted to move on to the next challenge…The Quickfire.

In this challenge I did what I thought was an amazing job, even if I ran out of time. Unfortunately, losing track of time I didn’t do the one thing the judges always advise you to do prior to plating the food…taste it first. But regardless of that fact, I was still proud and patting myself on the back. Meanwhile, in the living room I could hear my dad whispering to Sunny how he couldn’t wait to eat tasty desserts. Apparently he had been waiting all week for it. So of course I didn’t want to disappoint, but the pressure was on.

One of the desserts on the menu was an “altered version” of my sweet potato pie. Topped with whipped cream two scoops of ice cream on the side, not to mention it was still warm. Sounds good right? Keep reading.

Well it was the moment of truth and I just knew he and Sunny were going to love it. Like a movie in slow motion, my dad slowly picked up his fork to begin cutting into the pie. Fork in hand, he starts slicing into the tip of the pie, dipped it in the whipped cream on top and took a bite. Now as he’s chewing I can see his facial expression changing. Suddenly his smile starting to disappear from his once “child on Christmas morning” face. It was being replaced with confusion and more importantly anger, lol. It’s the look you get when that child was hoping to get a brand new PS4 for Christmas, but unwraps the gift only to find a big oversized holiday sweater with Rudolph knitted right on the front of it with a toy blinking nose attached to it to bring it to life.

I laugh because you had to be there. It was hilarious. He looks over at my son. Then he looks back at me. He looks down at the slice of pie in complete wonder. And back at me again. Before I knew it he starts yelling at me saying things like “how dare you think you have the right to mess up Thanksgiving and dessert of all things” “who in the h*** does this” “this is messed up” as he “firmly” puts his plate on the table. Of course anyone who knew my dad knows that I just gave a “clean” version of what he actually said. For those of you that don’t know him, just replace and or add in tons of foul language. What made it super funny was the fact that he cursing me to high hell right after giving such a beautiful prayer and a speech about love, God and heaven. Needless to say he was short of being overly pissed off, lol.

After his rants about how I destroyed Thanksgiving, like the Grinch who stole Christmas, he regained his composure. Calmed down to tell me, “baby you did a great job with the food, but don’t you ever try that gluten free S*** ever again”. He gave me a hug and a kiss, he then demanded me to drive him to my sister Dell’s house for real desserts.

Ever since then that’s all I would hear from my dad, especially the closer we got to Thanksgiving. He would always joke about not wanting to eat “no gluten free food anymore”. Oh what I wouldn’t give to hear him go on and on and on about my gluten free meal choices like a little baby.

Losing him just over a month ago makes the holidays especially difficult. Thanksgiving isn’t the same without him here (physically). So in honor of my dad I will make him an awesome sweet potato pie…unaltered :).

I love and miss him so much.

With Sugarkisses and love,

Lee

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