I Cooked My First Holiday Meal After Being Diagnosed with Adult Onset Food Allergies. This is What Happened.

Food, to me, has always been more than nourishment. Each act of cooking – cutting, mixing, stirring, is an act of love. In my eyes, a meal represents love and caring, or the lack thereof, at the time of preparation. With so much at state, I was worried. Would my adult onset food allergies alter not just the ingredients I was allowed to eat and use, but also the love I wanted my family to feel in each bite? Would they be receptive to this new life? For me, this meal was more than just a holiday meal, it was the beginning of a new life.

Shown: Home cooked pernil, a Puerto Rican marinated slow-cooked pork shoulder.

The Menu

Refusing to leave anything to chance, I worked on the menu earlier that week. The boys and I decided to avoid turkey and beef because of the recalls. We also avoided lettuce for the same reason, to my oldest son’s delight. Because of my food allergies, we also added dairy, eggs, gluten, and shellfish to the list of ingredients to avoid.

We ultimately decided on:

• pernil, a slow-roasted marinated pork shoulder,
• arroz con gandules / rice and peas,
• potato salad,
• cucumber salad with apples (Yum!),
• plátanos,
• amarillos, and
• apple pie (store-bought).

The boys also wanted my pièce de résistance, a flan de queso so sublime it has them craving it year round. Sadly, I couldn’t make it because it contains three of my food allergens, eggs,diary, and gluten. After the holidays,I plan on playing with the recipe to try to create a diary, egg and gluten-free version.

Once the menu was decided, I donned my most comfortable walking shoes, a stylish pair of Dolce Vita patent leather flats (love!), and set out for the market. My youngest son came with me to lend his muscles, as well as his very vocal comments to each of my selections.

Shown: Lower half of woman standing on the sidewalk. Features her black patent leather Dolce Vita Flats and Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag.

Shopping took us longer than normal. Some of the ingredients, like vegan mayonnaise, were not available at the first store or even the second, for that matter. I eventually found a Whole Foods several miles from where we live that not only had the vegan mayonnaise that I needed for the potato salad but also vegan eggs!

The Preparation

Over the years I’ve learned it’s easier and makes the holidays less stressful when you make as many dishes as possible before the big event. Thankfully, a few of the dishes on my menu could be created beforehand! I also like to marinate the pernil for at least a day. This lets the flavor soak in.
The day of, I woke early. Our nine-pound pork shoulder/pernil had to slowly marinate for about 5 hours. I also wanted to get the cooking done early so I could enjoy a movie and play games with the family.

The Meal

When it came time to serve the family, I was a nervous wreck. Most of the holiday dishes I selected didn’t require substitutes, but I still had to leave out a lot of the family’s faves off the menu, like our holiday cheese platter, flan de queso and coquito/Puerto Rican eggnog, because of my food allergies. To be honest, our table seemed sparse to me. Nevertheless, I decided to put on a brave face and call everyone to the table.

They ran out as soon as I called. I’m not sure if it was because they skipped lunch, or they were really excited about the meal, but it sure made me feel good! Even better, as we went around the table saying what we were thankful for, my sons both said they were thankful we were together enjoying this meal as a family.

I cried.

I was so worried I was going to disappoint them, yet they showed me what was really important, our family together, under the same roof, enjoying each others company.
Our normal has changed because of my diagnosis. We no longer eat the same meals. We don’t eat at the same restaurants. We can no longer travel without snacks. Yet, the one thing that had not changed was us.  As long as we had each other, our holidays and every day would be meaningful. My adult onset food allergies may have taken many of my favorite foods from me, but it couldn’t steal that. Cooking my first-holiday meal after being diagnosed with adult-onset food allergies taught me that.

Let’s chat! Do you or someone you know have food allergies? When were they diagnosed?

P.S. If you would like my pernil recipe, let me know in a comment! Since I don’t typically cook by taste and without measuring, I would have to recreate the recipe. This takes time, but if I get enough interest, I’ll do it!