Thanksgiving Help Line

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, and it can also be found in spices and many processed foods, making it a challenge to cook without it.

To answer your question, I went to the food writer Silvana Nardone, whose son Isaiah was diagnosed with gluten intolerance three weeks before Thanksgiving. Ms. Nardone was the owner of a bakery and founding editor of the food magazine Every Day With Rachel Ray, so she took on the challenge of gluten-free cooking. She wrote the cookbook “Cooking for Isaiah: Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Recipes for Easy Delicious Meals.,’’ and offers new gluten-free recipes on her Web site, Silvana’s Kitchen.

Last year, Ms. Nardone created a gluten-free Thanksgiving menu for Well’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving series that included a gluten-free apple-pecan cornbread stuffing. She has also sent us four new recipes made with gluten-free bread. This one uses gluten-free bread crumbs to create a traditional stuffing flavored with sage, onion and celery seed. Mushroom-rye stuffing is made with gluten-free rye bread. Sausage, dried cranberry and walnut stuffing will please the meat-eaters at your table.Read More

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Apple Bourbon Bundt Cake.

To answer your question, I called on my favorite vegan chef/baker, Chloe Coscarelli, whose trademark vegan cupcakes won the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars.” Ms. Coscarelli said that substituting dairy products in baked goods is easy to do.

She took at look at the bundt cake recipe you want to make and had some simple suggestions. If all you are trying to do is to eliminate the dairy to make it kosher, not vegan, she suggested substituting either vegan margarine for the butter or 1/2 cup canola oil.

For the sour cream, she suggested substituting 3/4 cup canned coconut milk, well mixed before measuring. Even though the recipe already calls for a half lemon, she suggested adding another tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for the sour effect.

If you want to go a step further and make this recipe vegan, Ms. Coscarelli said you can eliminate the eggs entirely and add a full cup of well-mixed coconut milk and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. The vinegar and the baking soda and powder already in the recipe will bind, and the cake will still rise without the eggs, she said. "I haven't tried this recipe, but that's the general thought process when I'm trying to veganize something,'' she said.Read More

A kosher Thanksgiving dinner is not that different from a nonkosher one except that there cannot be any dairy products in the dishes, and no shellfish either.

First, a reminder: do not brine a kosher turkey. The turkey is already salted in the koshering process.

In place of butter, especially for basting the turkey, consider chicken fat. You might even try to render any fat that you find clinging to the cavity of the turkey. It would be much better than margarine, an ingredient commonly found in kosher cooking. Chicken fat, along with vegetable or chicken stock, would work well in the mashed potatoes, too. And it could be useful for preparing the stuffing.Read More

Evan Sung for The New York Times

The commonly cited statistic is that the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day alone. That’s according to the Calorie Control Council, which represents the people who bring you diet foods. After thinking about how much 4,500 calories really is, I was skeptical of the claim. I decided to create a gluttonous Thanksgiving feast of traditional foods and count the calories along the way (with the help of several online calorie counters). Here’s what I found.

Let’s start piling our plate with a generous 6-ounce serving of turkey, with the skin of course. Since dark meat has more calories, we’ll go with 4 ounces of dark meat (206 calories) and 2 ounces of white meat (93 calories). Did I mention we’re eating the crispy skin? Don’t forget the stuffing. I picked a not-so-healthy sausage stuffing (310 calories). Since it’s a holiday, let’s throw caution to the wind and eat lots of starchy, buttery foods. A dinner roll with butter (310 calories) plus two kinds of potatoes – a big serving of mashed sweet-potato casserole made with butter, brown sugar and topped with marshmallows (divide your casserole dish into 8 servings and it will be 300 calories each) plus a half-cup of mashed potatoes with butter and gravy (140 calories).

You’re not getting full are you? Let’s add 2/3 cup green bean casserole (110 calories), a dollop of cranberry sauce (about 15 calories), and roasted brussels sprouts because our mother made us eat them (83 calories). And since we don’t want to hurt anybody's feelings, we’ll take one slice each of pumpkin pie (316 calories) and pecan pie (503 calories) with generous dollops of homemade whipped cream on each slice (100 calories).Read More

Dr. Harry Haroutunian, physician director of the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif., says that alcohol flavors in food are indeed potential triggers for a person in recovery. He said many people wrongly believe that it's okay to cook with alcohol because most of the liquid will have evaporated by the time a dish reaches the table.

“Alcohol's boiling point is lower than that of water, and many cooks assume that little or none of its potency remains after cooking,’’ said Dr. Haroutunian. “That is simply not true and quite dangerous thinking for anyone in recovery."

He says cooked food can retain from 5 to 85 percent of the original alcohol, depending on how the dish was prepared and how much alcohol was used. Fast cooking methods, like flambéing, leave about 75 percent of the alcohol behind, he said. A dish that has been baked or simmered for 15 minutes contains about 40 percent of the original alcohol. After two hours of cooking, roughly 10 percent of the alcohol remains.

Non-alcoholic substitutes can be used, but the flavor is likely to be different. For savory recipes Dr. Haroutunian advises using 7/8 cup of broth or juice (apple, tomato or white grape) and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice or vinegar (to mimic the acidity) for each cup of wine called for in the recipe. In desserts, he suggests replacing the wine with fruit juice plus a dash of balsamic vinegar. If a recipe calls for orange liqueur, try frozen orange juice concentrate and the grated zest of fresh orange instead, he advises.

If the substitutes don’t sound tasty to you, just switch to a new recipe. And don’t be tempted to use a splash of wine anyway. “A bottle of wine in the kitchen — its feel, smell, taste — are absolutely needless temptations and very risky behaviors for the alcoholic in recovery,’’ said Dr. Haroutunian. “Your family, friends and you will enjoy the holidays much more knowing that you cherish your recovery enough to avoid these dangers."

Here's an alcohol-free oyster, bread and spinach stuffing recipe from The Times.

For a vegan gravy (one made without milk or animal products), try "Golden Gravy" from the vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli. This gravy gets its golden color from nutritional yeast, a staple of the vegan pantry that will add color and a creamy texture to the gravy. You can find it in large grocery stores and organic food stores. Onions, soy sauce, thyme and garlic powder add flavor.

About.com offers a similar Basic Vegetarian Gravy made with margarine and vegetable stock as well as a Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy recipe.

I found four completely different recipes from home cooks by searching the website Food52.com for “vegetarian gravy,” including one thickened with miso, one made with mushrooms and leeks, another made with dried mushrooms and thyme and another made with herbs and garbanzo flour.

With all forms of diabetes, the goal is consistent management of your blood sugar to prevent the long-term damage to nerves, blood vessels and organs that can result from uncontrolled diabetes.

When you have Type 2 diabetes, your body does not make enough insulin or is unable to use it well. Overeating, particularly high carbohydrate foods like many of those served at Thanksgiving, will cause your blood sugar to rise. Even in the short-term, this can cause headaches, fatigue and leave you feeling generally lousy. Thanksgiving is just one day, but you will feel better and enjoy the holiday more if you pay attention to what and how much you eat. This doesn't mean you have to miss out on your favorite foods.

Hopefully, you are working with your doctor or a dietitian and learning about monitoring your blood sugar, counting carbohydrates in foods and staying active. For Thanksgiving, feel free to taste everything, but pay attention to portion size and limit your intake of high-carbohydrate foods. Remember that drinks like alcoholic beverages and eggnog are loaded with sugars, so it's often a good idea to skip these and drink water since the table is likely to be filled with many of your favorite high-carb foods.

Many diabetes educators advise patients to use a plate strategy during holiday time. Fill half of your 9-inch plate with nonstarchy vegetables -- this includes salad, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, turnips, carrots and others. (You can find list of nonstarchy vegetables here.) Reserve a quarter of your plate for the turkey, but leave off the skin. The remaining quarter of your plate can include dollops of your favorite starchy foods like sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn or butternut squash, but don't overdo it and skip the marshmallows. Remember, many of these foods at Thanksgiving are prepared with sugar and cream, so traditional carb counts are probably too low. If you plan to have a small slice of pie for dessert, skip the dinner roll. And when you're finished, take a brisk holiday walk. Regular activity is important for maintaining diabetes control.

Finally, if you are taking diabetes medication, it's important that you pay attention to the timing of your meal. Many families eat Thanksgiving dinner at odd hours, so you may need to plan for snacks depending on your medication schedule.

The American Diabetes Association offers lots of advice about holiday eating. Read "Enjoying Thanksgiving," and "Where Do I Begin," to help you adjust your eating and enjoy the day.

There are various ways to approach this question.

If you're talking about the food, it's possible that your crusade is a hopeless one, sort of like striving to snuff out the noise of fireworks on the 4th of July or giving kids homemade agave-nectar granola clusters on Halloween. (If you are in fact the one who happened to make those granola clusters, well, um, cheer up - I'm sure the squirrels really enjoyed them after the kids tossed them in the bushes.)

Like it or not, excess is central to the whole holiday gestalt. Theoretically you could do without giblet gravy and cornbread-andouille stuffing and creamed onions, but that's only going to produce forlorn frowns on the faces of relatives who have spent weeks gearing up for a full-throttle Rabelaisian chow-down. You don't want to be remembered in family folklore as the Grinch Who Ruined Thanksgiving.

The best approach, ironically, is not to subtract items from the spread, but to add more: Make extra room on the table for a couple of dishes that provide a fresh, light counterpoint to the sodden meat-and-starch extravaganza.

How about a recipe for gluten-free gravy? — Tracy Mayor, Boston

Gluten is a protein found in most grains, cereals and breads, as well as many soups, sauces, beverages, spices and marinades, so it can be a challenge to cook without it. Silvana Nardone, creator of "Easy Eats," an online magazine devoted to gluten-free cooking, suggests a gluten-free, flourless Mustard Pan Gravy. Even if you don't need to eat gluten-free, you may want to try it. "It's easier to make than regular gravy since there's no need to fuss with a roux,'' says Ms. Nardone.

Making a gluten-free dessert that is also kosher, meaning it doesn't contain either gluten or dairy, is slightly more challenging. One solution is to find a favorite vegan dessert (vegan recipes don't contain dairy or animal products), and then figure out how to remove the gluten. And even though many vegan recipes already use dairy-free soy milk or almond milk, it's also important to look for "Kosher pareve" on the label, which certifies that it wasn't packed in the same facility as anything dairy.

Ms. Nardone, whose "Cooking for Isaiah" contains gluten-free dishes she created for her son, suggests a kosher, gluten-free Pumpkin Pie or her Upside-Down Apple-Granola Crunch. Although most recipes on Easy Eats require a subscription, Ms. Nardone has provided free links to her gluten-free gravy and both desserts.

We also have a few suggested vegan recipes for you from Well's Vegetarian Thanksgiving that can be tweaked to make them gluten-free. Try vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli's Pumpkin Tiramisu or Chocolate Pumpkin Bread Pudding (both contain coconut milk.) Just substitute gluten-free bread in the bread pudding recipe, and top with a dairy-free whipped topping or a kosher, dairy-free ice cream. (You can find these at most large grocery stores or an organic or kosher foods store). I've made the bread pudding several times with regular bread, and it's absolutely delicious. My Science Times colleague Karen Barrow recently made Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie from the "Vegan Pie in the Sky" cookbook. (She substituted a kosher pareve soy milk and said it turned out great.) Substitute gluten-free graham crackers for the crust, or make the "Easy Eats" gluten-free crust (scroll down page). Or you can buy a gluten-free crust.

You need a gluten-free vegan main course to satisfy everybody's dietary requirements, but it's not always easy. Many gluten-free dishes have dairy or meat. And many dairy-free dishes have gluten.

The Curried Lentil Squash and Apple Stew and Harvest Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms I mentioned here are vegan and gluten-free (though you'll need to substitute gluten-free breadcrumbs in the mushrooms). Or you could substitute wild rice for the couscous in the Seven-Vegetable Couscous recipe to make it gluten-free. Everyday Happy Herbivore's Cajun Cornbread Casserole fits the bill; just make sure your Cajun seasoning and your non-dairy milk substitute don't contain gluten. If your vegetarian guest eats food that contains eggs, you could try Sylvana Nardone's Gluten-Free Pumpkin Dumplings With Radicchio, but do a test batch to make sure you like the consistency. You may also want to take a look at some of your favorite vegan dishes and see if they can easily be made gluten-free by substituting gluten-free flour or using a gluten-free grain like quinoa or cornmeal. Be sure to check out Martha Rose Shulman's recent series on gluten-free holiday stuffings.

Many vegan diners don't require a main course and are happy to fill their plates with all the delicious vegetable side dishes found on a Thanksgiving table. However, many traditional holiday casseroles and mashed vegetable dishes contain milk, eggs, butter and cream, so they aren't suitable for vegan diners, who eat no animal products.

If you want to serve a protein-rich vegan dish that works as a traditional main course, consider a hearty Curried Lentil, Squash and Apple Stew, or Harvest Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, filled with savory lentil cashew stuffing and topped off with a sliver of sweet tomato and fresh thyme leaves. Both are from a vegan chef, Chloe Coscarelli. You might also want to try Ms. Coscarelli's Roasted Apple, Butternut Squash and Carmelized Onion Pizza, but make sure you prepare enough servings for the non-vegans at the table. A garlic white bean puree replaces traditional tomato sauce and it's delicious.

Nava Atlas, author of "Vegan Holiday Kitchen," suggests a 7-Vegetable Couscous. You should also try her Coconut Butternut Squash Soup, made with coconut milk instead of dairy. Melissa Clark recently served a Harvest Tart With Pumpkin, Roasted Red Peppers and Olives.

If you want to go with a meat substitute, you could try Candle 79's Seitan Piccata, a Seitan Roulade or a Country "Meatloaf" with gravy. Visit Well's interactive recipe collection to see more vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.

Highly unlikely. But, both the Agriculture Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend cooking stuffing separately from the turkey. The concern is that cold or frozen stuffing, sometimes sold already stuffed into packaged birds, won't reach a high enough temperature to be eaten safely.

But according to Mary Clingman, a turkey expert and director of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, so long as the stuffing is hot when it goes into the turkey, and then removed within two hours after cooking, the company’s microbiologists stand by stuffing inside the cavity. In fact, because hot stuffing raises the temperature of the bird and speeds the cooking, it can produce a slightly juicier turkey.

Additionally, she said, stuffing the bird provides a reliable and convenient spot to test for overall doneness. “Right in the center of the bird, when the stuffing hits 165 degrees, that turkey is done,” she said. (Apparently, many callers are mystified when directed to locations like “the thickest part of the thigh.”)Read More