The stuffing I made from some store-bought gluten-free bread, but the texture was definitely different than regular stuffing. It tasted good, though, and I was encouraged to make my own stuffing from scratch next year.
The gravy was a big fail. I added too much gluten-free flour and it turned transparent instead of the opaque pale brown I associate with turkey gravy. It wasn't like I had a whole lot of extra drippings to thin it out since I used them for the other gravy. Lesson learned: I hope. I should have used corn starch, but I didn't have any on hand.
The pumpkin pie was made with buckwheat flour, and I thought it tasted nasty at first. With the pumpkin filling, though, it was pallatable. It lacked the flaky, buttery texture I associate with a delicious crust, though. I only made one pumpkin pie, so everyone was stuck with the buckwheat crust. The pumpkin cheesecake was a different story. I used gingersnaps for the crust and gluten-free flour in the filling. I baked some of the filling in ramekins with no crust, and I baked the rest in a mouth-watering gluten-full concoction of deliciousness. :)
Overall, everyone enjoyed the food, and the kids had a great time playing with one another. AJ and the boy played the Wii, and K and the girl played doctor and school. Poor H was the only one left out.
SUNDAY, I got up early to get to church in time to practice my violin for the worship service. Timo came later with the kids, and this was the day when we finally became members of our church. K brought her camera, and she took a picture of me playing during the service. Enjoy the rare footage, if you can tell where I am. :) I really enjoyed playing, even though I could have used more practice time (and it had been at least a month since I had touched my violin... whoops!)
This was our last weekend home as a family this year, and I think we made the most of it.
