On Sunday, I went to my cousin’s wedding celebration. The actual wedding took place in Tel Aviv the week before, but they also had a party in New Jersey for those who couldn’t make it to Israel. He grew up in New Jersey and she grew up in Israel, and both have extended family on both continents. Several cousins, whom I haven’t seen in decades, came in from Toronto. It was really great seeing family I haven’t seen in a long time, and I’ve NEVER seen my cousin Jon look so happy! I haven’t seen him or his siblings in years, but we grew up together.
There actually were a lot of gluten-free options at the smorgasbord, but not a lot of “gluten, corn, and potato free” fare. Most of the hors d’oeuvre consisted of things wrapped in puffed pastry. The first course also consisted of sushi, veggies with dip, and a few kinds of salad. I ate quite a bit of the white bean salad, even though I’m not 100% sure the beans were the type I should be eating, and I have no clue what was in the dressing. I skipped the soy sauce with the sushi, but I’m not sure exactly what kind of fish was used- it may well have included fake crab, with all kinds of unhealthy additives, and possibly some that were corn-based.
The main course had a bunch of “stations” where you could go and select exactly what you wanted and how much of everything. I skipped the pasta and meatball section because the gluten-free pasta looked too yellow to be 100% rice pasta, so I figured it likely contained corn. At the turkey and beef station, I skipped the gravy, figuring it had to contain either corn starch or wheat flour. Since I didn’t feel like eating dry turkey, I took some of the cranberry-orange relish, though I know oranges and sugar are avoids and I don’t actually know that it wasn’t made with corn syrup. I did skip the mashed potatoes, and I didn’t eat anything on the roast beef. Jack pointed out later that, when he got beef, the serving fork and knife briefly touched his mashed potatoes, which means that my portion of beef, and possibly the turkey as well, were probably contaminated with potato.
Dessert consisted of wedding cake, a chocolate fountain, and non-dairy ice cream with toppings. I didn’t eat any of it, especially after noticing that somebody else at my table had a pretzel stick coated in chocolate. That melted chocolate was DEFINITELY contaminated with wheat! I did have one cup of coffee, as there wasn’t any hot water for green tea, or even black tea. I didn’t relish the thought of getting a caffeine headache on the drive home just because I missed my green tea for one day. So I had a small cup of coffee instead. I skipped the “coffee whitener” with unknown ingredients.
My food choices weren’t perfect, and I don’t regret it one bit! I wouldn’t have had a good time if I was fasting, and while I always carry snacks in my purse, I can’t spend a whole day eating nothing but nuts and dried fruit. The party itself lasted 4 hours, plus the 2 hours’ drive there and 3.5 hours driving home in Sunday evening traffic.
I REALLY felt it the next day, though. I’ve been tired and brain fogged all week. I was too foggy to write up this blog post on Monday as originally planned, so I’m doing this on Wednesday evening instead. When I eat the wrong foods, there are consequences, and I have to really decide whether or not it’s worth it. For my cousin’s wedding, it was. But I’d choose differently for something less special.
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