我怕感恩節，甚於火雞
本期主題
作者：by Laurie Best
Nothing says Thanksgiving like a turkey with all the trimmings. That is， unless you’re in my family.
When my kids were small， they had multiple food 1）allergies—all three of them different. The main suspects were wheat， dairy and sugar. Lesser offenders were chocolate， food dyes and random chemical additives. In short， anything a child would want to eat. I challenge anyone to prepare a festive meal with those 2）parameters.
There was a time when I dreaded a celebratory dinner more than the poor， soonto-be-butchered turkey did. He， by the time he graced my table， would be feeling no pain. I， on the other hand， would suffer for hours. But with practice， I got it down to a fine art.
As the children grew they were able to tolerate more foods. For a while I could see a light at the end of the dietary tunnel. However， in a bit of 3）nostalgia I find puzzling， they viewed those difficult years with fondness and have revisited the time of restricted diets. All three became vegetarians as teenagers. One even crossed to the “dark side” of vegetarianism， becoming a vegan. She maintains it still， with the occasional 4）lapse for a 5）hunk of cheese or an egg—and that’s only because her doctor told her she needed more food in her food.
I realize that vegetarians and vegans can have healthy diets. I have no quarrel with that. It’s just that when I am charged with serving dinner to a crowd， accommodating all the 6）idiosyncrasies is difficult. I often suspect they are yanking my chain and trying to find my breaking point. It’s not far off.
My kids have attached themselves to friends and partners with equally difficult diets. While other families may strive for ethnic diversity at their holiday tables， we strive for dietary diversity. Never mind black， white， Asian， Muslim…we have vegetarians， vegans， gluten- and dairy-intolerant guests， meat eaters， someone avoiding sugar， and a family member with 7）Crohn’s disease.
My dilemma starts with the turkey. Each year， I splash out and order an organic， 8）freerange turkey from the local health food store. After being assured that the bird has spent more time at the spa than I have and is therefore a happy， relaxed creature， I reason that such an extravagance can be justified. The rest of the year I buy whatever meat is on sale.