Bears on the beach!

I really like my coworkers. I'm not saying that because I think they read this blog (a few of them found me back during that whole Hannah & Mason's debacle). I'm stating it because it's true. I've been meaning to post the above picture for awhile. A few weeks back, I hosted several of my coworkers and their families for a summer barbecue. NAH and I had wanted to share the house with everyone, but weren't interested in a housewarming party. This seemed like the perfect answer.

I let them know about the party, and was overwhelmed when each of them offered to bring something. Not that I was surprised, they're all good people, but help is always welcome when you're entertaining! The photo above is of the most adorable cupcakes I've ever seen. Bears on the beach! The sand? Graham cracker crumbles. How clever!

As for the allergy-relatedness of this post? Well, outside of the 7-layer dip and stuffed tomatoes, I could eat EVERYTHING at the barbecue (it certainly helps that I was the host). All-beef hot dogs, whole-wheat buns, coleslaw, fruit salad, potato chips, etc. We all had a wonderful time together outside of work (and it was really nice being able to EAT with everyone else!)

~Your Allergic Diner

Adventures in barbecuing...

So here's an interesting twist. Non-allergic husband's coworker had a big BBQ this past Saturday, which always poses all sorts of food issues and anxiety for me. Will the hot dogs have too many fillers? Will the evil green stalk show up in the potato salad or macaroni salad? Will someone accidentally grab for a piece of barbecued chicken with the tongs that are being used to serve the hot dogs, thus rendering both foods unfriendly to yours truly?
Now, to a point, I've solved this problem. When it's family or friends, either they have something I can eat (years of dealing with my allergies has rendered them all experts in allergy-friendly foods), or I'm told ahead of time that the host isn't sure what I can eat, so I bring a sandwich and hope for the best. Unfortunately, I couldn't do that, because I don't know these people and I figured they would feel it was rude.
So, I went with Plan B. I had a very late lunch at about 3:30, before we left for the barbecue, figuring that if I couldn't eat, at least I wouldn't be starving when we got home.
I'm a smart cookie, as my allergic mother always says. The hot dogs were your garden variety, loaded with spices. The sausage and peppers was off-limits for reasons that the title alone explains, and the potato salad, my usual favorite, not only had the offending green stalk but BACON and CHEDDAR CHEESE. Antipasto with cherry tomatoes and a salad with cherry tomatoes. Yikes. So much for eating. So I had a roll and some butter and a glass of soda and waited for dessert....and waited...and waited....dessert wasn't served until after 8:00! (we'd been there since 4:30).
On the plus side, dessert was very allergy-friendly, and I had a nice, healthy, salad when we got home to balance out the junk food. Adventures in barbecuing, indeed.