MN Celiac Walk Recap and Gluten Free Confirmation!

This weekend was CRAZY!  Which is why I didn’t post yesterday.  I was simply exhausted!   Today I am slowly coming out of the haze that was the busiest weekend of the year (thus far) for our family.  It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of it.

Here’s what it looked like:

Friday, May 16 — Prep day list:

• Did grocery shopping for confirmation party
• Made Gluten-Free Ice Cream Cake (see recipe/directions here— This time I used Glutino’s chocolate sandwich cookies– both kinds work great)
• Prepped veggies and fruit
• Baked potatoes for Sunday’s appetizer bar for the confirmation party
• Cooked bacon for appetizer bar
• Drove Grace (12 year old daughter) to soccer practice
• Watched Emma’s (15 year old daughter) 1st soccer game of her weekend tournament
• Picked up about 10 boxes of samples for the Making Tracks for Celiacs event the next morning

Setting up sample area for Making Tracks for Celiacs

Saturday, May 17th  — Making Tracks for Celiacs

The wake-up call came early at 4:20 a.m.  It was time to get to Victoria, Minnesota and set up for the 13th Annual Making Tracks for Celiacs event.  I have either been the coordinator or helped coordinate the event every year of its existence.  Unfortunately my husband and Emma couldn’t come this year since she had game #2 of her tournament at 8:00 a.m.  Grace was at a sleepover.

A big thanks to all the companies that donated products like Glutino, Kinnikinnick, Go Picnic, Enjoy Life Foods, Ener-G, Pamela’s Products, NoGii, SoyJoy, Udi’s, Thorpe Distributing (for the Redbridge Beer silent auction items), and Burning Brothers Brewing (for the gluten-free Pyro beer made right here in Minnesota at their gluten-free brew house).  I am sure there are more donations I may be forgetting, I apologize if I have forgotten anyone.

Burning Bros Brewing’s Pyro gift pack

We also had many vendors including a big thank you to Original Pancake House which cooked up and served fresh gluten-free pancakes!  

Start line of the 5K run

The day was sunny (thankfully) and in the mid-upper 50s.  Perfect for a nice 5K run.  Lots of people did the 2-mile walk as well. Folks seemed to really have a good time!  The event raised money for the Center for Celiac Research. 

2014 2-mile walk begins

Later that night we had Emma’s confirmation rehearsal! A  gluten-free hot dish was made special for Emma and another attendee.  Plus the church bought gluten-free ciabatta rolls and I brought gluten-free rice krispie bars.  Emma thought it was great and said she should have worn elastic waistband pants instead of her jeans.  

Sunday, May 18th — Confirmation Day!

The only picture I could find of the pre-confirmation party. Only Grace was in tune with the picture

7:00 a.m. Rise and Shine!  (with a migraine)

It was a slow start to my morning even though I had a lot to do. Most of it involved cleaning the house and cooking meatballs.   My husband and Emma left at 9 to get to her final tournament game.

By 12:00 p.m. my parents and my in-laws had arrived and helped for an hour before the guests came.  I was so busy I never took a photo of ANY of the food.  We chose to do an early party instead of one after because her service was at 4:00 p.m. and most people had to drive 2+ hours back home that evening.  

The appetizer bar worked great!  Everything was gluten free.  We had potato canoes (I used the baked potatoes, cut them in half, scraped out a little potato to make room for cheese and bacon and popped them in the oven to warm up and melt the cheese), deviled eggs, BBQ meatballs (I use Sweet Baby Ray’s sauce), veggies with ranch dressing, fruit and chips.

My husband and I with Emma

It was so slick!  I would highly recommend it in the future.

After Emma opened presents, we had just enough time for the ice cream cake which was a huge hit.  I linked to the directions above.

Then off to confirmation!  The service was great! Plus, during the service, Emma got to serve gluten-free communion to anyone who requested it.  She said just before my brother and dad went up for it, there was an entire family that asked for it!  Cool!  I like it when more people than just my daughter need gluten-free communion.  I think it raises awareness to the cause and shows that the gluten-free option is an important offering.

All in all it was an incredibly rewarding weekend!  Hopefully, a weekend from which I will recover soon since both girls have dueling soccer tournaments this coming weekend (luckily in the same location).  

Tags: appetizer, awareness, celiac, church, communion, confirmation, cooking, food, free, fundraiser, gluten, gluten-free, Making Tracks for Celiacs, party