Holiday Party 2009

On Dec. 16 we held our 2nd annual Holiday Party for the NAA NY Metro Chapter in NYC. It was a wonderful event. It was made all the more special this year by our decision to invite all our past speakers from every event to come to the party as our honorees. So besides the incredibly hard working and passionate NAA NY Metro Chapter volunteer board and committee members, we also had many amazing parent warriors and some of the most gifted and special people who gave their time to create some memorable events for us to offer to our members.

It was extremely easy to get enveloped in a lengthy conversation with any one of these groups of people. The only other time you have the chance to gather this many interesting and caring people under one roof is at one of the many conferences. However, in this instance there was no work involved, just purely enjoying one another's company and being able to reflect on the events of the past year.

The party was put together in the same style that almost everything is regarding the NAA NY Metro Chapter. And that is by teamwork. Many of the board and committee members signed up to take care of a task and then got to the party early to help set up. There is always a unique sense of comraderie among the NAA community, which makes spending time with everyone enjoyable whether setting up or enjoying the wonderful food and drinks at the party.

Now it's time for me to address the food and drinks. Kirstin Boncher, of WhatToFeedYourKids, really out did herself and impressed us all with her very lively and delicious GFCF party spread. She made some simple dishes that tasted anything but simple. Everyone loved her chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce and the vegetable dumplings in asian dipping sauce. I can't imagine how many people must have asked her for the recipes to these outrageous tasting dishes. Now let's talk about the desserts....WOW! They were out of this world. No, truly they were. Being on a gluten free diet as I am has never been so easy.

If only I could eat Kirstin's food and GLOW gluten free cookies everyday. The cupcakes were as delicious as any gluten containing ones. I dare anyone to try to tell the difference. GLOW gluten free cookies also provided their amazing gluten free casein free cookies. The ginger snap cookies and the chocolate chocolate chip were our favorites. The lemon squares, made by Kirstin, were purely decadent...need I say more.

As far as drinks, Norene Chin was kind enough to pick up everything from water to juice to soda. But she really showed us what she can do by making a hot apple cider tea punch from scratch. This was a huge hit and really put many of us in the holiday mood. My husband Mark Berger was kind enough to pick up and haul over many bottles of wine that he carefully selected as well as sampled at the party.

All in all, the party was truly a major success. I am already looking forward to next years!

Special Thanks to GLOW Gluten Free Cookies for donating their gluten free/casein free cookies to our holiday party and you can find all the recipes at WhatToFeedYourKids.com