I’m hosting Christmas at my home for my children and their significant others. Two are celiac. (They aren’t extreme, but no gluten.) It’s more than Christmas dinner. We will be together from Wednesday evening to Sunday morning. I’ve done this before (prime rib, potatoes, gluten free Swedish pancakes, etc,) but am wondering if those on this forum have more insight and ideas.
For example, could you list cookie alternatives? In advance, thanks so much for any ideas or links!
My D went gluten-free for a while and it wasn’t too bad. You can buy gluten-free flour if you want to make cookies or other baked goods. IIRC we basically avoided grains and regular flour for home-cooked meals. Packaged stuff was harder because we had to check labels, but it sounds like your guests won’t be there long enough for it to be an issue.
Now what was really tricky when she had to go both vegan and gluten free (restricted diet her doc wanted her on for a while). Somehow individually they weren’t bad but combined it was a PITA.
For a second I thought PITA was in reference to the Mediterranean flatbread! 
We have several friends with celiac disease, and our family loves several gluten-free recipes we’ve made for them and make them for ourselves frequently. For a decadent dessert, we love flourless chocolate cake (such as http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/flourless-chocolate-cake-recipe or http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/flourless-chocolate-cake.html) and for rolls, we really like Brazilian cheese buns (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gluten-free-brazilian-cheese-buns-recipe). My younger D was thrilled to find tapioca flour at Kroger and made the cheese buns for her college friends and they devoured them all.
For cookies, we like GF peanut butter ones (such as http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/flourless-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe) or Buckeyes (Google buckeye recipes and choose your favorite variation).
Also, there are lots of good recipes using the GF Chex cereals - Muddy Buddies, party mix using only GF ingredients, etc. See the Chex website.
And don’t forget a simple chocolate fondue with fruit and GF marshmallows and GF pretzels for dippers. Yum!
For cookie alternatives/sweet treats:
Meringues - I often make Forgotten Merignues w/choc chips in them
Fudge, Peanut Brittle, Pralines, Homemade Marshmallows
I second the buckeyes, a favorite with my kids
For breakfasts, I like to do an eggs benedict type dish w/o the english muffins on asparagus instead.
Crustless quiches would also work.
For dinners, a lot of mexican/asian dishes can be gluten free. Soups w/rice or beans, chili.
King Arthur Flour makes a great base cookie mix that we use for pumpkin raisin, chocolate chip, coconut macadamia, etc variations, including peanut-butter with the chocolate kiss…They have a new sugar cookie mix now, I assume it is also great.
Remember that prep materials and baking surfaces need to be clean. So don’t bake floured cookies and gf cookies the same day — the flour on your counters, etc. is enough to make a celiac sick.
A great gf baking book is The Cake Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free. No complicated flour mixes, no bazillion ingredients. I bought backup copies after I wore the first one out, and we’ve been gf for 15 years.
My d is celiac. Honestly - it is safer to buy gluten-free cakes, cookies, etc that are prepackaged than for a home cook to try to prepare gluten-free treats. You may be well meaning, but your kitchen is “contaminated” for lack of a better term. For example, we have 2 toasters, one for D and one for the rest of us. Even toasting gluten-free bread in a “regular” toaster would give her symptoms.
But there are plenty of foods that naturally have no gluten. Fruits, veggies, anything dairy.
Thanks! You have all given me more than enough to work with!
Some potato-based recipes:
New York Times did an article on gluten-free cookies: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/dining/gluten-free-cookies-holiday.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&_r=0
I was going to suggest a flourless chocolate cake, too. So good !
The Betty Crocker GF Brownie mix is fabulous. Make a double batch and use the next day for brownie sundaes with peppermint ice cream and hot fudge.
If you aren’t a regular Aldi’s shopper you will be floored by the number of GF products they have. Great snack crackers.
I find the best GF pasta is Heartland brand, which they sell at Walmart.
My decadent twice baked potato casserole is very holiday worthy. GF but loaded with caloric yumminess
My D is celiac and I’m touched that you would ask this. I agree with @pizzagirl that it’s probably better to buy than make stuff in a “contaminated” kitchen. I have a few people whom I trust to bake safely for my D, but it’s because they’ve been doing it for years and know the drill about buying new, disposable pans, not using butter that’s got crumbs in it, etc. For what it’s worth, there really are no “extremes” when it comes to celiac–you either are or you aren’t. And even celiacs who don’t show outward symptoms after accidentally eating gluten still suffer the same internal damage as those who suffer greatly.
We just discovered TJ’s gluten-free Jo-Jo’s cookies, and my mom with celiac adored them. She doesn’t have a TJ’s near her, and requested I bring a bunch to her house for Christmas.
TJ also has great GF cupcakes and waffles. I like Udi’s for bread if you want to have it available for sandwiches and they make blueberry and chocolate muffins (usually in freezer case). Whole foods has their own GF bakery and has really good cream biscuits. Rudi’s GF ciabatta rolls also good. Other than baked goods, breakfast can be eggs, bacon or even crustless quiche or casserole with hash browns, eggs and sausage.
If you want pick up lunch, Progresso has several soups labeled GF. Sandwiches on GF bread or baked potatoes are easy. Tacos or nachos also easy since corn taco shells or torillas are GF. The great thing is that most groceries now have GF section. Even have good GF pizzas for celiac if rest are ordering takeout.