STG , I could have written this in years passed . Happened to me on both sides of the family , too . I took it as a personal affront since it seemed like they were going out of their way to add meat where it was not needed or they were just ignorant that there was meat products in it and what constitutes meat , like insisting that oysters were not a meat or gelatin is just a thickener levied from the heavens . I ' ve never had stuffing with oysters in it , and doubtful that I would try it if I had not been a vegetarian for 20 years and when the HELL did the chicken broth in potatoes start ? My mother did that and his mother put the turkey drippings in them in place of butter and milk . It gave me flinching rage eye , but at least I saw it . Those 2 years my Thanksgiving feast consisted of a sad Kraft singles cheese sandwich and the other year a healthy portion of green bean casserole before it was garnished with pig bits , since it was a frozen kind that I could read the ingredients . I . Hate . Green . Bean . Casserole ! It looks like dog vomit after it ' s been eating grass and the gloopy texture and flavor is repulsive as well . And wine . lots and lots of wine to keep me from wanting to cause a scene aka flip tables and take a carving knife to throats . Another year I remember passively aggressively chomping on stalks of celery from the vegetable tray . Not that I could eat the dip since the sour cream had gelatin in it . You live , you learn . Now I ' m prepared to bring food that I can eat even a fly in visit now or have them to my house . Even when they INSIST that you not bring anything , tell them you just wouldn ' t feel right if you didn ' t . Oh and we moved 1200 miles away , so that helps , LOL ! If you haven ' t eaten meat in a year and a half , your body is not used to it and you can get physically ill from even a little bit or a broth . IE , my exSIL ' s mother made alfredo cheese shells and said that they were made vegetarian for me . After 3 hours blowing up the toilet and severe gut pains that I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital , the ingredient list that she ran down now included 2 cans of cream of shrimp soup in the alfredo sauce . WTF is cream of shrimp soup ? Her response was aww , you can ' t see them , they don ' t count . There will always be someone trying to test you or push limits . These are called assholes . There are many about . Most seem to be related to me somehow , therefore we must be related Less rude to decline the food then turn the bathroom into a war zone ! ~ Also , I make inquiries and feign caring about their planned menu and ingredients for both the cost and difficulty of preparing it . If it ' s potluck , I will hunt down every motherfucker and verify all ingredients and pester them the day of . Thanks GeneSo , you are not alone . I ' ve got a ton of food left since it was only the 2 of us this year , I ' ll smuggle a plate to you , LOL .