Toffee is one of life’s greater pleasures. One of the truly wonderful things about low residue living is the lack of fiber in some of the greatest foods in the American diet: cream, butter, and sugar. The holidays provide endless opportunities to mix, bake, caramelize and melt these fine ingredients into many different shapes and forms. I have dived wholeheartedly into this task and can say that I have had the aforementioned ingredients in at least four different ways in the last week. Thankfully, I have matched each of these wonderful confections with a 60+ minute workout. And, as I plan to continue to bake this evening, I will first pay a nice visit to the gym downtown where I will sweat.
Deep in the recesses of my brain there is a little voice that says that eating toffee, fudge, and cookies, and more cookies throughout the day is not a good way to manage a diet no matter how little fiber there is. But, I will continue to drown out this voice with my IPOD and the endless renditions of “This Christmas” on the radio.
In all seriousness, the volume of my eating has dropped from last week even as the caloric content of my selected foods has increased. The increased exercise is helping keep it all in check and I am having a wonderful time using the kitchen to produce things that I can eat and share. Surely these skills can be put to use with other ingredients, but I have not found anything so wonderful as the magnificent three.
In closing, I would like to capture the spirit of the holidays and take a few lines to cite in excruciating specificity things that have made me thankful in just the past week (in no particular order):
· My kitchenaid and the balloon whisk (for mixing);
· My two ovens (for warming the kitchen and baking);
· My Jumprope (for when things are in the oven and I am feeling guilty about overindulging);
· My Husband (for trying my baked goods and then whisking them away to the office before I get carried away);
· Donny Hathaway and the Temptations (for the two best Christmas songs ever);
· Starbuck’s (for keeping me going throughout the day);
· Hulu (for mindless tv on demand);
· USPS, UPS, and FedEx (for working really hard to get my cards, new furniture, and everyone else’s stuff – ie., presents – delivered on time);
· Cold, dry mornings (for making my scarf collection seem less frivolous);
· Texting (for making it easy to stay in touch with family and friends);
· The gym (for keeping me sane);
· My flat iron (for counteracting the frizzing effects of the gym as it keeps me sane); and
· My mom (for reminding me of the simple joys of a full stocking on Christmas morning).
And, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t take a few minutes to cite what I am not thankful for:
· Parking Police (for doing impressions of Scrooge and dispensing tickets with such joy).
· Sadness (for preventing people from being able to appreciate the simple joys in life).
· Wintry mix (for being ambiguous wetness that makes driving dangerous without the added prettiness of soft-falling snowflakes.)
HOLLA
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