The Tastes of Christmas

Christmas is a wonderful time for parties and get-togethers and of course, FOOD! Having lived in so many different places, it has been fun seeing the special things that each locale does for Christmas. For example, when I lived on Long Island as a child, we would get up and open presents on Christmas morning, then head to the Jewish bakery to get fresh, hot bagels to take home for breakfast. The Jewish bakery was always open on Christmas, and there is nothing like hot bagels. When we moved from there to Canada, we tried to continue the tradition, but honestly, frozen bagels from the grocery store just are not the same thing!

I took a poll on the vanpool this morning. Overwhelmingly, the favorite holiday taste was eggnog! I love eggnog – and at its best, it is so thick that it coats the glass, and you never quite get that last little bit. My Mom makes Cherry Balls every year – only at Christmas. (Maraschino cherries, wrapped in a cream cheese/sugar/coconut mixture, then rolled in crushed graham cracker crumbs.) They are such a favorite that I fear she might be banished if she didn’t make them. We had a neighbor when we lived on Long Island that made us a wonderful Christmas treat – small balls of some sort of cookie that had been dipped in honey, and stacked to look like a Christmas tree. Sticky, messy – and DELICIOUS! Then there are the boxes of chocolates, everybody’s favorite – the fruitcake, the peppermint (in some countries, they give a peppermint pig every year – I’m not sure why), hot chocolate…well, the list goes on and on and on.

Part of the reason that these things are so special is because in many instances, they will only be found right around the holidays. My Mom’s cherry balls are very labor intensive, and she just doesn’t make them often. It seems that very nearly everything I remember about Christmas through the years involves food in one way or another. And most of the time, my attitude has been, “I’ll eat/drink this cherry ball/eggnog/_____________ because I only get it around Christmas, and I will worry about the weight AFTER the holidays.”

I do believe that it is important to occasionally relax the rules, but I must confess, in my past – I didn’t just relax the rules – I threw them out the window – buried them in the backyard – and never thought about them again. If one cherry ball is good, five are better, and 10 are even better! When I wanted to eat something – I ate it – with no thoughts for what it was doing to my body – and no thoughts about consequences of my actions. It is kind of like buying something on credit – it might be nice not to have to pay for it this second, but eventually, that bill is going to come due.

This year – hopefully, I will be making better choices at every junction. I have already had opportunity to do so, and I’m happy that I have been able to triumph. OK – that might seem overly dramatic, but that is what it feels like to me – triumph over my history – triumph over my desires – triumph over my weight. And every time that I am able to make good choices, it gives me more confidence that I will be able to do it again.