Gluttony

There are 10 people in my office. This holiday season, like so many in the past, we were inundated with food baskets and huge boxes of chocolates. On December 23rd there were no less than 2 baskets full of “processed cheese spreads”, crackers, cookies, candies, grossly over Sulphated meats in different shapes and sizes, among other tidbits; only one large jar of mixed nuts; and there were five large boxes of chocolates. Five. Large. Boxes. And to my hips’ dismay the biggest one was DARK chocolate from BELGIUM. All this for 10 people.

Lord Help Me.

So Christmas Eve dinner is always spent at my brother-in-law’s house, and while talking on the phone to his wife Kay she asked me if I thought it would be OK if she made Belgium Waffles for dinner that night. (What’s with the Belgium thing again?) “Sounds great!” came out of my mouth before I could stop it. So after consulting my bathroom scale I asked her if I could “do” Christmas Eve Lunch, so that I could make something a little healthier for us to eat. Everyone came to my house for lunch.

I got up early and made home made egg-bread sticks and soup. Beef stew with about a dozen fresh veggie in it including potatoes, onions, garlic, summer squash, mushrooms, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrots spices and one bay leaf. I may be missing an item or two. Everyone loved it, and when my nephew asked “what’s this?” it was discovered that beets won’t actually kill him.

Then a few hours later we were gorging on hot artichoke-spinach-cheese-dip, tomato aspic, and Belgium waffles with our choice of strawberries, cherries, blueberries, or a tropical mix that Kay came up with. Denise made a Bailey’s Irish Cream cheese cake from scratch for desert, and we all got comfortably sleepy.

The next day at 2:00 was the typical Turkey and Ham and pot luck dinner at the out-law’s house. Great fun, too many people, and everyone had seconds and thirds.

Ron and I skipped breakfast Monday morning and had breakfast for lunch out with a friend. When Ron came home later last night for dinner I had taken all of the left over raw veggies and threw them on top of a green salad along with hearts of palm and black olives. I chopped up some potatoes and leeks and a few of the lighter colored veggies and made my Potato Leek soup (see recipes page). Ronnie just “maowed” on the salad, mumbling something around the summer squash about how great it was, then congratulated me on the soup and thanked me for serving it hot and lumpy (not cold and pureed the way the French do it) just the way he likes it.

I think we were both deprived of some good old fashioned simple veggies. I’ve had enough rich food to last me a month. Oh goodie! Here come New Year’s Eve! Ugh!