Last Day of Freedom/Back to the Beginning

It's my last day to eat. Last day for candy and cookies and cakes--oh my! Last day before Slim Fast and fiber bars and endless parades of salads with low fat dressings. It's a necessity, I know. If appearance and health didn't matter to me, I would be the world's fattest woman, unable to leave my house, creaking the floorboards whenever I dared to rise from the sofa. Appetizing, huh? But it's true--I love food that much. But I also love feeling good, feeling healthy, and not shuddering whenever I pass a mirror. I love being attractive to my husband (who says I'm pretty even in my chunky phases but--let's face it--whose opinion would change were I to morph into a whale). So, back to the dietary drawing board. In 2009, I lost 25 pounds. With the beginning of grad school and the holiday season, I gained nearly 15 of them back. The holiday weight might be easier to lose--it's been there only briefly and shouldn't mind moving out--but the rest has simply got to go. Ideal weight, here I come. Whether I like it or not.

So--last day of freedom. What am I going to make for dinner? No idea. Maybe something with hollandaise sauce. That's a rare treat. For lunch, grilled ham and cheese (hopefully using the last of the holiday ham). But you know, I think I might go light. The woman who loves food might have had enough. With all the cookies and candies, cheeses and crackers of the holiday season, I might be done. So maybe I don't have to worry about becoming the world's fattest woman. Maybe I'll just be moderately chunky.

Strange talk for a food blog, eh? Well, I'm sort of a culinary Jekyll and Hyde, wrapped into one. The feaster and the dieter. The one who melts for butter and the one who loves turkey bacon.

BUT! Let me tell you. The new year is coming.

Last year, I started this blog for a reason. To have a solid reason to get in the kitchen with my husband every Sunday, to cook something together, and to keep a record of it. Write it down. Let you read it, if you like. Granted, my mother reads this blog. My husband's friends are aware of its existence. I'm not going to write anything scandalous or embarrassing. So it's more pots and pans than passion. And I'm not exactly the world's best cook. But that idea that I had--well, I need to get back to it. So I'm changing the title up there on the header, and I'm going back to my original intention.

Sundays in the Kitchen resumes January 3, 2010.

Bon Appetit!