Chocolate – How Sweet it is
Chocolate reigns during various holiday seasons like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. It figures prominently during lavish food soirees and becomes more temptation than many of us may be inclined to desire. It’s a time that those of us concerned about our health and our waistlines need to be careful about what we put into our mouths.
A chocolate Christmas cake with ribbon
Genetic Chocoholism
My father had a sweet tooth and my mother was a chocolaholic. Consequently, my favorite dessert is all chocolate all the time. You’ve got your hot volcano cake, your chocolate raspberry torte, your macadamia-chocolate chip cookies, your mousse, your creamy chocolate truffles dusted with chocolate. By the way, I don’t think “white chocolate” really is.
This is how I make it work. I earn that treat by working out as often as possible. Or I jump aboard my mountain bike and sailing around Nature for a few hours each Saturday. Or maybe I go hand-in-hand on a hike with my husband to a secret destination that most people are too lazy to have discovered.
Side note: One interesting thing I learned on a journey to Yosemite was that most people stayed on ground level near the lodge and the grocery store where you could buy caviar and champagne, and it was the rare adventurer who hiked beyond the first waterfall.
Rather than altogether eliminating sweets from my diet, I indulge in a truffle or a piece of dark chocolate from time to time.
Go With the Best
I don’t go for the mass-produced candy bars crammed with sugar and who knows what. Even though I have fond memories of Dad bringing home a bag of Three Musketeers or Milky Ways from time to time. And there were several Halloweens where I’d troll all the best homes with the most candy,. And then I’d empty that pillowcase full of assorted sweets on the bed, divvying it up with my brothers and sisters. I favored the M&M’s, Reese’s peanut butter cups and Butterfingers back then.
These days, I lean towards the hand-made small-batch truffles like those made by local San Diego chocolatiers Eclipse and Chuao. Even Trader Joe’s makes some very nice chocolate bars. Why bust a diet on cheap crap that probably contains GMOs and other toxins? (Side note: A certain American brand comes from the milk of cows that feed on grass on land that suffered fall-out from the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown in 1979.)
I’ve come a long way from the days when as a kid I’d ride my bike down to the corner drug store and spend my wad on penny candy. I’m much more selective now. You can be, too. Let’s call it the Holiday Selectivity Diet. Why not?
