Issue #39, December 22, 2006

‘Tis the Season to Be Eating

by David Lion Rattiner

Christmas is tough when it comes to the amount of food we eat. Many of us eat so much that we get to a point where we can’t even move (me). Like snakes, we have to remain immobile for hours just to get though the digestive process. This is not because we are all pigs, but because the food that we make, or get made for us, this time of year is the same type of food, prepared in the same type of way, that we have eaten during the holidays since we were kids.

If there is one thing that a family simply can’t avoid doing during the holidays, it’s eating the foods that remind them of home.

For example, every single year, guaranteed, I know for sure that my mother is going to make oatmeal cookies, without raisins, from scratch. She does this because she knows, first off, that nobody in their right mind likes a cookie with raisins in it and number two, because she knows that everybody in the family goes bonkers over them. I’m also certain that I am going to be able to get access to the spoon she mixes the dough with and I also know that she is going to yell at me for trying to get more then just a spoonful. “There is raw eggs in that! No David!”

Like a six year old, I’ll feel incredibly guilty about delving into a bowl of cookie dough and scurry off into the living room with the spoon. And then, of course, while in the living room, I’m sure that I will happily laugh at my brother, who will be playing video games and will immediately become jealous that I got “the wooden spoon.” And for some reason, that makes the cookie dough taste oh, so much better.

Each family has their trademark when it comes to food at Christmas. One year, I visited my friend Jim’s house for Christmas, where I saw an interesting Christmas food tradition. Every year, for whatever reason, Jim’s Dad always makes cookies in the shapes of each of the kids’ favorite Marvel super heroes. Jim, of course, has to have a Superman cookie.

In general, a dessert makes for a good holiday food tradition, but this is not always the story. What would Christmas be if my little sister didn’t cook a bunch of hors d’oeuvres? What would Christmas be if my Mom didn’t cook sweet potatoes with marshmallows that melt in your mouth? What would Christmas be if she didn’t cook her secret chip-dipping sauce layered with meat and six different cheeses? This is what the holidays are all about for so many of us.

But, you have to be careful this time of year, because, in general, those special holiday dishes and desserts can immobilize you if you eat too much. They can also add a couple of unwanted extra pounds this time of year that can leave you a little unhappy when you look in the mirror.

So make sure that you find something physical to do in order to work off all of those extra calories that you build up during this season, because the food your family makes is simply to die for. Wrestling with your younger brother is a good way to burn off Superman cookies, but if you don’t have a younger brother, going out for a walk or a jog after a big dinner is never a bad idea at any time of year. Eating Christmas dinner early is also a great secret that my Mom has. The logic is that, if you eat early, you have more time in between dinner and breakfast for your body to naturally metabolize everything.

But do not, I repeat, do not miss out on your Christmas dishes. After all, it is only Christmas once a year and this is the ultimate time of year to really enjoy family and food. Besides, there is something to be said about food that is good for your soul, no matter how many calories it has.