Hello. My name is Ashley Howe, and I am a sweet-a-holic. Its true. I've known it for a long time. At times I've fought it, tried to be good, cut refined sugar out of my diet, but at long last, I cave, and the cravings begin again. The holidays are a death sentence to sweet-a-holics. Its bad enough to fight cravings the rest of the year, but when gathering, party, and celebration are all accompanied by sweets, lots of them, its bad news. Cravings get stronger, we get weaker, oh yeah, and if we don't exercise, Fatter! ha!
Needless to say, working in a kitchen is no help for my addiction, especially in the last couple months. The previous 2 months have been building up to today, the participant holiday party. As this is my first year at BPI, I didn't really know what to expect. Did we really need all the sweets we were preparing? I didn't know, but I was sure it was going to be too much. Day after day we made and froze cookie dough. We made cakes and breads. Fudge and dips. Everything you can imagine having at a holiday party, we made it. And....sampled it. A lot. After all, the cook has to make sure it passes the taste test. Right?
I spent the better part of my day today just baking cookies. Its safe to say I baked over 20 batches of cookies, not including the angel food cakes I made, and all of the other treats we put out. And do you know what the result was? The thought of sugar actually makes me sick! I literally came home, exhausted, and when the image of that overflowing dessert/food table entered my mind, I almost gagged. How can we consider it a "happy" holiday when we aid ourselves and others in entering a sugary coma. Am I being dramatic? Probably. But seriously, it is almost disgusting how much sugar goes into common holiday treats such as cookies, brownies, cakes, and especially....fudge. Ick. Fudge should be taken right off the menu. Seriously.
It was like my weakness got a reality check.
Will sugar always temp me? More at some times than others. My resolution, however, is to be aware of how much sugar goes into the food that I make. I want to make a conscious effort to cut back on the refined sugar, and implement healthier ways to cook and sweeten recipes. The choice is yours. But for me, I know that if I don't get my addiction in check soon, I'll be a Type 2 diabetic later on for sure.
