Halloween, The Beginning of the Fattening Season

Tonight is finally trick-or-treat and fortunately the forecast isn't looking too cold or too wet, so we should be in good shape. Michael is being a scary skull face vampire kinda dude-simple mask put with his vampire cape from a couple years ago. I admire my friends who come up with all these super creative costume ideas. That seems to be where my creativity bottoms out. And Michael doesn't seem to care too much about what he's dressed as, all that matters is the candy bounty dragged in at the end of the night. Oh sugar and calorie hell...how I don't welcome you...

'Tis only the beginning of the fattening season. The mountain of carb-ridden junk he'll haul in tonight will haunt me until it's gone, so November is the one month Michael can eat candy for breakfast. Please! The sooner it's devoured, the safer it will be for me to be in the kitchen. Take some to school! Share with the other kids! Just get it out of my house! I tend to start pitching a few pieces every day. He's never noticed. A handful here, another handful there, tossed into the garbage helps keep it from adhering to my hips.

Then Thanksgiving. Why do Americans have a problem with gluttony and overweightness? We glory in these ridiculous high-fat, high-calorie holidays! Turkey, an ordinarily healthy entree, becomes not so healthy slathered in rich, creamy gravy, and saddled up beside a heap of savory stuffing and it's carb-laden cousin mashed potatoes. Oh and don't forget the dinner rolls. Really? Do we seriously need six or seven servings of starches in a single meal? And the desserts! Pumpkin or sweet potato pie, buried under swollen dollops of whipped cream. Or pumpkin rolls, pumpkin cheesecake, sugary sweet deliciousness headed straight for the muffin top tummy roll...

All this just in time to start baking for Christmas. Cookies and candies, quick breads and brittle. I do my best to give away almost all of the baked goods I make every year to family, friends, and neighbors. I love the baking, the house filled with the scent of warm cinnamony goodness, but I don't love the thought of spending the rest of winter trying to burn it all off again on the treadmill, squeezing into already tightening jeans...Ugh! The battle of temptation vs. will power begins.

I got a rock...