What the heck is a  Sugar Plum?  I’m slowly getting into the Christmas Spirit, haven’t gotten to the Christmas decorations yet and it hit me.  What is a Sugar Plum?  You remember T’was the Night before Christmas right?  “The children were nestled, all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.”  So I had to look it up just so it wouldn’t drive me crazy for days on end. 

Sugar Plums are any dried fruit, chopped up, mixed with almonds, honey and spices and shaped into balls, then rolled in powdered sugar and coconut.  They actually sound pretty good to me, but probably are a nightmare to dentists the world over. 

Well, the holidays are upon us.  And the holidays to me mean food.  So I’m working on a small holiday meal for my parents, the hubby and the kids for this week while the folks are visiting.  I’m thinking grilled pork chops, roasted brussel sprouts with a little bit of bacon for flavor and maybe some wild rice.  Not exactly a typical holiday meal, I know.  It will be easy to prepare and will give me more of an opportunity to control fat and sodium than say, mashed potatoes and gravy, as both of those items taste way better with butter in them. 

Desserts a hard one to make alterations to…it is possible.  You can substitue egg whites for whole eggs, substitute puree prunes or applesauce for some of the butter, use splenda in place of sugar, but it never tastes quite the same.  Baking is more science…every little change you make changes the texture, mouthfeel, taste, etc…of whatever it is you are making.  There are some bakers out there who excell at this, they know the ins and outs of what each ingredient will do to a mixture and create wonderful creations with less fat and sugar.  If you know one of these people, make friends with them and compliment them often, maybe they will give you free cookies.  If you are not that lucky, or are a dessert purist, try make smaller portions and develop an iron will.  Make your cookies tiny, slice slivers of rich decadent cake.  And pack up the rest as soon as you plate up your creation so you are not tempted to go back for seconds! 

(on a side note, getting the tub of cookie dough doesn’t work for my willpower.  Sure we only baked as many cookies as we were going to eat, but the tub of yummy cookie dough was just sitting in the fridge then begging to be eaten.  I had to stash it in the freezer again to avoid tempation)

The most important thing to remember this holiday season…it’s not the sweets, not the food (did I say that?) and not the presents..it’s about the love.  Don’t beat yourself up if you snack here and there, and don’t get so focused on the food that you miss out on the company!