Looking out my window...

Savor The Flavor of The Day

Colorful Popsicles by Sharon

To start this blog I need to return to Christmas 2009 memories. Somewhere in there you may remember my photo of the dark chocolate with peppermint ice cream.

Yup, this is the one.

For the last couple of years I reduced portion sizes and eliminated sweets from my food intake. I said "no thank you" so many times to cakes, pies, ice cream and other goodies that I finally didn't even like the thought of sugar. And by doing that, I slowly, very slowly like the tortoise, lost some weight.

Then, starting with the candy from Christmas and adding ice cream to it...my brain went bonkers and said "I DO TOO LIKE SWEETS!" To top it off, I started a medication for my fibromyalgia that increased my appetite. Then came spring and the ice cream shop across the street opened for the summer. The devil had finally won.

By, last week, I had succumbed to sugar and a hot fudge sundae every night. I craved sugar and also chocolate. I've known something about myself for a long time that might be a surprise for people who know me: I have no will power.

Yes, it's true that I quite smoking cold turkey many years ago. But, I  know that if I had just one cigarette, I would be up to a pack a day by end of the week.Yes, it's true that for three years I ate a diet powder of 500 calories a day, under my doctor's care. It looked like I had will power. But, I had simply cut the mere idea of eating anything else out of my brain. Eating food wasn't an option, it didn't exist. I knew I couldn't keep eating the ice cream. That was obvious to me. But, how not to do it.

Enter popsicles. Something triggered my brain to say "Wait a minute here. There's an answer somewhere."

Digression.This reminds me of the joke: The little boy wanted a pony for Christmas. While being an optimist, he was however "the son from hell."  When Christmas came his parents told him to open the door...his present was in that room. He opened it and it was filled with horsie poo-poo. His parents thought maybe that would shape him up and get him on the right road. Ha!The next time they saw the boy, he was in the room shoveling up the poop. His parent asked him why. He said "There's just got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Okay, back to the popsicles. The problem with ice cream is all the fat. All of a sudden my brain yelled out "Popsicles! Yes, popsicles would work." I called the Chief who was shopping at Costco and asked him to see what kind they had." He  called  back later to describe what he had found. And with another miracle...Fudgesicles! My response? "Get them all!"

He opened the top of the boxes and put them in the freezer, so I could just stick my hand in and pull something out. Of course the first one I tried was the fudgesicle. Good. Passed the test of no fat little calories and tasted darn good.

Next night. Pulled out an orange one. The Chief had told me that the popsicles were made from real fruit, etc., etc. So I anticipated a nice fresh orange taste. Humph! Something was different about it. It tasted a little off. But okay. The next night I pulled from the other open box. It was a very dark and deep red. Raspberry was the other flavor I remembered the Chief telling me. I love raspberry. And with much delight took a bit out of it. Humph! Didn't really taste like raspberry. But, okay. I could deal with what was given to me.

The next night I had another fudgesicle. Still yummy. And the next night, back to the popsicles, I decided to take the orange box out and look at it. Printed in large letters on the box was tangerine! Well, no wonder it didn't taste like an orange. Took a bite, and yes, yes, of course tangerine is exactly what it tasted like. Yummy. The next night I took out the raspberry box to read grape! Oh. Oh dear. As grape, it tasted good.

I'm planning a blindfold taste test with flavored yogurt soon.

 

The Dark Stuff

 

There are some things in this world that are "acquired" tastes. Some that come to mind quickly are: cigarettes, scotch and rutabaga. Now I've always loved rutabaga as does my mother. The only requirement is lots of butter. But most people scrunch their nose at any mention of rutabaga.

Another "acquired" goodie is dark chocolate. Very dark chocolate. It's now said to be good for you, but none-the-less the taste is "acquired."

My dearest brother loves dark chocolate so much he has done his utmost to help the family "acquire" his passion. And in this endeavor he has now sent, for the second time, an assortment of famous chocolates that range from milk chocolate to the darkest chocolate one could imagine.

The first time he sent this christmas gift the family responded with "thank you so much...love the milk chocolate...don't send the dark stuff again."

As my brother is getting older I'm not sure if he actually remembers our original comments. But, when I talked to him this year, thanking him for the chocolate and not mentioning the dark stuff, he said in so many words "Look, if you don't like the dark stuff, mail it back to me!"

Now, to my way of thinking, that smacks of a challenge! So, the dark stuff was not going to be mailed - anywhere.

Shortly thereafter I opened the freezer and looked inside. Don't know why. There's usually nothing of interest in there - just cold stuff. But, I looked anyway.

There it was - the famous christmas peppermint ice cream that seems to find its way into our freezer once a year. Red peppermint ice cream with hot fudge is a family favorite. Phooey, no hot fudge to be seen. But wait, wait, wait for it...what about that dark stuff?

And there you have it. I have now "acquired" a taste for the dark stuff - as long as it sits atop the red peppermint ice cream.

Thank you to my brother. And to the rest of the family...if you don't like the dark stuff mail it to me!