A Taste for This

Friday was dessert day because there was a Christmas party complete with some delicious treats. I carefully chose two small cookies and a bar that were obviously home-made. I took a bite of the frosted sugar-cookie first. Way too sweet. It wasn't only too sweet, it just didn't seem to have any other flavor - no depth - the word "cheap" came to mind. The other cookie was the same. The pumpkin bar was better, but still not really worth being my one dessert of the week. I ate half of that and went back for a gingerbread cookie. I felt like Goldilocks; it was just right.

I'm astonished that I actually thought anything was too sweet. I had really thought it would be very difficult to eat just three cookies; heretofore my biggest weakness.

But my tastes have truly changed. It required no will power to limit the cookies. I just really didn't like the way they tasted. I can hardly believe I'm saying that.

At today's pot luck, I barely glanced at the desserts and marveled at how sweet the grapes, pineapple and blackberries were, things I would have put on my plate grudgingly if at all, leaving the most room for cake or cookies.

There's a lesson here: I want what I've been having. I desire what I've been filling myself with. It all comes down to habits. When I was consuming sugar en masse, I just wanted more. Now that I'm eating other things, I no longer have the desire for sugary things. I didn't expect that and am pleasantly surprised.

I still want to eat delicious things, however, and this has been my mainstay: toasted bread with butter. I buy whole grains from Whole Foods, grind them into flour, make a sponge and follow the instructions in Cooks Illustrated for artisan bread. It just gets better and better.