Whole Food Holiday Ponderings

When else can you buy meat for less than a dollar per pound (stock up)? When else is the focus on lovingly prepared whole foods? Where do all the colors of the rainbow come together on one table and people eat  with joy?

The fall and winter holidays are some of my favorite times of year. I love getting together with friends and family eating good food made with love. In many ways I think that the holiday feasts are some of the healthiest meals people eat all year. Unfortunately they are also eaten with a once a year kind of wild abandon that ignores senses of fullness and satiety. Thanksgiving in particular is a day of marathon eating.

By putting these foods up on a holiday pedestal we forget how nourishing they really are. And before we get into how much butter and saturated fat there is in everything, I would have you know that fats and cholesterol really are not the demons western medicine has made them out to be. They are the nourishing foods that our forefathers ate for millenniums, and the modern fat phobia has only fueled modern diabesity with its forced reliance on carbohydrates and sugars taking the place of animal fats, organ meats, and traditional eating. Much of what goes on the holiday table could and should find it's place regularly on the dining table. Gathering with family and friends should occur more than a few times a year.

On my own family table we will be having a roast turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, brussels sprouts, peas, homemade cranberry sauce, vegetarian carnitas, wild mushroom stuffing, button rolls (I will eat many), pies, coffee, wine and love. I love the holidays and food so I am looking forward to the nonstop festivities between now and Jan 2nd. I am looking forward to cooking for friends and warming my house with an oven that is never turned off.

Happy Thanksgiving!