The Battle between Good and Really Good

On Friday, November 6th, I received a card in the mail informing me that a parcel had arrived. Yay! Without delay, I drove to the post office to retrieve it. Receiving packages in the mail never grows old in my opinion. Even if it is stuff I ordered, it still manages to spark that twinkle in my eye, and tease my lips into a smile. What is up with that? My parcel was a box of books I ordered on-line and another special package from an aunt in England.

Two of the books I ordered are in direct conflict with one another. Actually, more to the point, the conflict is more mine than between the books. Both are about food. “A Homemade Life” by Molly Wizenberg (orangette) I first read about this summer in a blog. (Ahhh yes, Tea, I must confess to being one of the few people living under a rock because I never heard about of this book before I read of it in your blog. After your absolutely amazing review of it how could I not order it?) The other book is “The Ultarasimple Diet” by Mark Hyman, M.D. Now, herein is the conflict, two great books about food, but one is asking me to give up the best ingredients required by the other book. When I was ordering the books it didn’t occur to me that these two books would cause a battle between my taste buds and willpower.

Before the holiday season descends upon me I decided to do a detox (cleansing) thereby avoiding the dreaded New Year’s resolution and start the season all in balance. So I found myself holding both books in my hand trying to decide which to read first, in the end, my willpower won. I started reading Hyman’s book, whilst wistfully glancing at Wizenberg’s book on the coffee table beside me. Then I got a lucky break, Hyman actually recommends you prepare for the detox at least a week prior to starting the program. Enough of an encouragement for me, and so I reached across the table and picked up Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life. I am so glad I didn’t wait; it is like no other cookbook I’ve read. The stories between the recipes themselves are worth the read.

My question to myself is can I continue to do that delicate dance between good and really good. Will my willpower continue to serve me, will I complete the detox and can I pick with care those recipes that are conducive to eating healthy? Like for example, the Buckwheat Pancakes on page 68! Yummy, right?