Sunday, December 2, 2012

The current most popular posts - holiday desserts!

Why am I surprised? :) I am getting ready to make these two recipes myself, so I want to give you the past links to the two most requested posts (i.e. both are holiday recipes) on my blog at the current time.

(1) Date-Walnut Loaf - as easy as can be to throw together. Do it now and put these small loaves into the freezer. I am going to make a double batch this year to have plenty for gifts, eating ourselves, and sharing. I usually bring out the last one from the freezer for Valentine's Day to share with my husband. There is not much that makes him speechless, but one last little date-walnut loaf makes him happy with no need for words except 'Wow - this is just great! Thank you!'. :)


(2) Date Pinwheel Cookies - another family favorite and long-standing family tradition.



The link above shows the step-by-step directions for making these time-consuming but irresistible cookies. My mother no longer bakes them but she is thrilled to get some in her Christmas stocking every year. :) The dough can be made ahead, frozen into logs that are ready-to-slice-and-bake whenever you need them (including Christmas Eve to leave for Santa).

Oh, yum, yum! Both of these recipes have been tweaked over the years to make them as 'healthy' as possible while not sacrificing one bit of their melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

I'm sure that somewhere on this blog I have discussed my philosophy about the word 'diet', believing that a 'diet' is much more than the food we eat and no where in my mind is there the word or concept of 'cheating'. The Old Middle English definition of the word 'diet' actually defined diet as 'a day's journey'. I like this, I like this a lot! So, knowing that food nourishes both the body and the soul (being far more than just biochemistry), I hope you will enjoy and savor these two delicious holiday traditions as much as I do, not only as part of 'day's journey' but part of a 'year's journey', too.

What foods are traditions in your family that you cannot give up (nor should you) that are also foods you have tried to make a teensy bit healthier while still enjoying their taste and connection to your past?  I would love to know. Feel free to comment, complete with recipes!

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yum! I can't wait to get home.

Unknown said...

Yum!! Can't wait to get home!