Weight loss is contagious!

I've been talking with my sister a lot on the phone recently. Our family is getting together for Thanksgiving, so there are some culinary logistics to work out. I thought ahead and bought lots of local New Jersey sweet corn this fall, cooked and cut it off the cob and froze it to take to New York with me. I made applesauce, too, using my grandmother's recipe. (You leave the skins of the apples on when you cook them, so the applesauce has a nice rosy pink color. I use half Macs and half Cortlands.) My parents are making our family's favorite, a broccoli and bleu cheese casserole... it wouldn't be a holiday without it!

Add all that to the usual menu -- turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, glazed carrots, etc. -- and this is going to be one groaning table. But, you know what?! I am DETERMINED that I will NOT be groaning! I can't even say that bounty like this tempts me to overeat. This is partly because I just don't have the capacity anymore, after losing 30 pounds and three sizes. But, strangely, I find myself overwhelmed by an overabundance of food now, and it makes me eat less. It's like grocery shopping... one whole AISLE of cereal??? My eyes glaze over.

But what I'm really looking forward to is seeing my sister. It's been about four months and in that time, she's been working at losing weight. I was dumbfounded when she told me she's already lost 36 pounds! She was talking about how it doesn't make sense to run out and buy all new clothes when you're still heading downward. A light went on in my head! I ran to my closet and began pulling out all sorts of shirts and pants, chinos and jeans mostly, in the sizes I'd gone down through. I washed and ironed everything -- eight pairs of pants in all. I can't wait to give them to her! Oh, and a beautiful black dress with a scalloped hem trimmed in a red floral pattern. Sigh. I loved that dress.

I know you're supposed to empty your closet and get rid of the large sizes, so you're not tempted to go back there. But I just couldn't stand the waste! I'm way too frugal. I'm so glad these clothes will have another life. And I'm SURE it won't be long before my sister's handing them off to someone else. I am so proud of her!

Feed a cold, starve a fever?

Feed a cold, starve a fever? Or is it, Starve a cold, feed a fever? I think I may have it mixed up. I have a raging sore throat this week and am not all that hungry. But I have one bad habit when I'm sick that ensures I don't starve anything.

When my husband has a sore throat, he doesn't want any food touching it. He'll spritz on bottle after bottle of Chloraseptic to numb it. I hate Chloraseptic! It gets on your tongue and the inside of your cheeks, and then you feel like you just came from the dentist.

Instead, I go for the blanket approach. I want to coat that throat and cover up the hurt. So... instead of tea, which I probably should drink, I make huge mugs of hot chocolate and wash down spoonfuls of peanut butter. I don't like plain chicken broth, but I do make a great egg drop soup, with a chicken broth base, but I stir in some fresh lemon juice and finely shaved parmesan. When I do get hungry, but it still hurts to eat, I make a big pot of mashed potatoes. That's my ultimate comfort food.

When I was growing up, boxed "pre-fab" mashed potatoes were all the rage. Remember those magic flakes? Well, I hated them. Of course you can tell the difference. But my mom, even though she hated cooking, never bought convenience foods because of the expense. Her mashed potatoes were always the real thing. Well, we ruined them by using margarine. (Butter was too expensive, too.) When I'm sick now, I do it right. Real mashed potatoes made with real butter, and topped with a pool of melting butter.

My son, on the other hand, wants whipped cream when he's sick. I'll give him a bowl of Jello and whipped cream, and he'll just skim the whipped cream off the top and leave the Jello. I don't have that same craving for whipped cream (luckily!), though I do love it when I'm not sick. Good thing, too. I'm probably already consuming as many calories as when I feel healthy, and yet not exercising any of it away. I guess if it's a cold I have, I'm doing a great job of feeding it.