July 20
What I need to know about myself is that I become more attached to the food the longer I own it. If I don’t capitalize on the moment of clarity when I know that I should chuck it, it is like, in that split second, I really made a decision to eat it. I tell myself that I just decided to keep my options open, that I am just not ready to decide, but really I chose in that split second.
Case in point: One Thanksgiving, I was having assorted friends over for dinner. I asked all the dessert bringers to be prepared to take home all but one piece of the desserts they were bringing. I had assigned that out so that I didn’t have to handle desserts at all. After all, everybody brings them anyway. I make it easier to part with them by keeping one piece of each for myself. I told my guests in advance, “If I tell you I need to keep them for company, don’t believe me.” I knew that was the only way I was going to let those desserts go. One year I even took the dessert leftovers right back out to people’s cars and never let them back in my kitchen! Why would I do go these lengths, you may be asking yourself? Because, many is the Thanksgiving that I couldn’t even bend my fingers by Monday, I had eaten so much for all four days. I would start each morning with the leftover apple pie (that was sitting on the counter with a knife cellophaned right in there in the pie plate for convenience) and be off to the races again for the whole day.