Okay, I know it’s not Sunday, but it is almost  Christmas so I’m sharing a wonderful article written by Alle Wells, our Southern Sunday Feature Writer. I read this story and nodded along with each and every sentence. Yes, I know I’ll overindulge, but that’s okay. I promise to go back to healthy eating as of January 1stt…well, unless there’s a New Year’s Day Party, in which case…. 

SOUTHERN CHRISTMAS FOOD by Alle Wells

Several years ago, I began living an organic-vegetarian lifestyle.  I look forward to sharing my complete journey to alternative living with you in 2013.

In the meantime, there’s Christmas. All year long, I enjoy the benefits of free-flowing arteries and the free-style cooking required for my organic subsistence. That is, until the holidays roll around. Although I try to stand firm in my commitment to clean eating, who can resist the wonderful traditions of the holidays?

Every good Southern Christmas get-together starts with Great-grandmother Wells’ special dish filled with a variety of candied nuts. The familiar Christmas tablecloth is all but hidden beneath mounds of yummy pre-meal delights. There’s an assortment of chocolate and peanut butter fudge, one with nuts and one without. No traditional Southern Christmas appetizer table is complete without a taste of heavenly divinity candy made with lots of sugar and corn syrup, candied fruit and nuts. A steamer filled with Little Smokies floating in grape jelly and barbeque sauce sits next to a pile of cheesy sausage balls. Aaahh! You have now entered Celestial Cholesterol City!

A Southern Christmas dinner just wouldn’t be up to par without pineapple-glazed ham, sweet potato casserole topped with sugared pecans and marshmallows, golden macaroni and cheese, and good ol’ collard greens swimming in a little bit of pot liquor.  And don’t forget those fluffy, buttermilk biscuits that rise as high as Flo’s hair in Railroad Man!  Last, but never least, a Southern Christmas meal must end with a couple of slabs of 3-day coconut cake that’s worth dying for!

Every year around this time, my energy level drops a bit and an extra pound or two is added to the scale—just because.  I hope you’ll join me in 2013 as I share my journey to a healthier alternative lifestyle.

Until then…

Wishing you and yours the merriest!

Alle