Friday, February 13, 2009

Sweet, sweet sugar

February probably wasn't the best month to choose for going sugar-free. Whoops.

But that's what we decided in this house and we're sticking to it.  At least it's the shortest month of the year, right?  Unfortunately it also seems to be one of the sweetest, most romantic, most desert oriented months of the year.  I kind of forgot about that when we set this plan, but now it has become painfully obvious.  It even feels a little bit like torture sometimes.  Let's just say I'm really looking forward to March!

At least we didn't go fruit-free or carb-free, just sugar and sweetener free.  I've been dabbling in the Stevia quite a bit and otherwise ogling any and all desserts that happen to cross my path.  I miss my dark chocolate.  I miss having little bites of bakery samples, or nibbling at my GF, DF, EF brownies and cookies.  I miss my tiny indulgences.

I also miss baking.  

You see, there's not a lot of baking that I do that doesn't involve some kind of sweetener.  I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, marveling (read: drooling) at the cakes and cookies and realizing just how much I enjoy it. Plain flour, sugar, and shortening aren't that exciting on their own, but once you throw them together and add heat you can create something much more impressive and tempting than its separate parts.  It's kitchen alchemy.  I don't even care that much if I'm the one eating what I create.  It's just fun.  I was actually fantasizing about how awesome it would be to become a pastry chef or to bake professionally and spend the day making these gorgeous cakes and tiny confections that I see at the store.  Seriously, I'd love that.

So... I'll have to wait for March.  Sigh.  Until then, I will daydream of all the lovely things I want to make and try to be good.