05 Jan A Cook’s Challenge
To kick off the new year I’ve been faced with an interesting challenge: My itty-bitty mother (who weighs about 110 lbs. soaking wet) has been diagnosed with borderline diabetes, so I am now helping her to create a healthier repertoire of nosh.
Let me preface this by saying that Mary Margaret subsides on cakes, marmalade, ginger jam, sweet tea, and chocolate (the diabetes was a real shocker). After we left the doctor’s office, I turned to her and said, “Well, you’ve had a good run. How long did you think you were going to get away with eating like that?”
Her rationale, since the end of World War II, is that the sugar rations ignited a sweet tooth, and she’s making up for what she missed as a child. That’s one hell of an overcompensation.
So now I must encourage her to actually eat throughout the day instead of one tiny meal plus an endless array of sweets throughout the evening. She is very good about eating fruits and vegetables, but she is at the point in her life that I think most elderly people reach: She can’t be bothered cooking anymore. After 73 years, she’s had quite enough.
My role as personal chef will soon commence, but I wonder how successful this quest will be. Yesterday she baked a few cakes “to have around.”
Sigh.
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