This Winter's Midnight Snacks and Sinus Malfunctions

This past winter was horrible! So much snow. We ended up with at least five feet deep in both the front and back yards. My long driveway seemed to have grown even longer. The garage is at the end of it and I don't think we entered the garage from just before Christmas until the snow started melting at the beginning of the month.

What I do when its cold is make soup, partially because I'm a soup lover and because it fills the house with warm and comforting aromas. This past winter, My daughter bought me a DVD of the movie Julie and Julia, which was just perfect for a long cold winter. The movie inspired me to make my best soup ever and also write this post:

My husband got his usual flu shot; I did not. I never do. That’s because the first time I did, I got so sick that I decided whatever flu strain came along, I would stick to my home remedies: chicken soup with cabbage, several heads (not cloves, heads) of garlic, potatoes and carrots and lots of liquids. More importantly, no dairy products of any kind as they produce mucus and inspire my sinuses to malfunction causing those annoying nasal drips. That means no coffee, no cheese, no butter. Who can do without butter?

During this past snow storm, I came down with a sinus malady and experienced the usual loss of appetite. Initially, eliminating dairy products from my menu was easy. Now that I am on the mend, so is my appetite. Last night, I had my usual bowl of soup, organic crackers with no salt and orange juice; but by midnight, I woke up hungry and decided to watch a movie. I nestled back into the couch with my favorite blanket and clicked on the VCR. And what do you suppose was in the VCR, the movie Julie & Julia, which is all about Julia Childs and cooking and food, and lots and lots of BUTTER and red wine! Now, I’m famished and feeling justified in getting something to eat despite the hour.

I eased down the stairs in the dark, finding my way to the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge looking for something to ease the hunger but still fall within the realm of “acceptable foods to eat after midnight when one has a sinus problem.” I passed up the Soydream Cherry Garcia with Chocolate Chips fake ice cream. It’s addictively good, but held no promise of satisfying my craving for something warm like melted cheese, butter and tomato sauce, washed down with a glass of red wine.

My fingers slipped over the brie, the sausage aged to perfection (I’m vegetarian at least once, and sometimes twice, a day and that should count for something!) … And there in the freezer just waiting to be discovered, unwrapped and carefully placed on a baking sheet and into the oven … after gently covering the top with melted butter or olive oil, sat one of my favorite “its okay to cheat with this one because it’s not too bad” foods: Kashi Mediterranean Pizza on whole grain dough with Portobello and shiitake mushrooms, red bell peppers, mozzarella and provolone cheeses, a delicate tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, cilantro and a host of other spices too wonderful to just muse about. [Sigh]

As I reached for the Kashi pizza, which would go perfect with a nice glass of pinot noir, my pesky voice of reason called out to me saying, “First of all, its too late and the last thing you need to do, even if it is organic, is to indulge in pizza with cheese! You’ll end up with nightmares and your sinuses will go haywire. You’ll be coughing and choking all night with a miserable nasal drip!”

I was strong. I settled for a glass of orange juice and a whole grain English muffin topped with fake butter.

When I got back upstairs to Julie & Julia, I turned it off opting for a rerun of Law & Order, promising me lots of mayhem to lull me back to sleep.

I’ll wait 48 hours and then that Kashi pizza is MINE!

Movie Review: “Julie & Julia” (Long Live Butter!)