Serious Eats: New York

For a Fat Food Writer Every Day Really is Xmas

Posted by Ed Levine, January 3, 2006

I managed to get through the holidays without gaining any weight. In fact, I lost a pound between Christmas and New Year's Eve. I am particularly proud of this given the amount of food that not so mysteriously makes it way to our house during the holiday season. You see, for a food writer, every day is Xmas in terms of the flow of food presents. While the rest of the world only has to resist temptation from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day every year, food writers are constantly tempted by people who send us food to sample 24-7 the entire year.

This year we received the following at our house between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day:

Buttered pecans and candied pecans from North Carolina.
Peanuts from Virginia
Six pints of Graeter's Ice Cream in Cincinatti
Six pints of Capogiro Gelato from Philadelphia.
A huge gift basket of food sent by a writer client of my literary agent wife
Samples of what turned out to be an awful low-cal ice cream.
Two kinds of pound cake.
A pound of delicious Smoked Salmon.
Three different kinds of designer chocolate
An eight pound smoked brisket from Texas.

Most of these were holiday presents from friends and colleagues. I know it sounds churlish to complain about this flow of free grub, but if you're someone who adores food who happens to be on a diet, it does make it difficult.

I am accepting all gifts of kelp and miso this post-holiday season.

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