Guilty Pleasures

Just when New Year's Resolutions are in full swing, I decided to give in to a guilty pleasure...food. As I sat waiting for my Beet salad (roasted beets, orange segments, frisee and citrus vinaigrette) and Sweet Potatoe Fries at Trellis Restaurant in Kirkland, I couldn't help feeling guilty even though I don't make New Year's Resolutions.

I thought of how my having lunch at Trellis included a few popular resolutions all in one act: saving money, eating only homemade and using time wisely. Warning!! Justification to follow.

We all know the state of the economy and we do need to be wise consumers, but I felt good about paying $9 for the Beet salad. And, oh how delicious it was! Nine dollars isn't that much to fill your tummy and make a new food combination discovery, is it?

With regard to eating only food made from scratch in your own kitchen, well, this isn't always feasible when you're out and about. Besides, the chef at Trellis has a five acre garden where he grows much of the fruit and veg served at his restaurant. So it felt good to support a local farmer promoting the farm to table movement.

This next one may be a bit hard to justify. Lunch alone when you could be tackling a task doesn't seem like a good use of time, but I'll try. I sat waiting for lunch alternately looking outside the window at life passing by and reading about scientific studies on children. While eating, I overheard an elderly couple telling the waitress about their upcoming trip to Hawaii and I thought about family and resolutions and zest for life. And do you know what? The combination of all this: the food, life out the window, the act of reading and the sound of excitement in others, illicited a calming feeling in me.

I left geared up to finish my to-do list, greet my kids coming home from school and snuggling up with my family for the night. Not too bad for a $9 salad and 40 minutes out of my day.

So, here's to giving in to guilty pleasures here and there. Giving in a little might save you from giving up and giving in completely.