The Sixth Deadly Sin

I don’t know if I’ll ever get the other 6 deadly sins down because it’s not in my nature. However, gluttony is one that I think most people can do with ease, and probably not feel that bad about it! I am of course referring to the Bacchanalian feast that is Christmas dinner…minus the alcohol. I don’t drink.

I seriously would like to know why we put ourselves through this festive torture. I mean, I’m a small eater, always have been. I can eat a pizza slice and feel full-up. Ok, it’s a deep pan pizza slice, but only from a 9″ pizza. We’re not talking monstrously large here. I have a bowl of soup, and I can’t move. I’m stuck in my chair like glue. And yet, there is this annual feeding frenzy we call Christmas dinner that we absolutely must go through or we would feel cheated. We would be cheating ourselves and our family of that bloating experience that we are compelled to go through every year. Why do we do this to ourselves, only to have go on a diet immediately after, making us all the more miserable because we’ve piled on the pounds after a few days feeding frenzy? It’s not because we have to preserve energy and store fat to get us through hibernation. We are not bears. We still have to venture outside, to work, to shop and general outdoor type stuff. No, we do it because it’s ‘tradition’. Why? Seriously, I’d like to know what this has to do with the birth of ‘Christ’, aaaand there’s another one coming: Hogmanay & Ne’er Day. Yet more opportunity to stuff ourselves to the gunnels.

Booze-fest

In my part of the world it is traditional to serve a full 3-course meal before midnight on Hogmanay: that is 31st December at 11.55pm. The meal has to be ready by then. We toast the bells, wish everyone a Happy New Year, then sit down to a full meal assuming you’re not out in the town/city square celebrating. Then we would go door-to-door around the street, booze in hand (preferrably whisky) and some food or a piece of coal (this is because coal is a source of warmth and fuel for cooking, and is a source of luck for the year round.) This too is tradition. You cannot go first-footing empty-handed. Anyway, back to the meal. I think it has something to do with beginning the New Year with a full stomach – start as you mean to go on – but I tend to think it’s because here in Scotland, the New Year is a 3-day event: from Hogmanay until the 2nd January. Only in Scotland do we get to have the 2nd January off work. In the rest of the UK, people go back to work that day. That means a full 3 days of drinking. We take our drinking seriously here! So, people start getting drunk on Hogmanay. That means 3 days drinking and not a lot of food being eaten except for the obligatory Dundee cake, crisps and nuts. Oh and of course shortbread. No New Year is complete without shortbread. So I think that because of this booze-fest that it is important to eat in order to line your stomach for the forthcoming onslaught of non-stop drinking. I know it’s not the original reason, but an important one nonetheless!

Second Christmas Dinner?

All it means is another opportunity to pig out in a ridiculous fashion, then crash diet for months afterward (and don’t think that being a vegetarian protects you from that, it doesn’t) until the next festival. Oh, yes, Easter! I can feel the pounds piling on already. Oh and I neglected to mention that I went to my mum’s for Christmas dinner, and because of the heavy snowfall, we weren’t sure if we’d get there, so we made a contingency plan and bought all the food in just in case we’d have to spend Christmas at home. That means that all this food had to be cooked. So, tonight, we had another three-course meal. I must be bonkers. I’m glad it’s only the one deadly sin I have to worry about!  Remind me why we do this to ourselves, again?  Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope you have a fabulous New Year.