Cautionary words amidst the season’s rampant gastronomy

Why is it luscious cookbooks that tempt the palate always come my way just before Christmas? This year two arrived from sisters Elaine Elliot and Virginia Lee, who have over a dozen to their credit. These latest are in their Formac Flavours series and feature pumpkin, squash and apple recipes.

While the recipes come well tested from restaurant kitchens across the country, these books contain suggestions from well-known local eateries. For example, Ellen Kenny, piemaker extraordinaire from the Evangeline Cafe in Grand Pre, contributed her pumpkin pie recipe. Chefs at the Blomidon Inn, Le Caveau, the Old Orchard Inn, Tempest

Restaurant, Paddy's Pub and the Fireside Cafe in Canning have all provided interesting selections.

A highlight of the apple cookbook is Kenny's award-winning recipe for sticky apple pudding with toffee sauce that won the Apple Blossom Festival dessert contest several years ago. And what makes these books irresistible is the expert food styling and photography. The illustrations make you want to try the contents.

One of my best-thumbed and splatter-coated cookbooks is Elaine’s and Virginia's 1990 Maritime Inns and Restaurant Cookbook. It includes the Blomidon Inn's popular oat and cornmeal bread.

I think what sells these books for me is knowing that the Kentville-based sisters have tested every recipe they include in their books. You can trust them.

Unfortunately, this holiday season I won't be trying out too many dessert recipes since I already have too much 'bad cholesterol' in my system. My good doctor tells me more exercise will probably dispense with the problem, but just to be sure he sent me to hear dietician Sherry Veiniotte on the subject of lowering blood counts. In her workshops, she scares you a bit talking about dyslipidemia, or the fatty deposits that clog your veins. In fact, for North Americans, fat is the stuff of nightmares.

Exercise, not smoking and weight control are all-important, she said. Avoiding sugar, processed meats, animal fat, saturated and trans fats are also vital. Veiniotte teaches those at risk how to read food labels carefully. She’s a big booster of fish, canola oil, flax seed, beans and oatmeal.

According to Veiniotte, we should only be eating red meat and egg yolks two or three times a week. "You can't get enough fruit and vegetables," she added. I thought I was careful about buying processed food, but as she pointed out to the adults around the table, life should be about balance and portion control.

As Veiniotte noted, with children as young as 12 and 13 being diagnosed today with heart disease, it behooves us all to watch what we eat.

There was a university student at the class and a woman younger than me whose mother dropped dead recently of a heart attack. So I’m trying to be careful.

Apparently, it takes four to six months to see a change in your blood, so I will think twice into the New Year before I load up my plate. Meanwhile, it’s too darn bad that there are so many seasonal temptations.