Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Bulking up, slimming down

Americans areconflicted about food. That's easy to see when I look at what floods into this office. To illustrate, there is a press release and a sample from Hostess of its new 100-calorie packs. Portion-control is the by-word of dieting these days. It's not a bad concept -- cutting down on the amount of food would certainly help many who struggle with weight. But those mini Hostess cupcakes still have a laundry list of chemicals in them. So I'm not sure the "satisfying snack experience" as the publicist says of the cream-filled mini treats is necessarily a good thing.

At the same time as we fret about weight, it seems that pork, hardly a diet food, is our other obsession -- cookbooks and reminiscences about pig slaughtering, bacon, and other porky matters are rampant this year. And a glance at Chowhound reveals that a chat about Karl's Sausage in Saugus -- a great place by the way -- outdid any other thread on the site recently.

Myself, I'm planning to indulge in a portion-controlled bite or two of sausage tonight and skip the Hostess. Pigging out not allowed.

Posted by Alison Arnett at 02:15 PM

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