The other night I was lucky to spend the evening with a close friend who I hadn't seen in awhile. One of the wonderful things about our friendship is even though we have not seen each other since the beginning of November, it's like we were just hanging out a week ago. Those are the kind of friends that one must hold on to. I think that if a person has even just one friendship like that in their lifetime, they can call themselves blessed.
Anyway, we decided to meet up at Downtown Disney for dinner before seeing a college friend of ours in a tour that was going through the area. When we met up, we quickly decided that the Mexican restaurant in Downtown Disney was where it was at . Chips and salsa, tamales, guacamole, margaritas; clearly a no- brainer. I ordered the nachos (with chicken instead of beef which was my one small victory for the evening) and he ordered a burrito that he put down in seconds flat. Now, New York City has TERRIBLE Mexican food. Anyone who has grown up or lived somewhere with great Mexican food will tell you that. So, naturally, my friend and I were taking advantage of the delicious Mexican food that we were so long parted with while living in NYC. Now I know you're probably thinking, "Ashley, you have lived back in Southern California for awhile now, how long can you really milk that excuse?" And it is true, but I was there supporting a friend as he found his way back to the Mexican goodness.
As we finished our meals and sat there staring at our empty plates, an idea popped into my head.
Let's get beignets!!!
My friend not only seemed to be waiting for me to announce my desire for this delicious treat, but he also said "Are you going to blog about this? Beignets are French Donuts."
And yes, yes I sure was going to blog about this perfect, delicious, hot fried dough creation. I feel like I would be doing myself, my readers, and the beignets themselves a disservice if I didn't blog about them.
Once we paid the bill, we wobbled the 50 feet from the Mexican Restaurant to the Jazz Kitchen Express to get our treat. At the "JKE," they have three sizes of beignets to choose from. You can get the small bag, which is four, the large bag, which is six, or the family size which was a dozen. As my eyes landed on the large bag, I asked my friend which size we should get. He promptly announced that of course we would get the small bag. Of course? Was it really an "of course" sort of decision, because I sure didn't think so.
Now, bag size wasn't the hardest decision of the evening. We went with the small bag and all was well. The toughest decision that I faced was if I should, in fact buy the take home box of beignet mix that made up to four dozen delicious beignets. What a brilliant thing to sell! What an amazing, mouth watering ten dollar purchase! I have spent ten dollars on a lot of silly things in my life, and this sure wouldn't be one of them! You mean, I could potentially have the option to eat beignets whenever I wanted to?? Someone is smiling down on me.
I must have picked up that box and put it back down on the shelf five times. Five. I want them, no you'll regret it. But I really want them, no you don't. I WANT them, no you can't eat beignets whenever you want anymore you aren't sixteen.
Why must we get older and have to start worrying about what we put into our bodies? Why can't we eat whatever tastes yummy with no repercussions? Where are the days when the word calorie or the phrase "weight gain" meant nothing?
To quote a favorite "Switchfoot" song, they are
"Gone, like yesterday is gone,
like history is
Gone, just trying to prove me wrong
and pretend like you're immortal."
Oh Switchfoot, what a band. Sure, they were probably singing about the Bible, and I am relating it to donuts, but it works! We are not immortal, but we can do our best to eat healthy and live an active lifestyle to promote a longer, healthier life.
So, needless to say, I put that box of beignet mix down, and walked away. It's the small victories, folks. Sure, I stuffed my face with delicious doughy goodness that night, but I did not bring a box home to ease my constant urge for this French treat. Which leads me to this: a treat is defined as an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure. If I had brought a box home, it would have given me great pleasure, but it would no longer be out of the ordinary.
I am going to attempt to live by that definition when it comes to treats. Attempt to make them a little bit more out of the ordinary so that they give me even greater pleasure when I do eat them.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now!
Namaste,
Ashley
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