Candy. It is the very worst and the very best thing you can give a child. Right up there with ice cream, fast food, doughnuts, and anything fried. The sweets I remember growing up were: candy lipstick, Abba-Zabbas, wax lips and whistles. In Europe, different fruit candies, toffees, and decadent chocolates. In the Orient, well, too many wonderful/terrible treats to name, but fresh frozen pineapple slices left an indelible mark on my memory. Dee-lish! As I grew older, I became less enamored with sweets all the way up to the day when the orthopedic surgeon started moving his hand up my shin bone, mentally measuring how much of my leg would have to go. At that point, sugar left my diet forever. Now as soon as I knew I could no longer have sweets, I wanted something sweet. Over it now, but I can see where people have big-time issues stopping completely.
I am not preaching about the evils of candy, only show a little responsibility when consuming whether you are diabetic or not. Anything consumed indiscriminately is not good for you. Now I know there’s some smart-ass thinking about how too many green beans can be bad for you. To that individual, I wish upon them pure evil. Nice thoughts on a Monday afternoon. In Louisiana, we got stalks of real sugar cane to suck on all day long. That served as our candy. Forget the artificial colors and flavors. This was cutting out the middleman and providing a state of day-long sugar catatonia. Just to clear up any controversy as the holidays approach: candied yams are hell BAD for you. Only if you peel and steam them (unseasoned) will you enjoy the healthy benefits of the VEGETABLE that is a sweet potato. However, what I have usually seen are sweet potatoes served with brown sugar, heavy cream, marshmallows, walnuts, etc. Yummy. But not healthy. Who cares? Maybe not right this second…
Kids are another thing. I mean saying “no” seems like it would be hard to do with your kids. But, when they are really small and first ready for sweets, why couldn’t we just make sure to start them on sugar-free soda and candies? Boom! Problem solved. Damn, I’m rolling now. It was not easy to say “no” to the fresh French pastries made daily in my kitchens. Consequently, I weighed 280 pounds and I wasn’t any taller.
Stay well.
Mark's Playhouse 