Have I mentioned that I’ve also been mostly off sweets since January? I decided that I was tired of having that craving for sweet desserts and, as I am definitely an Abstainer rather than a Moderator (information that has given me tremendous peace of mind – thank you Gretchen Rubin!), I had to quit cold turkey. Wintertime raspberries that are $5 per pint don’t seem so expensive when you’re fighting buying five cupcakes on the way home, so I made sure I had lots of fruit in the house every day so I could have something sweet after dinner. If I went out for dinner, I’d get a special glass of port or a nice cheese when everyone else got dessert so that I didn’t feel like I was missing out. That worked. After about a month I felt the craving was pretty under control, and after two months I stopped wanted sugary things – for the most part.

I love losing the cravings for sweets and not feeling beholden to the desire for sugar. However, I take short breaks from my sweet fast during which I can have whatever I like, and one of those breaks is now. This way, I don’t feel like I’m deprived forever. I know a break is coming up, and I know I can make it until then, when I can have whatever I like.

So on my first full day on vacation, when I had absolutely nothing I had to do, nowhere I had to be, and nothing I had to learn or turn in, I decided to go back to the beginning and make Brown Butter Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (recipe here).

God, I love these cookies. SO good. Just so good. I came away awfully proud of myself for making them the signature sweet of BB&B. One batch made 22 cookies, and I once again ate nothing else for dinner. Which I feel fine about, since I’ll go off sweets again next week! Until then, I’m eating as much my tummy can handle.