What Food Says "Holiday!" to You?

I was reading one of my favorite blogs recently - this one centered around dieting.

The ladies who post there have graciously invited others to send in their own diet blog addresses, comparing sharing weight loss adventures to a dish that can be passed along at a banquet or holiday function.

That got me thinking.All food blogs are diet blogs in the strictest sense, Technically, everybody and everything that eats is on a diet. Some folks are trying, more or less successfully however, to restrict the calories in their diet with an eye towards losing weight.

To our frustration around here, after a food binge based around our CSA baskets last Spring/Summer, we the people of the Austin Agrodolce household both managed to gain weight.Even though we were feasting on all sorts of fabulous fresh organic local vegetables, we proved for ourselves that it is not just what you are eating, but how you prepare what you are eating that will make or break your calorie count. (Little more fresh dairy butter on your vegetables, anybody?)

We are being more careful now, and with the generalized lack of willpower in this household that mostly boils down to careful shopping.Try as we might, we haven't managed to stuff our faces with cookies (Hub) or cheese (Me) that isn't actually already on the premises. And neither of us is quite to the point where we will jump in the car just to satisfy a mid-morning/early afternoon/late night craving. Not yet, anyway.

This holiday season I am trying to keep the pantry and refrigerator stocked with lean stuff, and occasionally we can be forgiven if we linger overlong, drooling ever so slightly at the food porn in the catalogs that arrive daily offering us mail order confections from around the world. I can take pride in the fact we haven't devolved to the point of licking the photos. Not yet. I am fully aware this is possible in large part because it is only the two of us in the house. Empty nest has its advantages that way. Early on, with the kids still around, totally avoiding cookies, candies or cheesy salty snack foods was impossible. Even if I didn't buy any or make any there was a constant stream of goodies coming in from school parties, team gatherings, church, scouts, you name it.

And even if we did (much!) better most of the year, there was something about a holiday break from school that lent itself to cooking together. Slowly but surely certain foods became part and parcel of our family's holiday celebrations year to year.

Do you find yourself abandoning your careful eating habits during the holidays? Is there one thing on that sideboard groaning with fatty foods out there with your name on it? What, in this season of abundance, is the particular food or beverage that for you so says "celebrating!" that you will not go without?
Cookies?
Egg nog?

Chocolate covered pretzels maybe?

Our family weakness is/was Chex Mix. We would make (and eat!) batch after buttery batch.

What about you? Come on. 'Fess up in the comments section. What is your holiday food weakness, the one thing you cannot resist despite your best intentions? No calories are consumed just by typing it out, thank goodness. If confession is good for the soul, you'll feel better, too. Your turn!