I’ll admit it. I fully participated in the fat-free craze. I ate more than my fair share of cardboard cookies and plastic cream cheese. Blech!

Like the rest of the nation, I never lost a lot of weight by avoiding fat. What I did lose by making fat phobic recipes was quality. Cutting all fat in recipes was extreme, and produced tasteless dishes with little resemblance to actual food.

Thankfully I’ve recovered. Gone is the irrational fear of even a single gram of fat. I’ve come to appreciate fat for all it’s goodness…the flavor and body it adds to a simple vinaigrette, the moist and tender texture it creates in baked goods and the way it helps with getting eggs out of the skillet and onto my breakfast plate.

Fat is still high in calories, which can’t be ignored. So, I’ve replaced fear of fat with respect for fat. I’m not afraid to cook with fat, but don’t use more than needed.

Butter. Scary, huh?

Here’s to never eating fat-free cream cheese again. Ever.

fat, fat-free