In Watermelon Sugar

I love snacks. Love them. I love to eat in general, and sugary snacks are a personal favorite. I come from a long line of excellent cooks, and while the risotto-stirring gene seems to have skipped me, I can bake up a mean cake. One can't just eat snacks willy-nilly, however, so I present to you: my plan of attack for a day full of snacks.

On an average workday, someone might bring in cherries from her yard or delicious baked goods from an experiment in the kitchen. No problem -- I have plenty of room to fit those snacks into my day. However, consider an event day at work. It's someone's birthday. A potluck is planned. The treat table is overflowing with snacks both sweet and savory. The sheer number of edible treats can be a little overwhelming; I have to pace myself to fit them all in. This is a situation that could get seriously out of hand if you approach it without a plan.

Step one is to accept that you're abandoning the lunch you packed for the day. It can't compete, and acknowledging that early on will save you from sadness down the road. If you're planning, in the back of your mind, to eat your lunch, you'll end up pulling your punches and missing out on some of the best treats.

Step two is starting early. If you wait until all the treats are on display, you may feel compelled to pick and choose among cookies and cupcakes and brownies and spinach dip. Eat some of each treat as it appears and you've set a precedent that's easy to maintain. Waiting until all the treats are out also means you might end up competing with co-workers for the last chip; grab one early on and you don't look like the bad guy taking the last treat.

Step three is committing to eating all day. Don't try to cram too many treats into the early hours of the day; you'll end up feeling ill and wasting the whole afternoon. Slow and steady, like we learned from the tortoise, is the way to win the game. If you have an actual lunch, it's acceptable to enjoy a little of it. Don't overdo it, but do break up the all-day sugar fest with some "real" food so you can keep snacking later.

That's it -- your guide to all day snacking at work. What are your favorite dishes for work potlucks?

Posted by Jessica Gezon