Isn’t it amazing how life mirrors life? Or sickness?

I couldn’t agree more with your last post–just getting through a bug, especially as a family, sucks. It takes the fun, the energy, the smiles, the desire to eat right out of you. But not, I’ve found, the desire to taste.

You see, we three have had terrible colds. Thank you, Daycare, for making sure our house is infected with a constant supply of germs. I’m battling the last of the worst, so thank god DH and Little e are not feeling as bad as I am. Because I feel like ass. But enough moping.

It was so interesting to read your thoughts on enjoying (or not enjoying) food when you’re sick. I’ve been lamenting this exact thing as I wander around the kitchen, seeing things that taste good, but with no interest in eating them. Or if I do have the interest, motivation kills it–why eat that cupcake, those empty calories, when it will taste as bland as everything else I ate today? It made me realise that while we may say cake, candy and other guilty pleasures are empty calories, if you truly appreciate them for their flavour (assuming there is some, other than “teeth-achingly sweet”) it’s not an empty experience. Therefore, I don’t count the calories as empty, even if nutritionally they might be. I don’t know about you, but I don’t–can’t–eat for health alone. I eat for experience and pleasure. And having a cold destroys both of those. Particularly when you risk inhaling crumbs of something because you’re forced to breathe through your mouth. Ugh.

So the other day, when I had a spare few minutes and Little e was napping on my back, I whipped up these bran muffins. They’re from this book, which I’ve raved about before. They are delicious…I’m told. Note to self: don’t bake when you have a cold. It’s too torturous.

How colourless our world becomes when we can’t smell or taste! I find myself thinking we should treat ourselves to a comforting dinner to cheer us out of sickness-induced depression, but then realise it’s not worth the money. Toast and boxed soup it is.

Considering that they’re two of the most ancient senses, we kind of take them for granted, don’t we?

Think a hint of cinnamon and orange zest in the muffin and a rich, sweet prune preserve on top. Apparently.

XO

Ria