Dear Food Diary....

When Sam issued her holiday challenge last week I knew the challenge for me would be more in the presentation than the participation. Like many of you, my camera's almost always with me -- and photographing everything I eat isn't *that* much of a stretch from a normal day.

It surprised me then, over the course of the week when I started to weigh my food choices based on the challenge ahead. Not because I was hesitant to share with you my diet of Chicken McNuggets, Whoppers and Twinkies. No -- I found myself evaluating food not based on its nutritional value but on its photographic appeal. I discovered my usual mid-afternoon snack of a hunk of cheese with some nuts really doesn't photograph well. And like Sean, I was worried about the photographic results of my wine consumption. Not that you'd balk at 11 glasses of wine over the course of 7 days. But that they'd make an awfully boring collage.

Over the course of 7 days, I ate 42 different items. I ate at home, at work, at restaurants. In bright light and in candlelight. I ate alone, with family, and with friends. We cooked for others, and we ate what others prepared for us. Rather than bore you with 5 tubs of yogurt (my breakfast staple) and 11 glasses of wine, I've arranged my thirty-some photographs into representative collages.

Breakfast first, with it's dairy products and fruits.

Lunch, largely leftovers and takeout.

Dinner runs the gamut: The Thanksgiving feast made more meaningful having fed others first. A gathering of friends giving John and I a chance to play together in the kitchen. A series of simple "just us" suppers.



And one celebratory sumptuous dinner out.

Thanks Sam, for inspiring me to look at a week's worth of meals in a whole new way!

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