Balance of Food

I love headlines like this. . . Yes, duck fat was involved in my Saturday indulgence. This restaurant called Hot Doug's serves French fries cooked in duck fat, but only on Fridays and Saturdays. To give you an idea on how popular this is, I actually waited about 20 minutes for a fast-food meal just to get inside the place. They also serve gourmet sausages, including buffalo. But the line is for the duck fat fries. There is a genuine difference in taste; they taste better, richer, beyond the normal fry. I also like how they are cooked well, where so many fries are not. There was too much salt, a usual complaint of mine. With the duck fat, there is plenty of flavor without resorting to TMS (too much salt). For a container that can feed 2-3 people, the cost is $3.50 and worth it. But it comes at a difficult time for me. I have had too much gastronomic fun this summer, mostly due to stress and depression. So I've been trying to be better. And I have been good, but I needed a treat. With my duck fat fries, I had a chicken sausage with mustard, relish, and cooked onions. For non-Chicagoans, we should point out that the relish is bright green for reasons that aren't clear to me. The dog was tasty at $3.50, the buffalo was $7. Maybe next time. But an occasional treat is vital to maintaining success weight-wise. And I got in a lot of walking on Saturday (this isn't convenient to get to). So have a little fun, duck fat not necessarily required.