What are Guilty Pleasures? Let’s Start with Sunbathing and Baked Brie
Most people would define a guilty pleasure as something you think you shouldn’t enjoy, but enjoy anyway. Perhaps you think others will disprove of your guilty pleasure. Perhaps you yourself think, on some level, that what you enjoy is really not good for you. Or it’s not up to what you think your standards of taste or behavior should be.
Let’s look at our guilty pleasures in a different light, though. I prefer to think of guilty pleasures as the things I do for sheer enjoyment, just to savor the experience. These pleasures are pure gratification. And I think we all work hard enough to justify indulging in our guilty pleasures, don’t you?
So let’s embrace our guilty pleasures. We all have ‘em. And, truth be told, I don’t want to take the guilt out of these pleasures for you. After all, part of the fun is feeling like you’re getting away with something. A little something for nothing.
So I’m going to post regularly about guilty pleasures.
In fact, I’ve already posted about one of my guilty, but not too secret, pleasures — sunbathing.
Why is sunbathing a guilty pleasure for me? Gotcha! It’s NOT because of the health warnings. It’s because, when I’m lying in the sun, doing absolutely nothing but lying there in a world of happy sensation, I’m putting all the rest of my incredibly busy life on hold. There are a million practical things I can be doing instead of lolling about like a Hollywood starlet on an air mattress in a salt-water pool. But I’m not. All responsibilities are put on hold while I indulge myself. And any mom will tell you that’s enough to make you feel deliciously guilty!
Another guilty pleasure I’ll share with you today is one of my favorite treats: my Decadent Baked Brie.
An appetizer-sized portion of this rich treat wouldn’t classify it as a guilty pleasure. For me, though, the guilt comes in because I find it literally impossible to stop eating this stuff, despite the combination of butter, cheese, and almonds — not to mention the heavy garlic. If I was a little more dainty, I’d have a few bites on sliced baguette and then move on. But no. My husband and I will finish one of these off between us, leaving me wishing I could lick the butter off the serving dish. Hell, I’d eat the whole wheel by myself, but he always seems to be underfoot when I prepare this treat. Yum. Guilty as charged!
