People who are new to Fasting often pose the questions: “Can I really eat ‘anything I want’ on a Slow Day?” and “What should I eat on Slow Days?” To answer those questions, I have decided to add some blog posts to show some of the foods we eat on what the world calls NFDs [non-fast days] but which, in our house, we call ‘Slow Days.’ This feature will appear sporadically. 

Now for the answers. Can you really eat ANYTHING you want on a Slow Day? Not really. If you eat too many calories every Slow Day, you will not lose weight. There are many questions asked on the Fast Diet Forum which attest to that. Once in a while you can splurge, as long as it isn’t everyday. For what to eat on Slow Days, Dr. Mosley recommends a Mediterranean Diet. As for how we eat, an example follows.

It is that time of year — time for Christmas cookies!! Some people buy a tin at the super-market and call it ‘done’. My friends in Canada are big fans of bar cookies — lots of product with little effort. My mother, a cookie-lover at any time of year, produced an array of cookies of varying sizes, shapes, and colors. It was spectacular! Once I had my own family, I continued the tradition, sometimes producing 13 different types of Christmas Cookies. [HINT: I bake one variety per day, starting on December 1st, and making 2 dozen of each cookie. Unused dough goes into the freezer for future use.] We start eating the cookies in earnest on Saint Lucy’s Day, December 13, while we decorate the tree.

In Old Germany, Christmas cookies were baked in vast numbers, starting a month or two early. These were the “keeping cookies” — baked hard, and easy to store for weeks until needed. One such cookie is Lebkuchen. The name could be from the German ‘sweet cake’ or from the ancient Roman ‘librum’, a bread made with honey. The oldest references to these cookies are from Ulm in 1296, then in Nurnberg in 1395. The spices and almonds are evidence of trade routes with the Levant and the Mediterranean established by the Hansiatic League.

Makes 5 dozen	Makes 2½ dozen
4 eggs	2 two-oz eggs	Beat until light
2 cups sugar	1 cups sugar	Beat in gradually
1 tsp baking powder 3 Tbsp brandy	½ tsp baking powder 1½ Tbsp brandy	Stir together, add to egg mixture
¾ # ground almonds 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp cloves ½ #/8 oz honey ½ #/8 oz finely minced citron 5 cups flour	1/3 # ground almonds ½ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp cloves ¼ #/4 oz honey ¼ #/4 oz finely minced citron 2.5 c. white whole wheat flour	Add and stir into a thick, heavy dough.Wrap in waxed paper/cling film and chill overnight.
		Preheat oven to 325F.
		Divide dough into 3-4 pieces for easy rolling. On a lightly-floured surface, roll out one portion ¼ “ thick. Square off round edges. Cut in 2×3” rectangles. Gather scraps together to reuse.
		Repeat until you have as many cookies as you wish. Wrap and freeze any remaining dough.
		Bake on silicon mats or parchment ~ 6-8-10 mins, until bottom is browned and top barely dents when pressed upon. Cool cookies on a rack.
½ c icing sugar enough lemon juice	½ c icing sugar enough lemon juice	Sift sugar. Stir in enough juice to make a thin icing.
Blanched Almonds: slivered or sliced or halved Red glace cherries, halved Candied pineapple, sliced if very thick	Blanched Almonds: slivered or sliced or halved Red glace cherries, halved Candied pineapple, sliced if very thick	Ice 4 cookies at a time. While icing is still wet, put a piece of fruit in the center of each cookie. Put a nut in each corner, pointing toward the center. Continue.

The original recipe produces a very hard cookie [read: tooth-breaking], so I reduced the cooking time to produce a softer texture. The cookies, decorated, keep in a tin for weeks. Baked, un-decorated cookies can go into the freezer. I always save some un-decorated cookies to double as “Lembas” when we celebrate our Lord of the Rings Day in March.