The Perfect Treat

This time of year, if my friend Charlotte has come through for us with pickles, dilly beans, and strawberry preserves for Christmas — and rarely has she not; only last year, I think, when she had something that didn’t turn out right (and I’m not sure I would know!) — I indulge in the prefect treat.

It is true my doctor warned me only yesterday about the danger of simple carbs (the whites) in most diets, yet, still I will indulge a few times, because the perfect treat can be enjoyed only as long as Charlotte Pfeiffer’s strawberry preserves last.

Spread a warm, flaky croissant or other favorite bread with good butter and spoon on top homemade strawberry preserves.

Catching up on reading I missed during the holidays, I came across Alexander Wolfe’s interview in the Review section of the Friday Wall Street Journal with Mireille Guiliano, the author of “French Women Don’t Get Fat,” and now a new book on oysters.

Wolfe described the interview setting: “In a corner booth at a West Village seafood restaurant, she slathers butter on a baguette as she lists the benefits that her lunch — bread, oysters, white wine — has over seemingly healthy ‘green things’ from juice bars.”

Guiliano, Wolfe notes, believes that a truly healthy diet is based on variety, including bread, chocolate and “champagne, of course” — everything in moderation. She notes her lunch meal covers various food groups and she eats at a “civilized pace.”

Guiliano, who had chefs in her family, studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and began working in the marketing department at the champagne producer Veuve Clicquot (with the famous yellow-orange label) where she eventually became CEO. She left in 2006 to write full time.

I have not read her books, though her philosophy certainly inspires me — to enjoy my perfect treat and maybe even pour a glass of champagne to sip with it.