From deep in the throes of pre-Passover cleaning and shopping, old questions are renewed and new ones added to the litany.

As part of the seder (ritual Passover dinner), a child makes four observations, called Ma Nishtanah, starting with the question, "Why is this night different from any other night of the year?" He goes on to ask about the foods and rituals of the seder, leading the group into the maggid, or story, of the Israelites' Exodus from Egypt.

My questions may be more secular in nature, and may change from year to year, but they are no less perplexing to someone who was not brought up in a Kosher home, and whose sympathies lie with those of us whose lifestyles are dictated -- at least to a certain degree -- by our personal health.

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It's that time of year again -- time to report on this year's results of the WebWarren Cookie Laboratories.

Lest you think I've had a bit too much of the nonexistent "adult" eggnog (or given the outdoor temperatures, the nonexistent hot toddy), The Other Half's parents like to have several varieties of cookies on hand for Christmas Day visitors (i.e., the entire extended family) -- and with his mother no longer able to do the sort of baking she once did, we try to take up a bit of the slack. The first time we did cookie baking up here, I was trying to develop some new cookie recipes, and we brought down the results in a carton repurposed with Christmas wrapping paper and labeled "WEBWARREN COOKIE LABS -- EXPERIMENTAL SAMPLES". The name -- and the mock pretentiousness -- stuck. While were not able to get down south this year, the Cookie Labs have been in full force.

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I love eggnog. Just adore it, and the fact that it's only available 6 weeks a year only adds to its allure.

The full fat full sugar, richest, yummiest version has about 60 calories an ounce. That's without the rum or the bourbon.

Even the "light" version has 26 grams of carbs in 4 ounces, 25 of them from sugars. As usual the light refers to low fat, not low carb.

I've looked around for a healthier recipe. There are a lot out there. Let me eliminate about 60% of the recipes by saying I don't want soy milk in mine. I know, I know, soy milk is so yummy and healthy and yada, yada, yada, but I just don't like it.

I saw a couple recipes that use sugar free vanilla pudding in lieu of eggs and cream to thicken. I'm going to try that one. (READ MORE)