This column runs contrary to the scores of articles that tell us how to eat light over the holidays based on the hackneyed warning that the average person gains seven pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

The season is halfway finished. You’ve either already exerted noble restraint in your food and beverage consumption so far, and deserve to cut loose. Or you’ve gained a little poundage that isn’t likely to increase dramatically by the time you hit the treadmill in earnest on Jan. 2.

If there are upcoming soirees in your holiday future then read on and consider these little pearls from devil’s advocates on how to best indulge.

• Deck three quarts of eggnog with a few generous scoops of peppermint ice cream for a unique and cloying punch-bowl party dessert.

• Give the Coronas and other watery beers a much-needed break, and replace them with duppel or tripel Belgian ales sold in wine-size bottles with artistic labels. They make for a novel change when entertaining or contributing to festive gatherings. Servall Liquor on University Avenue offers obscure and excellent selections, along with Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

• The jury is in. Nonfat sour cream destroys all holiday dip recipes. Save it for potatoes and celery sticks in next month’s diet.

• Take a shopping breather with some of the latest holiday cocktails offered at popular restaurants: The ginger splash made with French Canton liqueur at Urban Solace; a warm pumpkin pie martini mixing Tommy Bahama Golden Sun Rum, cream and pumpkin pie syrup at Terra Restaurant; and indigo spiced punch with moscato wine and sugar cane at Phi Bar and Bistro, to name a few.

• Want to try your hands at something other than turkey and ham? Get your goose on at Sausage King, which sells the traditional holiday birds (uncooked) at $4.50 a pound. Orders must be placed at least 24 hours in advance. Supplies become limited after Christmas. For more info, call 619-297-4301.

• Add a pat of butter to your favorite hot toddy recipe and brace for the fuzzy wuzzies.

• Keep the champagne flowing on New Year’s Eve, but beware of flying corks attributed each year to ugly eye injuries. Gilles Fougeres of La Bastide Bistro says that corks turn into dangerous missiles when the champagne isn’t chilled down to 45 degrees. The warmer the bottle, the more rapidly the cork flies off. Also, the force is effectively defused when using a towel to wiggle it out.