Pass the treats, hold the calories

This is the time of year when I think I should be baking cookies -- but refraining from eating them.

I ask you: Where is the justice in that?

Bakers won't have to turn on the oven -- or suffer flashes of guilt about calories -- if they order goodies from Salem Baking Co., which serves up traditional Moravian sugar cookies at a scant 150 calories for eight (small) cookies. Spice cookies are even less fretful, at 12 cookies at a mere 130 calories. A small tube, tailor made for stuffing stockings, is priced at an itty-bitty $4.50.

For those who don't have a sweet tooth -- honest, they're out there -- Salem has whipped up cheese straws, the classic southern treat, revved up in variations including pimento, three-chili, artichoke-garlic and Asiago sun-dried tomato pesto. A six-ounce box will set you back $6.99.

These treats hail from Winston-Salem in North Carolina (not Salem County in South Jersey, alas). To order or get details, go to www.salembaking.com