Food, Stories

Stories We Tell Ourselves

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At my book club (my other book club) last weekend, after we had lunch, my friend Rita brought out some fabulous-looking brownies. As if that weren’t enough, she then brought out vanilla ice cream.  As she scooped the ice cream onto the plates with the brownies, she said “the ice cream helps cut the sweetness.”  We all laughed and then someone commented that if we had Diet Coke, it would counteract the calories as well.  And we laughed some more.

What “story” do you tell yourself?

71 thoughts on “Stories We Tell Ourselves”

      1. Yeah, Day 1 — all bright eyes, full of hope, strength, willpower and lots of veggies. Day 2 — feeling good, being strong and saying no. Day 3 — well maybe I’ll sneak just a bit of dark chocolate because that’s healthy. Day 4 — Oh, just a bite of that birthday cake because it would be rude not to. Day 5 — face planted in a box of donuts only coming up for air. Yeah, sugar is extremely addicting, as are many processed foods and carbs. You can’t eat just one …

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    2. Here’s a question I’ve sometimes wondered. Since I’ve never seen a study to support it, it’s probably not a fact and I may get into trouble even asking it, but:
      Are women more susceptible to sugar addiction than men?
      It’s dangerous to make any broad gender generalizations based on yourself, but I personally can go for years without ever eating a doughnut. I seldom eat cake and never crave it. I don’t drink soda pop, even the diet variety. I do like a little good chocolate now and then, but I’m never so desperate I would ever settle for a regular candy bar. My cravings tend toward the savory. Is that typical? Is there any gender correlation, do you think?
      Now I don’t have any sense of the sugar habits of other men, but I have observed that diet programs, which are typically targeted at women, often promise that you will be able to eat chocolate cake on their plan. That wouldn’t be a strong selling point for me.

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      2. I can’t remember the last time I ate a doughnut. Sweets hold very little allure for me, and I don’t drink pop. Hot salsa and some good corn chips, on the other hand, I find irresistible. Salty and savory for me, please.

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  12. At my age, there are a few perks: I found a free tax return service. His last slot is April 14, but for the first time in my life, there’s no Schedule C and only two modest sources of income. It should take him about five minutes. I learned last year that if your income is low enough, no taxes are assessed. On the other hand, you don’t get a refund either!

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    1. I’ll be getting a sizeable refund, but not enough for me to be motivated to do the returns, which is really silly, considering that using Turbo-tax, it’s not that much work.

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    1. He’ll probably be back up fairly soon.

      Last year, I thought they would have a decent year, because spring training seemed to go fairly well with batters hitting, pitchers getting outs…boy, was I wrong. So maybe sending the best hitter to AAA makes no difference since spring training performances seemingly have no bearing on the regular season.

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  15. As Renee says, she has April, but if anybody forgets and sends items to me, I’ll make sure she gets them. In the meantime:

    My favorite dessert pairing is chocolate chip cookies with cold, cold milk. What’s yours?

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    1. i dont do desert. whatever the opposite of a sweet tooth is.. me and bill and clyde all seem to have it. its not that i dont like it it just doesnt call out to me. now if someone puts out a bowl of m and m’s i eat . i am a heath bar fan and when valentines day boxes appear i do eat a bon bon a day until they are gone. at the bank i always thank them for not having a butterscotch sucker in the boquet of suckers in the coffee cup. blow pops get me and i will keep putting one piece of gum in my mouth after another until i have a baseball player size chew. until it goes flavorless.
      i do miss the old days of coming home and turning on perry mason, having a bong and a box of pretzels, a stack of pecan sandies and a dr pepper. life can be simple.

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  18. I’ll eat sweet things, but as snack, not after meal. like coffee, but just coffee, nothing with it. so I like just desserts.

    (mr. tuxedo is 12 today, which tells me how long this community has been together.)

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  21. A ripe Bosc pear, a few grapes, a handful of roasted almonds, a couple of dried apricots; a chunk of Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, a little warm Brie, a piece of aged Gouda; a few good crackers, and a glass of full bodied Sauterne and I’m good; thank you very much.

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  23. I like warm chocolate pudding cake, or chocolate bread pudding, with cold milk on it. Or chocolate peanut butter fudge. Or Trader Joe’s dark chocolate almond lacey cookies. Or warm apple crisp with ice cream. Can’t decide. You shouldn’t expect me to pick just one.

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  24. I think I’ve told my Tiramisu story here before. But I didn’t mention it earlier because I don’t expect the experience will EVER be duplicated. Or the sticky toffee pudding I had on Grand Cayman!

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  26. My latest favorite is a boozy milkshake. It’s easy to make and my theory is that it helps me sleep better.

    However the latest birthday cake we had here, chocolate tahini cake, was pretty dang good. I’m also a big fan of gingerbread.

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    1. The boozy milkshake reminds me of another treat – I call it coffee nog. A glass of egg nog with a bit of brandy and a couple tablespoons of very strong coffee. The egg nog is mostly available around Christmas, but also at Easter time.

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      1. It might be too sweet for you, PJ, but there is tahini in the cake itself and the frosting has an interesting blend of sweet and savory due to the tahini.

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    1. Do you make your own creme brulee (sorry don’t know how to do the accent marks), Linda? I had my first at a restaurant a while ago and it is so yummy.

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      1. I’ve never tried to make it at home. You need one of those little torches to sear the crust on the top. I will pay for somebody at the restaurant to prepare it for me.

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        1. That’s what I thought, too. I don’t have a torch and don’t really want to get one.

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