At first glance this doesn't seem like a helpful thing to do when one of us (me) is trying to lose weight. But since we talked during and after supper, it didn't seem to set up any cravings, and the results of the discussion were quite interesting.
First, I found out that despite thirty-six years of marriage I wasn't able to predict even one of the top five items on my husband's list. I attribute this shocking lack of knowledge to the fact that he will eat anything put in front of him and enjoy it, except chocolate, which I knew would not make the list, and it didn't. A tiny bit of redemption, perhaps?
Anyway, this new information makes it easier to pare down the holiday baking. Or the bake sale purchases, which is how I've done most of my baking in recent years.
My own list surprised me almost as much. For most of my life, ever since making a cheesecake at about age 15, I would have put that at the top of the list. But stopping to actually think about what floats my boat now brought forth this somewhat dubious number one choice: Marshmallow Squares. I believe this name describes a number of different recipes; the one I would crawl over broken glass for includes peanut butter, butter, butterscotch chips and mini-marshmallows. Classy, eh? Basically candy, really. But look, anything with three kinds of butter in it can't be all bad. (Second on my list is butter shortbread. Seeing a pattern? Hence the need for losing weight.) The funny part is that I'm not a big fan of marshmallows, yet they are essential for these squares; without them, you'd basically have gooey butter sugar.
So, here's my question: what is your hands-down favourite sweet? For hubby's and my discussion, we opened up the field to everything - fancy desserts, squares, loaves, cookies, home-baked, store-bought ... everything was fair game; feel free to use those parameters or state your own. Hit me with your best shot. I promise to stave off cravings by eating before I read the comments, each and every one.
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| Even on a classy plate, Marshmallow Squares are still just candy. But delicious. (Photo: Teri D. at www.food.com) |
I cannot take straight up sweets; sweet turns my mouth inside out. I do adore a good ice cream. Hershey's peanut butter chocolate and Cold Stone Creamery coffee/chocolate/pecan are flavors I could cross broken glass for. Laura has become a big fan of cheese cake, but we had to bribe the first bite into her mouth. Over the years he siblings had convinced her it was made from cheddar and Swiss cheese and she wouldn't like it. Emily, by the way, requests cheese cake for every celebration.
ReplyDeleteOh, siblings! Mine told me tapioca was made from frogs' eggs and it took me nearly fifty years to try it! Peanut butter chocolate ice cream sounds like something I could love with no effort.
DeleteOK, four things (oops, actually five):
ReplyDeleteThe divinity and fudge my mother used to make for holidays.
The Lindt #255 raspberry truffles chocolate bars we used to wholesale at the warehouse I managed back in the 2000's.
And another chocolate bar we had there, sorry I can't remember the brand name, that was milk chocolate filled with almond butter.
I was also quite fond of the Walker's Shortbread Cookies we had there. It really was a good thing that I got that stuff for cost (below wholesale) as I could easily have snacked my way to poverty...
Oops, I would be remiss for not mentioning my fondness for white chocolate, in almost any form.
-Doug in Oakland
Doug, you are clearly a sweets connoisseur! Almond butter and chocolate ... slurrrrp
DeleteYeah, I really wish I could remember the brand name of that so I could recommend it, but we only carried it for a short while and I have never seen it in a store. I think the name started with the letter O, but that's as much as I remember. We carried eight or nine different brands of chocolate and some other candy besides. Then there were the Walker's Shortbread cookies, which were never safe from me...
Delete-Doug in Oakland
I have just discovered Nirvana, or close to it. Wikipedia has a list of ALL THE CHOCOLATE BARS by brand and what they're like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chocolate_bar_brands
DeleteI forgot to eat before reading your reply. Not good.
Sorry about that. I checked out that list, and it doesn't have either Ghirardelli, Newman's, or Dagoba, so maybe I need to learn how to edit Wikipedia?
Delete-Doug in Oakland
You're right - my bad, calling it ALL the bars. I looked again and it calls the list dynamic/never complete.
DeleteWhen I found that, I was googling "chocolate bars with almond filling" and found a recipe for a bar that was basically chocolate covered marzipan. I am highly interested in that.
My number one would have to be the Christmas pudding my mom used to make during the xmas holidays, otherwise known as black cake, fruitcake or rum cake. I'm also very partial to shortbread cookies, and graham crust anything is also yummy. The thing is my list is so long I can't really come up with just five. But those three items are definitely in the mix, lol.
ReplyDeleteHaha - I know what you mean. Your mom's Christmas pudding sounds so good. Do you have her recipe? They are a lot of work, though.
DeleteI make shortbread. And it has to be soft rather than crisp if himself is to eat it. Which means more butter.
ReplyDeleteChocolate? Yes. And I have a weakness for jelly babies (so long as the flavours are natural).
Mostly, savoury is my weakness.
More butter is only a good thing :)
DeleteAnd chocolate is certainly in my top three, although I have to be careful how much I eat or my GI system makes me sorry.
Jelly babies ... I had to look them up! They look a bit like our Sour Patch Kids!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_Patch_Kids
You mean sweet, as in desert? Because in the UK sweets are candies. It gets confusing doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'll eat almost any candies or sweets or desserts, but I'm not that into chocolate. I couldn't pick a favourite! I am partial to the old fashioned sweets though, like Cough Candy.
I knew about biscuits versus scones, but didn't realize the dessert versus sweets issue! Yep, I meant dessert-type food. I googled Cough Candy because I'm not familiar with that; it seems to include all hard candies including what we would call cough drops, hard candies for when you have an actual cough - is this correct? Fascinating, the differences in names for things. Canada still has some similarities to the UK but there are so many differences, too.
DeleteVanilla ice cream. Not exciting, but dependable. :)
ReplyDelete(How can anyone NOT have chocolate on their list of favorite sweets, though??)
I am not a marshmallow fan. I could easily go the rest of my life without eating one.
Gotta love a treat that is instantly obtainable - no baking needed :)
DeleteOn the other hand, if my favourite was available in stores all the time, there's no telling how much of it I would eat.
chocolate cake!! With many layers. And quite possibly some raspberries...
ReplyDeleteReading between the lines, many layers of chocolate cake means many layers of icing, yes? I'm in.
DeleteI'm like your husband in that I am a complete omnivore. If it's edible, I will eat it. It is a hard decision because of the variation in quality of said deserts. For example, a really good cheesecake vs. a dried up tasteless one. I lean toward pastry, but it's more of a mood thing and geographical location of said desert. It would be like asking which of my 20 children do I love the most. I just can't make that kind of decision.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet your analysis shows you have put an impressive amount of thought into the possibilities :)
Deleteoh fun!!! I love homemade PIE in almost any form. I also adore chocolate with another flavor like nuts or peanut butter or mint - we just polished off a pan of cocoa puff bars that was pretty heavenly. I love hot fudge on top of almost any flavor of ice cream. oh dear - I should not be thinking about these things right now because now I want a snack!! You warned me :)
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, homemade pie! A lady with whom I boarded made the most delectable rhubarb pie. She had been a dietitian in her working years. That pie was so good.
DeleteCherry cream-cheese strudel. Yep. Can't leave it alone. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds delicious! You really can't go wrong with fruit and cream cheese and pasty.
DeleteMolten lava cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, although I do love a good shortbread, as well. What was your husband's favorite?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds wonderful. His top choice was cheesecake with strawberry sauce. Although he said a few days later that he actually wouldn't walk around the block for ANY kind of sweets. I would, and have :)
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