THROUGHOUT MY LIFE I have had plenty of dental work done. I've had wisdom teeth yanked, root canals, crowns installed, two implants and, of course, cavities filled and cleanings. But the one and only procedure that I have wanted to have done, my dentist adamantly refuses to do: I want him to extract my sweet tooth.
It's this thing just exudes a craving for candy and cookies. My saliva glans go into overdrive when I walk down the candy aisle of the grocery store. My partiality for malted milk balls, black licorice, & peanut butter cups can cause nearby shoppers to give me a wide berth when they notice the look in my eyes and the erratic manner of my pace.
Upon entering the cookie aisle, something goes wrong with my grocery cart. One of the wheels invariably stops turning the way it should and the cart will veer toward pecan sandies or devil's food cookies. Once I make it to the bakery, all hell breaks loose. Will it be peanut butter cookies or donut holes or bear claws? Apple crumb pie or cheese Danish? Perhaps a nice cinnamon treat?
“I'd like to make an appointment to have my sweet took extracted,” I told the dentist the last time I was there.
“Sorry, no can do.”
“Why not?”
“Well, which tooth is it exactly?”
“How do I know? You're the dentist!”
So in this coming new year, for the first time since I can remember, I plan to make a New Year's resolution to avoid sweets. I suspect I'll do okay unless someone is thoughtless enough to give me a belated Xmas gift: a box of chocolates perhaps, or one of those oversized containers of tiny, flavorful jelly beans. Like Oscar Wilde, I can resist anything but temptation.
Hello HenryM.
Another great post!
I have always maintained (to my wife) that the decision making with regard to eating sweets/chocolates should be made at or before entering the store. On the simple assumption that, if you don't buy them - you won't be able to eat them later. Having once brought them home, my next theory is that: if you eat them all in one go, then the digestive system doesn't have time to process it all, and it does less harm than if you drag it out over a longer period of time. Also, this strategy often has the effect of making you feel sick, which 'might' put you off buying the sweets/chocolates next time (aversion therapy?). So far, neither of my theories seem to have worked in terms of stopping the habit, but because someone once said that there is an ingredient in chocolate that is 'addictive', I think it is only reasonable to 'blame' the manufacturers and the purveryors of these drugs.
Best wishes
Bill
Yeh, that's the ticket. We're all helpless victims of those money grubbing, pitiless chocolate manufacturers. Pass the bon bons...
Hi guys speaking of cookies those round ones with the hole in the center with chocolate drizzled across and on the bottom are my favorites.
Hi Henry, Well, I admit that I am a hopeless addict and powerless to do anything about it. This time of year is particularly dangerous for me because there seems to be this unwritten rule that anything goes right now, that indulgence is a good thing, the more the merrier. Anything chocolate is my weakness, if it has nuts in it also, even better. Then there are Nanaimo bars, impossible to resist and for you non-Canadians out there, if you don't know what I am talking about, google it, try them, you won't be disappointed. They were invented in a seaside town of the same name on Vancouver Island, just west of me. The only thing I will promise is that come January 1st, I will try to reduce my consumption. I don't kid myself that I could ever give up my addiction completely. As they say, you have to want to get better. I guess I haven't reached my own personal "bottom" yet. I hope I never do.
Cheers,
Terry
Oh, that sounds good! There was a little mexican restaurant near us that used to make these brownies that had chili in them. They were very chocolately, moist and definitely a bit spicy. I loved them, but I guess not enough other people did and they were dropped from the menu! It would be great if you posted the recipe!
Cheers,
Terry
Chili salty chocolates
1 package chocolate chips, large size, I used semi-sweet, use what you like
1 tsp chili flakes, I took out the seeds
1/2 tsp hot chili pepper, or cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chili oil
sea salt
In double boiler melt the chips with the chili flakes, pepper and oil. Taste if you want them hotter add more pepper or if too hot add more chocolate.
Remove from heat and sprinkle with salt (do not use table salt) stir well and pour
into moulds. Do not put in the freezer, it will turn whitish.
