Everyday Systems

Iused to be a BIG eater,but now I've reformed ,but now a really,really good friend is coming to our Xmas Dinner,+bringing a large ice cream cake,mainly for my benefit.

What do I do?????????????????

You enjoy the ice cream cake. This isn't about deprivation -- especially on holidays and other special days.

Well, when's the dinner? If it's on Christmas, there should be no problem, since that's a Saturday. It's an S day even for those of us who don't celebrate Christmas, this year.

A Christmas dinner sounds like something you should feel entirely justified in taking an S day for, even if it's not actually on Christmas Day.

Is the problem with the leftover ice cream cake you will have afterward? You can split up the leftovers among your guests. Ice cream cakes keep pretty well in the freezer, IIRC, so saving pieces for future S days shouldn't be too much of a problem.

I will share a secret with you: the best part of any sweet is the first few bites. A small piece of ice cream cake is almost as good as a huge piece. Some people would say it's better, because you don't feel as stuffed afterward.

What, exactly, do you think is going to be the problem you will have with the ice cream cake? If you tell us, we might be able to share stuff that's worked for us in similar situations.

Hi Larry,

Doesn't sound like there's a problem here. Christmas certainly qualifies as an S-day. Enjoy!

P.S. I took the liberty of changing OCE to ICE in the subject -- pretty sure that's what you meant.

Also.... you can be very openly appreciative of your friend.

To many people, food is an expression of love/affection... or, for some cooks, an opportunity to get a little appreciation for their skill.

You can accept the love and show appreciation - enthusiastically - even if you don't eat a bite. (I use this strategy for office parties all the time. You can say "that LOOKS lovely!" or similar things in all honesty, and participate in the general community without eating things that you'd rather not.)

And if (when, since this is an S-day) you do eat some, eat slowly, and savor every bite. One of the big benefits of No-S is that treats taste SO MUCH BETTER without a side order of guilt!!

I'd like to think that the following is a sign of the sanity of NoS as an approach: when reading your subject heading, my first thought was, "How is this a problem? Have some ice cream cake (if it's an S day), or don't. No problem."

So, yeah, have your cake, and eat it, too. (Never understood why those are supposed to be contradictory. Eating your cake and still having it, too, now that'd be unusual.)

Of course, there's nothing saying you have to polish off an entire cake just because it's an S day.

DaveMc wrote:So, yeah, have your cake, and eat it, too. :) (Never understood why those are supposed to be contradictory. Eating your cake and still having it, too, now that'd be unusual.)

Your latter phrasing is, apparently, the original form. I can't find the source that told me that at the moment, unfortunately. The first written form turned up in the sixteenth century.

Anyway, ice cream cake. It's not a problem in this context. On a related note, does anyone here remember Arctic roll? That (and Vienetta) used to be the height of sophisticate dining*, as I recall.

*For a certain social class in the eighties. Restrictions apply. Batteries not included.

I remember Vienetta, but I haven't seen it for years. Could be that I haven't looked, either.

We still have Viennetta in Germany! Never heard of Arctic Roll, though.

A friend brought a Vienetta to my 10-year-old daughter's birthday tea recently. She decorated it by writing DD's name across the top in icing and finished it with a row of candles - very sophisticated if you ask me!