A Tale of Two Cakes: Pre-Cheating Is Not As Easy As It Seems

For those of you following the blog you are aware that my son Lucas was salivating over the chance to attend a party this weekend.

Since he and Hannah have been so amazing following our family diet, we decided a few weeks ago that Lucas could have a piece of pizza and some cake at a party that was scheduled for this weekend. I called this anticipatory eating pre-cheating.

I am not going to rehash everything I already wrote, but Lukey got invited to a second party this weekend and while he attended both events, he was forced into a huge dieter's dilemma as he had to choose between the cakes.

Now had it been me, I would have gone for the event with the pizza and the cake. Easy choice. Hands down. Give me the slice of pie and the slice of cake any day.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the cheating forum.

First - the pizza party became a mid afternoon event. Since it was in between meals, the pizza was a no-show. At that point, my little guy decided he would wait until Sunday to go for the full-on party splurge.

When he woke up this morning, he was so excited about his reward. You could see the drool dripping in anticipation of his chance to ditch the diet, if only for a few bites.

But then, he got to the party and his little cheating world came crashing down on him.

He learned the cake wasn't a cake at all. Instead, it was one of those huge cookies and it wasn't just any monstrosity of frosting. Apparently it was a Snicker Cookie Cake. I am salivating as I type this just thinking of that yummy, gooey caramel and peanut goodness.

Wow. Score!

But wait a minute. No, no no!!!!

You did not just say "peanut," did you?

Lucas is allergic to all things peanut and anytime one of those pesky suckers gets near him, his throat starts to close like a government office at 5 pm. I mean when it's time to close, it's time to close and it's Epi-Pen Time!

So no pizza. No cake. No cookie.

Sad clown.

We were ready and willing to put the eating in cheating and all I can say is when did slipping off the diet become this hard?

Apparently there was a back-up chocolate cake at the party, but Lucas chose to eat a bowl of strawberries instead. I think that decision freaked just about everyone out.

So when we showed up to pick up our young son, I was proud, surprised and actually a little sad for him. Especially since we were leaving one event and heading straight to the Third party of the weekend, a team celebration honoring Hannah's basketball teammates. Taking him to yet another party felt a little like torture to me.

As you blog followers may recall, a few weeks ago we attended a similar party for Lucas. Well, tonight was round two. Same coach. Same insanely huge, beautiful house. Even better food, if that is at all possible. And this time, we had absolutely nothing to do with picking it up! :)

But when we walked into the kitchen, we spied the most glorious sight.

A huge chocolate chip cookie cake - no peanuts - just chips.

Oh, yes, this story has a happy ending.

Hannah and Lucas had very small, satisfying slivers of the chocolate chip cookie cake and they earned and savored every delicious bite.

UPDATE AT 8:30/Monday night 3-16-09

I was exchanging IM's with Mark Kaplan, a long time friend who hosted the Snicker Cookie Party.  I have known Mark since I was Lukey's age.  There is a little twist in this tale of two cookie cakes... Apparently, it wasn't a Snicker Cookie afterall, it was a Snickerdoodle Cookie. And if you know your Snickedoodles, there are no peanuts in this delight of a dessert. It's all cinnamon and sugar. I am guessing Lucas heard the word Snicker and figured it was loaded with peanuts because when he comes home from Halloween, the first thing we do is confiscate all the Snickers... Too Funny.  But once again, he shows incredible maturity and restraint.  Love that boy! 



© Steve Elzer, 2009