EXCEPTION ONE: VALENTINE’S DAY

It’s a time for the sweets
A time for the sweeter
A time for the cheesecake
And the cheesecake eater
                              -my dad

And speaking of cake…

I announced about a month ago that I would be giving up sweets until Easter Sunday with two exceptions. One being Valentine’s Day, and the other being Fat Tuesday. And if my calendar is correct, I believe today is Valentine’s Day!

I’ve been really good with sticking to my challenge. I’ve been avoiding anything sweet other than fruit. No ice cream, brownies, cakes, cookies, donuts, puddings, jellos, candy, jams, jellies, preserves, maple syrup, nothing! The worst I did was have a homemade fruit smoothie sweetened with agave nectar, and one piece of bread with peanut butter. And that peanut butter tasted way too good to be allowed. So I’ve avoided it since. It’s like a gateway drug. First thing it’s just peanut butter on toast, and then it’s a half a box of crackers mixed with half a jar of peanut butter. Then I’ll be eating it out of the jar again drizzling chocolate syrup on my spoon. It was too risky to allow peanut butter.

My rules were strict, but I stood by them. My mom had joined my challenge, and I even guilt-tripped her into passing on her fat free, sugar free, why-do-they-even-call-it-pudding, chocolate pudding. We stopped over for dinner and I opened the fridge and saw four small cups of chocolate pudding. “What’s this!?” I asked.

“It’s dessert,” she replied like nothing was wrong.

“Uh, yeah, exactly! What day is it? It’s not Valentine’s Day and it’s not Fat Tuesday! Are these all for dad?” I said.

“No. They are for us. That doesn’t count. Pudding isn’t a sweet,” she tried to explain.

Even though this was her first attempt at finding a hole in the rules, she thought pudding didn’t count. I was going to let it slide for her on a technicality, but when I saw the tub of CoolWhip thawing on the counter, I put my foot down and shamed her into passing on it. My dad seemed to benefit from this arrangement.

It has been a long month, and now the day had arrived to partake in a Valentine’s Day dessert. But what were we to get?

I knew if I made something like a whole cake, there would be leftovers, which wouldn’t be good. The rules were only one dessert. It wasn’t going to be a dessert binge eating disaster where I’d suddenly wake up in the alley behind a bakery not knowing where I was or what happened with chocolate frosting on my face. It was dessert. Just one dessert. So it had to be a good one.

Aya knew exactly what she wanted. She wanted a cupcake from the Whole Foods bakery. She had been dreaming about it. And at first, I was going to go along with it too. But the more I thought about it, I didn’t want a cupcake. I wanted the hot fudge brownie sundae from Big Boy’s. And that’s what I got! It has a little of everything! Ice cream, cake, whipped cream, and not only fudge, but hot fudge. (Droool)

I admit, seeing it crumpled up in a styrofoam container with the whipped cream mushed down, I started to wonder if it was a good idea. But with it being Valentine’s Day I turned on Turn off the Lights by Teddy P to set the mood and took a bite. Oh man, I made the right choice. It made sense to have dessert on Valentine’s Day now. I immediately felt my blood become energized. I could feel the chocolate spreading through my veins. After a long separation we were reunited together as one. Why did I ever think of giving you up? We are a perfect match. We belong together. “Will you be my Valentine?” I thought as I looked down at my hot fudge brownie goodness.

I just don’t trust myself around you though. Maybe some things are just too good to be good for you. I’m so confused right now.

Luckily, I only have one more week until Fat Tuesday. So while I ponder my confused feelings, I’m comforted by the fact I will be eating two pazckis in just a week’s time.

MMMmmm pazckis…

Happy Valentine’s Day!