Dessert moratorium abated for holidays

My husband had the bright idea that he and I would quit eating desserts of any kind at night after dinner.

Why he included me in his heinous plan, I have no idea.

We often have a little ice cream after supper, sometimes with peanuts and chocolate sauce. Besides the dark chocolate that I eat every day, which has health benefits, that’s really the only sweets I allow myself.

Then I got our Southern Living magazine. While I was on the couch with my iPad, looking at news websites and getting mad at myself for clicking on ridiculous stories, he was perusing the magazine and talking out loud.

“I can’t make that — I don’t have three round cake pans; I only have two,” he said.

He pointed out recipes with bourbon in them, which didn’t sound especially appetizing to me.

My husband kept reading names of desserts out loud. “What about a Praline Cream-Beignet Tower?” he said, showing me the picture.

“Ooo, Layered Eggnog Blondies,” he said. I’m not a fan of eggnog, but he buys one carton every year at Christmas for himself.

Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake caught his eye. “I’ve often threatened to make a cheesecake,” he said. “Then I’d need a springform pan.”

The looks of the Chocolate-Peppermint Crackle Cookies reminded him of a cookie his mother used to make. I remember those.

He kept a running monologue about the recipes.

He decided he would not attempt to make marshmallows. “What do you think are in marshmallows?” he asked me.

“I don’t know — sugar?” I said. He does realize my only kitchen skills are baking pumpkin pies from the Libby’s can, scrambling eggs and putting ice in the glasses, right?

“What is sanding sugar? I’ve never heard of sanding sugar,” he said. In all our hours of watching Master Chef, I hadn’t heard of it, either. Then he read on — sanding sugar can be ordered online or purchased wherever specialty cake supplies are sold.

I’d already pointed out the two recipes that caught my attention as I flipped through the magazine — the Gingerbread Baked Alaska and Chewy Ginger Cookies, billed as Super Easy. The Triple Chocolate Brownie-Mousse Stacks made my mouth water just looking at the photograph.

He considered the baked Alaska. “Total time: 14 hours, 35 minutes! It’s not hard; it’s just time-consuming,” he said. “I don’t have a torch, either. It’s probably just as well.”

I asked him what happened to the no-desserts moratorium he’d declared the day before.

“Oh, well, I forgot it’s the holidays, and I’m going to want to bake,” he said.

I went and fixed myself a bowl of ice cream, with chocolate sauce, peanuts, and I added a big dollop of Cool Whip.

He’s right; it’s the holidays.

Tomorrow, I make pumpkin pies.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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