Friday 5 September 2008

San Francisco Part 2 - My Proxy Cheesecake Shame

The Great Cake Porn Tour
New York - Limited Cake Porn but Plenty of Sugar Pushers
New York Part 2 – Another Sugar Pusher and Cake Security Threat
Las Vegas - Supreme Cake Porn and Absurd Food Labelling
Yosemite National Park - More Blood Sugar Capers
San Francisco Part 1: Stretching the Definitions of Natural and Healthy
San Francisco Part 2 - My Proxy Cheesecake Shame

In the Yosemite post I discussed the possible reasons for Mrs M's repeated consumption of sugar-laden foods in spite of the ill-effects she experienced each time.
No Sugar Day
A few days ago the battle between her modern brain and her primeval urges finally shifted in favour of the modern brain as she decided to have a 'no sugar day'. For Mrs M, the Great Cake Porn Tour has become emblematic of her own 'great sugar tour', whereby she has decided to eat every sugary treat on holiday that she would normally not allow herself at home. With most of the boxes now ticked, I suspect she felt now was the time to give herself a break from the ravages of wildly fluctuating blood sugar.
Donuts
Nevertheless, the following day we were back in business, as I was bidden to fetch donuts from the market for breakfast. As I was making my selection I realised I was enjoying picking the ones I would eat myself. Chocolate icing with custard centre and plain icing with raspberry centre. Instead of one, I picked two.
Cheesecake
Later, at the Cheesecake factory in Union Square, Mrs M ordered cheesecake. I had a lot of advice to offer as she perused the menu. Above is a photo of the chosen slice - note the brown lump close to the apex. This was a half a snickers bar. Note also the texture of the main body. It had good density.

As she worked her way through the sturdy wedge with her customary tiny mouthfuls I found myself looking on with a mixture of vicarious joy and profound resentment... and it suddenly felt as though I had stepped over the boundary from observer to participant in an unacceptable way. Indulging my own desires by proxy like this felt strangely reminiscent of the plot of Oscar Wilde's A Picture of Dorian Gray; and for the protagonist in that, things do not turn out well...
Making it Count
As our trip draws to a close, I sense Mrs M's treat selection becoming increasingly ponderous. Yesterday the 'Healthy Snack' mentioned in San Fran part 1 was the outcome of 20 minutes of intense consideration. I think she has realised that a finite number of sugar experiences remain, and is determined to make them count. She knows that when the holiday is over, she will return to her healthy diet, her resolve likely strengthened by the blood sugar shenanigans we have seen, and her modern brain firmly back in control.
Horrors
I have no idea what joys and horrors the final 24 hours hold as Mrs M endeavours to wring every last drop out of her own great sugar tour, but it seems only fair to respect her privacy in these intensely personal moments. I myself will be examining my own motives a little more closely in case by some strange quirk of justice it turns out that choosing cakes for other people and closely watching them eat them turns out to be bad for your health...

The Series:
The Great Cake Porn Tour
New York - Limited Cake Porn but Plenty of Sugar Pushers
New York Part 2 – Another Sugar Pusher and Cake Security Threat
Las Vegas - Supreme Cake Porn and Absurd Food Labelling
Yosemite National Park - More Blood Sugar Capers
San Francisco Part 1: Stretching the Definitions of Natural and Healthy
San Francisco Part 2 - My Proxy Cheesecake Shame

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Over the weekend I indulged in a cake fest that even I thought was excessive. It involved 2 large pieces of chocolate cheesecake, a full tub of Ben & Jerrys Phish food (chocolate & Marshmallow ice cream) and half a tub of double cream.
It was very tasty but a couple of hours later I had a really bad headache and I wondered if it was the sugar or the cocoa that caused it. The next day I ate an Aero and a Wallnut Whip and got the same headache again.It seems that every time I eat chocolate I suffer, I wonder what your thoughts are, cocoa or sugar?

Methuselah said...

Mini - you make Mrs M seem like an amateur. It's highly likely that the sugar is to blame, but of course to be sure there's only one thing to do: take a leaf out of Seth Roberts' book and so some self-experimentation. I.e. Eat half a pot of cocoa powder on two consecutive days and see if you get a ringer of a headache...

Anonymous said...

your cake porn gave me a sugar headache...lol

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