Food: Serving Dessert has its Benefits

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Serving Dessert has its Benefits
Sunday, April 09, 2006

By Christina VanGinkel

My daughter is having a birthday this week, but when we have a family birthday that falls during the week, we usually celebrate it the weekend following. Because next weekend is a holiday though, we decided to celebrate it today instead. I always cook the kids their favorite meal, and then top it off with the dessert of their choice, and this is usually a regular cake or an ice cream cake. My daughter decided she wanted to have strawberry swirl cheesecake instead. To say that this was a perfect choice would be an understatement, as everyone enjoyed it, including my two-year-old grandson, who asked if he could take a piece of it home.

For dinner itself, she chose tacos. Not hard to make, quick to assemble all of the ingredients, and everyone is also a fan of them because they choose what they want to put on them, and again, this was a perfect choice for a family of various ages and tastes.

Dinner celebrations of this sort are common fare in our family. It is a good reason for everyone to come over for a shared meal, even though we tend to assemble for meals for no particular reason quite often. The added reason though is always a welcome thing, it puts everyone in a good mood, and dessert is not usual fare, so that is always another advantage. While we always have the obligatory pudding cup or packaged sweet available, a real, honest to goodness dessert is truly not the ordinary! This got me thinking though, if dessert should not be included in my regular menus, at least more often than it currently is which is just for special occasions.

To say that it is a bribe to get everyone to be on his or her best behavior would be an understatement, as it is exactly that and more. If you expect to be on the receiving end of dessert at my house, this means you have to use every table manner you have ever acquired. Pleases, thank you, your welcome, and other nice words are always heard at our family table, yet when dessert is sitting on the counter, just waiting to be served, it seems to up the count for these niceties. For this same reason, I do not think serving dessert at every meal would work, but serving it more often might!

If the thought of a slice of frosted cake, or a bowl of ice cream with chocolate, or a cake made of cookies and ice cream can bring out the best in my family, would there be anything wrong in asking them to show up with their nice side more evident, more often? I do not think so, but I would have to be careful to keep it something that is not typical, something that is still an incentive of sorts.

As I consider this idea, I do have to consider the added calories at the same time. I am supposed to be on the losing end of weight, not coming up with ways to add more calories to my diet. I am afraid if I did this, I would not be able to resist the temptation of fancy desserts any more than my own family members would. Still, I wonder if I could find the resolve within myself to at least try, because the rewards would be great. To explain how different they act when they know dessert is waiting is hard to explain, but it is nonetheless real. My young grandson is by far one of the most obvious. Not allowed to have many sweets, ever, the thought of a slice of some delicacy is enough to get him to sit properly in his chair, and remember his manners. He is usually good at meal times, but there is a definite difference between meals without and those with dessert. For this same reason, I would have to be careful not to overdo it, but I do think I am going to start serving dessert more often.

Will I be able to stop myself from over indulging? I am not sure, but I am willing to try it, as I think the benefits do outweigh the negatives, especially if I just keep reminding myself why I am serving the desserts in question. I am not tempted by the packaged sweets, but real desserts would be a stretch. Today's strawberry swirl cheesecake for example, was delicious! Hey, it is not everyday that my daughter turns twenty-two years old.

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