Tuesday, May 19, 2009

The high cost of food allergies...no desserts for ME!

This weekend, we ended up making dinner really early one night because the boys were hungry. Usually, by the time we finish dinner, there's just enough time for the boys' bath, clean-up, and bedtime. But we had tons of time that night. And I have a wicked bad sweet tooth.

You can see where this is going, right? Out for dessert!

Due to B-man's nut allergies, desserts are REALLY difficult. Almost everywhere we'd go, there are nuts used. Bakeries and ice cream stands are right out as there's way too much risk of cross-contamination. So I had to think outside the box. You know what finally occurred to me? McDonald's!

We rarely eat at Mickey D's. I'm really not a fan of their food. Well, except Egg McMuffins. Mmmm! But besides one time we stopped on a road trip a few years ago when there was nothing else around, and a few times through the drivethru for fries, the boys have never had any McDonalds.

They were so excited to go out for dessert! I had read the ingredient/allergen lists online ahead of time, and knew I could get the boys ice cream cones. We got the ice cream cones, and the boys were literally jumping up and down in excitement. We sat down, and gave them the ice cream cones. They both looked at them. Then N-man asked perplexedly, "How do I eat this?"

Oh my. My poor, poor children! Nearly 4 years old, and they don't know how to eat an ice cream cone. (In my defense, I haven't been quite so cruel. They have had ice cream cones maybe 2 or 3 other times, all at Grandma's house and not since last summer. They must have forgotten.)

We taught them how to eat ice cream cones. They loved it! I got to eat dessert, too. I mean, it was no Melting Pot chocolate fondue or Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, but I think I just have to accept that my days of desserts like that are over, at least when B-man is out with us.

So I guess I found what McDonald's is good for: adequate desserts out for my son with nut allergies.

Did you ever think you'd hear me singing any praises for McDonald's? I know, it surprised me, too!

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In an ironic twist of fate, I'm reading In Defense of Food at the moment. I believe going to McDonald's while reading this book was kind of like my endless yearnings for Twinkies while reading Twinkie, Deconstructed. Missing-the-point!

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I tried one of the new McCafe coffee drinks while I was at McDonald's. A cappucinno. It was NOT good. In fact, it was pretty disturbing. The "foam" on top stayed foamy. I don't know what it was made of, but I don't think it was foamed milk. There's no way foam shouldn't melt into the coffee by the time you get to the bottom of the cup! It totally grossed me out!

See, now this sounds more like me, right? A little bit of honest food snobbery? Hey, I calls 'em like I sees 'em!

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Where's your favorite place to go for dessert? Mmmm, chocolate!

9 comments:

LauraC said...

This reminds me of the yearning desire I had for McDonald's french fries while reading the french fry descriptions in Fast Food Nation!

I wonder if you could do Cheesecake Factory or is that is too dicey for dessert as well?

rich said...

We TRY to avoid fast food, but sometimes it just doesn't work out :). Murphy learned what malted milk ball chocolate whoppers were when he was being heavily bribed during potty training and the first time we went through Burger King and ordered whoppers, he cried that he wasn't getting chocolate.

Is "In Defense" good? It looks really interesting...

We miss you guys!

Ronnica said...

That's hilarious that you had to teach them! My favorite dessert is Coldstone ice cream. In fact, I might go get some today. The fact that there's one 5 minutes from work is SO not helpful!

Mommy, Esq. said...

I've been thinking about allergies a lot lately. Ned has been eating with so much gusto we've stopped really focusing on the ingredients and now I worry about a backlash at some point. Also, next time we meet up I need to know your boys IRL names so I can stop thinking of them by their psuednyms which are cute but keep me wondering all the time what their real names are!

Susan said...

Hahaha...your funny about McDonald's coffee - I'm with you on that. We, too, are really not fast food people but indulge occasionally - as a teen, I loved Big Mac's ;) I have teens now and we all love ice cream so if we get dessert, it is usually at the local mom and pop's ice cream place. I feel for nut allergies, tough to control.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for giving me a good laugh when I could really use one. I loved the "how the heck do we eat these?!" So funny! Yes, getting desserts with allergies is really tough.

And thanks for the heads up on the McD's cap. Will avoid it!
Dana

Jan said...

I typically avoid McDonalds like the plague but the other night my husband and I stopped and that quarter pounder with cheese was amazing. Tried not to think about Fast Food Nation or Skinny Bitch or the guy that ate McDonalds for 30 days and got fat.

pink cake box said...

Found some places for you, some are far, and some are only through mail order but all these places are in Mass. The closest one that has a store is cakes 4 occasions, its right on Danvers. The only bummer is they close at 6 pm and I think they're closed on sundays. I bet you've heard of them!


http://stores.homestead.com/bostontreats/StoreFront.bok

http://www.cakes4occasions.com/

http://www.fancypantsbakery.com/

http://www.goodbaker.com/about.php

http://www.hippiechickbakery.com/

http://www.bodavibakers.com/

Mary Ellen said...

oooh, I have a secret love for the McDonald's strawberry sundae. I know! It's disgusting! Don't tell anybody!