Confession Time: Share Your Culinary "Sins"

[ellencho]

I confess too:

I buy ice cream with stuff in it just to eat the stuff (like heath bar crunch ice cream just to eat the heath bar out if the ice cream). I also like Miracle Whip in sandwiches and Cool Whip on my Jell-o.

[NulloModo]

Dining Secrets?

Hmm....

I confess I play around with what is on the menu a lot. I am the guy who asks for a side of veggies instead of the potatoes or fries, and asks the waiter if any starch or sugar is used in the sauce/prep of certain dishes that seem questionable. I try to be fair about it, I mean, I won't order something that blatantly has it and ask for it to be changed, but I certainly can give the waitstaff a workout on menu knowledge.

[Potter]

Dining Secrets?

Hmm....

I confess I play around with what is on the menu a lot.  I am the guy who asks for a side of veggies instead of the potatoes or fries, and asks the waiter if any starch or sugar is used in the sauce/prep of certain dishes that seem questionable.  I try to be fair about it, I mean, I won't order something that blatantly has it and ask for it to be changed, but I certainly can give the waitstaff a workout on menu knowledge.

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NulloModo: That's A okay, but don't go overboard. Check out www.stainedapron.com for restaurant workers gripes. Unfortunatley, a lot of the stuff is true. I am too computer retarded to provide an actual link. sorry.

[browniebaker]

I confess:

I appear to be sipping my wine but I am not actually swallowing. I have never enjoyed the taste of alcohol, but often I accept a glass of whatever just to avoid the questioning and the urging I get when I say I don't want any wine.

[yushoe]

I confess:

I appear to be sipping my wine but I am not actually swallowing. I have never enjoyed the taste of alcohol, but often I accept a glass of whatever just to avoid the questioning and the urging I get when I say I don't want any wine.

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ohhh... can you teach me this trick? This is a problem for me too. But don't people notice that the wine level in your glass is staying the same?

[Pan]

The level doesn't stay the same, as some of the liquid evaporates! That's a fact known to all Jews who have annual Seders for Passover. One goblet of wine is poured for the spirit of Elijah the Prophet to enjoy, and we like to say that since we can see that its level has gotten lower, that means that Elijah has come and drunk some of it.

[easternsun]

I confess:

I appear to be sipping my wine but I am not actually swallowing. I have never enjoyed the taste of alcohol, but often I accept a glass of whatever just to avoid the questioning and the urging I get when I say I don't want any wine.

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good one! i used to work in my friends bar to help out and you never refuse a drink from a customer! in eight hours, you could be in for as many as 20-30 shots. seriously! so after "cheersing", when the other person has the shot glass up to their face, i dump the shot over my shoulder on my back.

of course, the taxi drivers who took me home thought i was stinking drunk! actually, just stinking!

[browniebaker]

I confess:

I appear to be sipping my wine but I am not actually swallowing. I have never enjoyed the taste of alcohol, but often I accept a glass of whatever just to avoid the questioning and the urging I get when I say I don't want any wine.

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ohhh... can you teach me this trick? This is a problem for me too. But don't people notice that the wine level in your glass is staying the same?

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No one's ever said anything. But two tricks help the wine-level go down: (1) wet the lips with wine and wipe with napkin, repeat, repeat, and repeat; and/or (2) have your spouse, significant other, date, or the person next to you accidentally drink from your glass instead.

[ChefSwartz]

that is certified ALCOLHOL ABUSE, yall should be ashamed.

when i was little i used to sitck my finger in all the sauces in the fridge to taste them. with nothing else. one after the other. oh wait that was yesterday.

[Luckylies]

I dont like chocolate so much as chocolate things. I eat the caramel out of the inside of chocolate squares, the champagne out of champagne truffles. the filling would not be the same without the hint of chocolate though. Some times I order desserts just for the crem anglaise or the pastry cream.

[Tess]

OK, I'm actually embarrassed about how often I eat at certain restaurants, especially the ones where I always have exactly the same meal. I will often deliberately not go to one of these places for a month in hopes that I won't be known as that person who always orders the so-and-so.

[Ling]

If I could live on desserts alone and not get too chubby or die of malnutrition, I would.

(And there was a 2 or 3 week period around Christmas where I ate my Christmas baking pretty much for breakfast, lunch, and dinner whenever I didn't have a big family dinner planned. )

[jgm]

Some friends and I are probably going to burn in hell for this...

Several years ago, our community had "overflow shelters" for homeless people during the coldest winter months. They rotated between downtown churches. When my friend's church was due to have a shelter in their building for a weekend, he and I and other friends agreed to prepare dinner for 75 on Saturday night. On the menu was chicken and noodles, which pretty much took all day since I insisted on making everything, even the noodles, from scratch. In the end, it was worth it when one of the men came back into the kitchen, and with tears in his eyes, said, "I haven't eaten like this since my Mom died."

On Friday, one group member who had to be out of town, delivered several dozen molasses cookies to my office, to be taken to the church and served as dessert along with the chicken and noodles. Long story short: of course we had to taste the cookies, for quality control, you know. By the time dinner rolled around, we had eaten ALL of the cookies--boy, were they good-- and we had to send somebody out to buy more cookies. No kidding, not only were those the best molasses cookies I've ever had, they were likely the best cookies, period, I've ever had.

Yes, we did confess our sins to our friend, who was not very happy with us, and we didn't blame him. All of the cookie-baking compliments in the world just didn't make up for our gluttony.

[M. Lucia]

If I could live on desserts alone and not get too chubby or die of malnutrition, I would.

(And there was a 2 or 3 week period around Christmas where I ate my Christmas baking pretty much for breakfast, lunch, and dinner whenever I didn't have a big family dinner planned. )

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Me too!

I have such a sweet tooth...

Sometimes I just order an appetizer to save room for dessert.

In restaurants, I often opt for two appetizers instead of an entree, usually b/c the appetizer dishes look more interesting to me (and I am not a big meat eater).

[Mooshmouse]

If I could live on desserts alone and not get too chubby or die of malnutrition, I would.

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Me too!

I have such a sweet tooth...

Sometimes I just order an appetizer to save room for dessert.

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Since we're confessing...

About 10 years ago, an equally sweet-toothed girlfriend and I went to the Sutton Place Hotel to indulge in their Chocoholic Buffet. We split a spinach and smoked salmon salad between the two of us and then dove straight into dessert. 2 1/2 hours later, we were the last table standing... or sitting and groaning, such as the case may be.

[Luckylies]

I confess..

I seed my boyfried with dining ideas the night before for breakfast, or at breakfast for dinner. ex. " brr it's so cold out today, have'nt you been craving smoked meat?" an hour later " you know what would be good, fresh pasta" by dinner he's dying for carbonara and can't tell why

[SWISS_CHEF]

I confess:

I appear to be sipping my wine but I am not actually swallowing. I have never enjoyed the taste of alcohol, but often I accept a glass of whatever just to avoid the questioning and the urging I get when I say I don't want any wine.

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ohhh... can you teach me this trick? This is a problem for me too. But don't people notice that the wine level in your glass is staying the same?

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No one's ever said anything. But two tricks help the wine-level go down: (1) wet the lips with wine and wipe with napkin, repeat, repeat, and repeat; and/or (2) have your spouse, significant other, date, or the person next to you accidentally drink from your glass instead.

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REMIND ME NEVER TO GO OUT WITH ANY OF YOU!!!

[Radio7]

Tess - I have the same problem. Though it's mainly due to logistical problems with travel. The worst is when you sit down, and then the waiter comes up to you and says;

"Ahi Tuna?" (or whatever your usual is). If I didnt love the ahi tuna so much, I'd order something different! It's just that the rest of the menu is lacking...

Argh.....I miss restaurant anonymity.

The worst part is, there are zillions of places in my city to try, I just can't yet explore them.

Damnit I need a car.

[pam claughton]

Don't ever worry about ordering the same thing when you go to a restaurant. They take it as a compliment! When I used to waitress, I remembered many of my favorite customers by what they ate, and most regulars ate the same thing or almost the same thing every time they came in. We had baked stuffed shrimp lady, end cut prime rib man, and a diabetic customer who always had 3 oz filet of sole, no crumbs, no butter.

Not only did they tend to eat the same things but their drink orders where generally the same too.

If you find something you like, why not stick with it?

:) Pam

[jamiemaw]

Some friends and I are probably going to burn in hell for this...

By the time dinner rolled around, we had eaten ALL of the cookies--boy, were they good-- and we had to send somebody out  to buy more cookies.  No kidding, not only were those the best molasses cookies I've ever had, they were likely the best cookies, period, I've ever had.

Yes, we did confess our sins to our friend, who was not very happy with us, and we didn't blame him.  All of the cookie-baking compliments in the world just didn't make up for our gluttony.

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This is definitely a sin, jgm, and yes, you will braise in hell. We will announce your penance shortly.

Mind you it's not even close to the sin of being a 'pretend' swallower, which certainly begs other questions, none of which I particularly want to know the answer to.

Edited February 20, 2005 by jamiemaw (log)

[jgm]

Some friends and I are probably going to burn in hell for this...

By the time dinner rolled around, we had eaten ALL of the cookies--boy, were they good-- and we had to send somebody out  to buy more cookies.  No kidding, not only were those the best molasses cookies I've ever had, they were likely the best cookies, period, I've ever had.

Yes, we did confess our sins to our friend, who was not very happy with us, and we didn't blame him.  All of the cookie-baking compliments in the world just didn't make up for our gluttony.

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This is definitely a sin, jgm, and yes, you will braise in hell. We will announce your penance shortly.

Mind you it's not even close to the sin of being a 'pretend' swallower, which certainly begs other questions, none of which I particularly want to know the answer to.

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When deciding upon the penance, please keep in mind that they were very, very, very good cookies.

[Mabelline]

I love the petals of artichokes more than the hearts. I guess it brings back childhood fun.

[andiesenji]

Some friends and I are probably going to burn in hell for this...

By the time dinner rolled around, we had eaten ALL of the cookies--boy, were they good-- and we had to send somebody out  to buy more cookies.  No kidding, not only were those the best molasses cookies I've ever had, they were likely the best cookies, period, I've ever had.

Yes, we did confess our sins to our friend, who was not very happy with us, and we didn't blame him.  All of the cookie-baking compliments in the world just didn't make up for our gluttony.

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This is definitely a sin, jgm, and yes, you will braise in hell. We will announce your penance shortly.

Mind you it's not even close to the sin of being a 'pretend' swallower, which certainly begs other questions, none of which I particularly want to know the answer to.

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When deciding upon the penance, please keep in mind that they were very, very, very good cookies.

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At least you replaced the cookies with purchased ones.

Sometimes undeserving people take advantage of donated foods at events such as this.

Several years ago I had volunteered to help with the distribution of donated food, picked up by postal delievery people on their rounds, it is easy for people to contribute a few things, usually canned goods and we got a huge amount of goods.

While I was sorting things into boxes so each recipient would get an assortment of things, I noticed a postal employee (not a letter carrier) who was putting certain items into boxes and taking them out the side door to the parking lot.

I followed him out and found him loading several boxes into the trunk of his personal car. I called a supervisor who came out and removed the boxes and had other employees return them to the area where we were working.

This jackass had picked out a bunch of expensive stuff such as canned meats, specialty and gourmet items and etc. When questioned his answer was "Those people wouldn't appreciate this stuff and probably wouldn't know what to do with it."

Needless to say, he was put on report and later fired.

I thought he should have been dismissed on the spot for theft but that is not the way the postal service works. However he was a temporary employee, still on probation so they canned him at the end of his probationary period. Good riddance.

I often wonder, when I donate to these events, who is watching now and if anyone is taking unfair advantage.

Oh, by the way, the guy had a brand new car and was wearing the very expensive Michael Jordan athletic shoes. So he could easily have paid for the food he was trying to steal.

[Ling]

Since we're confessing...

About 10 years ago, an equally sweet-toothed girlfriend and I went to the Sutton Place Hotel to indulge in their Chocoholic Buffet.  We split a spinach and smoked salmon salad between the two of us and then dove straight into dessert.  2 1/2 hours later, we were the last table standing... or sitting and groaning, such as the case may be.

 

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You know how to contact me if you ever feel the need to re-live the pain.

[laniloa]

Since we're confessing...

About 10 years ago, an equally sweet-toothed girlfriend and I went to the Sutton Place Hotel to indulge in their Chocoholic Buffet.  We split a spinach and smoked salmon salad between the two of us and then dove straight into dessert.  2 1/2 hours later, we were the last table standing... or sitting and groaning, such as the case may be.

  

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You know how to contact me if you ever feel the need to re-live the pain.

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There was a restaurant near where I grew up that had a really large dessert buffet that you got for free when you ordered a meal. You also got soup or salad. Every now and then, we'd go and eat the soup or salad, have the entree boxed to go, and go to town on the dessert buffet. I consider it a valuable lesson from my parents!