It's THEIR diet but YOU have to eat it

[EdS]

...

When the hostess and some of the other guests tatsed it they commented jokingly that must ahve forgotten the sugar, everyone thought it had been a mistake. The woman then replied that no it wasn't a mistake that she never cooks with sugar and that it is better for your body. That was it, no apology, nothing. It was as if she honestly thought there was nothing wrong with it.

←

At this point, I would have laughed out loud and then, assuming I knew the hostess pretty well, I would have asked, "I wouldn't want this pie to go to waste...would you mind if I got some sugar to sprinkle on this?"

The guest is a moron.

[rjwong]

Earlier in the day the hostess had been working on a pumpkin pie, she got the crust and then was called off to do other things, so one of the guests offered to make the filling for her. The hostess gave her the recipe and left her to it, what the hostess did not know though was that this woman is on a diet in which she consumes no sugar. She followed the recipe to a T but added no sugar and only a pinch of salt because salt isn't really good for you either.....

←

I've been thinking about this, just a bit mind you, and I'm coming to this conclusion:

[sARCASM]Kris, it's all your fault. Apparently, the hostess didn't know that you are a member of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. If she had known that about you, she would have asked YOU to do the filling for her, instead of some unknown guest. You would have done an excellent job, of course, because you are an eGullet member (not to mention being part of the management team). Everyone (well, almost everyone, but you get the idea), everyone would have enjoyed the pumpkin pie without incident. And you wouldn't have started this discussion thread and I wouldn't be writing this post ...[/sARCASM]

I think that I've been thinking about this too much ...

[torakris]

Earlier in the day the hostess had been working on a pumpkin pie, she got the crust and then was called off to do other things, so one of the guests offered to make the filling for her. The hostess gave her the recipe and left her to it, what the hostess did not know though was that this woman is on a diet in which she consumes no sugar. She followed the recipe to a T but added no sugar and only a pinch of salt because salt isn't really good for you either.....

←

I've been thinking about this, just a bit mind you, and I'm coming to this conclusion:

[sARCASM]Kris, it's all your fault. Apparently, the hostess didn't know that you are a member of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. If she had known that about you, she would have asked YOU to do the filling for her, instead of some unknown guest. You would have done an excellent job, of course, because you are an eGullet member (not to mention being part of the management team). Everyone (well, almost everyone, but you get the idea), everyone would have enjoyed the pumpkin pie without incident. And you wouldn't have started this discussion thread and I wouldn't be writing this post ...[/sARCASM]

I think that I've been thinking about this too much ...

←

I arrived at the house just as the woman was mixing the filling.... just minutes too late. I was immediately asked though to see if there was something I could do with mashed potatoes that this "no sugar" woman had worked on. Besides being gummy and dry (if the combination is actually possible) they tasted like nothing. Two cups of milk, a nice chunk of butter and a couple of tablespoons of salt later they were nice creamy and delicious. Apparently she has a thing against milk, butter and ungodly amounts of salt as well.

[Bernaise]

Make a solution as follows:

3 cups heavy cream

3 cups white sugar

1 pound butter

melt these ingredients until silky and smooth, allow to cool.

Using a #12 funnel, have four guests hold the offender down and place the funnel in her mouth and pour the solution down.

top with gently toasted and crushed macadamia nuts.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Apparently she has a thing against milk, butter and ungodly amounts of salt as well.

←

Oh, geez. I'm reminded of Thanksgiving dinners at my newly health-conscious MILs house. Skinless turkey breast cooked in fat-free, salt-free chicken stock. Mashed potatoes in chicken stock, no salt, no cream. Margarine everywhere ("Butter is SO unhealthy ..." ). Cranberry juice sweetened with Equal (why is there no 'puke' face smilie?). Pumpkin pie with a low-fat crust, no sugar, and fat-free Cool Whip topping product.

Of course I was asked what I thought of the food. Of course I said the pie would be vastly improved with whipped cream or ice cream, caramel-cinnamon sauce, and chopped nuts. "Well, we do have Cool Whip ..."

that was the year my husband and I went out to dinner on Thanksgiving night. The horror of those leftovers was too much to consider.

[torakris]

Apparently she has a thing against milk, butter and ungodly amounts of salt as well.

←

Oh, geez. I'm reminded of Thanksgiving dinners at my newly health-conscious MILs house. Skinless turkey breast cooked in fat-free, salt-free chicken stock. Mashed potatoes in chicken stock, no salt, no cream. Margarine everywhere ("Butter is SO unhealthy ..." ). Cranberry juice sweetened with Equal (why is there no 'puke' face smilie?). Pumpkin pie with a low-fat crust, no sugar, and fat-free Cool Whip topping product.

Of course I was asked what I thought of the food. Of course I said the pie would be vastly improved with whipped cream or ice cream, caramel-cinnamon sauce, and chopped nuts. "Well, we do have Cool Whip ..."

that was the year my husband and I went out to dinner on Thanksgiving night. The horror of those leftovers was too much to consider.

←

Now this is a true nightmare!

At least we had other food to fall back on....

[jgm]

As the relative of a woman who used to pull crap like this, I must reveal the truth. Her actions had nothing to do with health considerations. Or sugar. She has control issues. She's not happy until everyone is dancing to her tune. She doesn't care whether she's rude; she doesn't care if no one else is able to enjoy desserts. She needs to have control, and all other considerations are not even on her agenda. Wasted food, hurt feelings; it doesn't matter, as long as she has control.

Don't be surprised if a month from now, she's on some other kind of diet, and insists that everyone around her eat the NEW way she eats. She's not concerned about anyone's health. She has some serious mental health stuff going on, and that will not change until she gets help from a professional.

Do whatever you can to not be in this woman's company again. It's not about the food; next time it will be about something else.

One of the most gleeful, memorable moments of my life was when I walked in on this relative as she was downing a Cherry Coke and two candy bars. I confess to being utterly obnoxious, and immediately letting everyone in the family (those who were there in addition to those who weren't there) know every last detail of my discovery--at the top of my lungs. I am not sorry for my behavior, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be. It was a turning point. Not long after, said relative gave up her food battles, and began stockpiling guns and expressing horrendous political opinions. (Thank God that's over; she's also changed religions twice since then.)

It'a all about control. Been there, done that.

Edited November 28, 2005 by jgm (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Kris, is there any way you can ask this woman why she did what she did? That might be more interesting than our speculations!

[Susan in FL]

LOL, I wonder if she has any idea that she has become infamous on eGullet.

[NWKate]

This reminds me of the time I brought my infamous double chocolate raspberry whipped cream cake to a holiday gathering. One of the moms there has SERIOUS control issues. The rest of us and our children dug into the cake happily as she handed pieces of cut apples to her sons. THEN, she cut herself a big piece of the cake which she proceeded to eat in front of her now screaming children. She finally plucked a lone fresh raspberry from her cake to quiet one of them as she shoveled the whipped cream frosting into her mouth. Apparently the poor darlings weren't allowed to have sugar. (And we wonder why her #1 son is out of control in high school!)

Kate

[SobaAddict70]

Until I came to eGullet, I had no idea there were people like this that existed on our planet.

*is thankful for having a relatively normal childhood*

My mother is a damn good cook, which must explain why I have very few issues with food.

Soba

[Ling]

This reminds me of the time I brought my infamous double chocolate raspberry whipped cream cake to a holiday gathering.  One of the moms there has SERIOUS control issues.  The rest of us and our children dug into the cake happily as she handed pieces of cut apples to her sons.  THEN, she cut herself a big piece of the cake which she proceeded to eat in front of her now screaming children.  She finally plucked a lone fresh raspberry from her cake to quiet one of them as she shoveled the whipped cream frosting into her mouth.  Apparently the poor darlings weren't allowed to have sugar.  (And we wonder why her #1 son is out of control in high school!)

Kate

←

That's just CRUEL! If I had a mom like that, I would've grown up to have serious anger management issues.

[racheld]

One cousin in our family was known as No-SugaRita--a takeoff on her real name, since from the moment her son was born, she uttered those words at least forty times at every family gathering. We'd start for the kitchen to get a drink of water. She'd call out, "No Sugar for Andy!!!" We'd serve dinner---she'd inspect each dish, muttering in his direction---"No Sugar!"

I'm reminded of her when my elderly neighbor walks by with her dog, for Rita had the same habit of digging into a pocket and handing out a "treat"--a cheerio or a single raisin, when Andy just couldn't stand it any longer. The kid got to be ten years old, and was still accepting that wee nibble whilst his own cousins were enjoying marshmallow treats or cookies or candy. And it's so hard to gear a holiday around one deprived soul, hiding all the trappings out of sight of all the participants, just because of one fanatical Mom.

However, Sugar was perfectly OK for cousin, her husband and her much-older-than-Andy daughter. They dug into cake and pie and all sorts of holiday treats, fending off the frustrated little boy, aggravating the heck out of all of us bystanders, and doling out his portion, one raisin at a time.

I'll bet he has splendid teeth---and a psychiatrist on retainer.

Edited November 29, 2005 by racheld (log)

[Dinah Sarah]

Decided to have a dinner party - was planning to make a fab chicken dish by James Beard - Mushroom Mustard Chicken ; with a side of buttered noodles

One of my guests annouced upon invitation that she was on a diet and that my menu for the evening would have way too much fat in it - could we have stirfry - WTH ?

Ok fine - I made stirfry - which sucked - to make it worse this so called person on a diet - brought chips and dip as an appetizer and proceeded to eat everything in sight - I have never forgiven her for that - she's still overweight due to her flavor of the week diet plan -

maybe she was afraid I was a better cook than her who knows - man her behavior made me mad

PS> sorry I messed had to re-post -

[Rachel Perlow]

That's way too accomodating. You mean you didn't make the dish you wanted to make for everyone and just offer to make her something different? That would have been plenty accomodating in my book. Actually, what I would probably have offered to do would be to place an order of steamed chicken and vegetables (with brown rice and no sauce) from the diet section of the local chinese takeout. Then I would procede to plate everything in the kitchen, so that she wouldn't be tempted by family style service (my usual service preference). :evil smile:

[Eden]

I have many friends with serious to life threatening food allergies, so I am happy to accomodate their needs when I invite them over, but NONE of them (with genuine NEED for special attention) would ever dream of asking me to re-write an entire menu like that. They might ask me to set aside a portion pre-sauced for them, or offer to bring their own entree or call that chinese restaurant or just eat the side dishes, or... but demand that I change the meal for everyone else? Pure hubris - the gods will smite her...