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Post by angiebaby on Oct 3, 2003 17:57:58 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D ;D  I know its a sinful word. I have never been much of a dessert person, mainly because of weight issues. Malaysians are pretty rude when it comes to pudgy people. I once whacked a photographer at an assignment for telling me that (this was the only time he had seen me eating ever, I was only 2 weeks on the job) no wonder I was fat because I eat too much. I had a slice of carrot cake on my plate and I was having coffee. To cut a long story short, I am a little unsure of the culture here. Through out the summer we ate and ate at various homes where the hostess would dish out delicious and sinful desserts. And I was under the impression this was because of the summer but now as we head over to relatives homes, the desserts keep coming and I am not sure about how to react. Is it rude to say, no thanks I don't care for dessert or just indulge and then drink alot of water? I really don't want to hurt the hostesses feelings, I know they make alot of effort to make a nice meal, the last thing they need is a whiner...LOL That puts me in a dilemma as well. I am not sure if I am expected to prepare dessert as well when they come over. I don't want to viewed wrongly as a person who makes unhealthy meals. I hope this makes sense. Dh is not the right person to ask, he loves sugar and desserts and I refuse to make it for us as he loves to snack and I know its not good for us in the long term. What say you girls? |
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Post by Carolyn on Oct 4, 2003 3:01:30 GMT -5
Well, you may be asking the wrong group of people here, angie! Most of us come from places with strong dessert traditions. I know that personally, we do NOT have dessert every day and my husband is not a huge dessert eater. He does love his ice cream and I love watching him play with it, but overall, we save dessert for special occasions. When we do have dessert, it tends to involve doing things with fruit, like a pavlova or so on. I would say that if you are invited out specially, there is nothing wrong with passing on the dessert, perhaps just say "No, thank you, I am so full with that great dinner that I couldn't possibly eat another bite." If you have people over for dinner yourself, then it's up to you what to serve, but if you do feel you want to serve a dessert, how about something like a pound cake with a fruit sauce or sliced fruit on the side, and then you could just have a little of the fruit and let the others eat cake. Where I tend to have a problem with my husband is, number one, he's as thin as a rake, so no weight problem. He loves his godis, but I told him, I'm going to start buying the candy and then just putting out maybe 6 pieces a day, because otherwise, he will sit there and eat enormous amounts of gummibears and stuff and not gain an ounce.  |
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Post by Leslie on Oct 4, 2003 3:44:42 GMT -5
As for myself...When I prepare a meal for guests I put just as much thought into dessert as I do the main meal. I think my feelings would be a little hurt if a guest turned down dessert. But that's just me.  I have noticed in most Swedish households dessert comes much later. So your food does have a little time to settle before you have to swallow more! And the portions seem to be much smaller. Whereas in the States (at least in my circle) you are served dessert almost before you have swallowed your last bite of your main meal! LOL! And the portions are HUGE!! So I would say when you are invited somewhere it might be nice to take a small piece of dessert. If you have people over I would say go without the dessert. I don't think people will be upset if they don't have dessert. ;D |
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Beverly
Junior Member
Original Member
Posts: 50
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Post by Beverly on Oct 4, 2003 8:41:33 GMT -5
I have to (respectfully) disagree, Les. I do think it would be a bit strange (here in Sweden) to be invited to someone's house for dinner and not to be served coffee and some sort of dessert (even some little cookies or something) after the meal. It seems pretty ingrained in Swedish tradition to follow up a meal with a little fika. |
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SlyandKami
Junior Member
Sly Canadian and Kami Swedish living in Sweden
Posts: 30
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Post by SlyandKami on Oct 5, 2003 1:14:27 GMT -5
Fika is a very important part of Swedish culture every where you go you fika especialy after a meal. It's like going to an N.F.L. game in the U.S. and not have a tail gate party or going to an N.H.L. game in Canada and not having hot-dogs with beer.  |
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Post by Carolyn on Oct 5, 2003 3:39:59 GMT -5
I agree, and I LOVE fika, everywhere I've gone, BUT if you don't wish to eat much in the way of sweets, I do think it's acceptable to excuse yourself, maybe have one cookie and nibble at it, but you don't have to chow down like you haven't had a square meal for a month either.
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Post by Leslie on Oct 5, 2003 6:27:27 GMT -5
I have to (respectfully) disagree, Les. I do think it would be a bit strange (here in Sweden) to be invited to someone's house for dinner and not to be served coffee and some sort of dessert (even some little cookies or something) after the meal. It seems pretty ingrained in Swedish tradition to follow up a meal with a little fika. Of course it is very common. Not disagreeing with that! LOL! I just meant that if she doesn't serve a dessert I don't think her guests aren't going to start a riot! HA! |
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Post by angiebaby on Oct 7, 2003 14:13:32 GMT -5
;D ;D ;D
Wow! Thanks for the reply ladies! I started this post and forgot about it!! Go figure!
I agree a fika is always welcome, and I do look forward to it when I'm invited over.
You are right about different cultures Carolyn, in Malaysia dessert is really an indulgence.
My mother has diabetes and so did my grandmother so I have been rather cautious about sugar and salt especially since I have weight issues. My sugar has been so far so good but I can tell you that it suffered during the summer. I feel so bad telling people no besides everything was tooo darn fantastic to say no to!!! LOL
But I agree a little coffee or tea with some cookies would be nice. I like your idea about fruits and cake. I have a huge problem with Gunnar though. He LOVES sugar!! I mean this man is like a pirrahna. He can clean out a pot of godis in a blink.
I leave chocolates, cookies or cake in the cupboard ! He can eat a full meal with beer and sometimes if he's good, I even have spring rolls as a small starter for meals like Singapore fried noodles for example but he's hungry for dessert or snacks after less than 10minutes.
On that note, I hope Marie doesn't say anything about my brownie that didnt turn out well. I forgot about the whip cream and her LG tried to whip it and it turned out that it went bad. The expiry was for 2004. I guess I should have stuck to cream caramel!! LOL
I must say my all time fav dessert is ice cream -- rocky road and bread and butter pudding with ice cream. My sister used to make really nice pies when she lived here. My mother who is visting her in New Orleans made my mouth water -- they were having blue berry pie when I called. `sigh´ <br>
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