Tuesday, June 5, 2012

One sweet thought after another

I grew up on bakery goods. I'm not talking those airy donuts and brick hard ones that two companies offered free on donut day. There used to be German bakeries all over town where you could get your fill of pastries, donuts, cream puffs and especially coffee cakes. They were baked in jelly roll pans, so they didn't rise more than an inch or two and they were sliced and sold in 4"x8" sections, wrapped in white paper and tied with a string. They were slathered with fruit pie fillings, or my favorite, crumbs, big sweet crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth buttery sugary crumbs. Bill's favorite and a close second for me was peanut cake, smeared with thick white icing and topped with red skinned peanuts. Cheesecake filling was another favorite.

One year we went to Boston to visit friends. We ended up in the North End, Little Italy. We ate a delicious meal and then went with our friends to a coffee house where I ordered a fruit pastry and Bill ordered what he thought was a cream horn made of phyllo dough stuffed with sweet cream and powdered sugar. When he bit into that ricotta cheese-filled cannoli, I thought he was going to throw up. Proof that looks can be deceiving. Italian pastries are bit different from German pastries.

One look at me, however, and you can see evidence of years of coffee cakes and cream puffs. My maternal grandmother was German, my maternal grandfather was Italian. If you grew up in North St. Louis, Koobs and Knoodles Bakeries were catch phrases for "day olds" and delectable sweets.

Now for a tell all: when Bill was called Billy, he took his church offering, skipped down the alley and knelt at Koob's altar of sugar and lard.

Today he took off on his three mile hike at 6:00 a.m. I walked the opposite direction and met him half way. He said, "Hi babe, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Crumb cake, peanut rolls, cheese Danish."

I ate a bowl of whole grain cereal with almonds and fresh strawberries.

10 comments:

Susan said...

Good for you, Linda, that you chose the "healthier" version of breakfast. But the crumb cake, peanut rolls and cheese Danish sounded more delectable. I think you look fabulous---not even fat! Good for you. Susan

Southhamsdarling said...

Hi Linda. You were being very good there with your healthy breakfast option, but, oh, the crumb cake, peanut rolls and cheese Danish does sound wonderful. When we were younger, we didn't know about all this healthy eating though, did we?! i do try to be good now, but it can get very boring, and I do break out sometimes and have a fresh cream apple turnover, or a chocolate croissant!! Bliss.

Debra Mayhew said...

Oh, this pregnant lady did NOT need to read such a tempting post! You've got me craving all kinds of bad stuff now, Linda! But one of my all time favorite things is multi grain cheerios with raspberries and blueberries - so maybe I'll try that instead. :)

Joanne Noragon said...

A couple of years ago my stomach revolted. A donut is like a knock out punch from the inside out. But once in a great while I weigh the odds and eat the Danish.

Bookie said...

Food is such an issue here! The trying is so hard. Ate egg white omelet for breakfast but have just blindsided lunch with molasses bread slathered in honey butter. Win a few, lose a few...

YOu are ahead in the game today!

Sioux Roslawski said...

Cheese danish is my favorite, as far as pastries. And I LOVE cannoli.

And because of my fondness for sweet treats, my body looks like a giant cannoli--and some of my "insides" are squeezing out of my jeans, most of the time.

Claudia Moser said...

Sweets make me smile :)

Val said...

My dad used bring home a Post-Dispatch and cream puffs from a local bakery on Sunday mornings. They were round like jelly donuts, but injected with thick white cream filling, and topped with dark chocolate icing. Just half of one could send you into a sugary coma.

I would settle down in front of the TV for Wrestling at the Chase, with a cream puff in one hand and the Post funny paper in the other, while my mom cooked the traditional Sunday roast. If the cream puff didn't knock me out, I watched a Tarzan movie after wrestling. Good old Channel 11, cream puffs, and a Sunday paper. Times were simpler then.

DUTA said...

Kudos to you for preferring a healthy breakfast!

As long as the baking of those dreamy pastries is not abolished, temptation stays great and our will power succumbs to it if not today, then tomorrow or next week.

JD said...

Hi, Linda:

I'm a new follower. Glad to make your acquaintance! :-)

This post reminds me of having grown up in a neighborhood peppered with Portuguese bakeries, where the vanilla custard and lemon cream pastries were my favorites. To this day, I prefer espresso over coffee in large part because the smell of espresso reminds me of those childhood bakeries.

I don't visit bakeries as much anymore but do indulge every now and again. Good for you for wanting the sugary treats for breakfast but providing your body with a much healthier option!

Enjoy the rest of your week.