Booze or sweets? What would you give up?
During my years as a not-so-healthy college student, too many a night I'd find myself raiding the vending machine or local convience store for cookies, Hostess cupcakes (blush), or Snackwells (I date myself). I'm not much of a drinker, never was one even in college, but I would always rationalize my sugary carb consumption by saying 'hey, I don't drink,' thinking that not consuming a zillion calories in beer made up for my study break indulgence.
Now, I only eat 'the good stuff' when it comes to candy, cake, and so forth, and I have an occasional drink of wine about 1-2 times a year. I even know something about wine, just picking it up from listening to other people who care about food.
But given the choice between chocolate, muffins, cake, and scones and alcohol, I admit--I'd take the sweets every time.
I know this is an unpopular position, probably, but I'll put it to you--if you had to choose between alcohol and your favorite sweet treat, what would you pick.
And to make it hard, although I don't include bread, I do include under sweets: cake, ice cream, breakfast pastries like danish and muffins and scones, candy, chocolate, sweet cereals and so forth. In other words, no fair rationalizing that cereal with the cartoon character on it to cushion your post-New Year's hangover!
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45 Comments:
Hah, well...I don't care for sweets much, but I never drink alcohol these days because I don't want to land in the hospital from my body's rejection of alcohol. Easy - give up the alcohol.
Cassaendra at 11:50AM on 08/01/08
I'd bid a fond farewell to sweets. The thought of never enjoying a cold glass of champagne, an icy martini, a margarita on a hot summer evening......just too sad to contemplate. I've never been much of a sweets person. There are desserts I'd definitely miss, but if forced I'd have to choose the booze!
StripeyChef at 11:58AM on 08/01/08
sweets in a heartbeat, I so do not have a sweet tooth... gotta have my booze though, in moderation of course. ; )
Southern_bella at 12:00PM on 08/01/08
Today I feel that I'd rather give up sweets (although life without creme brulee and pistachio ice cream would be very sad indeed), but I can't be sure the answer would be the same if you were to ask me again tomorrow or next week...
brooke29 at 12:09PM on 08/01/08
no contest, i'd give up alcohol. it makes me slightly sick anyway, so i very rarely drink. i had a glass of champagne last week to celebrate a friend's birthday, and i had to go to bed shortly thereafter.
cybercita at 12:19PM on 08/01/08
so easy..bye bye sweets!
ceforrester at 12:31PM on 08/01/08
sweets, no wine, no sweets. it's too hard. it would have to be sweets. I can't give up my red wine!
meganaw at 1:06PM on 08/01/08
Sweets. Although the idea of never having bittersweet chocolate to enjoy with my tawny port is sad...
Amandarama at 1:07PM on 08/01/08
Not even a toss-up! --- I'd give up booze.
Brownie at 1:11PM on 08/01/08
So long to alcohol. At least food never made me act like a jerk in public. (And you could always drink NA beer and wine, right?)
And life without chocolate? Unthinkable.
Tokyorosa at 1:15PM on 08/01/08
Knee-jerk reaction was sweets, but I don't know ... I don't know if I love red wine enough to trade it over chocolate.
kfarrel3 at 1:22PM on 08/01/08
This is easy. I'd give up the booze. There's no way I'm giving up ice cream or sweet bready things. I could easily give up candy-like things, though.
While I enjoy an occasional cocktail with dinner, it's not a necessary thing, and I'd probably be just as happy drinking the flavor without the booze. You know, the margarita mix on ice without the tequila.
dbcurrie at 1:31PM on 08/01/08
I'm lucky enough that I don't EVER crave sweets.
I eat fruit here and there but other than that I'm sugar-free just without habit!
Not in my tea, coffee, no chocolate, no baked goods.
If you gave me the same question but switched sweets with salt; that would be A WAY DIFFERENT SITUATION. Hard to choose... because Tanguray, salted peanuts and Wine are a couple of my weaknesses :p
hungrychristel at 1:35PM on 08/01/08
Good bye sweets. Can't cook my Barbeque sauce without booze. Hootch is just too good for cooking to give up.
thepirateking at 1:36PM on 08/01/08
@tokyorosa: i can remember a few times when i have acted like a jerk in public around food. the most serious incident was eating a business related dinner with a large group of women, ordering dessert, and then freaking out when the table just expected me to take one bite and pass it around to everyone, who had their forks poised. i very firmly said that it was MY dessert and i was NOT sharing, and ate it while everyone watched.
key lime pie makes me act like that.
cybercita at 1:48PM on 08/01/08
I don't drink so it would have to be booze...LOL.
chiff0nade at 1:52PM on 08/01/08
This is hard! Haha...just kidding. I hope to not be addicted to booze ever so I will gladly choose sweets over booze.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 2:01PM on 08/01/08
I would give up both and never blink an eye.
ChelleyD01 at 2:07PM on 08/01/08
sorry sweets, my red wine is not going anywhere. i will miss you though :(
megannesta at 2:44PM on 08/01/08
You can take the bottle of vodka out of my freezer, but don't touch my ice cream. Or cupcakes. Or cookies.
If nothing else, not being able to bake sweets would kill me. That's how I handle stress!
cyberroo at 3:38PM on 08/01/08
Heck I drink and very rarely eat sweets.....I'll stay with my Turkey
Markbb at 3:54PM on 08/01/08
I never did like the taste of liquor I known I have a sweet tooth so I would be rather sad if I had to give up sweets. I have been told some of the wine I have tasted was suppose to be some of the best just dont have that gene.....
rabbitriddle at 4:00PM on 08/01/08
A no brainer for me...give up the sweets.
bessfour at 4:02PM on 08/01/08
Sweets for sure!
finsbigfan at 4:15PM on 08/01/08
check you later, sweet stuff.
pemabuk at 6:00PM on 08/01/08
I don't eat sweets, so there is nothing to give up! ;-D
izatryt at 6:05PM on 08/01/08
I'm pretty moderate in my consumption of either...although, I suspect sweets sneak in more often than alcohol. But I can't imagine going out to an amazing restaurant and not having an aperitif to start, wine with dinner, and an after dinner drink. Heck, sometimes the drinks are sweet enough to be dessert.
Besides, I just looked over some of the wines in our collection and there are too many awesome ones still waiting for me to invent an occassion.
I'd have to stay with the alcohol and give up the sweets.
wookie at 6:12PM on 08/01/08
btw, thanks for posing this question. I'll have to ask my husband because he MUST have both almost daily.
wookie at 6:13PM on 08/01/08
Adios sweets- clearly ...I'm a drunk!
(sing with me now...Bisbee's not going to rehab..I said no! no! no!)
bisbee at 6:53PM on 08/01/08
@bisbee ~ Just wet my pants. Thanks! ;-O
izatryt at 7:21PM on 08/01/08
This is I believe, the cruelest question yet asked here!
I would toss bacon, french fries, pasta, almost any other tasty thing before either of these! Eek!
Sweets are my bread and butter, but no drink (or 4) at the end of a day of making them? I can't answer this!
Can I make them even if I never eat them?
Ack....if I had a gun to my head, I would have to say adios sweets I think.....
Yeah, bye sweets, hello Jamie!
@Heart--you are mean! :D
sadiepix at 8:41PM on 08/01/08
@bisbee -- i had that song playing while i was reading this thread!
cybercita at 10:26PM on 08/01/08
Byebye booze
pbisNOTmyname at 12:18AM on 08/02/08
Do I have to choose? If I have a sweet drink, like a mudslide, is that cheating if I say I would give up sweets? Or if I make a well-endowed rum cake, is that cheating? This choice is too hard. Not at all like that grilled cheese vs. PBJ thing.
beth1 at 1:26AM on 08/02/08
this is an evil question! I dont drink right now, but never being able to have another glass of wine, or a cup of hot coffee with a shot of grand mariner after a long walk in the cold. or not being able to put wine in a good beef stew to make it great? sorry chocolate doesnt measure up for me. bye sweets hello AA ;-)
huneybumper at 8:47AM on 08/02/08
sadiepix ;) I know! But I'm happy to see that the sweets side has many proponents, so my tastes aren't as childish as I feared!
Hmm...I guess in the definition, sweet alcohol, without anything added would be okay, but something like Irish coffee with whipped cream, or chocolate added to the drink would not...and I guess as well, it would depend if the 'kick' got cooked out of the cake beth 1.
And yeah, huneybumper, every time I read one of these threads I usually want the one thing I'm giving up!
HeartofGlass at 9:13AM on 08/02/08
Ba bye sweets.
pjracz10 at 10:44AM on 08/02/08
I'd give up both, actually! I'm not much of a drinker and I don't have a sweet tooth.
Now, if the question were "Potato chips or steak?", I'd have some problems, ha.
cochon at 2:14PM on 08/02/08
I would give up alcohol, however on the flip side would I be allowed to have drinks that are essential desserts if I gave up sweets? Frozen daiquiries, pina coladas, mudslides? Hmmm?
ag3208 at 6:01PM on 08/02/08
Chocolate martinis would suffice as dessert for me. But other than that sweets are not a big deal around me - unless it would mean no chocolate in the mole???
A tall cold gin & tonic, a glass of bubbly in the hot tub, a good bourbon (or 3) while cooking dinner, wine, an icy cold beer on a hot summer day are all things I would hate to give up - unless I had to for health. I don't have to, so I'm not givin' them up!
Fanciesmom at 6:44PM on 08/02/08
OK, so last night I had a cocktail of vodka, soda, & splash of cranbery while preparing dinner (squid stuffed and grilled with a side of whole wheat angel hair sauteed with a bunch of fresh grilled veggies). Opened a Cote du Rhone rosé with dinner. No dessert. So, I guess we're sticking to alcohol.
wookie at 7:11PM on 08/02/08
Hey, I'm having a Pina Colada while reading this! I guess I would not drink it
without the booze, so sweet alcohol it is!
stacemace at 8:47PM on 08/02/08
Hell you can make cocktails taste just like sweets.
pjracz10 at 10:04AM on 08/03/08
I just had a baby and can FINALLY have a glass of red wine again. No brainer on this one!!
Although the combination of the aforementioned glass with a slice of dark chocolate cake is so good.... Nope. Sweets go, red wine stays.
buffy at 3:18PM on 08/03/08
Read the name. That's an easy one, but I'm in the wine business. Sorry chocolate...
oregonpinot at 11:59PM on 08/03/08