Sweet Nothings

Childhood memories can be wonderful things; reminders of simpler times, of lives still lived in pursuit of fun, before possessions and responsibilities made adults of us. My own childhood, while often solitary in nature, included a fair share of wonders and delights... Fishing in the summer sun, endless bike rides fueled by [seemingly]endless energy, even the occasional encounter with 'magic'.

As a Weight Watchers member though, perhaps it's not surprising that many of my childhood memories involve food. Favorite casseroles, Sunday dinners, restaurants visited during family road trips. And the foods I remember most vividly are the desserts... Of course... Duh. ;-)

For example, my earliest restaurant memory was of being allowed to order my own hot fudge sundae while on a family vacation. I can also recall the taste of my mother's plum pudding, the first pie eaten on a school field trip (banana cream), my grandmother's Portuguese rice pudding, my first slice of restaurant pie (pecan).

Such memories recently inspired me to revisit a favorite childhood dessert, pineapple upside down cake. The end result was (I thought) quite yummy, while costing only 6 Weight Watchers SmartPoints. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did......

UPSIDE DOWN SUNDAES

Ingredients:

• Breyer's sugar-free vanilla ice cream
• Fat-free frozen whipped topping
• Fresh, diced pineapple
• Brown sugar
• Unsweetened, shredded coconut (optional)
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Butter-flavored spray

Directions:

Scoop a half-cup of sugar-free ice cream into two small dishes. Sprinkle one tablespoon of unsweetened, shredded coconut over each scoop, if desired.

Slice a fresh, ripe (nicely yellow and sweet smelling) pineapple into bite-sized chunks. Spray butter-flavored spray into a skillet and place over a medium flame. Once the skillet is hot, toss in a cup of pineapple and two tablespoons of brown sugar. Spray a little more butter-flavored spray over the pineapple and stir until the juice from the pineapple gets syrupy and the pineapple starts to caramelize. Remove from heat.

Spoon a half-cup of the hot pineapple mixture over the ice cream, top with a quarter-cup of fat-free whipped topping and one tablespoon of rainbow sprinkles. Enjoy!

A note to social media users: Here is a sample tweet you can use to share this recipe: 

• Fond memories of childhood #desserts? Try this @WeightWatchers-friendly variation: bit.ly/1W9z662 #RecipeOfTheDay #recipe #foodblog

The Magic Door

A vivid childhood memory of an encounter with the unknown

When I was quite young, maybe four-years old, I made a miraculous discovery... I discovered a magic door!

My mom and I were in downtown Stockton, California, on the second floor of the main branch of the San Joaquin County Public Library (I believe it's now called the "Cesar Chavez Memorial Library"). It was a huge building inside, at least from the perspective of a four-year old, with cavernous ceilings, tall counters that could barely be reached, giant barrel-shaped light fixtures hanging high above, and aisles and aisles of books that went on for as far as my young eyes could see.

A housewife with an insatiable appetite for reading but no money to actually buy books, mom spent quite a bit of time in libraries. She would check out as many books as she could at one time, devour their contents within days, then head back for more. Still being too young for school, I often accompanied my mom on these 'foraging expeditions,' exploring the quiet, mysterious confines of our local libraries.

The large downtown branch was the most mysterious to me as a child, partially due to its size, but more because we seldom went there. Fair Oaks Library was our local branch, located on the east-side of town, in a neighborhood we called "Okieville". It was a small, single-story, wooden-framed building, white with blue trim, located where another street merged into East Main Street at a sharp angle, creating the small 'point' upon which the library stood. Fair Oaks also had a free morning daycare program, where my mom could drop me off, head back home for some uninterrupted housework, then return to pick me up a couple of hours later (along with a few books, of course). I remember sneaking away during story-time, exploring the familiar aisles of books, ruffling through pages looking for pictures, and spying on the librarians and other adults through small gaps between books.

The downtown branch was less fun and familiar, and more mysterious... Even scary. The aisles of books seemed sky-high, and appeared to go on further than the entire inside of Fair Oaks. And the reference section, located deep in the back, was less well lit, with dark and musty smelling aisle-ways. I think that, due to the intimidating atmosphere of the place, I tried to stay as close to my mom as possible most of the time. Sometimes though, she'd start reading right there in the library, not wanting to wait until we got back home, and I remember feeling so bored just standing around doing nothing. So, even though I was afraid, I still occasionally wandered off to explore... Which is how I discovered 'the magic door.'

It was near the front, next to a section dedicated to paperbacks, not too far from the checkout counter; Just a big, blue section of wall in the midst of a larger white wall. Once, while I happened to be looking in that direction, I saw someone walk up to that blue section, push against the wall with their finger, and the wall silently, magically parted! The person who had pressed against the wall then passed through the opening and disappeared, the wall closing behind them.

I snuck closer, peering around racks of books, trying to get a better look. Another person approached, and this time I could see the shiny black button they pressed. I watched as that blue section of wall silently parted once again, and yet another person disappeared!

To this day, I have no idea what possessed me to press that button. A fearless daredevil I was not, so it may have been curiosity... Or more likely boredom. Whatever the reason, I pressed the button, watched the blue section of wall magically part, stepped inside, and found myself trapped in a strange room!

I don't know that I even noticed the inside buttons, or that my panic allowed me to register anything other than the fact that I was trapped somewhere, in a strange room, away from my mommy. I do remember screaming, and screaming, and screaming some more... At the top of my lungs, for what seemed like hours (though I'm sure it wasn't). When the doors finally opened again, either by someone who had heard my screams or, more likely, by the next person who needed to use the elevator, I ran out of that strange room as fast as I could, straight to my mom. I'd had more than enough 'adventure' for one day!

Sweet Memories...

...Seen through rose-colored glasses or tasted 'pon a spoon

Many long years ago, I dated a young woman who dearly wanted to impress her new beau. Following the age-old rule-of-thumb that the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the young woman prepared a sumptuous, English-inspired feast of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, with an 'English' trifle for dessert.

Many long years later, that young woman and I recently celebrated our 26th anniversary. And, while I will refrain from hypothesizing as to what influence (if any) that first meal had on our future, I readily admit that I have never forgotten it. Which brings me to this past weekend...

Though my wife's trifle recipe has been lost for decades now, I attempted to make it again almost entirely from memory (with her guidance/clarifications, of course) this past Independence Day, changing just a few things to make it both [slightly]healthier and [mostly]lactose-free. And, as the 'early reviews' (i.e. the comments of my wife and her coworkers) have been largely positive, I decided to share the recipe here...

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Tim & Kathy's low-fat 'English' Trifle *

Ingredients:
1 - Sara Lee Free and Light Pound Cake, partially thawed
1/2 c. Smucker's Strawberry Jam
1/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. dry sherry
10 old-fashioned/dry-style (versus soft/chewy) coconut macaroon cookies, crumbled
1/2 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed, drained and sliced, w/stems removed
1 dry pint fresh blueberries, rinsed, drained and sliced, w/stems removed
1 - 5.1 oz. package instant vanilla pudding
3 c. Light Silk soy milk
8 oz. fat-free whipped topping, thawed but still chilled

Directions:
Partially thaw pound cake and cut into slices approximately 1" thick. Liberally spread strawberry preserves on cake slices, cut into cubes approximately 1" square, and spread to cover the bottom of a trifle dish or other container. Mix sherry and orange juice together and evenly trickle over the layer of cake. Evenly sprinkle eight crumbled cookies over the cake layer. Add a layer of blueberries and sliced strawberries. Wisk/slowly mix instant pudding and soy milk for approximately two minutes or until it starts to thicken slightly, then let chill for approximately five minutes more. Fold chilled/defrosted whipped topping into the partially set pudding, then pour the mixture evenly over the fruit layer. Crumble two more cookies over the top of the assembled/completed trifle. Chill an hour or more before serving.

Serves six to eight.

* Note: Loosely based on/adapted from a "Seventeen Magazine" recipe published in the late 70s/early 80s

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I hope you enjoy the trifle as much as we did... And that it becomes your own 'sweet memory'. ;-)