Cheesecake Coma

Tuesday afternoon I sunk into a cheesecake coma after eating a rather large piece of vanilla bean cheesecake that I had begged husband to fetch the night before. I hadn’t eaten a thing from Café Latte in almost a year but the craving for cheesecake from heavens gate at Victoria and Grand, finally arrived.

What a mistake.

I noticed a coma-like trance that began about 30 minutes after ingestion, which didn’t lift until about 8 p.m. that night.

Even though I didn’t eat the crust, the meat of the cheesecake was probably a bit contaminated. Then there was the heavy cream cheese. The dense yet smooth dairy stuck to my tongue a bit -- and later to my intestines.

I think what prompted the craving was my birthday. Celebratory events really put celiacs to the test. There’s just more foods in your face around these times. Foods you equate with memories, foods you remember to crave.

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On Wednesday, my mother reminded me that she went into labor at noon 39 years ago. A reluctant little Julie popped out at 3 p.m. Doctors had to break her water because I didn’t want to come out.

Lot’s of birthday wishes and cheer on Wednesday followed by dinner at Brasa on Grand Avenue. Brasa now has a gluten-free menu as the result of my personally lobbying the owner. “All you have to do is create a separate piece of paper for gluten-free customers!”

My favorite items are the (unsweetened) green plantains. They’re big and crunchy and fried with a little garlic salt. And their butterscotch pudding, which has temporarily been replaced by banana pudding, is a well-known top ten.

So here I am Saturday morning, eating rolled gluten-free oats and drinking Starbuck’s coffee. It’s been a long and hard food week.