The cake is a lie. It's always a lie.

[mharbourgirl]

Can I just whine briefly? Not really looking for any advice, just need to complain about something that will probably sound pretty silly. Meh.

Ok, I have this little problem. I can't eat chocolate. I have an acute sensitivity to theobromine, as in I get all excitable and squirrelly (the Hubster calls it 'squirrel on acid'), and then I get really, really depressed. So obviously it's something I'd like to avoid going through anymore, and I treat chocolate like alcohol - only to be consumed in totally safe surroundings, like my house. Not at work.

Everyone at work, pretty much, knows I don't eat chocolate, and they're overly sympathetic at times, but I appreciate it anyway. Cue my little issue here. Once a month the office buys a cake of some sort for everyone who has a birthday that month. This is a nice thing and people like it. Who doesn't like free cake? But the person who goes out to buy the cake every time manages to come back with a chocolate cake, or those ice cream cakes that are half chocolate with chocolate cookies in the middle. And then people see me sitting at my desk with no cake (AGAIN) and they urge me to go get some, and I sort of smile and just say "It's chocolate," and go back to work.

Now, I really don't think the person who buys the cake is doing this on purpose. She's a very nice person and we get along well. It's like a blind spot with her, or an unconscious routine - birthday=chocolate cake. So once again, today I got no cake. It's making me feel rather... insignificant, which is stupid, but there you are.

I want cake, dammit!

[dragon_wings]

Firstly,
Secondly, my sister can't eat chocolate either. Can't remember why the specific reason is but it amounts to the caffeine in the chocolate messes with her heart. So she can eat white chocolate but not milk/dark chocolate.
It makes me sad sometimes, especially when she and her family took me out for my birthday. When dessert came around everyone got some sort of chocolate... Except her. And she misses it sometimes too. I can tell.
Having said that, have you said something to the coworker that gets the cakes?
My dad's favorite cake for his birthday was a white cake with a yummy homemade icing (I can't spell it but it's made by reducing ? brown sugar for a while on the stove) and it was amazing.

[mharbourgirl]

Firstly,
Secondly, my sister can't eat chocolate either. Can't remember why the specific reason is but it amounts to the caffeine in the chocolate messes with her heart. So she can eat white chocolate but not milk/dark chocolate.
It makes me sad sometimes, especially when she and her family took me out for my birthday. When dessert came around everyone got some sort of chocolate... Except her. And she misses it sometimes too. I can tell.
Having said that, have you said something to the coworker that gets the cakes?
My dad's favorite cake for his birthday was a white cake with a yummy homemade icing (I can't spell it but it's made by reducing ? brown sugar for a while on the stove) and it was amazing.

Hugs are welcome, thank you very much.

Co-worker knows. We've worked together nearly 5 years. Somehow, it just leaks right out of her head when it comes to cake. I used to say something. I don't bother anymore, it never seems to sink in. Though once she came back with a carrot cake from Costco that had more sugar in it than carrots, and I couldn't stomach it. I can't eat sickly sweet things, and normally I LURVE carrot cake with the cream cheese frosting. *sigh*

Now, about that cake of your Dad's... save me a piece, will you? That sounds exactly like the icing my grandmother used to make - she called it 'hard sauce', and it is to die for.

[Teskeria]

Do mention it to her. Perhaps ask nicely "Have I done something to make you angry. Whenever you go get a birthday cake, you always get chocolate. Never White or yellow. Since you know I can't eat chocolate, that makes me feel I must have angered you terribly." It's very possible she doesn't think about what she gets, But sometimes you have to let someone know you feel hurt, and that is a gentler way to do it than yelling "Thanks once again for getting a cake that I can't eat"

[dragon_wings]

Now, about that cake of your Dad's... save me a piece, will you? That sounds exactly like the icing my grandmother used to make - she called it 'hard sauce', and it is to die for.

I'll call my mom shortly (need to anyway) and ask her to email the recipe to me. I'll send you a PM later tonight or tomorrow with the recipe (and the name).

[thatcrazyredhead]

I'm sorry, that must really suck!

In my office, we do cakes for birthdays, but each person is assigned to bring a birthday "cake" for one other person. That way one person doesn't have to do it all the time. Some are homemade, some are store bought, some aren't even cakes (at least one co-worker doesn't like cake, so she gets pie). You might suggest switching to something like this, that way you might stand more of a chance of getting something you can eat. As long as the current cake-getter doesn't end up with your name, that is.

[ArcticChicken]

Mmmm, carrot cake. If you want I can get you the recipe for my BF's Mom's carrot cake. It's the best carrot cake I've ever tasted.

[dragon_wings]

Talked to my mom. She'll email me in the next day or two. (She and my dad just got home from a 'Spanish for healthcare professionals' class.)

[mharbourgirl]

Aww, thanks guys. I know I'm just whining and it's not a major issue, but sympathy feels nice.

Teskeria, I have told her just that, that's what got me the carrot syrup cake that I couldn't eat either. 'But it wasn't chocolate!' = honestly, for a 52-year-old woman, she's a bit fluffy in the brain sometimes. And one of those people that you put with having your feelings hurt occasionally because you really don't want to hurt HER feelings. I've tried very hard to stamp out my doormat tendencies, but obviously I have some work yet to do.

Dragonwings, I can't wait. I'm about to move into our first home (an apartment, but at least it's not MIL's house anymore, woo!) and I plan to do an insane amount of baking now that I'll have a mouse-free kitchen.

ArcticChicken, I will love you forever if you get me that recipe. I'm still hunting for the perfect carrot cake recipe, maybe this is it!

thatcrazyredhead, that's a good idea but there's 50+ people in my office and at least half of them will be out in the field at any given time. It just wouldn't work. But I DO like the idea of a birthday pie. I love pie even more than I love cake, because while the cake can be a lie, pie is always truth.

[garnetMoon]

I work in a really small office (main office is <15 people on any given day) so this way may not apply to your office, but what we always do for celebrations is an assortment of cupcakes. Everything from regular chocolate and vanilla to lemon, orange, red velvet, maple, etc etc. Would something like that work? Get an assortment and then you know for a fact that, say, the vanilla cupcake has never touched a chocolate one? We're lucky in and of the fact that we have a specialty cupcake bakery nearby and they have a really wide range of cakes to make, but I still like the idea because then a person can actually choose what they want.

Honestly, I remember in college when they used to have the monthly birthday cake, and I couldn't bring myself to ever grab a piece because college students. I want to pretend that in an office environment hygiene would be better, but I'm never sure.

[Jay 2K Winger]

My former CW at the wholesale club, Little Momma Awesome, was allergic to chocolate, among other things. I admit, I sometimes forgot, like when I offered her some of my White Trash.

To her credit, she just used it to joke around when I'd forget. She'd mime pulling out her cell phone and dialing it, and go: "Dave, Jay's tryin' to kill me!" (No lie, she did know him, courtesy of catering at Verizon Center, and from his days bouncing at clubs in DC.)

[Andara Bledin]

If you like coffee bread, I can see if I can pry my aunt's award-winning Finnish coffee bread recipe out of her for you.

^-.-^

[dragon_wings]

My mom won't be able to email me the recipe until Sunday. So I'll send you the recipe afterwards.

[thatcrazyredhead]

thatcrazyredhead, that's a good idea but there's 50+ people in my office and at least half of them will be out in the field at any given time. It just wouldn't work. But I DO like the idea of a birthday pie. I love pie even more than I love cake, because while the cake can be a lie, pie is always truth.

Yeah, I agree that that would be too difficult in an office that size. My unit is only about ten people or so. As for birthday pie, I've had lemon meringue pie for my "birthday cake" on more than one occasion. It was great because my cousins didn't like it, so I got my piece and theirs, too!

[dalesys]

Favorite cake: Nutmeg.
Favorite pie: Buttermilf Buttermilk.