Easy as Pie

I've always been intrigued by this phrase, "easy as pie."  Frankly, I think pie is pretty damn hard.  Pie crust is my nemesis. I've followed countless pie crust recipes, tips from friends, video tutorials, you name it.  Pie crust kicks my butt. But, I keep trying, convinced that one day I'll be able to master this very simple concoction.

A couple years ago, my mother-in-law gave the Wunderkind this cookbook: 

It is really cute and it even came with kid-sized utensils.  Recently, Vivi pulled it off the shelf and  marched into the kitchen, announcing that she wanted to make apple pies. PIES! Instantly, pie crust failure flashbacks flooded my brain.  The fear was setting in.  As my heart rate increased, I took a couple deep breaths and thought "Hey, relax.  It's a cookbook for kids. Maybe this will finally teach me to conquer the crust?"  I shook it off, deciding not to transfer my pie crust cross-to-bear onto my child and said a simple "sure, babe."

Eager Pie Baker

 I let her run the show.  She measured out her ingredients, followed the directions carefully and used me as her sous-chef. And, the kid made pie crust.  A flaky, buttery, perfect pie crust.  

Lookin' good!

Finished product, complete with pastry "V"

Not only was it fantastic for her to have such a great result, but just watching her watch the oven, checking the timer, and getting excited about her baking adventure was the best thing ever.  Once they were ready, we let them cool (slightly) before diving in to taste.  Success!  My sweet baby created 4 personal size apple pies and they were awesome.  She was so incredibly proud of herself and I could practially see the confidence radiating from her.  We had to drive one over to my parents' house so she could share the lovin' from the oven!

If you haven't had the chance yet to teach a child to cook, find an opportunity.  Yes, it can be immensely frustrating because they don't always listen well, they are messy and sometimes they lose interest, but if you keep trying, the next thing you know they are baking pies. And making pie crust better than you!

The Altruism Project

They say people cook with love, with the heart...

So, my petit gourmand is in 3rd grade now. She's got a really great teacher who I hear nothing but good things about...from Viv as well as other kids we know who have already had her.  That's a good sign because kids will take any opportunity to tell you how much or what they didn't like about a teacher, but they all love this lady. The class is studying altruism right now.  An assignment came home to go along with this unit.  The kids are to come up with some sort of altruistic deed that they will carry out.  Then, they have to write a descriptive paragraph about their project, how it affected the people they helped, how it affected themselves.  This is awesome and it's only 3rd grade.

My daughter heard at church that our Youth group is always asking for lunch to be donated since they meet immediately following the 11:00 service.  They don't have much of a budget for lunches. So Vivian decided she wanted to make lunch for them.  The plan was for me to act merely as her assistant and she would cook, assemble and cook a lasagna all by herself.  I took the job.  I really just stood back and gave instructions and some occasional advice.  I posed the question "Ground beef or Italian sausage?"  I was really curious to see how her thought process would work here.  She considered it and decided the sausage would have a "richer" flavor. So we made a special trip to Publix to get ground Italian sausage.  I think she made the right call!

Preparing the onions

Browning the Italian sausage

The onions started getting to her; thus the "onion goggles"

I'm here to tell you, as the proud mama I tend to be, my sweet child did this project all on her own.  She chopped onions and then added them to the skillet as she browned her sausage.  She mixed Romano, cottage cheese, mozzarella, eggs and fresh parsley from our garden.  She assembled the lasagna and had it all ready for the oven on Saturday evening.  

Putting it all together

Ready for the oven

Sunday morning, we baked it partially then packed it in an insulated container before heading off to church.  Upstairs in the youth room, she finished baking the lasagna then she assembled a Caesar salad, making sure to finely grate fresh Parmesan. 

Grating fresh Parmesan

As the youth group arrived, they all commented about how good it smelled...they were right.  As I helped bring it all to the table, it was pretty evident to me that these teenagers were impressed by what they saw.  Viv had made a beautiful lasagna and salad.
  

Ta-da!

 The finished product

I'm not sure what they were expecting, but I know they were pleasantly surprised.  They invited us to stay and eat with them which was extra cool that the teenagers wanted their chef to also be their guest.  Many, many compliments later, we had a super easy clean-up because there wasn't a stitch of food leftover!

Everyone with full tummies

I left there feeling immense pride that she took on this project and she carried it out so successfully.  She's pretty modest, but I know her. She was feeling that sweet satisfaction that a job well done brings.  I'm so excited about her work that I can't wait for her to turn it in to the teacher!  And to the 3rd grade teachers at Rosewood, I thank you for creating such a meaningful project for our kids to experience the beauty of altruism.

AT LAST! A real menu for children

Kids are people too. But you wouldn't know it to look at most restaurants' children's menu.  I think "picky eaters" aren't born, they are taught. Of course, there are exceptions to this statement, but for the most part, I think I'm right about this.  

My mom told me years ago about an article she read. There was an experiment involving kids and their eating habits.  On day 1, the kids came into a room to find a long table filled with cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream, chocolate, potato chips, Doritos and the like. They also found grilled chicken, fish, green beans, spinach, squash, broccoli, fruits, etc. As expected, on day 1, the sweets were quickly demolished and the "real food" left untouched.

However, this began to change gradually. Each day, less and less of the sweets & junk food were consumed and more and more of the good stuff.  By the end of the week, the kids were eating full, balanced meals with maybe one dessert selection.  The conclusion?  The kids ate what they needed. Their bodies needed (wanted) the nutritious foods to survive.  The novelty of the junk wore off quickly even though the kids had unlimited choices of "fun" foods in front of them. 

This has been my basic philosophy about feeding my daughter: make available what she needs. From the time we began giving her solid foods, my husband and I focused on giving her good, balanced meals and we changed it up a lot.  We have continued to offer new, different dishes and meals to expose her to the great big world and to encourage healthy and adventurous eating.  Some foods are a hit, some not.  But, I don't give up.  I'll try them prepared differently next time and guess what?  Eventually those foods make it onto the "thumbs up" list.

Going to a restaurant with a child can be a challenge.  Most have a kids menu, but frankly, they usually just make me mad.  You've seen it before...the unhealthy, junky, uncoordinated selections they make available to your child.  Chicken fingers, french fries, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, corn dog.  And don't forget the lovely sides: jello, applesauce, fries, yogurt. 

Kids are people too!  When was the last time you waltzed into a restaurant and said "Yes, I'll have the corn dog with a side of applesauce and macaroni."  I'm betting NEVER.There's a place in the Vista that has macaroni for kids.  We ordered it one time.  I swear to you, they cooked an entire box of Kraft macaroni and cheese, dumped the whole pot into a bowl and served it to my 4 year old with an adult-sized soup spoon.  So, she was given a portion size fit for Paul Bunyan, a spoon that won't fit in her mouth to eat a bowl full of crap from a box that I don't even make at home.  

Here's a tip:  you're a restaurant.  Cook!  Make some macaroni. It's not that hard. Serve kids a smaller portion.  Or, for that matter, how about just serve ANYTHING on your menu at a kid-sized portion and price?  Now, that is sheer brilliance, if I do say so myself.

Ok, ok, ranting aside, the real purpose of this post is to give major applause and accolades to Harper's in Five Points. We went in today after church.  Viv received the usual kids menu with accompanying crayons.  I started looking it over and almost fell out of the booth.  I have never, ever, ever seen a children's menu like this!  Actual entrees, vegetables, includes a dessert and only $6. Take a look:

  
Notice anything?  There is salmon, grilled chicken, BBQ sliders, roasted vegetables, fruit as well as brunch items.  Now with this, you can build a real meal for your child.  Viv chose the grilled salmon with honey mustard glaze.  She really does love salmon.  She was talking about ordering French toast when the salmon caught her eye. She selected fruit as her side and the scoop of ice cream for dessert.  Just for the record, despite what she circled above, I did give in and let her have a Dr. Pepper since her soda consumption is practically non-existent, but I 86'd the milkshake.

This is the plate she was served.  It looked fantastic and I had to try it.  It was perfectly cooked, you could taste the wood fire, nice "crust" on the outside.  It was delicious.  

I was euphoric through the rest of our lunch, because I was so jacked that someone finally gets it.  Kids don't need to live off cheese, fried chicken and pasta.  And, what kind of idiot puts PB&J on a menu?  Restaurants need to act like restaurants and cook.  Cook for all your customers regardless their age. Kids will eat real food.  But you have to make it available to them.  If every restaurant would adopt my "just make a smaller portion" concept (anybody remember "ladies' portions?), we could have kids everywhere experimenting and developing their little palates every time they eat out.

Kudos to you Harper's!  I hadn't been to your restaurant in a long time (no reason, just hadn't made it in) but I tell you what, we'll be in frequently now.  Thank you for offering vegetables and lean proteins to our kids.  Thank you for serving them an appropriate serving size at an appropriate price.  You get it.

The Kid's Palate: a work in progress

Way before my husband and I had our beautiful daughter, we talked about what we would and wouldn’t do as parents.  We had very clear, very emphatic plans.  We would not tolerate bad behavior in public.  We wouldn’t have one of those kids who refuses to eat her dinner…this is what we’re having, enjoy it.  And we sure weren’t going to feed her Cheetos and McDonald’s…oh no, no.  Well, we’ve since learned that sometimes, as parents, we actually CAN’T control all these variables as we thought we could.  Sometimes, reality gets in the way.  Often, you have to pick your battles. And, things change.  A lot. 

We’ve done well with the public behavior.  In fact, I’d say my little one is one of the best behaved kids you’ll see in a restaurant, at a sporting event, concert, etc.  I’m proud of that.  Most of the time, she tries new foods and eats her dinner without much complaint.  But, not always.  We have managed to stave off the junk food and fast food poison pretty well, but let’s be honest, sometimes it’s a necessary evil (traveling in the middle of nowhere, but there’s always a set of those damn golden arches out there.)  And of course, things change.

One thing I’ve always talked to her about is how our taste buds can change as we get older.  Already in her short life, she’s realized this fact.  It’s really cute when it happens too because she’ll exclaim, “Hey Mommy, my taste buds have changed!  I like this now!”  Which brings me to the July bounty of figs.

 

                                   

My parents have a fig tree in their backyard.  Last year, it really produced and I was so excited to share it with my daughter.  I have such fond memories of climbing my next door neighbor’s fig tree and just sitting up there eating figs until I couldn’t stand it anymore. But sadly, last summer she turned her cute little nose up at these odd, yet wonderful, little fruits.  So, imagine my surprise when two days ago she ventured out into my parents’ backyard and came back very nonchalantly snacking on a fig.  She walked in and announced, “Hey everybody the figs are ready!”  We all exchanged astonished glances.  What a difference a year makes!

 So, my dad and I accompanied her out to the tree to harvest.  She loved climbing into the middle of that tree, just like I used to.  She was the keeper of the bucket too, so she was loving watching our fig volume increase.  As we chatted about fig preserves, grilled figs, figs stuffed with blue cheese & wrapped in prosciutto, she came up with a new one:  fig cobbler.  Hmmm, I have to think about that a little bit.  What a joy to see how excited she was to discover the tree ripe with fruit, picking them herself and actually enjoying eating them this year.  See?  I told ya, those taste buds do change. 

Don’t believe me?  Check this out. (click here)

Lunch at the Flight Deck

Lunch. It happens every day.  So do the lunch conversations.  

"I'm hungry, want to go get something to eat?"
 "Sure, where do you want to go?"
"I don't know, what are you in the mood for?"
"Oh, I can eat anything.  You decide."

This can go on for up to 20 minutes.  Someone has to step up and make the decision.  For everyone.  Make the decision and herd them out the door.  This is how lunch gets done.

This is my mom.  We work together, so we have lunch together almost every day

Yesterday, I had the Vivver with me at the office when the lunch conversation came up.  In some ways, it's easier when you have a child involved because then the mom or dad usually becomes that decision maker since you have to choose a place that's kid-friendly and has a decent kids' menu.  As we began to discuss where, what, who, how to have lunch, I thought of the Flight Deck in Lexington.  It's a locally owned, family place with one of those menus that has something for everyone, including children.  The decision was made.  Bam!  Just like that.


The little one ordered the kids' spaghetti with a side of green beans.  I didn't photograph her plate because as soon as it arrived, she dug into it and within seconds, it was no longer photogenic.  She's a big fan of spaghetti and really liked Flight Deck's offering.  I had to pick a couple of large pieces of tomato out of the sauce for her, but other than that, it was a hit.  Half for lunch, the other half for dinner.  She wasn't crazy about the green beans because she found them to be spicy.  I tasted them; I don't know what she's talking about.


Mom ordered the "Poor Boy" sandwich.  Don't confuse this with a "Po' Boy."  Flight Deck's sandwich is a lot like the French dip at Momo's.  It's a sub roll filled with tender pot roast, melted cheese and served with a side of jus.  

Poor Boy and Collards

I didn't get a taste of it because mom was diggin' every bite.  And, I was quite busy with my big salad.  As a side, she chose the collard greens.  It's funny:  we never had collards when I was growing up.  Usually, foods that didn't appear on our table were ones that my mom didn't like.  Therefore, she wouldn't serve it to the rest of us if she didn't care for it.  I assumed this was the case with collards, but here we all are years later, and we all eat them.  Curious.

The Primo Salad

I ordered the Flight Deck "Primo" salad.  It's described as a Greek salad mixed with a Chef's salad.  What it is is fantastic!  What you can't see in my photo is the ham, turkey and super-crispy bacon.  What you can see if lots of heavenly feta, pepperoncini, and Greek olives.  Nice touch:  the olives were pitted!  Served with a classic Greek dressing with tasty herbs.  I ordered the small, which is still a big ol' salad.  I ate almost the whole thing.  And, I'm not ashamed to admit it.


What I like the most about the Flight Deck is the people.  When you walk in the door, you're greeted right away and by someone friendly.  During the course of your meal, someone other than your server will come by and check on you.  The wait staff is also friendly, laid back and helpful.  And, they deal with kids very well!  This is huge.  Nothing will get a mama's dander up faster than some jerk acting like they can't be bothered by her child.  I'm gonna be tipping on the cost of her meal too, ya know.  This isn't a problem here.  And, it's a locally owned business and y'all know how I feel about that!  The Flight Deck isn't where you'd go on a fancy date, but when you want a tasty, satisfying, casual meal, and you happen to be in Lexington (which is a crowded sea of chain restaurants), head over to the Flight Deck. There truly is something for everyone on the menu, the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and you'll be supporting a local restaurant and local people.

Doughnut versus Orange Slices

The 'wunderkind' is in her 2nd semester of Kindergarten.  Her school is right in our neighborhood, which is awesome because we can walk.  And, the school PTO is very active and plans all kinds of fun events so the kids get to see each other a lot, outside of school.  This morning was the Rosewood Kids' Fun Run.  (There was also a 5K afterwards for bigger people.) 

We all converged on Memorial Stadium first thing this morning. The Fun Run is a mile run around the big park.  All the kids got a bib for their shirts and they were all #1.  Nice touch for little egos.  They lined up and Vivi was one of the first on the line.  She was poised and ready.  Then, she took off like a shot.  Typical of her style, full speed ahead.  That's when I realized it might have been a good idea to talk about pacing oneself prior to getting here today.  Oh well, she's young and strong!  

I ran across the park to get some video as she came around turn #2, then ran back to the finish line to wait for her.  I mean, my 5-year-old wunderkind was about to complete one whole mile.  That's a lot for a kid, I think.  Here she comes:

What does any of this have to do with food?  You know how they always have a station at the finish with water, fruit, etc. for the runners?  I just found it funny that this is a race for children from an elementary school and they had orange slices (ok, I get it), bananas (uh huh,  makes sense) and then both powdered sugar AND chocolate covered mini-doughnuts.  I'll give you one-half of a guess as to which my beloved child and every other one went to.  I mean, I'm ok with kids indulging in sweet treats every now and then.  But, don't kid yourselves by even putting all that fruit out there with doughnuts.  They don't stand a chance.  Lying there, all alone, looking pretty but no takers.  The bananas and oranges were behind the 8 ball from the get-go.  I felt sorry for them.  Then, I snapped out of it, saw my sweet baby double fisting chocolate doughnuts and knew it was time to load up and head home!  

Vivian and her Principal

Her first official road race at the ripe old age of 5.  Hell yeah, she deserved the golden medal she received as she crossed the finish line...and some mini-doughnuts!

Quality Kitchen Time

Sharing the kitchen with my daughter has been a long-time dream.  She's actually been interested for quite some time, but ever since that hot soup incident when she was 18 months old, I've been very, very careful about allowing her to venture into cooking.  But she's old enough now that I don't have to be a complete paranoid, over-protective micro-manager when we're in the kitchen together.

Funny Things my Daughter Says

My wunderkind is now 5 years old.  She's such a fun little kid; she loves to help in the kitchen, she likes to bowl, she's a geocacher, she loves the water, she's very artistic but also throws some mean karate kicks and punches.  And, she's funny.  "How funny is she?..."

She likes to hug crawfish, but she really likes to EAT crawfish.

I was just thinking back about some of the funny things that have come out of her mouth as they relate to food and drink and remembered these:

• "I don't know what you did, but these are delicious!"
• "I LOVE chorizo!"
• "I don't want any dessert, I'll just have chicken."
• "Mommy, you are the best cooker ever."  (My personal favorite)
• "Do I look like a real griller?"
• "Look at these babies!" (steaks)
• "I'd like a salad sandwich for lunch." (this means a sandwich with lettuce on it)
• "Do Daisy Scouts get to eat the cookies they sell?"
• "These pancakes taste like a sandwich!" (So, wheat pancakes are a little bready)
• "Mommy, I don't wanna watch a kid show. Can't we just watch a cooking show?"

I'm sure these are much funnier to me than you and I could throw out the old-tried-and-true "guess you had to be there!" But, as I sit in my office waiting for something to happen, these little phrases gave me a smile.