Try It, You'll Like It

I guess I had it coming. You can't put a new recipe, vegetable, food substance in front of your kid almost daily without it coming back around to bite you in the butt. This is the day your five-year-old makes her own "recipes."

Maybe it was the time I put curried baby squid in front of her (she ate it). The endless variations of sweet potato dishes during the Battle of Orange Food. Or, just the cumulative impact of last 300 new recipes. Yeah, I had it coming.

I let her "cook" her own dish as I was preparing dinner one night. I saw a lot of different jars from "too old" spices I keep around. Some odds and ends from the overloaded condiment shelves of the fridge door. A lot of lemon juice. Who knows what else. I lost track. Perhaps I should have paid more attention.

I didn't realize she was going to expect me to EAT it.

Because really, I'm not sure I want the same person creating recipes for me who:

• once licked a gas station bathroom door
• also licked a trash can at the store
• drank water off a manhole cover

But there it was. IN FRONT OF ME. It occurred to me this is one of the parent "learning moments." Here is what I learned:

• some of the stuff I have put in front of her probably looked just as weird as this does.
• heck, some of it may have tasted just as bad to her.
• maybe I should limit the ingredient list for these experiments if I am the guinea pig
• enough straight lemon juice will kill off your taste buds at least temporarily
• never let someone who drinks her own bath water prepare your meal

I better teach her how to cook sooner rather than later.