RecipeMuncher

Happy Tablescape Thursday ~This week I’m doing a Mother-Daughter Tea with a spring theme.I love this time of year when the early blooms are coming into their own ~ it’s so convenient to step into the garden to snip some stems for an instant casual arrangement.I’m using this Royal Winton Chintz pattern ~ it’s not vintage (yet)it’s a reproduction, made in England in 1995.Meyer lemon slices from one

I get a ton of questions about cooking and food. In person. On Facebook. On Twitter. By e-mail. So many, in fact, that I decided to start publishing them in a column.
So! Have a question in the kitchen? Can’t quite figure something out? Ask the mouse! I’ll answer as many questions as I can.
Since I’ve [...]

I get a ton of questions about cooking and food. In person. On Facebook. On Twitter. By e-mail. So many, in fact, that I decided to start publishing them in a column.
So! Have a question in the kitchen? Can’t quite figure something out? Ask the mouse! I’ll answer as many questions as I can.
Since I’ve [...]

Yesterday T-ball practice was cancelled because of the rain.

Bill wanted to go out for dinner, and hey, who am I to pass up the opportunity to have someone else cook and clean up after?  The only person uncharacteristically UNenthusiastic was Alex.

Why?

He wanted a tuna sandwich.  Right now.  He was staaaaaaaaaaaaaarving.  And he neeeeeeeeeded a tuna sandwich NOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW or the consequences would be dire.

So I tried to jolly him out of it, but it wasn't working. 

"How about if I have a tuna sandwich and THEN we can go out to eat," he moaned, barely conscious and pale from all the starvation.

Eventually I tried a different approach.  Distraction.

"Alex, what is your favorite vegetable that we grow?"  (Long story - but I'm thinking it would be cool to put in more gardens - a nice long stretch along the side of the yard on the other side of the driveway that we never do anything with except mow, and maybe each kid would want to grow something.)

He thought for a moment (the distraction was working!!) before saying "I think it's between the 'Sparagus and the Peas."

I thought he was forgetting about later-harvested crops, so I said "What about cucumbers?  You really like them!"  (more distraction!  still working!)

And he said, in a world-weary, old-before-his-time, how-did-my-mother-survive-to-adulthood-with-this-lack-of-brain-power voice:

"Mom.  Cucumbers are a fruit."

Botanically, he's right.

The little twerp.

And soon after that, we headed out to the car and off to dinner, all in good moods.

See?  Not so stupid!  My ploy to improve his mood worked!