Artichokes

[liralen]

I know I'm doing something right when Jet hears "artichokes for dinner" and says, "I want mine with lots of mayonaise to dip it in!"

Ahem.

Jet and I had a very busy day today, doing errands, getting presents, and generally running ourselves silly after a very satisfying breakfast of buttermilk pancakes from scratch. His ended up with whipped cream, mine with wild blueberries and real maple syrup. Mmmm....



We stopped at Noodles and Company (I want mine with seasoning!), the library, Target for pictures and Starbuck's, and then the local yarn shop to give the lady there the picture of the Clapotis so she could have it. She wanted a picture, since she'd sold me the wool. I didn't remind her that she'd charged me for the *fraction* of an ounce of the wool when she sold it to me, and the fact that I'm likely never going back there again to buy anything. She only seems to stock expensive, obscure things, and the fiber holdings, other than for that one rainbow roving, have all been blah since I picked it up. Plus she seems to have this weird attitude when I do go there, part belligerance and part one ups manship, and part... hm... someone else I know would have labeled her "threatened". And, she might well be by me. I'm sure I give plenty of reasons simply by doing what I do.

Anyway, there was another very nice lady there that quizzed Jet about his knitting and spinning abilities until he hid behind my legs.

*giggles*

Then we were out in the ridiculous sunshine. It was in the mid-50's today and I was in just my t-shirt and sweat pants. Jet was wise and kept his jacket as he had a few sniffles in the morning. There were plenty of snow drifts and piles from shoveling from the last week. It's odd to have big piles and chunks of snow and feel too warm to wear a coat at the same time.

I pushed my luck with a "quick run" into Boulder, and Jet was chanting, "I want to go HOME. I want to go HOME." by the time we got there. I rewarded him when we got to where we were going and there were no melt downs, by letting him pick one thing under ten dollars. Unsurprisingly it as very hard to find something for less than ten dollars at REI. *grin*

But he was very happy with a smooshy ball he was able to get, and we went home all in a much better mood.

Poor John called to say that he was dealing with a septic backup situation at the OUR center. Flooded the kitchen and the dining room. BAD juju for the folks trying to server lunch tomorrow. Luckily, they'd managed to wash, disinfect, and put away most of the kitchen things before it happened. Still... it's quite the bad mess out there. So he'd had a long, hard, day.

I made Sloppy Joes, French Fries, and steamed artichokes for dinner. Yeah... quite the juxtiposition, but the artichokes were in the fridge and were not getting any better.

The boys are now playing a Sudoku board game John got for his birthday. It's... startling how well Jet's doing at it.

Comments

[beckyb.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm. Pancakes. I ate at Noodles today too. I like their new trio deal.

I like my artichoke mayonaise with chopped up shallots and capers mixed in.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm... that sounds *wonderful*.

Yeah, we love the trio as well. :-)

[archangelbeth]

I want my artichoke with lots of melted butter! Mmmmmm. (I think the minx will have to wait until at least her bottom teeth have come back in before she can enjoy artichokes.)

Condolences to you John!!

Woo, Sudoku board game! Hmmmm. I wonder if ze spouse and child might like it... (She hasn't shown much liking for Sudoku in its native form, but as a game? Hm.)

[foomf.livejournal.com]

Penny and I would usually mix best foods light, or home-made mayo with sriracha sauce for artichokes.

This was because we reserved melted butter with garlic and anchovy for crab, but, sometimes, it would go for artichokes.

[archangelbeth]

My mom'd just stick plain butter in the microwave, after the artichoke came out of the microwave and was cooling, and we dipped the leaves...

I had one a while back. They're very satisfying to eat, but prickly if one doesn't trim the leaves!

I should get another sometime. Possibly while I can still monopolize it on account of someone's lack of teeth being fully in on bottom yet... *shiftyeyes*

[liralen.livejournal.com]

It's as good an excuse as any. *grin*

They are quite satisfying!

[foomf.livejournal.com]

*evil chortle*

I haven't had an artichoke in quite a while. I did get a jar of artichoke hearts, but I ate them.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Ahhh...

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm... butter... :-)

John appreciate the condolences...

And, yeah, the whole, "I can score more than you can!" aspect of it certainly motivates Jet a lot. *grin*

It works on the same math principles, which is cool.

[diony.livejournal.com]

I had artichokes with hollandaise for dinner tonight!

One of the things Ken & I talk a lot about is how to feed kids. I grew up eating pretty much everything that was put in front of me, at least by the time I can remember things -- which doesn't really start until 6 or so, and is pretty hazy until junior high, so I admit my take on it might not be the most accurate. But anyway, I remember sitting and eating chinese food when I was 6 and enjoying it. Ken, meanwhile, was a pretty picky eater. So I expect our still-hypothetical future children will eat a wide range of stuff, and he expects them to insist on peanut butter & jelly sandwiches until they're 14.

Hearing about what Jet eats & doesn't eat, and how you approach it with him, is thus very fascinating.

[archangelbeth]

Mine eats... Well, she'll try just about anything, once, unless you tell her it's spicy. She'll eat sushi, and seaweed that wraps it, and neither spouse nor I do. She won't eat green peppers (or onions (save an occasional onion ring), but I only eat onions when they've been cooked into submission and she may have an inherited sensitivity to them anyway). She'll eat meat, and I sure won't eat that stuff. O:> She eats shrimp, which her dad's mom likes, but he doesn't.

Try any kids on a lot of stuff, early on -- samples of everything mom and dad are trying -- and go for options of "you don't have to eat more, but try a taste and see if you like it."

I figure a mouthful of something new that shows up at the school cafeteria is a good success for me...

Of course, kids are just different. Jet apparently eats even hot peppers, and I can't imagine my minx doing that! If hypothetical kids wind up on peanut butter and jelly or Mac and Cheese for ages, feed them a multi-vitamen and don't beat yourself up about it.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Yeah... Jet eats HOT peppers, though mostly as a toddler when he really didn't know much better. He won't eat spicy things much now, but once in a while, he'll ask for something and his eyes will get big, and he'll drink his milk and then eat some more of the Really Spicy thing and giggle.

He's also weird in that he likes blue cheese, and will eat that by the spoonful.

I think the whole idea of just letting the toddler sit in your lap and steal anything they want off your plate is a *great* way to start. It's a little messy, but at least they'll get more familiarity with all the kinds of food. I wish I'd done that a bit more when Jet was small instead of worrying so much about staying relatively clean. *grin*

[risu.livejournal.com]

> He's also weird in that he likes blue cheese, and
> will eat that by the spoonful.

That's not weird! That's immaculate Buddha wisdom!

Jenna

[liralen.livejournal.com]

*grin*

Well, the books say that babies, toddlers, and little kids like plain foods because the sharper tastes are too overwhelming or something. Whatever that something is Jet doesn't have it.

He likes blue cheese, goat cheese, and garlic. He seems to really like wasabi and ginger and soy sauce. He likes vinegars, especially just straight basalmic vinegar on his noodles.

Sharp, sour, bright, strong flavors don't bother him at all. He heads *for* them.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

I think the salad "win" was cause they're doing fruit and vegetable growing and tasting at school. They're learning about all the colors of things and how they benefit them, and they get to choose what they want to try.

There's a book out called "taking the Fight out of Food" and it's excellent and pretty much along the lines of kids learning for themselves what makes for a healthy diet. And teaching them how to choose things and know the consequences, like being able to choose a treat now and then because they know they need the emotional aspect of it all but balance that with what their bodies need.

It's a fascinating read, as I know my approaches to food aren't ALL healthy. But the beginning chapters, for me at least, were a great way to seperate how my parents felt about food from how I want Jet to approach food.

In the end, it's about how healthy they are, and Jet's great at beating off colds in a matter of days that I take a week to get over. Our pediatrician pointed out that that's a pretty good indicator that he's getting what he needs.

[rephetibel.livejournal.com]

The woman at the yarn shop is threatened by your abilities in what she probably feels should be her arena of expertise?

Well, duh. There are individuals among us who do well at most everything they set their hands to. The rest of us just need to get over ourselves.

Blake grew cardoons the last couple of years. They are an ornamental artichoke that looks like gorgeous giant thistle when it blooms. I thought could cook and eat one but I was mistaken.

[liralen.livejournal.com]

*grin* They look an awful lot alike, don't they?

*sheepish grin* at the threatening someone. I don't MEAN to... but... yeah. I think you nailed it.

[that-david.livejournal.com]

Ummmm...artichokes...