Monday, May 10, 2010

Flame-Broiled Enthusiasm

The Denizens were not feeling the dinner-love tonight. I put the sauerbraten into the crockpot this morning before we left, so as we walked into the Den there was that rich, heady scent of ginger, red wine, onions and beef hanging in the air.

They were not impressed. It smelled like flavor, and they are against that. Ketchup is about as bold as they want to get.

And it didn’t get a whole lot better. Oh sure, there were some plain buttered noodles – but there were also beets.

Which are a vegetable.

Which, you know…well, veg-ee-tah-bul.

Also pronounced, “Yuck.”

(To which I rejoin, “Get used to the beets, dudes, we’ve got about ten pounds of them coming out of the garden this week.”)

(Addendum to the above: “MWAH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”)

Not even the Fun Fact that they might turn your pee pink could make up for their vegetable-ness.

But it must be announced that they did a noble job bellying up to the table and risking the horror that is a vegetable. None of them liked the beets, but they all choked down what they had before them and then turned their attention to the one thing that could prevent overnight starvation: dessert.

I said, “Let me think.”

They said, “No! No, we want Girl Scout cookies!”

“Are you sure?” I queried.

“Yes! Yes! We want Girl Scout cookies!!”

“You don’t even want to know if there’s another option?”

“UH…” {three little memories spun like crazy, doing an inventory of the sweets in the house} “No, that’s OK, we just want Girl Scout cookies.”

“Ooooookay. Let’s go get a box.”

So we went out to the garage and got a box of Girl Scout cookies.

And a box of graham crackers.

And a couple Hershey bars.

“Oooooh, can I have a candy bar instead?” Danger Mouse was intrigued by this sudden and unexpected development.

“Nope. You’re having cookies,” I told her smugly.

Eldest looked at what I had in my hands coming back through the door and said, “Oooooooooh! I changed my mind!”

“What? What?” yelled Boo Bug.

“Nothing. You’re having cookies,” I told her, digging through the cupboards. Ah…

You may think you know what a “loud” noise sounds like.

Ha.

You haven’t heard “loud” until you’ve heard four kids putting together the presence of a box of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and a big old bag of (only slightly stale) marshmallows.

These are the moments when I wouldn’t trade my finicky old gas range for the sleekest, fanciest electric model on the market.

Marshmallows
Just like camping – without the bugs!

Boo Bug roasts a marshmallow
…oh…wait…well, Boo Bugs don’t count…

Suddenly, everybody got a lot more enthusiastic about that whole “preparing and consuming food” thing.

Hmm. I wonder if there would be some way I could make beets a s’more-like interactive dining experience for them…

9 comments:

Louiz said...

We don't have s'mores in the UK - what do they require? They sound intreguing.

Anonymous said...

Have you thought about pickling some of you beets? I loved pickled beets when I was a kid. Delicious!

Samantha said...

You know, I have never had s'mores. I'm a camper (a Wilderness Witch, in fact!!) and I've never had them. There is something terribly wrong with that. LOL I love beets. Your post made me giggle.

Steph B said...

I have to side with the Denizens on the beet issue - not even the prospect of pink pee (and isn't THAT a thought) is enough to make me excited about beets. Love the idea of s'mores, though. That's one of our summer fun things - build a bonfire by the pond and make s'mores. Somehow my kids never seem to get tired of that.

Unknown said...

Smart thinking, Mom! I love the "lesson" taught, too. Wait for all the options!
Nancy FP

Lisa said...

I have to agree with the Denizens, though the issue isn't that beets are vegetables, it's that they are one of the most disgusting foods I've ever eaten. Blech. My congratulations, though, because at least they ate some of them. I can't gag them down.

Now if that were yellow summer squash...yum!

Science PhD Mom said...

Ah-ha, I have a way to get your Denizens to eat their beets! Make chocolate beet cake! Seriously!! Check out a copy of the Moosewood Restaurant's Book of Desserts from the library and use their "red devil cake" recipe. It requires a can of beets, but I'm sure you could use fresh beets. It is the BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER...so moist and yummy! You would never know there are beets in it unless someone told you.

sungld said...

LOVE this, particularly the issue with food that has FLAVOR.

Anonymous said...

cut the beets into quarters, toss with olive oil and salt, and pan roast them in the oven. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar when done. Totally no beet flavor. Also works with cauliflower, but don't use the vinegar at the end