Cooking with my daughter

I am blessed with two lovelies, each with a strong mind of her own.

I doubt I am alone in the following mommy-dom statement: My children are completely not alike!  They are dissimilar in so many wonderful ways, but one biggie is in their taste in food!

One daughter will gladly eat tuna fish sandwiches until she and/or I are blue in the face, but wouldn’t consider touching a tuna steak.  My other little one, however, feels the combo of such a lovely fish and mayo, and slapped upon bread for that matter, is a culinary travesty.

One will eat spinach when it’s hidden in a cookie (read  “Indigo Rabbit“), but the thought of poking such a fetching green with her fork and bringing it to lips makes her swoon.

Tonight was an exciting divergence from the familiar dinner time challenge – thrilling at least part of everyone’s pallet while certainly not appearing to do any such thing.

One of my children is out for the evening.  That means that for this dinnertime, the remaining family members (read “those with less compelling social calendars”) have an opportunity to venture into unexplored, and perhaps more “risky” culinary waters.

My youngest and I decided to make use of the sole I found in the freezer and make fish cakes.  Go figure.  On a Monday night!

I will say now (and make myself reread many times in the future) that I wish I did more of this – cooking with one child at a time.  What a divine experience.  It was exhilarating to really touch, smell, question every ingredient.  Really.

The biggest fun of the prep was when I asked my little companion to add the egg to our bowl of softly pillowed fish and diced celery.  She loves to crack those suckers so I figured I knew her next move.  What I looked up to see, however, was a large brown egg sitting nestled in its bed in the bowl.  I hope I never forget her expression and pride at such a gaffe.

The fish cakes were fantastic, the accompanying broccoli slaw salad a bit too spicy for a little pallet, but truly an excellent meal.  We’ll be sure to share all the details with our absent member and laugh at the expressions of disgust she’ll undoubtedly share as she considers our audacity at mixing more than 4 ingredients together at the same time!