Sunday, February 20, 2011

Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Taste Memories

Another attempt at a Stream of Consciousness post. Here's what's jumbling around in my head at the moment. As always, the rules according to Fadra are thus: set the timer for 5 minutes, write, write, write and when the timer stops, that's it. No editing. 

I was making macaroni and cheese for Sophie today. Not the homemade kind, the kind that comes in a blue box. I'm domestic but not THAT domestic. As I was finishing up, I remembered from my childhood how my mother would make us the same macaroni and cheese and she would cut up real cheddar cheese and mix it in. Cheddar cheese being what it is, it didn't melt in very well and there were always chunks of cheese in with the macaroni. I loved scooping up a forkful and finding one of the pieces of extra cheese. Its one of those funny childhood memories that litter my brain.

So as I was preparing her not exactly healthy blue box variety, I decided to mix in some cheese. Give it that little touch of motherly love. Knowing she would love it as much as I had and a new memory would be created for this next generation, carrying on the tradition. So I got out the brick, just as my mother did, I sliced off a hunk and methodically cut it into small pieces. Not so small they couldn't be seen or tasted, but small enough to mix in a bit. I threw it in with the butter and milk and stirred and stirred until the powdery stuff was creamy and the perfect texture achieved.

I scooped a small amount of this now precious dish into the cute little Winnie the Pooh bowl and stuck one of her plastic Ikea spoons into the mix. I called her to the table and with my own dish in hand, sat hers down in front of her with a smile and a twinkle in my eye.

She twirled the fork, watching the stringy strands of cheese stretch from fork to bowl. My own mouth watered in anticipation as she eyed up this delicacy. Then, just as she seemed to be about to take a bite, she pushed the plate away and said, with great finality: NO. And just like that, my dreams for this heirloom treat were shattered.

So I pulled her bowl over to my placemat and ate all of that tasty mac and cheese myself. That picky little thing might not like it, but I'm not letting it go to waste.




#SOCsunday

10 comments:

  1. LOL... she'll learn one day how awesome that is! Can't believe she didn't want the Mac N Cheese in the first place - that's a staple! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christopher can't stand when cheese goes all stringy. He flips out and won't eat it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the phrase "one of those funny childhood memories that litter my brain." I too have good memories of the blue box, except I did not like to eat it once it cooled down. As soon as it looked gunky, I was not interested. In recent years, I have perfected a mac and cheese recipe that I am proud of (with my mom's help), but, of course, my kids won't eat mac and cheese (and NOT because they're busy eating other, healthier foods). Glad you got to savor the memory even if the bean was not interested today.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw! Your memory was so fun, I hope she'll come to like the mac and cheese that way in time!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, my mouth is watering, even if Sophie's wasn't! But my kids are the same ... they like the fake cheese. One day, they'll learn. Until then, more for us, right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well I feel better knowing my little girl is not the only picky “princess” out there. My Bean would do the same thing. You just never know what she is going to hate next and it can be so exhausting...especially when you are just trying to be nice.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I KNEW IT! I was just waiting for that ending. Perfect build-up. My mother was the never-make-it-from-scratch type. If I got mac & cheese, it was because I was sick and my mom bought the soupy Franco-American slop call Macaroni & Cheese. It was awful but I loved it anyway. I often recreate my own childhood for my son. And sometimes he actually likes it :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. N. asks for mac and cheese at least once a week. And then eats exactly no bites of it. I'm pretty sure she and O. survive on air and syrup alone.
    I have not so fond memories of Kraft mac and cheese -- the one food I absolutely KNEW would make me sick but I ate anyway because I felt so deprived not eating it. Even above ice cream.
    I keep hoping this picky phase will pass. I'll hope for you, too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mmm mac and cheese... :) It's so funny the things our kids don't like eating! What are they THINKING?

    ReplyDelete

Give me some sugar, baby!