Thursday, June 11, 2009

A Set Back

I had this grand scheme last night.

Here was my thinking: I could magically displace any squeamishness Audrey has about the core ingredients of a particular dish (i.e. warm fruit), and she would happily lap it up with abandon, if she made said dish herself.

+ I wanted something sweet, and I’ve recently instituted a rule that we can only eat sweets if we make them ourselves -- from scratch (in an attempt to both eat fewer sweets and curb our serious addiction to boxed Ghirardelli double chocolate brownie mix...)



So while Millie and Bryan were happily ensconced in her room playing some combination of princess and the hokey pokey (don’t ask), Audrey and I set out to make berry crumble.

We sort of improvised our way through it, forgoing a formal recipe, and true to plan, I had her do almost all of the work while I guided her through the process. I also took this time to tell her about the blog… how I wanted to cook together more and for her try new foods and then write about them so we could remember it all when we’re older.

She was way into it, and I was positive she would love the crumble; you can see where this is going, no?

We let it cool, made some lightly sweetened loosely whipped cream to pile on top, and she dove in. Friends, it was way, way worse that the great guacamole debacle. She completely freaked out. It was epic: the gagging, the crying, the pleading for water… From her totally overblown reaction, you would have thought I’d just fed her the contents of her sister’s diaper.

“Don’t worry mom”, she managed to say after recovering from her meltdown extraordinaire. “You can just say I didn’t like it on the blog…”

She didn’t like it.

But I did… A lot.

Berry Crumble
  • One cup of organic blueberries
  • One cup of organic raspberries
  • ½ tsp of fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp of sugar in the raw
  • 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup oatmeal (not quick oats)
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup crushed pecans or walnuts
  • ½ stick of butter chilled and diced into cubes

Pre-heat oven to 350.

In one bowl mix berries, lemon juice, sugar in the raw and whole wheat flour gently with a wooden spoon or spatula, evenly distribute berry mixture into 4 ramekins.

In another bowl mix together oatmeal, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts, add in chilled butter cubes and crumble together with fingers, cover the berries in each ramekin with the crumble mixture.

Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for approx 30 minutes or until bubbly, let cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or lightly sweetened, loosely whipped cream.

14 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, I'm just howling about her reaction to the deliciousness! It looks divine :)

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  2. I have a similar child (who is now 13). I started with the best of intentions. I even ground my own (organic) baby food. I can't count for how many years he was on the "white" diet (bread, rice, chicken, cheese, and pasta). We went thru the gagging, the crying (mostly me), and melt-downs. We have come out the other end. And, while he still won't eat anything green (even though I put veggies out every. single. day), he eats many other foods. Just keep trying. They eventually (kind-of) grow out of it!

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  3. i love this...the idea, the stories, the sharing. so glad you decided to embark on this adventure!

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  4. I am so excited about your new blog! My husband and I were just discussing the "art" of guiding our 2 year old down the path of "good eating" now that she is being exposed to fast food etc. Last night was a win, she asked for more "sauce" (Nuoc Cham) on her "noodles" (Bun Thit Nuong.) yes!

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  5. Well, at least you made it to the gagging and crying part. Normally I can barely get my 4 year old to budge past the staring at me blankly, refusing to open her mouth and even try a bite...though I will give her credit since she tried a bite of one of the radishes she grew (and quickly decided they were NOT for her.)

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  6. Joslyn i am loving this new blog! I've already copied the recipes for berry crumble and cornbread and plan on making them asap. Thanks for sharing!

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  7. This made me giggle. My husband is the same way:) This does look yummy though, I bet my kiddos would love it.

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  8. I do wonder if it's the texture she's so adverse to? It does seem like that! Try this with her (it's a traditional English one):
    Traditional Baked Apples
    Take 1 apple for each person.
    Core the apple.
    Stuff cored center with a mix of cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins (or whatever other spices you like).
    Pleace on baking tray and pop in oven. Bake for as long as you like. I like mine gooey and well done, but she may like hers still a tiny bit firm.
    Serve with vanilla ice cream or cream. YUM!I'll be interested to hear how she likes it! Good luck ;) xxx

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  9. mme lady finger...i'll definitely give it a try, she loves apples. fingers crossed! thanks for the idea.

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  10. your new blog is great! it's reassuring to see other families struggling with convincing children to eat yummy home cooked healthy things. my kids are sometimes picky, sometimes not...i never know what reaction i will get when i put dinner on the table. sometimes it's just my husband and i that eat it :) but i know eventually it will get better.

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  11. You are a good person to try Jos...it will happen. Just as it did to us, when we were out to eat and they ordered the eel and raw something or other with their cousins and ate every last bite!

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  12. oooh Jane, I can't imagine that ever happen, Audrey eating eel and raw anything, but of course if she saw her beloved matthew do it...hmm ;-)

    xoxo

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  13. I think they look absolutely, mouth-wateringly delicious! She'll come around... eventually. ;)

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