What I've been doing this week

( Menu Behind the Cut )

What I've been doing this week

( Menu Behind the Cut )

Notes on the Tasting Menu

Mostly for my own reference, here are notes, thoughts and recipe links for last night's tasting menu:

( Details Behind the Cut )

Overall, I was very pleased with this meal. I liked the way that certain flavors echoed in other courses--the mint from the chicken salad recalled by the garnish on the chamomile sorbet, the beef fat flavor in the onion soup echoed in the short ribs, the pears with the cake recalling the initial pear-ginger sorbet, etc. It also feels like I'm getting the hang of quantities--everyone was certainly full by the end of this meal, but it wasn't some kind of Herculean exercise in bloating. And we have remarkably few leftovers, considering.

I want to give a special shout out to muffyjo and heliopsis, who served as designated diners after two of our original guests were striken by stomach flu. It was a marvelous, casual evening and so fun to share all my cooking adventures with you.

Notes on the Tasting Menu

Mostly for my own reference, here are notes, thoughts and recipe links for last night's tasting menu:

( Details Behind the Cut )

Overall, I was very pleased with this meal. I liked the way that certain flavors echoed in other courses--the mint from the chicken salad recalled by the garnish on the chamomile sorbet, the beef fat flavor in the onion soup echoed in the short ribs, the pears with the cake recalling the initial pear-ginger sorbet, etc. It also feels like I'm getting the hang of quantities--everyone was certainly full by the end of this meal, but it wasn't some kind of Herculean exercise in bloating. And we have remarkably few leftovers, considering.

I want to give a special shout out to muffyjo and heliopsis, who served as designated diners after two of our original guests were striken by stomach flu. It was a marvelous, casual evening and so fun to share all my cooking adventures with you.

Alternatives

I'm curious what other parents think of this post. Our solution has been that Alice doesn't have to eat what she doesn't like at dinner and then she has a before-bed snack of yogurt mixed with oatmeal and fruit, so she won't go to bed hungry, which drastically affects the ease of bedtime. And, mostly Alice will find something on her dinner plate to eat if she's hungry and if it's not a hungry day, very little is acceptable. And she does eat so many things that it hasn't been a big deal. But forewarned is half the octopus, so I think about strategies.

I understand the theory behind what these folks are trying, but in the family I know who did this, the alternative was for the kids to nuke themselves a hot dog and the outcome was two teenagers who really didn't eat anything but hotdogs.

Alternatives

I'm curious what other parents think of this post. Our solution has been that Alice doesn't have to eat what she doesn't like at dinner and then she has a before-bed snack of yogurt mixed with oatmeal and fruit, so she won't go to bed hungry, which drastically affects the ease of bedtime. And, mostly Alice will find something on her dinner plate to eat if she's hungry and if it's not a hungry day, very little is acceptable. And she does eat so many things that it hasn't been a big deal. But forewarned is half the octopus, so I think about strategies.

I understand the theory behind what these folks are trying, but in the family I know who did this, the alternative was for the kids to nuke themselves a hot dog and the outcome was two teenagers who really didn't eat anything but hotdogs.