CARTOON CUISINE

Developing the palate of a child is both a delicate and disciplined practice – as any parent well knows.  I remember, when I was once a child myself, that even the thought of something you had never eaten and that sounded nasty, like ASPARAGUS, would elicit shivers and a visceral “YUK!”  But my mother was imaginative, and had a knack for tempting finicky appetites with tall tales of exotic treats awaiting at the dinner table.  Broccoli, for instance, became ‘Trees’.  

“We are having trees for dinner,” she declared proudly, as I looked with cautious scrutiny at the butter topped broccoli.  “See, they’re little green trees.  Baby trees.  Taste it, you’ll love them!”

Admittedly, they did look like small, curly topped, topiary versions of their supposed bigger brothers.  With my tongue predisposed to adventure, I took a bite and triumphantly pronounced, “I like them!”  Mom smiled knowingly and agreed that Trees are, in fact, delicious.  What could have been mealtime torture had been transformed into a treat by the magic of perception.

This method had worked so well on me that I used the same tactic on my own children.  But not only did I use the broccoli/tree trick, which worked beautifully, I employed my son’s love of cartoon characters to persuade him to try new dishes.  Like most little boys, he loved superheroes, dinosaurs, Legos, and cartoons.  During his fourth year, he wore a Superman cape everywhere he went.  The one place we would hardly ever go was to fast food restaurants, or any restaurant for that matter.  Money was too tight for such luxury.  Homemade food, not McDonald’s, was the norm.  Following the French model, he and his little sister ate the same meal as the adults.  Thus, being exposed to a variety of foods for which they eventually acquired a taste.  I tried to make it fun though, calling a dish of mashed potatoes and spinach topped with cheddar cheese ‘Popeye Potatoes’.  

“If you want to grow up to be strong like Popeye, eat your spinach,” I said.  After all, even he sings its virtues, ‘I’m strong to the finich, ‘cause I eats me spinach!’

As they got older, they caught on to the game I was playing, but they good humoredly played along.  To the point that one day, when my son was in middle school, having asked me what was for dinner and hearing I was making Stuffed Green Peppers, he replied, “Oh, monkey heads.”

“What?”

“Monkey heads, like in Calvin and Hobbes.”

“What are you talking about?”

Seeing that visual aids were in order, he ran to his bedroom and emerged with one of his beloved Calvin and Hobbes comic books.  Turning the pages to a particular cartoon strip, he then handed the book to me.  It begins with Calvin sniffing the air and wondering, ‘What’s that smell?  Either Mom’s cooking dinner, or somebody got sick in the furnace duct.’  He goes into the kitchen and yells at his mother, ‘Boy, does it STINK in here!  What are you cooking for dinner?!  Whatever it is, I’m not eating it.’

‘I’m stewing monkey heads,’ she calmly replies. 

‘Monkey heads?’

‘They’ll be soggy enough to eat in about twenty minutes.’

Calvin thinks to himself, ‘Really?  We’re having monkey heads?  We are not…are those really monkey heads?  I’ve never had monkey heads before!  I wonder what they’re like.  Wow!  Monkey heads!’

In the last scene Calvin and his parents are eating at the dinner table while he says out loud, ‘Mm..kinda squishy.  Ooh look, is that a nose?  What’s this?  Brains?  I didn’t think they’d be so rubbery…’

To which his father replies, ‘What?  I thought these were stuffed peppers.  Honey, what the heck is this?  Whatever it is, I’m not eating it!’

Laughing, I handed the book back to my son and said, “Monkey heads it is.”

The tables had been turned, the baton was passed, the student had surpassed the Master.

My son is married now, and if he ever becomes a father, I know he will be prepared for whatever dinnertime battles await.  I imagine him raising his fork in the air, surrounded by his family, as he declares, “Monkey heads for everyone!”

POPEYE POTATOES

1 10 oz pkg. chopped frozen spinach

6 – 8 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

4 TBP butter

¼ cup milk

¾ cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 tsp chives

¼ tsp dill

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Thaw and drain spinach.  Squeeze out excess liquid.

Cook potatoes in 4 quarts of water, on a slow simmer until done.  Approximately 20 minutes.  Drain and mash with butter and milk.  Add sour cream, seasonings and spinach.  Place in greased two- quart casserole and top with cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

MONKEY HEADS

4 large green peppers

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove minced garlic

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 8 oz can whole kernel corn, drained

2 tsp chili powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Cut off tops of green peppers; remove membranes and seeds.  Either cook peppers 5 minutes in boiling water, or with 3 tablespoons water in a covered casserole for 4 minutes on high in the microwave.  Drain. 

Cook ground beef, onion and garlic in a large skillet until meat is browned, stirring to crumble the meat.  Drain well.  Stir in tomato sauce, corn, chili powder and salt. 

Stuff peppers with mixture and place in baking dish that will hold them and keep them upright.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle tops with cheese and bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is thoroughly melted.

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