Domestic Delia

[pegkerr]

Delia has always been the much more domestic of our two girls. I mean, this is a girl who within one week of getting her iPod had discovered and downloaded all the Cook's Illustrated podcasts and soon was seriously discussing the relative merits of various brands of cookware. She loves to make cakes and bread (which reminds me: she's been complaining again that OMIGOD she is out of YEAST, which is a CATASTROPHE and if I know what's good for me I'll make sure we get that on the next grocery shopping list). She has been busily exploring all my various linens I got for my wedding and even the linens I inherited from my grandmother, and frequently over the past month I've come home to find that she has nicely set the table with a whole other set of place mats and matching napkins and plates that it hadn't occurred to me to use for ten years. Or she'll have the table set for tea, using my Nana's tea set.

She is sewing all sorts of things. She is making beautiful jewelry. She is knitting. One of her birthday presents for her sister was a knitted cell phone case which was just so cute I just about exploded.

Cooking, other than baking, is rather problematic. She is extremely interested in cooking, and goes through and marks up all sorts of cookbooks--but her tastes are whimsical when it comes right down to making things. One of the side effects of some medication she is taking, I think, is that things sometimes taste weird, and her appetite is unpredictable. She is, as we have previously noted, a supertaster, and she is also extremely sensitive to textures, and she'll reject something if it feels "weird" in her mouth.

She is leaning, again, to wanting to be a vegetarian. Her reasons are mostly philosophical (loves animals, doesn't want to eat them) and her revulsion for the texture of meat is growing. Except she still ALSO has revulsion for many cooked vegetables. We are having a great deal of trouble identifying protein sources which she will deign to eat, which has meant (esp. since she's as skinny as a rail) that she's been troubled a great deal by hypoglycemic incidents this spring, especially after intense karate classes.

Does any one know of a, say a cooking class locally (not too expensive) to suggest for say, parents of kids, when the kid wants to become a vegetarian? I know a lot, more than most parents about vegetarianism, but I must admit, I'm somewhat stymied by Delia's endlessly changing reactions to tastes and textures--trying to keep her nutrition adequate on a vegetarian diet that she will EAT is like trying to hit a swiftly moving target. Or does anyone know any skilled vegetarian cooks who might be willing to tutor an eager-to-learn kid who is, really, quite a good cook already, but just needs to be shown the ropes on vegetarian cooking?

I just found Compassionate Cooks podcast, a vegetarian podcast, and told her about it, and she's gone ahead and subscribed to it on iTunes. Other thoughts, anyone?

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Comments

[naomikritzer]

The crunchy protein source that leaps to mind is nuts. Does she like nuts?

The smooth protein source that comes to mind is yogurt. Does she like yogurt?

I'm thinking here more in terms of "feed her so that she doesn't pass out at karate" than "what should the Ihingers have for dinner." Even if we came up with an entire recipe book of fabulously Delia-friendly recipes, that doesn't mean Rob or Fiona would eat any of them. ;-)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

She'll eat peanut butter (as long as it's smooth, only), but we've been relying on it so much lately that she's getting bored with it. Same with yogurt. I opened a small Yoplait container for her as a tide-me-over before karate class, and she ate only a quarter of it before pushing the rest aside.

Scrambled eggs are still reliable. Thank god.

[naomikritzer]

Hummous? Hummous varies a ton, so if she's had it and disliked it, you might try again with the Cedar's regular hummous (available at Lunds, $2/container -- they also have lots of flavored varieties).

I like it on pita, but I have on occasion eaten it with a spoon.

Also, similar texture to peanut butter but a different taste -- Sunbutter? Available at Lunds, $2/jar. Can be sent for lunch in a peanut-free environment. (Molly liked Sunbutter fine for a while, then went off it. She still loves peanut butter and likes getting it for lunch on weekends. We don't send it for school lunch.)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

She does like hummus. We haven't tried sunbutter--maybe that'd be good to try.

[creepygirl-chow.livejournal.com]

If she likes hummus, and dislikes garbanzo beans, maybe it's a texture issue more than a flavor issue. So maybe other bean purees, or pureed bean or lentil soups might be worth a try.

Alternatives to peanut butter--maybe Delia could make cashew butter (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24830,00.html). I haven't tried that particular recipe, but I've had cashew butter and found it to be fairly mild. Also, some of the stores around where I live have been grinding chocolate chips with nuts to make chocolate nut butters. Adding some chocolate might relieve some of the peanut butter ennui.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, and otherwise: no to nuts. She'll refuse any baked good with nuts in it, for example. Texture again, I think.

[serenya-loreden.livejournal.com]

I will eat nuts all by themselves (specifically, I like almonds, cashews, pistachios), but not IN things, generally. My peanut butter must be smooth (but I actually prefer 100%, no sugar added) and I typically will not eat baked goods with nuts unless very finally chopped (I like most baklava-type pastries and rum balls, for instance). For me, it's the unexpected crunch I think, though as an adult I learned to appreciate them more (I now add slivered almonds to my salads), so she too may outgrow some of this. If she'll eat a handful of nuts, it's an excellent protein snack, though it may take some trial and error to find ones she likes.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

What if they are ground up, essentially into flour?

Dunno if she'd like it, but maybe you would like this linzertorte (http://thomasyan.livejournal.com/241174.html) recipe.