News Taffy

Tired of the heat? Sick of pizza and hamburgers? Kids bored too? I have an ideathat might be an nice change for the whole family: have a themed dinner night. Weused to do this all the time with our kids and they loved it. Pick a culture or atype of food you have never eaten or don’t know much about, then plan a meal aroundit. If you involve the kids in the planning, they will even learn something withoutrealizing it. For example, we’ve had medieval night, early American food andAfrican night. Everyone dresses up in costume for the occasion which really makesthings fun and you can use appropriate decorations, utensils, or whatever to makeyour night more authentic. Let the kids make the decorations, especially if theyare too young to help with the cooking.

The library and internet are good sources for recipes. Ask your librarian for helpor google the type of food you are interested in. We have had such interesting fareas peanut soup, corn dodgers and braised beef. My family members have gone all outon their costumes as you can see from the picture. That is my sister and daughterdressed as the Indian and the pilgrim for our early American night. (This might bemy last post if my sister sees this by the way.) Your kids could learn interestingfacts such as people used to cook their food and meats into mush because they hadsuch bad teeth they had a difficult time chewing hard or tough foods. PresidentWashington is an excellent example. The poor man suffered horribly from toothproblems most of his life and was left with only one tooth by the end of hispresidency.

I won’t promise you will like all the food you prepare. I was the only one wholiked the peanut soup, and corn dodgers, or hoe cakes, are really awful. It willgive your family a new appreciation for the things they have. Try to avoid commoncuisines like Mexican, Italian and Asian, go for something more unusual or at leasttry to be more authentic. None of the food I made was especially difficult so don’tlet that stop you from trying to cook ethnic or period foods.

If the idea is appealing but you don’t know where to start, just try somethingsimple like an indoor picnic with a table cloth spread on the floor and finger foodsor make a cowboy dinner. My kids loved this. We drank out of mason jars, usedcolorful bandanas for napkins and had beans, fried potatoes and cornbread fordinner. My children also enjoyed eating by candlelight. Dress up the table settinga bit, maybe use a tablecloth and some wine glasses for fun. Trust me; you willmake fun memories to last a life time with themed dinners.

Until next week,

Lisa