Miss E, my wonderful granddaughter, was born on Valentine's Day, and yesterday was her 5th birthday. I baked her a banana chocolate chip cake with chocolate ganache, and delivered it to her her house. While I was there hanging out with her, her parents and her brand new brother, her Mom told me that earlier in the day Miss E's Papa had taken her to the co-op to pick out two things to be part of her birthday dinner. Did I want to see what she'd chosen?
Uh oh ... Miss E doesn't have just one giant sweet tooth — she has a mouthful! And there's a snack monster in her pocket that "makes" her consume more snacks in a day than I eat in a month. I was having a little trouble imagining what two things she'd pick that could be made into dinner. Her Papa told me she'd perused the entire store very thoroughly before selecting her two items, and what were they? She grabbed a bag of organic Brussels sprouts and an artichoke! Who wudda thunk it? Good job, Miss E! I guess roasted Brussels sprouts hit the spot even with picky eaters.
I am so impressed with her selections! This is my dream for our kid, when he gets big enough to start making food choices!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm amazed at her selections! Our kids were very adventurous eaters. I gave them the same things I'd give to adults and they loved everything. I also talked to them about food choices and why we ate the way we did — always remembering to explain it was our choice, and others chose differently. I wanted them to be respectful of others' choices while understanding ours.
DeleteStanding ovation and enthusiastic applause for Miss E! (And for the great examples set for her by the loving people in her life, like you for example!) This is just the cutest post!
ReplyDeleteHer sweet teeth should feel invited to the birthday party and happily satisfied as well, given that delicious-sounding cake you made for her! :-)
A Valentine birthday, that sounds kind of fun! Happy belated birthday, Miss E!
Why, thank you! I heard she had a big piece of cake. :) I believe that Miss E thinks that Valentine's Day and her birthday are one and the same.
Deleteyay. i wish i'd grown up with roasted brussels. so good!
ReplyDeleteI wish I'd grown up with ANY Brussels. It was canned peas and frozen string beans for me.
DeleteI have to say that I too am a huge sweets monger and artichokes and brussel sprouts are two of my favorite things as well. Coincidence??
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Brussels sprouts aren't what I think of as a "friendly" vegetable, but I think roasting brings out the sweetness and best qualities of all vegetables. Just look at how fennel becomes edible after roasting! :)
DeleteI just hope Miss E grows up to have the same refined taste for sweets as you have. You are very discriminating and choose only the best. :)
What a selection. I couldn't see Cooper picking that. He would go straight for the chocolate.
ReplyDeleteCooper's diet seems so amazingly gourmet to me. He has very sophisticated taste for a small boy, but I would expect no less with you as his mom! Miss E surprised everyone by choosing as she did. It gives me hope. :)
DeleteRoasted Brussels sprouts really are the best! I've even won over my veggie-hating dad and super-picky sister with them. They're like the gateway drug to healthier eating. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think that's the best description of Brussels sprouts I've ever seen! HA!
DeleteHappy B-day Miss e! good choices.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday to Miss E! That cake sounds amazing! I hope her and her sweet tooth had a ball with that one.
ReplyDeleteI'm massively impressed with Miss E's choices there - smart lady! Roasted brussels are almost worth forgiving winter for. Artichokes I'm still not sold on, but I can definitely appreciated their alien beauty!
No one's more impressed than I, though personally I find roasted b. sprouts more appealing than chocolate. Artichokes are too much trouble — unless they've already been made into "hearts," then I'm all in favor!
DeleteHappy birthday to Miss E! What a blessing that you live close enough that you can drop off a cake. I mightily approve of Miss E's dinnertime selections. They would be high on my list of birthday dinner additions too!
ReplyDeleteA-hem, Miss E is the reason we live where we do. Miss E is so appreciative of cake, it's a treat to make one for her!
DeleteA 5-year-old without a sweet tooth? The kid is a prodigy--Brussels sprouts?! Remarkable.
ReplyDeleteNo, no — she has a major sweet tooth. That's what makes her choice so remarkable! I never expected that she would choose vegetables for her dinner. Whew.
DeleteAw, happy birthday Miss E!! What a lucky girl to have such a wonderful grandmother. That cake sounds spectacular.
ReplyDeleteIt's so adorable that she picked veggies at the co-op. She's really making some mature choices- maybe it comes with age? :)
Thank you Molly. I'm hearing much positive feedback about the cake so I may try to reproduce it and write down the recipe.
DeleteIt's so funny to think of Miss E as "mature." Yes, she's "aging" well. :)
Oh my goodness, Andrea, I love this! I have always loved artichokes, and they were ALWAYS my birthday dinner when growing up! We always got to pick our birthday dinner--either for my mom to cook or where we wanted to go out to eat--and I never wanted to go out to eat. I always wanted to eat artichokes, lol. Weird kid for sure, but to this day artichokes are still one of my favorite foods! I hope Miss E makes this a birthday tradition too :-)
ReplyDeleteCourtney
I love your artichoke tradition. For our birthdays we got to pick our cake, and I always picked chocolate cake with bittersweet chocolate frosting, which is odd since I didn't like chocolate. My birthday cake was the only time all year that I ate chocolate. I never had artichokes growing up — or very many other fresh veggies other than salad. Also odd, right?
DeleteWow, that's amazing, good for her! Happy Birthday to Miss E!
ReplyDeleteYesterday was Miss E's party, and afterwards we took the family out to dinner at a Thai restaurant. Miss E ordered a fresh spring roll. It's cute to hear a 5-year-old order a fresh spring roll.
DeleteI agree. JK loves to have all things on his plate. Now, if I can just get him to EAT them, that would be even better!
ReplyDeleteThat's so sweet (or maybe savory?)! :D So nice to read something like this about a 5 year-old. Good on Miss E!
ReplyDeleteShe's a very picky eater so I was glad to see she picked something healthy!
DeleteHappy 5th bday to Miss E! That's so awesome she picked out those items!
ReplyDeleteMiss E thanks you! I was impressed by her choice. :)
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