The Salted Grape

I have to cook dinner for my babysitting job, and last time I did so breakfast was requested. On the menu was: scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, pancakes, and fresh fruit. Simple enough right?

Well, sometimes I panic when I'm in someone else's kitchen and mess up easily. That and I also create a disaster area that takes an hour to be cleaned up. So, the pancakes turned out just awful: thin, runny, stuck together and bland. Mess! The eggs were cold by the time I finished the stupid pancakes and I burned a couple of the sausages. I decided to make this amusing so I brought the kids into the kitchen to make fun of the disaster breakfast/dinner. They took turns making weird pancake designs in the pan, but eventually sat down to an edible meal.

The youngest kept telling me that those were the worst pancakes ever, and drowned them all under a mountain of whipped cream. The other two were totally fine to eat what we ended up with, and created a little dish of their own: the pancake taco. This consisted of the larger, stuck together pancakes folded over with whipped cream and strawberry slices in between. Not bad. One of the kids said that if they ever had a restaurant, the pancake taco would be on the menu.

The kids are fans of white truffle salt, which they enjoyed on eggs. It only takes very little of this salt to add a pungent flavor, which I was not accustomed to. Since I am only the novice foodie, it's fun to get introduced to something new. The youngest was in a silly mood due to the lousy pancakes so she became experimental with the salt. She dipped the grapes and strawberries into the salt and ate them alongside her sweet pancake tacos. I had to try this and while I found it to be completely foul, I wondered if some of the most revered chefs get ideas from their kids. Just because I didn't like it doesn't mean that with the right amount of salt, or perhaps with a different type of fruit, you wouldn't have a fancy shmancy sweet and savory dessert.

I challenged her to create a fancy four course dinner menu of whatever she thought would be good/weird combinations. This project kept her occupied for two whole hours and she even drew pictures of how the food would look.

Course One: Grape A La Mia

halved grapes dipped in a white truffle salt, served with frozen clementine pieces, a bowl of whipped cream, and a side of deer poop

Course Two: Lousay Pancakesay

blueberry pancakes served with a plate of capers, broccoli with butter and cheese, popcorn, and almonds covered in chocolate

Course Three: Fishay

Salmon with blueberries in the eyes, grapefruit topped with steak, and bubbles

Course Four: Dessertay

chocolate cake with gold and diamonds inside

This girl might just be famous one day.