Our friends, Ginny and Jack Griffin, recently brought their 2-year-old daughter, Shay, back to Pittsburgh for a 10-day marathon of visits with family and friends. Ginny worked with us in the programming department at WQED and now lives near San Diego. She likes to tease us by saying, 'Sure, we're only 10 minutes from the beach and it's sunny almost every day, but the temperature is always around 75 degrees!' Gosh, how can they stand itâ¢
Shay is sneaking up on her second birthday, so there are bouts of stubborn independence mixed with joyous moments of discovery. We spent a fair amount of time talking about eating habits (my favorite subject) and wondering how kids manage to survive on their quirky toddler diets. One of my daughters ate nothing but cheese slices and yogurt with the occasional hot dog for variety. This went on for what felt like years.
My other daughter wanted nothing but carbohydrates. Give her a plate of pancakes, a bowl of pasta or some potatoes, and she was a happy camper. Then there's my youngest, little Joseph. He's getting more adventuresome these days, but for years he was content with chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. He also developed a taste for the macaroni in the shape of dinosaurs that is packed along with tiny 'meatballs' in microwaveable cups.
How does a guy with a cooking show explain a dozen of those in his shopping cart, hidden beneath a blanket of kale and a bunch of carrots⢠'Oh, those⢠They're for our pet Chihuahua. He hates regular dog food.'
The real problem comes if you want to avoid cooking separate meals for the different tastes in your family. You don't want to drag your menus down to the lowest common denominator, or you'll end up eating fish sticks and macaroni and cheese every night. I wish I had the answer. We often make something we know Joseph will eat along with whatever we planned for the evening. Sometimes he surprises us by trying different things, and we avoid the pitfall of making the dinner table a battleground and food the center of controversy.
Another reason we miss Ginny and Jack at this time of year is that they used to share the bounty of asparagus that grew in their garden. Here's a recipe that is definitely for adult tastes but so much fun to eat that the kids might want to try it.
Asparagus with Goat Cheese in Phyllo Dough
- 24 spears of asparagus
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- ½ pound phyllo dough
- 1 stick butter, melted
Cut the asparagus to a uniform length of about 4 inches. (Save the ends for asparagus soup or omelets.) If the stalks are thick, you might want to use a potato peeler to trim the tough skin from the bottom half.
Mix the goat cheese with enough milk or cream to soften it to the consistency of cake frosting. Put the cheese into a piping bag with a very thin tip, or use a zipper bag with one of the bottom corners snipped.
Cut the phyllo dough in half, crosswise. Put one half in the refrigerator for future use, and keep the other half on your work table covered in plastic wrap.
Take one sheet at a time and brush it completely with melted butter. Put an asparagus spear at one end. Pipe a thin bead of the cheese along the length of the asparagus. Fold the sides in and roll up into a tight tube. Place in a buttered baking pan and brush the top with more butter. Continue until all the asparagus are rolled. Bake at 375 degrees until they are deep golden brown.
Makes about 6 servings.
