Day 11: Pig Blankets

Oh ... how can I say this gently? The lure of a "pig in a blanket" was too much to resist for our little man Patrick. Nothing tempts the palate like pork. He ate a hot dog.

He's not entirely to blame. His class is doing a cooking series and the teacher made, of all things, hot dogs wrapped in bread. When he got in the car, he said, "Mommy, I hate to tell ya this, but I broke the rules. I did."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I ate a pig blanket," he said.

This took me a minute to translate. When we arrived at the mutual understanding of a hot dog, it was clear that there was real ambivalence in his admission. He acknowledged enjoying it even though he knew it had more than five ingredients. The teacher confirmed that fact for him before he ate it. But he actually asked before he bit!

He didn't want me to come clean on the blog, to let everyone know that he strayed from this potion. He worked hard at convincing me that this was a minor indiscretion in the grand scheme of Fresh Mouth, that it takes two mistakes to count. I told him not to worry that Dirk and I expected moments of temptation and opportunity outside the house. He was still doing great, and I was so proud of his candor and honesty. I also said he needed some extra fruit at lunch to balance out the hot dog. He was good with that. But, boy, did I have to laugh ... those tempting "pig blankets." Who can blame the little guy?

So, we're working on a new poll. Stay tuned!

The Doomsday Vault and the blooming daffodils here have inspired garden planning. We're ordering our seeds from the D. Landreth Seed Company which specializes in heirloom seeds. They also have a great collection of vegetables, herbs and flowers for kids called "The Children's Garden Collection" and includes seeds for garden basics like carrots and peas and melons and pumpkins. The boys were really excited, too, because we got two free packets of seeds in the mail today - one for tomatoes and one for wildflowers - in the recent issue of Vermont Magazine, which has a stunning pictorial spread of Vermont farmers. We'll also pick up some local seedlings of green, hot and Hungarian peppers from Virginia farmers at the annual Maymont Herbs Galore & More in April.

And for those interested in the recipe for the dessert in the previous post picture, it's the Apple and Blackberry Kuchen by Nigella Lawson. We made it as a gift, but I gave the baby some of the apples as his "treat."

Off to find a Community Supported Agriculture opportunity in the area for spring ...

Menu
Breakfast: This was a real leftover mish mosh - strawberries, grapefruit, yogurt, corn muffins, cinnamon rolls and OJ with fish oil.

Lunch: Almond butter sandwiches, bananas, strawberries, mandarin oranges and milk. Aidan had PB and bread, grapes, craisins, applesauce and pretzels.

Dinner: Homemade chicken salad with veggies, olive oil, mustard and vinegar on homemade bread and leftover pumpkin chili. The kids didn't like the salad so I gave them some plain lemon garlic roasted chicken breasts. Craisins for "dessert."

Nugget o' the Day: "I ate a pig blanket." - Patrick