How Fresh Mouth Is That?

The five children of our family friends, The G's, tease about Fresh Mouth. "Are there more than five ingredients in this delicious Ritz?" they say to Patrick.

They report on Aidan's consumption of pizza and greens, "Mrs. Dolbeare, Aidan pulled his cheese off his pizza and didn't eat his salad."

They're a constant choir of, "Is this Fresh Mouth?" as they handle boxes of neon green popsicles or bright orange chips.

They taunt, but those little buggers are in to it. That's what's cool. They read labels now all the time, and keep us in check. They're little Fresh Mouths.



This week they received two jars of organic, homemade honey from someone's uncle in the hills of Poland. They shared one with us. The jar holds a thick, murky sample of some of the sweetest honey we've ever tasted. And the little buggers created a logo and phony ingredient label for the back which include such goodies as: dog hair, sheep dip, deck varnish, pond scum, bicyanalyticalthrombolysis and even FDA approved colors and artificial flavorings. Could they be more on track?



I think this is so great. Because seven children plus baby Jack are really watching what they eat now. They were all hardy, healthy kids before, but now they're more conscious of what modern food is all about.

Aidan and Patrick wanted to make something special with all the honey so we made a cake called the "Perfect Honey Cake" from Recipezaar. Recipe follows. Our next attempt is going to be a veggie salad with honey. Stay tuned.



Perfect Honey Cake
Posted on Recipezaar
By Sarah Chana Sep 30, 2005
She got it from Amit Women's Cookbook.


Ingredients
1 cup honey
1 cup applesauce
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups flour (Can replace one cup of white flour with one cup of wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup strong coffee (can be made from instant)


Directions
1In a large bowl, mix together the first 3 ingredients.
2In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, spices and baking soda.
3Add the flour mixture to the wet stuff, alternating with the coffee; beat well.
4Put into one greased 9"x13" pan (or, alternatively, three 8" square pans).
5Bake at 325F--60-90 minutes for the large pan, 60 minutes for the three smaller pans.


Nugget o' the Week: "Don't tell the G's we ate all the cake," Aidan. Hee hee.

P.S. In celebration of another kid's eating success, go make a vegetable face! Check out the call from the Great Big Vegetable Challenge.

Days of Wine and Beets

My husband confesses a secret at a vineyard.

"I love beets so much it hurts," he says.

"What?" I ask.

"More than any other food in the world ... I love them so much I keep it a secret."

He spoons beet risotto into his mouth and closes his eyes, and I watch him eat with a pleasure I never knew.

We enjoyed a private meal prepared for us and friends by Executive Chef Melissa Close at Barboursville Vineyards near Charlottesville, VA. We sat in the arcade overlooking the lush grapevines while the kids explored the nooks and crannies of an estate run by an Italian winemaker in the Virginia hills. Or as he puts it, "Mi chiamo Paschina, Luca. And I am a Virginian."



The Menu
Braised watermelon that we actually mistook for sashimi
Olives
Goat cheese and pepper risotto
Beet risotto
Local tomato and pear salad
Focaccio pizzas for the kiddos
Local raspberry and apricot cream
Barboursville Pinot Grigio and Octagon wines


Melissa calls herself a "cook" in humility, but her food is refined and skilled. We were so grateful to her for the experience and the memories of our meal we took her picture.




We accompanied our neighbor who led the tour of the estate and the ruins of the house designed by Thomas Jefferson for Governor Barbour, the vineyard's namesake. We were full and happy - a testament to eating well.


Since our vineyard meal with the exquisite beets, a friend sent me a NY Times article called, "The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating." What's top of the list? Beets, of course because they're high in antioxidants and folate. Seems everyone should have a secret romance with beets.

Included as well are cabbages, sardines, canned pumpkin and cinnamon. Check out the complete list and the benefits of each food.

I also "Stumbled Upon" the yang to this yin list. It's called, "12 Food Additives to Avoid," posted on Healthy Reader: A Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle. As you can imagine, that list includes all sorts of acronyms and unidentifiable ingredients like BHA, BHT, MSG and Propyl Gallate.

Look to the lists for a little food-choice guidance.

Nugget o' the Day: "For tips on encouraging children to eat greens, and to read one mother's attempt to train her kids' palates, click here."

We are really excited that there was an article about Fresh Mouth in the LA Times. The larger piece examines the lengths parents go to get kids to eat better called, "Picky Eaters, Sneaky Parents." We were mentioned in a sidebar, "'Salad bar' of vegetables helps mom get her kids to like them." Check it out and let us know what you think.