At Home -- Exploring The Senses

Last night was another perfect example trying not to let my daughter box in our family menu. She took one look at what I was making and declared she wasn't going to eat "that."

That being a piece of grilled pork tenderloin. That being something other than a hot dog, hamburger, pizza, chicken nugget or fish sandwich (homemade). The latter being what I reminded her about. She refused to eat a fish sandwich 18 months ago in Florida. I insisted that we were in Florida and she wasn't going to spend the week eating chicken nuggets. She tried it, albeit with a generous dose of ketchup, and put it on her approved foods list, signaled by the thumbs-up sign.

When I come home from work, play dates or visiting parents, I'm sometimes inclined to reach for the easiest non-argumentative meal. After a day of challenging coworkers, screaming kids or your folks (as well-meaning as they are), who wants face yet another roadblock to relaxation?

Sometimes we need to. Just for the sake of the kids.

I write about food. It's one of the many lifestyle topics I am paid to do professionally. But it started as a passion. I like both baking and cooking.

Baking is about science, understanding the what flour, salt, yeast and water can do. Or what happens when there is no yeast, but there is baking powder. Or even what a rainy day can do to the above combinations. But it's also about senses. The same 4 cups of flour mixed with 2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast will need different amounts of water to make pizza dough, depending on the weather and when the wheat was milled. Your eyes and hands will have to tell if it feels right.

Cooking allows for a lot of experimentation with tastes and textures. You discover that a chicken breast can be like a blank canvas -- stuff it with a little spinach and goat cheese creates and you have one masterpiece; whereas swiss cheese and ham creates another. The possibilities are endless.

Which is what I want to teach my daughter. That possibilities are endless. You just have to use all your senses and try.

So the pork tenderloin, cut into medallions and marinated in olive oil, mint, parsley and garlic, came off the grill and rested for 10 minutes on a plate while I boiled some pasta. The tenderloin (cut into pieces) went on the plate along with some pasta and cooked mini carrots. And a whole lot of ketchup.

Guess what?

Thumbs up.