Chef Ramsey has nothin' on the Bassett kids!

Dinner in our house is received with polarized vocalizations. Each night when my family's food, which has been so carefully prepared with only the finest, freshest ingredients is placed in front of them I hear an array of noises ranging from gags and moans to (if I am lucky) squeals and claps. Usually, though I am sad to say, it is the whining that dominates dinnertime. It is always accompanied by wonderful phrases like, "I think I'm gonna throw up", "I just don't like this red stuff, "I 'fink' it's yucky", "This tastes like clay"(how would they know?) and my very favorite...."This tastes like band-aids!" along with many other wonderful compliments to the chef. Oh, and let's not forget the contorting of faces or gagging while grabbing the throat. Every once-in-a-while we get the attempted trip to the bathroom to spit out food in the toilet and flush it (they think I don't know how it works...that I never thought of, let alone tried that when I was a kid!). It always makes me feel so excited to take my next adventure in the kitchen.

I have taken to lecturing about kids in other countries who don't have any food somedays and never get fresh fruits and vegetables. WHAT???!!!! I can't believe I am saying that kind of stuff. I am just so desperate to get through to them I will try anything!

This is my curse. My mother used to say to me, "I hope that when you grow up that you have a daughter just like you!". And somehow she made that happen and I also got sons who are just like me. It is true I was a really crummy and very picky eater when I was little, but all of that is gone now and I love most food and to top it off I love to cook, too! And I can only speak for myself, when I say that I don't think I am a bad cook. I can only pray that my kids grow up to love food and until then just grin and bear it. What else am I gonna do!