Gross out foods

They did it. I have proof. I will use this to bribe them later.

June 17, 2008 by Rebecca 4 Comments

They ate the crickets. I have video evidence and I will show this to their future wives. Sometimes revenge is a dish best served cold.

I’d like to apologize for the grainy quality of the video, but it was the best I could rustle up on short order. I used my digital camera for the process.

Also, I’d like to point out the fact that in the background you can hear my husband saying, “Hey! You just swallowed it. You gotta chew it up!” But what you didn’t hear- because it happened way off camera- was him categorically refusing to eat any bug under any circumstances shy of famine and starvation ever, ever, ever.

Filed Under: Gross out foods, Uncategorized

Proof that my children are wild.

June 17, 2008 by Rebecca 6 Comments

…The thing is that snails in aioli really are great. A few million Frenchmen can’t be wrong!

Filed Under: Gross out foods

Roasted Crickets

June 17, 2008 by Rebecca 2 Comments

…That is what my kids told me yesterday when asking whether I could help them roast crickets and then dip them in chocolate. That is what I get for allowing them to read books about survival skills.

I have 9 crickets chilling, literally, in my fridge in preparation to roast them. Mmm hmm. I said I’m going to roast crickets. If you read yesterday’s post (and she smacks her forehead!) you will see how this all came about. I’m a little too disgusted with myself to go into the whole thing again. So the big debate is whether the boys should have them salty or, as Ty- the originator of the idea- suggests, dipped in dark chocolate. I don’t care.

I tried talking to my sister for moral support. She was no help. She was excited. I think she has latent hostility toward me for all those times I stuck my pointy elbow in her ribs.

Me (whining): “I can’t believe I promised Ty I would help him roast crickets.”

Jessie: “That’s awesome! I think I saw a children’s book about cooking with insects. Maybe you could get it from the library to reinforce the lesson.”

Me: “What lesson? The lesson that I shouldn’t ‘promise’ to roast crickets? I got that one down already.”

Jessie: “No. I mean it’s really neat! There are people all over the world who eat insects. This is a great lesson.”

Me: “Well then, why don’t you come over and help them and then you can eat some?”

Jessie: “I’m a vegetarian.”

Me: “Lame excuse.”

Not shockingly, none of my cookbooks had advice on how to do this. Survivorman skewered the live buggies and roasted them over an open flame. I’m not skewering live crickets. After googling, “How to roast crickets”, unsurprisingly the choices were few. Here’s the “recipe” I found. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Gross out foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Uncategorized Tagged With: crickets, dark chocolate, gross, insects, kids, sister

(And she smacks her forehead!)

June 16, 2008 by Rebecca 1 Comment

Aidan, age 8, and Ty, age 6, came flying through the door while I was preparing tonight’s deja food masterpiece. Aidan, tightly grasping two cups with the open ends pushed together yelled, “Ty just had the BEST idea for dessert tonight, Mom. Tell her Ty!”

At this point I expected them to show me some wild strawberries from the driveway.

Ty exuberantly shouted, “Roast crickets dipped in dark chocolate. I would’ve said milk chocolate, but I know you like dark chocolate better, Mom.”

Well, yes, but, ummmm… Where to go with this one?

He opened up the cups and, sure enough, showed me 4 large crickets he had “chose ’cause they looked good and meaty.”

I feel the need to interrupt myself here to make clear that we don’t eat insects around these parts. Food prices are high, but they’re not that high.

I tried to take the path of least resistance and explain that I wasn’t prepared to roast crickets tonight and I had dinner all ready to go. We just wouldn’t have time. It worked. Ty was morose, but he took the crickets out the side door and released the things. He came back in the house, washed his hands, took one look at my prepared dinner and promptly refused to eat.

Another interruption: The kid who wanted roasted crickets with dark (or milk) chocolate refused a meal comprised of things he had loved the day before.

I tried to strong-arm him. “Eat your dinner!” Nope.

I tried to coax him. “Hey! Your brothers are eating it and they seem to like it!” Nothing doing.

I tried reasoning with him. “You know, this food is all stuff you liked just yesterday. Not only that, but it is chock-a-block with nutrients and vitamins that you need in order to get big enough to bully your brothers. You do want that, don’t you?” Negatory.

I cannot believe what came out of my mouth next. I actually clamped my hand over my own mouth as soon as I heard myself say it.

“If you eat it I’ll roast you some crickets tomorrow night.”

Argh! What did I just do? He picked up the bowl and shoveled the stuff into his mouth with a delighted look. He ate his dinner in record time and proceeded to regale me with cricket nutritional information while I tried to choke back mine.

“Crickets are full of protein, Mom.”

“I think they’re probably good with calcium, too, Mom. Not sure, though, but they ought to be crunchy!”

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

That’s what I get for trying to negotiate over the dinner table.

Whimper.