Scrummy!

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of food in the context of your little one? For me….its the biggest bone of contention between me and my son ….ever since he was started on supplements! I have written enough about my little picky eater....and dug out enough books on the said subject! When I started writing this blog, one of the first issues I wanted to address or rather vent my frustration over was food and the mammoth task seeing its journey into the little one’s system…..at least three times a day!!!! At the risk of sounding repetitive ….I had even done a week long special on picky eaters!!!! But all said and done……food still remains the last thing on my seven year old’s mind!!!

So today we did something different for today’s reading prompt for the 30 books in 30 days challenge, we reflected on some endearing aspects of food! One of the most delightful reads  surrounding the making of food…is Nandini Nayar's What shall I make? , a must read in any Indian household with the staple diet of chapatti!  We also happen to revisit a youtube version of  “"The Sandwich Swap"” by Her Majesty Queen Rania Alabdulla with Kelly Dipucchio and illustrated by Tricia Tusa, that we'd read a while ago, which explores how one can be prejudiced about another’s lunchbox at first only to try it and actually like it later!

Today we also read "Scrummy "by Leigh Hodgkinson, starring a little girl named Sunny McCloud who is a  popular character in Leigh Hodgkinson’s stories. Sunny  recalls her dad saying that every family has its own special magic recipe with lots of scrummy stuff inside and Sunny feels that her family is like a sandwich! It may sound boring but it all depends on what is inside. Sunny rattles on the ingredients of her family sandwich, with Ingredient No.1 being cheese and being ever so bendy and stretchy. Sunny decides that she represents the cheese in the family! Sunny then compares her twin younger brothers to the greeny salady stuff in the sandwich that always seem to tickle …… an ingredient which is always there…..even though sometimes you’d wish it wasn’t! J There’s Mayonnaise, a little of which makes a sandwich tasty but too much makes it soggy…just like her dog Mr. Honeycomb! Finally the most important ingredient of all…..two slices of bread as they hold the sandwich together, just like her soft and spongy parents who hold the family together! But then Sunny decides to spice her up sandwich a little more ….with additional ingredients  ….like bananas, ice cream, milk chocolate and marshmellows that reminds her of monkeys, penguins, cat and sheep respectively, who all would be a great addition to her family too! Alas...her family sandwich seems too tall to hold up and falls over making a giant mess! So Sunny realizes that no matter what…its best to stick to her original ingredients…..and nothing beats her fabulously filling family super sandwich…with all the ingredients she loves! Accompanied by striking illustrations, this book beautifully uses food as a medium to celebrate the love one feels for one's family! Well our family's magical recipe is Abhay's favourite palak paneer....with the hot-headed mommy representing the Masalas (Spices), daddy being as evergreen as the Palak (Spinach) and Abhay.....may be aiming to be the paneer???  J What’s your family’s magical recipe?