Lil's Colorful Chop Salad

It is afternoon, a time when summer boredom hits hardest.  Lil is whiny and wants nothing to do with any of the ideas I suggest.  That is, until I start working on dinner and ask if she would like to make a salad.

She runs to her garden and picks what is ripe and fresh.  She brings them inside, washes, and begins to chop.  Lil dices carrots finely with an adult paring knife.  I teach her how to chiffonade large leaves.  She mixes a vinaigrette, pours it over the salads, and serves them.

These chop salads genuinely taste delicious and make good use of our in season vegetables.  More than that, Lil's salads represent the growth of a healthy eater and contributing member of our food loving family.

Recipe for a Chop Salad, verbatim from Lil

First, we need to do carrots, then chard, then some dressing.  Put herbs and done.

Tips for a Successful Salad Making Experience with a Child

1. Say 'yes' as often as you can.  You want both the making and the eating of a child-led salad to be positive.

2. Set yourself up for success by offering to do tasks that might be frustrating for a young child, such as cutting thick parts of a carrot.

3. Be flexible about letting the child try everything they want to try.  Model techniques, moving their hands under yours if need be.

4. Give them the proper tools, especially knife ware.  A child will be easily frustrated with a knife that doesn't cut well.  Lil has been using an adult pairing knife since she was three, for these reasons.

5. Double check the washing.  Garden vegetables, especially greens, can be dirty and grit makes for a poor salad.  Kids love using the salad spinner, so employ yours if you have one.

6. Go with the child's taste ideas.  You may never have thought to pair certain herbs and vegetables, but the child's tastes may surprise you. More than that, by allowing her creativity in the kitchen you are giving her confidence in other areas.

7. Specifically and honestly affirm the act of making and eating a healthy salad.  "You worked really hard at this." "I especially like how carefully you cut the carrots."  "Thanks for making part of our dinner! I love eating this nutritious and delicious salad."

Meyer Lemon in the House

We have grown a meyer lemon tree indoors (and outside in summer) for 5 years now.  About twice a year it blossoms with tiny white flowers that have a captivating sweet scent.  Usually at least a couple of the flowers turn into baby lemon buds.  Sometime after, they dry up and fall off.  Just 4 times has a bud ripened into an edible lemon. This past fall, one such lemon deigned to grace us.

Lillian declared herself caretaker of the lemon.  She checked the color constantly and protected the lemon from the dog's tails and other nosy kids. Here's a picture of her caressing her citrus.

We told her the lemon could be picked when the skin was completely yellow.  The time finally came last week.

She plucked the lemon from its stem. She took a picture of Alex and I with the lemon.

I washed it and sliced it open.  There were surprisingly almost no seeds.  This picture doesn't show it, but the flesh was a perfect bright yellow with stark white pulp and lots of juice.

We each tried a slice raw.  It was sweeter than a normal lemon, crisp and clean.  Alex and I juiced the rest later for a simple lemon martini.

The time and attention we put into this tree certainly doesn't pay off in terms of harvest value.  But we love the rare occasions we can eat citrus grown right here in Columbus OH.

(My apologies for unfocused preschooler picture.  Constantly moving objects are not easy to photograph but I am working on it.)

Last of the Garden Carrots

On Saturday our little wraskally wrabbit and I prepared the last of our home grown carrots. We planted these Japanese long carrots back in August, I think.  We tended them until the second hard frost when we pulled them out of the ground.  The leafy heads were chopped off, dirt left on, and we stored them in a loosely tied plastic grocery sack in the fridge.

We've been slowly eating them since, savoring every delicious bite.  Whole carrots are so much tastier than the prewashed bagged "baby carrots" I grew up on.  Home grown whole carrots are even better than store whole carrots.

So Saturday we scrubbed and peeled and ate the last of the harvest.  They were still crunchy and tasty.  Next year: more carrots in the late season so we can have more for winter!