I failed with Helen. She doesn’t like to eat unless it’s junk food. Yesterday, when she discovered that the house was entirely devoid of junk food, she said, “Mommy, can we go to the grocery store? We need some junk food. Four junk foods. Tangly Cheetos, regular Cheetos, Fish Sticks, and Oreos.”
I’m not entirely sure how “fish sticks” got on the junk food list because, all things considered, among the things that Helen is willing to eat right now, they’re quite the gourmet fare.
Anyway. We went to the grocery store, and of the junk foods she mentioned, I only bought Tangly Cheetos. BAD Mommy.
Alice, on the other hand, is the Anti-Helen. She’ll eat anything.
Tomorrow my dad and brother return to town from 10 days in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the EAA Air Show. Pete, who lives in Virginia, really misses Southern pit barbeque (not to be confused with Texas barbeque or North Carolina barbeque, which are both completely different). He has one particular kind of BBQ that is acquired 20 minutes out of town that he LOVES (Meridianville BBQ, for you locals). It is purchased from a shack next to a gas station as you head towards Tennessee, and yes, it is amazing.
(Yes, this story does actually have relevance to the Helen-won’t-eat-anything-and-Alice-eats-everything way that I started. Just be patient.)
However, we want to test his theory that Meridianville is the BEST, so Mom and I are hostessing a side-by-side blind taste test of three different barbeque joints (Gibson’s, Lawler’s, and Meridianville), and inviting several family friends that would enjoy seeing Pete.
I picked up the Gibson’s and Lawler’s today (all of these places are closed on Sundays because of Jesus, so we had to go obtain the barbeque today. Mom’s in charge of getting Meridianville’s), complete with slaw from both places (we’re also going to taste test the slaw). I also got fried okra from Gibson’s and turkey barbeque from Lawler’s for our lunch today.
We know from previous experience that both Helen and Alice like the turkey barbeque. Helen even had a sandwich today! I was impressed. And she even tried the white sauce. Things are looking up! Yay for Helen!
Alice-who-eats-everything continued her streak, and with true Southern Grace, she sucked down about 10 pieces of fried okra. That’s my girl. 🙂
Next Southern Taste Test for Alice: cheese grits. I have the materials to make them IN MY POSSESSION… We’ll probably have Breakfast For Dinner sometime this week. Wheeeee!
Warping young minds: it’s how I entertain myself.