Some Culinary Creativity To Help Keep You Sane
Breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, oh my...wash, rinse, and repeat (oh, yeah, and add snacking to accompany binge-watching trashy TV). Being sheltered in your place with a family, a partner, a pet, or yourself is now a pretty intensive day-to-day challenge/opportunity that has landed on our already full plates, culinarily speaking. We are all home- and house-bound with lots and lots of eating and lots more angst...and the quiet.
Quietude is a big challenge for me. A little hustle and bustle, crowds on the street in our town, and people-noise whip up my creative juices. Outside now - no cars, no open shops or restaurants, no colorful passersby. We're talking "sounds of silence"...eerie silence.
Are we keeping busy (a rhetorical question, of course)? Working from home on our computers? Check! Connected to our teams digitally? Check! Connected to extended family digitally? Check! Connected to our friends digitally? Check! Lonely? Check!
This weekend my children are throwing me a birthday party digitally. Am I grateful? Check! We had to cancel a lovely planned beach house weekend away with our kids and grandkids. So I received a cool, paperless, leopard-print email invite saying:
"While Covid 19 has forced us inside
We'll celebrate our mom's birthday with pride!"
Dinner will be delivered to our home by a local restaurant at 7:00. We will "Zoom" meet together from our respective dining rooms via virtual log-in. Wow did this lift my spirits, and it also got me thinking. It's time to get creative with food plating and presentation and give the folks I love a little whimsy and joy to add to mealtime. And I'm talking easy...
When it comes to food, we really do "eat first with our eyes." Creative food presentation really does impact our enjoyment of the dining experience. It wakes up our taste buds. Anything that is more visually appealing is more appetizing.
So think about an artist's palate and add color and texture to your pantry meals. How about serving food in some kind of creative delivery system? Here's a fun way to serve a meal or snack to your kids:
1. If you happen to have an ice cube tray or muffin tin, fill each compartment with something fun, small portioned, and kid-friendly. Don't forget to save the last compartment for a treat. Our kids now are looking to us for calm and reassurance. You can even turn dinner into a board game (instead of a "bored" game). You can grab some dice and have your child give them a roll. Take some post-it notes and number the sections on your muffin tin or ice cube tray. Once rolled, they eat the food from the section corresponding to the number on the dice.
2. If you want an upgrade to the diy ice cube tray/muffin tin idea, you can buy Fred Dinner Winner Kids' Dinner Tray. Fun way to entice even the pickiest little eater. Available on Amazon.
3. Or what about using an ice cream cone filled with savory egg or tuna salad? Kids love them!
4. If you have any hot dog buns in the pantry, spread with nut butter or sun butter, add a whole banana ala hot dog, and a squeeze of honey as a condiment.
It's important to get creative with your own meals. A little joy raises your vibe and lifts the glum mood, thereby fortifying your immune system. It's a thing. Really!
Take the time to set a lovely table. If you happen to have a garden, flowers in your home make a world of difference, bringing color and adding spunk. For pizza or pasta night, re-purpose that tomato can and use it as a centerpiece, filled with parsley, basil, rosemary, or herbs from your fridge. Whimsical and fun.
Grab some mismatched mugs or pottery bowls and fill them with chili, soup, or stew. Everyone gets their favorite mug on a saucer. Sprinkle some goldfish or oyster crackers alongside. I have a set of red and white dish towels that I use solely as oversized napkins. They look great on the table.
You can even use barware as serving pieces. Martini glasses filled with mashed potatoes and topped with crumbled bacon, chopped green onions or chives, or a dollop of sour cream can turn a dreary blonde bland-looking dish into something interesting. You can even take a shot glass to serve straight-from-the-carton soup as a mini first course (don't forget to clink glasses for a toast).
So ask our friend Alexa to play some fun music, and let your own creativity fly. In fact, when dinner is done, ask Alexa to play "Song Quiz." Kids and adults can join in the fun and pick the decade of music they know and can try to identify after a few bars of the song. It's a hoot.
Most importantly, stay safe and healthy. We can do this!
Quietude is a big challenge for me. A little hustle and bustle, crowds on the street in our town, and people-noise whip up my creative juices. Outside now - no cars, no open shops or restaurants, no colorful passersby. We're talking "sounds of silence"...eerie silence.
Are we keeping busy (a rhetorical question, of course)? Working from home on our computers? Check! Connected to our teams digitally? Check! Connected to extended family digitally? Check! Connected to our friends digitally? Check! Lonely? Check!
This weekend my children are throwing me a birthday party digitally. Am I grateful? Check! We had to cancel a lovely planned beach house weekend away with our kids and grandkids. So I received a cool, paperless, leopard-print email invite saying:
"While Covid 19 has forced us inside
We'll celebrate our mom's birthday with pride!"
Dinner will be delivered to our home by a local restaurant at 7:00. We will "Zoom" meet together from our respective dining rooms via virtual log-in. Wow did this lift my spirits, and it also got me thinking. It's time to get creative with food plating and presentation and give the folks I love a little whimsy and joy to add to mealtime. And I'm talking easy...
When it comes to food, we really do "eat first with our eyes." Creative food presentation really does impact our enjoyment of the dining experience. It wakes up our taste buds. Anything that is more visually appealing is more appetizing.
So think about an artist's palate and add color and texture to your pantry meals. How about serving food in some kind of creative delivery system? Here's a fun way to serve a meal or snack to your kids:
1. If you happen to have an ice cube tray or muffin tin, fill each compartment with something fun, small portioned, and kid-friendly. Don't forget to save the last compartment for a treat. Our kids now are looking to us for calm and reassurance. You can even turn dinner into a board game (instead of a "bored" game). You can grab some dice and have your child give them a roll. Take some post-it notes and number the sections on your muffin tin or ice cube tray. Once rolled, they eat the food from the section corresponding to the number on the dice.
2. If you want an upgrade to the diy ice cube tray/muffin tin idea, you can buy Fred Dinner Winner Kids' Dinner Tray. Fun way to entice even the pickiest little eater. Available on Amazon.
3. Or what about using an ice cream cone filled with savory egg or tuna salad? Kids love them!
4. If you have any hot dog buns in the pantry, spread with nut butter or sun butter, add a whole banana ala hot dog, and a squeeze of honey as a condiment.
It's important to get creative with your own meals. A little joy raises your vibe and lifts the glum mood, thereby fortifying your immune system. It's a thing. Really!
Take the time to set a lovely table. If you happen to have a garden, flowers in your home make a world of difference, bringing color and adding spunk. For pizza or pasta night, re-purpose that tomato can and use it as a centerpiece, filled with parsley, basil, rosemary, or herbs from your fridge. Whimsical and fun.
Grab some mismatched mugs or pottery bowls and fill them with chili, soup, or stew. Everyone gets their favorite mug on a saucer. Sprinkle some goldfish or oyster crackers alongside. I have a set of red and white dish towels that I use solely as oversized napkins. They look great on the table.
You can even use barware as serving pieces. Martini glasses filled with mashed potatoes and topped with crumbled bacon, chopped green onions or chives, or a dollop of sour cream can turn a dreary blonde bland-looking dish into something interesting. You can even take a shot glass to serve straight-from-the-carton soup as a mini first course (don't forget to clink glasses for a toast).
So ask our friend Alexa to play some fun music, and let your own creativity fly. In fact, when dinner is done, ask Alexa to play "Song Quiz." Kids and adults can join in the fun and pick the decade of music they know and can try to identify after a few bars of the song. It's a hoot.
Most importantly, stay safe and healthy. We can do this!
Wonderful suggestions! Thank you so much for sharing.
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