Picky Eaters: Meringue and Kiwi

Image via WikipediaIt was my Nana's birthday over the weekend. For many years we believed her birthday was the 5th of February, turns out it's the 4th. A paperwork snafu when she came over to the States after WWII. My Nana is from Australia. Born and raised, until she met my Papa. They fell in love, he married her and moved her to the other side of the World.
This year, for her birthday, I hosted the festivities. My husband made sauce, meatballs and lasagna. My goal the morning of the party was to have my husband take our daughter to a kid birthday party for a little girl in her class. HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA. Yeah right! Like that would have ever happened. My daughter, going anywhere without me, that's crazy talk. She's my little hemorrhoid. Only place she's ever been sans mommy is school.
Sure as shit, Friday night comes and Little Miss tells Daddy she doesn't feel well. She can't go to the party in the morning. Who's this kid fooling with this? I'm hip to her. My husband, sympathetic sap that he is buys into it. He comes out, telling me she's sick and cannot go tomorrow.
Well that doesn't fly with me. When you RSVP, you attend the party. Unless you're bleeding or have lost a limb. Then you call to let them know. In I went, told her she was going and the tears started to flow. I sat down and asked her "what's the deal? Don't want to go with Daddy?" Through her sorry little tears she nodded. I told her to wipe the tears, she was going and Mommy would take her but she better join in on the fun, or I'd bring her home before she could have cake.
Those tears dried up fast and off to sleep she went. I knew that would happen, I was prepared for it.
Now, to the point of this story.....I had planned to make my version of Pavlova. It's a dessert my Nana loves. It's basically Meringue with fruit shoved into the middle of it. My version is a bit different, since I don't shove it into the middle of it. I just bake off 8 little meringue disks and put the fruit on top of it. Simple and Nana loves it.
BUT NOW, I was going to be taking our "drama queen" to the party and my husband was going to have to take on that task of baking the Pavlova while I was out. Takes an HOUR to bake it. Which, when you have to also cook the lasagnas, is a lot of realty being taken up in the oven!
Off I went to get my daughter ready for the party, off my husband went with our son into the kitchen to bake. Quickly joined by Little Miss, because both the kids LOVE to cook and bake with Daddy (and Mommy, too, but that just doesn't happen nearly as often--and that's okay with me).

The Meringues were placed in the oven and off we went to the party. Little did I know what would happen in my absence. Sugar related insanity on my husband's party, I assume.

Upon my arrival home (Little Miss not only participated, but barely looked at me the whole entire time-YAY) I was immediately told that our son now likes Meringue and Kiwi fruit.
DUH. Of course he like Meringue, it's like pure sugar. Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out. The genius part would have been to avoid giving him this food and stuck with the strawberries and kiwi instead. AAAAAHHHHHHHH. These kids get way too much sugar every day, it's a serious issue that I'm fighting every day to curb. And every day, we have set backs thanks to big ol' Daddy-O.

This evening, my daughter tried Kiwi. Let's just say, not a fan. Did NOT try the Meringue. I didn't offer it and she didn't ask. It was a lovely moment, like she just magically knew she'd like it, but Mommy was never going to let her have it again after she tasted it, so why bother falling in love with it to just have it ripped away from her diet plan. Smart cookie that girl!

So there we have it: one for Kiwi and Meringue, the other, not so much!

PS-Nana loved the Pavlova and even more, loved it even more because the kids made it and NO it did not look like what you see in the picture included in this post.