Friends family food fun

I think I just may have stumbled upon a solution on how to prepare a meal for a whole crowd of people who are coming to visit and - at the same time - entertain your 5-year-old daughter!

I have been reading a particular book to my daughter - upon her request virtually every evening - called Button Soup. To cut a long story short - Daisy goes to visit her Uncle Scrooge.  When she arrives in town all the townsfolk tell her that her Uncle won't feed her, he won't give her anything to drink and he certainly will not allow her to stay over. He is Uncle Scrooge and is certainly a Scrooge both by name and nature.

Daisy is a lot more sussed than they give her credit for!  When she arrives at her Uncle's house - she convinces him to make a meal called Button Soup which only requires a big fat pot, some water and one big red button...which Daisy has brought with.

Now, this is where Daisy gets really clever.  After she drops the button into the pot of water - she tells Uncle Scrooge that when this particular soup won first prize at the State Fair - it had a pinch of salt and pepper in it.  Well of course Uncle Scrooge is going to rise to the challenge;  "If all I have to contribute is a little bit of salt and pepper for you to prepare an award winning soup, I am sure I can find some!"  He then rushes off and produces the requested salt and pepper.

Daisy very cleverly informs Uncle Scrooge  - at each level of tasting and smelling the soup - that when she served this to her family and friends back home it was the hit of the event.  But, she tells him, that she had also added a few carrots.  Uncle Scrooge obliges - carrots magically appear and are added to the soup.

The moral of the story is if you go to Uncle Scrooge and you tell him that you need all the ingredients at once - from potatoes to turnips and onions and carrots and meat and spices - he is going to be overwhelmed by that.

However if you introduce each ingredient separately - then you actually get what you want and, at the same time, produce an award winning soup...which was the intention anyway!

This is a book which my daughter loves having me read to her.  I do try to introduce other books, but without fail Button Soup wins the day.  Now - THIS is where I had my epiphany.  I decided that I was going to prepare a soup using the ingredients in the book. With the introduction of each new ingredient I asked my daughter to go and find it for me - be it in the door of the fridge, in the grocery cupboard, the veggie drawer in the fridge etc.

As I am reading the story to her - we get the ingredients and prepare them i.e. chopping, grating, slicing and then adding them to our pot.  By the end of the process - we have our very own Button Soup.

The wonderful thing about this story is that at the end Daisy says to her Uncle; "Well now we have this HUGE pot of soup - who do we share it with?"

Uncle Scrooge is beside himself and says; "No, no sharing!  We put it into jars, freeze it and keep it.  We can't afford to waste a drop."  Daisy counters and says; "But Uncle Scrooge all it took was one button to make the soup.  We should share it with the community."  Uncle Scrooge reluctantly agrees with her.

Daisy rushes into town and invites the entire community to come and share the pot of soup with her and Uncle Scrooge.  Needless to say the community is a little overwhelmed by the invitation but as each of them walk through Uncle Scrooge's front door, Daisy hands them a bowl and Uncle Scrooge ladles delicious Button Soup into each bowl.  It is the greatest social event which this town has ever had!

Now - unbeknownst to my daughter I have already invited everyone BUT at that point in the story I pick up her pink Hello Kitty 'phone and get her to 'phone' all our friends and family to come and share our Button Soup.   This has all been planned strategically!  It is now 11h45 and I have already asked everyone to arrive at 12h00 sharp.

We look at the clock and then rush around getting ready 'coz the whole 'community' is coming to visit!  So the entire process of getting your daughter to help with the preparing and cooking of the soup, inviting the community (which just happens to be her aunts and uncles, grandparents and my friends), getting her clothes ready etc.  - she has been actively involved in everything....and to all intents and purposes - it has been her decisions which have guided the entire process.

By the time the guests arrive you and your well dressed, hair brushed daughter with sparkly hands are standing at the front door with the soup pot and bowls ready.  Your daughter hands each guest a bowl and you ladle homemade 'Button Soup' into each bowl.  As in the book it becomes a very happy and festive occasion and you are sure to tell all your guests - so that your daughter can hear - that this was all possible because of a little 5-year-old girl and her favourite book - Button Soup.

 

-DSM-