Eight children, ranging from middle school to high school. Half had never had Mexican food in their life. The other half had since they are my kids. I rolled the dice here and the results came up mixed.
The menu wasn’t way out there. Tortillas and taco shells with a mix of veggie fillings and the standard cumin-flavored taco mix meat. Salsa and cheese to complete the picture.
It didn’t really matter what was being cooked, however. It was mainly the act of cooking that mattered. My distant relative here has been the solo cook in her house of four kids since she married. She hadn’t had tacos in forever and said she liked them. That was enough motivation for me to give it a go.
I’m really glad I did.
While the reaction from the kids ranged from “ick” to “ok”, seeing my relative enjoy the tacos and being able to relax was a big relief.
There are a lot of different ways to help people out, but I think if you are looking for something that will get to someone’s core, especially a stay-at-home parent, look no further than cooking and cleaning.
While my cooking didn’t seem to open up any new worlds of culinary curiosity of the children, it definitely brought a different view and much needed support to the one who holds everything together in the house.
Next time, I’ll be on the lookout for food that pleases not just the mom, but also a higher percentage of the kids. Pasta?