My kids often tell me, “Mama, you should open your own restaurant,” as they take a bite into a meal or a dessert I just prepared. I heard this again a few days ago, and it got me thinking . . . Shouldn’t I have a signature dish? And if I did, what would it be?
Becuase I prepare meals every evening, and homemade desserts are commonplace, the kids have many recipes from which to choose. And as I think about things, nothing really jumps out as the one and only dish that should be named my “Signature.” I think I’m more comfortable calling these Family Favorites. And we certainly have a long list of Family Favorites.
A Bit of Help
I am happy to say that many of these family favorites are now prepared by my children – or at least my 3 girls. My son wants nothing to do with helping cook or bake – instead, he is an active participant in whatever someone else cooks and bakes in the kitchen.
He’s a high school senior, and as I spend time supporting him on his college application journey , I’m also thinking about his eating habits, and wondering what he will eat once he is away from our home kitchen, and my constant reminders to choose something healthy from time to time.
I know things won’t be perfect. I remember back to the diet coke and popcorn dinners I ate, and begin to wonder: Will he choose chips desserts, soda, chocolate of ice cream as a snack? Will he ever prepare anything other than a meat-filled meal.
So, with college on the horizon, I’m beginning a wonder what he will eat – and prepare – when he is living on his own. Because he likes meals prepared from him, I’m making efforts to entice him back into the kitchen, for everyday dishes, as well as a bit of inspiration for a Signature Dish.
A Simple Signature Dish
The dishes I want him to have under his belt don’t need to be complicated. I’ll start off with one of his camping meals that has made it to our at-home lexicon – Spanish Rice with Ground Beef. He originally prepared this while we were camping in Moab as one of the requirements for his scouting cooking merit badge. He gets high marks on the final result, especially as it was prepared during the start of a windstorm that eventually caused us to leave the campground for a safe shelter.
He is in charge of preparing it here at home. He also prepares a lot of eggs, and loves taking over dinner when he can prepare burgers on the grill. But, I want to give him a few more signature dishes in his pocket – something beyond basic beef dishes. Maybe something with a sauce, and that looks great as well.
If you have any recipes that might be good options, send them off to me and I’ll get working on my Son’s Signature Dish project.
