Acorn squash

 

A couple of things went wrong with this experiment. Clearly I haven’t learned my lesson about trying new foods when the kids are cranky and hungry. A worse mistake was to serve the squash alongside their favorite chicken dish. But then we started talking about “flesh”…human flesh (?)…and the jig was up. Better luck next time…

ME: Who knows what this is?

LAUREN: Squash.

ME: Yeah, it’s squash. What kind?

LAUREN: I don’t know what kind but… is it yellow?

ME: No it’s not Yellow Squash.

EMMA: GREEN SQUASH!

ME: No, it’s got a name… It’s got a special name like the fruit of a tree you know. What do Oak trees drop in our backyard at the lake?

ALL: (silence)

ME: What do the bears eat?

SAM: Acorns?

ME: Yep! This is Acorn Squash.

SAM: EWW. It’s made with acorns!

ME: It’s not made with acorns. What color is it?

SAM: Are we going to eat it?

ME: Yeah, we’re going to eat it.

[gasp]

ME: Don’t eat the skin, though. OK? But you can eat the orange part inside. OK?

EMMA: My tummy hurts!

ME: Everyone’s tummy hurts?

LAUREN: Not really mine…

ME: So, who is going to smell the inside of the orange flesh? Anyone want to smell it?

SAM: It’s made from a human?

ME: Why? Because I said flesh? No, it’s not made from a human. Do you think I would feed you human for dinner?

SAM: Umm… Yeah.

ME: [laughing] No, this is a vegetable. It’s grown. OK? Does anyone want to smell the orange part?

LAUREN: The human seed?

ME: Oh my gosh, you guys!

EMMA: Mommy, can I have no drumsticks, please?

ME: Nobody wants to try it? It was even cooked with the chicken, so it’s got a bit of a chicken-y flavor to it.

EMMA: I want just chicken.

ME: So, nobody wants a bite? Seriously? Emma’s going to have a bite.

EMMA: I’m not going to eat that.

ME: What’s so off-putting about the Acorn Squash?

SAM: It looks like brownies.

ME: Well, that should be a good thing, right?

SAM: It looks like loose brownies.

ME: OK. All right – I guess more for me then.