Culinary Kids (Or: What's a "mousse"?)

I love my kids. More specifically, I love their palettes. Starting in their infancy, they gravitated toward the interesting, the exotic, the out-of-the-ordinary. I'll never forget the day when Baby Aidan, perhaps 6 months old, was being fed by a friend of ours. Al was single at the time, dating a wonderful girl (now they're married with a little one of their own), and he was -- I mean, is -- one of the best cooks I have ever met. Seriously. He is some kind of tech-dude, but he should be a chef. It's a culinary sin that he's not.

Al was flabbergasted when Baby Aidan turned away at the site of peaches. Plain, ordinary, mundane peaches. Al wasn't sure what to do, so I suggested he try something else. He rummaged through our pantry and laughed out loud at the site of a jar of Kiwi Strawberry. "Kids eat this?" he exclaimed, slightly shocked. "Isn't this a little ... fancy?" Nope -- not for Aidan. Sure enough, Al opened the jar, Aidan scarfed it down, and our friend was overjoyed at this little one's great palette. He's had an appetite for good food ever since. Sure, he'll eat chicken nuggets and ask for McDonald's, but he's also not afraid to try "grown-up" food, and often relishes it.

This afternoon I whipped up -- literally -- a new dessert for us tonight. Yes, it's from Moosewood once again, and if my friend Julie's comment of "This is AWESOME" wasn't on the page, I might have jumped right over it. The title -- Coffee Ricotta Mousse -- sounded a little ... strange, a combination that I wasn't immediately drawn to. It didn't dawn on me immediately that ricotta fills our ever-popular family favorite -- cannoli -- so I shouldn't have been surprised by this offering. But still -- Julie's comment beckoned. I thought I'd give it a whirl.

It's easy and simple -- ricotta, coffee grounds, confectioner's sugar, vanilla. Easy. Aidan came running when he heard the electric mixer -- where beaters are involved, there is Aidan on the scene, tongue at the ready to clean them off. "I don't know, buddy," I said. "I don't think you're going to like this."

He took a look at the cookbook.
"Coffee Ricotta Mousse. Mouse? What's a mouse got to do with it?"

Ohhhh ... that's mousse, honey. Not mouse.

"Oh." A thoughtful pause, scanning his memory file. "What's a moose got to do with it?"

I explained -- I love this kid. Then the whipping was done. "Are you sure you want to try this?" I asked. Oh yes, he was. I handed over the beater. His little tongue darted out. His eyes closed dramatically.

"Ohhhh, yeah ..." he said slowly, savoringly.

Really? You like it? Coffee isn't a flavor that everyone likes.

"Well, I do," he said confidently. "I like it a lot."

Grace, sitting at the table, sucking on orange wedges, didn't want to be excluded. I handed her a beater -- 2 teaspoons of Baileys can't hurt her (she's part Irish, after all). She too licked the beater, smiled, and gave me a thumbs-up.

What great kids, with wonderful palettes to boot. Anyone interested in the recipe, just give me a holler here and I'll post it. Looks like we're all ready for dessert tonight.

But first, dinner: Sandy's "My Kids Eat Their Hidden Veggies - Just Don't Tell Them" Vodka Sauce over Penne.
Yum.