What's For Supper

I wrote this as an exercise in a local writers' group. Thought I'd put it here.


You can try, but you can’t fool kids.

My children’s daddy worked late every other Saturday. He was one of those meat and potatoes guys so the three children and I were free to vary our diet on the Saturdays he was not home.

In the summer we would go vegetarian purchasing freshly picked corn on the cob at the local farm stand for our main course. We’d have a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes from our own garden happily dining on Jersey’s best. We did not need meat. Other times we’d experiment together in the kitchen, creating our own messy feasts with joyous abandon and much laughter.

One Thursday I discovered a sale on liver at the market. I love liver and onions with a big lump of mashed potatoes on the side. My husband hated liver but the longer I looked at those packages of dark, shiny organs in the meat case, the more I hankered for a big plate of liver and onions. While I stood there salivating, it dawned on me. This was his Saturday to work late! The kids and I would have liver and onions.

I had never cooked liver for my children. They hadn’t even heard of liver. I was working with blank gustatorial slates and I seized the opportunity to cultivate culinary education.

I began the build-up on Thursday afternoon. “You’re not going to believe the wonderful supper we’re having on Saturday”, I told them. “Their eyes lit up with expectation. “What is it, Mommy?”
“It’s a special treat. It’s something called liver and it’s one of Mommy’s favorite suppers.”

On Friday I continued the hype. “I just can’t wait until supper tomorrow,” I told them. “You are going to love it.” When their daddy left for work, I resumed my brainwashing in earnest. “Is it like meatloaf?” my son asked. Meatloaf was his favorite followed by meatballs and hamburgers. From this list of preferred viands, it was obvious he liked his meat pre-chewed. Liver, when properly cooked is pretty easy to chew. “It’s not quite like meatloaf, sweetie, but Mommy knows you will absolutely love it. It comes with mashed potatoes and you really like mashed potatoes.”


The little girl, who considered herself a “quasi-vegetarian” because she enjoyed hot dogs, wanted to know if it came from an animal. “It’s not much different from a hot dog,” I lied. “You’re gonna love it. It’s not like meat at all.” Well, it wasn’t like the meat she was used to.

The big girl, the adventurous one when it came to new foods, didn’t seem interested. “Aren’t you excited about the wonderful supper we’re having tonight?” I asked. She just looked at me the way eight-year-olds do; head slightly tilted, eyes mildly questioning.

I wouldn’t even let them into the kitchen while I prepared our special feast. This had them really revved up. I floured the liver and sauteed it gently in the pan with the caramelizing onions. The scent of fried onions permeated the air. Little voices called: “Mommy, is it ready yet?”

When it was ready I called them into the kitchen with great fanfare. I put their plates on the table. They looked at the liver. They looked at me.

“Go ahead, give it a try,” I encouraged. They did.

Three little faces screwed up at the same time. Three little mouths spat unchewed liver onto three plates. In unison, three little voices said: “yuk”!

Nope! You can’t fool kids.