Almost…
I was enjoying my toast with plum jam when younger son came through to the kitchen. His eyes lit up at the sight of the sugary goodness in my hands and he reached out for it with his most winning smile. I held my breath as he took a large bite, then another.
“mmm”, he said. “I like jam toast.”
Jumping for joy (on the inside) I said: “y’know, that’s the jam that I made” (and now I’m dancing on the inside because a child of mine is actually eating something that I made from something that grew in the garden!).
And that, obviously, was my error. Because he looked up, handed the toast back and said: “Don’t like plum jam”.
I suppose I should be thankful that he finished the mouthful rather than immediately spitting it on the floor. But seriously, what is wrong with my children? The garden is full of strawberries, peas that are so sweet they’re almost fruit and beautiful carrots - all of which the kids love to pick, just not eat. These are all things that they have eaten in the past mind you. Elder son ate carrots yesterday. Just not our carrots. Today when he asked for carrots he quickly followed with: “carrots from the supermarket”. What’s wrong with my carrots? If anything, I think mine taste nicer, I know they’re full of carroty goodness and they even come out of the ground looking like “real” carrots - you know, right colour, right size, not twisted or oddly shaped or filled with insect holes. I bet I could take my organic, homegrown carrots down to the farmers’ market on Saturday and sell them for an exorbitant price and yet, for some reason, they aren’t good enough for my little princes. So far, nothing I’ve grown has been.
If cooking plums with their equal weight in sugar won’t work, what will?
