chinese food

My kids brought home a book called Dumpling Soup from the library, and, enthralled by the concept of dumpling soup eaten by the Korean-Hawaiian-American family in the story, asked if we could make something similar. Of course they wanted to leave out the tripe and octopus also mentioned in the book, so we didn't bother with those things (although I assured them they'd love octopus; they were both skeptical about that).

I decided an easy course of action was to put together some wontons, since they're dumplings of a sort, are traditionally eaten in soup, and are made of ingredients that you can get at the grocery store. Furthermore, they seemed like something the children could help make with minimal effort. So, after picking up a pack of Azumaya wonton wrappers and some other ingredients, we were ready to start our wonton party. True to my prediction, they were also really easy to put together, and even easier to eat.

As I guy who cooks, I take special pride when I make something that makes both my children clean their plate. No, I'm not referring to kid-friendly cliches like macaroni and cheese or pasta with some butter and parmesan on it (although, I must admit, I've resorted to that on occasion), but rather something I make that's unusual, tasty, and enjoyed by everyone, adults and kids alike. This is not to say that I'm not often sorely disappointed by my culinary adventures with children. To say that most experiments end badly is an understatement, and for some reason I seem to remain naively hopeful that everything I make will be appreciated by the small people in our house.