A food writer is born?

Graham's eating has really improved over the last few months - a cause for celebration for anyone who has ever spent time with him at meals. He has added fruits to his diet (grapes, pineapple, peaches, berries, grapefruit, apples), and is thinking about eating more veggies. As he said to me, "Mom, I do like carrots and corn. I guess I like vegetables that start with 'C'. What do cucumbers taste like again?"

So last night, he was still hungry before bed and wanted a snack. Hunger is a great motivator to try something new, of course. I gave him a little dish of cottage cheese with a spoonful of strawberry all-fruit in it, just to try. And he liked it. He ate half the bowl before bed. So yay! We've added cottage cheese to the list of acceptable foods. The combination really made an impression on Graham, I later gathered, as he came into my room spouting these words... sounding like a mini-Frasier food & wine writer.

I heard him say the word "oaky", and quickly started writing down what he was saying to save for posterity ... or at least us! This (below) is an exact transcript of his food thoughts. Later, when he read back what he'd said, he and Annie dissolved into giggles.

"When you eat a piece of cheese, the oaky, salty taste makes flavors, and you get a yellowness in your mind. When you eat grapes (long pause),this is what I'm telling you, (medium pause) I'm talking about this, (distracted by our cat) What I'm going to say is that, um, ... that, um, that - Annie you're scaring Lex! - okay, so I'm trying to tell you, if you eat cheese you'll get a little yellowness because the oaky, sweet, salty, nuttiness ... So that's what it looks like with cheese. Either strawberries have sweetness or the grapes have tanginess, but when you eat the fruit & the cheese together it mixes it up in your mind like fireworks with the tang and nuttiness."