Not Your Everyday Italian

Connor has a new favorite TV show. No, not Sponge Bob- Everyday Italian with Giada de Laurentis. Connor's love of cooking shows is certainly fascinating (and more than a little ironic), but it's no surprise why he likes Giada the best. She has huge. . . teeth.

While we're watching, Connor will say things like, "Mom, you should make that!" This gets me excited, thinking that maybe he wants to try something new, but he usually follows it up with "I don't like that, but you and Dad probably will."

Last weekend when I was getting my grocery list together, I asked my standard question. "Connor, what can I buy that you will eat?" I am used to answers that range from "chicken nuggets and pizza" to "chicken nuggets and potato chips," so you can imagine my surprise when I heard "chicken nuggets and pizza and NOODLES!" Whaa? He repeated his request for noodles- plain noodles with maybe some butter and white cheese.


Later that night, I excitedly put a plate of angel hair with butter and white cheese down in front of him. I couldn't believe he was going to try something new! "NO! These are the WRONG NOODLES, Mom!" Of course they were. When pressed to describe the noodles he was interested in, he told me he wanted flat, thin noodles. Suddenly it dawned on me- we had just watched Giada make a carbonara with homemade fettuccine. He wanted something new that he had seen her cook! Since then he's had fettuccine with butter and cheese many, many times. I know that's not an especially exciting dish, but what's important here is that his crush on a hot chef might finally convince him to try something new every now and again. There's a whole world of non-orange food out there, and thanks to the Food Network my son just might discover some of it.