02 June 2007

Cake For No Reason

I forgot to do a vegetable tonight with dinner. Luckily, there was the corn I'd forgotten to put in whatever I made Tuesday night...so I heated that up. To make up for my inept dinner execution, I put together a cake for dessert (don't get too excited, it was a mix). We watched an episode of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? while it baked. [Tangent: I'm pleased to say that, based on the questions offered today, we are mostly smarter than a 5th grader.] I'm also pleased to say that everyone was mostly happy about unexpected cake, although Ross commented that it was really more like bread since there wasn't any frosting. Recognizing this as a setup for getting his PB&J made with unfrosted cake instead of actual bread, I told him that weeknight cake isn't made with frosting. Recognizing that as an attempt to derail his cake sandwich request, Ross replied that we never have cake on weeknights...so it must be something else we were having. I couldn't think of a response that would keep the cake sandwich possibility off the table and also get me out of making weekday cakes more often, so I sent him upstairs to brush his teeth. Parenting: dialogue or dictatorship?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have I mentioned to you that Kristin is the stage manager on Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? She moved to LA.

Chaotic Joy said...

Is corn a vegetable? We have this debate a lot at my house. I say no, it's a grain (hence, cornbread which everyone eats here in GA). My kids adamantly say yes.

Okay, I know your other post won an award, but this is my favorite one (of course, I have only read the recent ones). It really made me smile. How old is Ross? I am dying to know!

karen said...

I go back and forth on corn as a vegetable. It is technically a grain, yet I'm willing to side with the 'it's a vegetable' gang when circumstances warrant. In every case, I consider it a starch so, if we're having corn, I try not to also have bread.

Ross is a February eight; Lars is a December six (a few weeks after Samuel).

thethinker said...

I have never watched "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?". I pretty much assumed that I am. At least, I hope so.

The Plaid Sheep said...

If corn is a vegetable then popcorn must be too. It's a wonder Reagan missed that one.

As for your question parenting often seems like the UN, lots of people pretending diplomacy is possible while arming themselves at the same time.

Anonymous said...

hey! can Kristen get me a tryout? do you have to be dumb to get on?
shamelessly plagiarized:
Though sometimes dismissed as a nutrient-poor starch — both a second-rate vegetable and a second-rate grain — corn is lately being reassessed and viewed as a healthy food. A new study shows that corn has the highest level of antioxidants of any grain or vegetable.

One cup of whole-grain corn flour has only 5 grams of fat and nearly 16 grams of dietary fiber. It also contains high levels of many important vitamins and minerals, including potassium, phosphorus, zinc, calcium, iron, thiamine, niacin, vitamin B-6 and folate. The high fiber content of whole-grain corn aids bowel health and, studies have shown, can help reduce blood LDL cholesterol levels, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

The absence of the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, however, make half of the niacin in corn indigestible. The vitamin niacin is necessary to prevent pellagra. The reason tryptophan is related to niacin status is that the amino acid can be converted to niacin if the body needs it.

In corn, niacin is found naturally in a tightly bound form called niacytin. This form is unavailable to the human unless the corn is treated with lime (the chemical -CaO). Lime is used with corn meals traditionally prepared in Latin American countries. This process frees the niacin, making it available. If corn is being used as a major source of niacin, it is important that it be prepared with lime or that the same flour used to make corn tortillas known as masa harina is commonly used. And as a bonus, the lime also contributes calcium to the diet. In addition, eating corn with beans creates a complementary mix of amino acids that raises the protein value to humans.


personally, i've been finding it to be a wonderful icepack for broken wrists!

karen said...

Frozen peas also work well as ice packs, if you run out of corn. :)

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