"Actually Very Delicious!"

I’m not sure if this has anything to do with being an only child but JJ is an incredibly picky eater.

In terms of food that isn’t Goldfish, pretzels or ice cream, she eats exactly a dozen items: breakfast cereal geared to kids, granola bars, tortillas, hamburger buns with ketchup, white rice, plain pasta, macaroni and cheese, cheese sticks, eggs, bacon, pancakes and steak.

Actually being an only child might factor into this because I never force her to eat what we are eating. I violate the rule all parents have been told and I make her a separate meal. And when we go out to dinner, we gladly buy her a steak. My husband calls it the “$20 kids’ meal.” It is not unusual for her to eat most of a 12-ounce T-bone steak by herself. My husband usually eats what’s left.

So, tonight when JJ declared my tomato sauce was “actually very delicious,” I thought I was going to cry.

Tomato sauce is such a part of my life. Growing up on Long Island, an Italian American (a term you don’t hear much these days), I would wake up every Sunday morning to the aroma of meatballs frying and tomato sauce simmering. It was so comforting. For me, it meant family and love and all that was good in the world.

To make a good sauce, it has to cook all day and mine is no exception. I started simmering mine at 9:30 this morning and didn’t stop cooking it until we ate at 7 pm. I put in herbs from our garden—oregano, rosemary and basil—and fresh garlic from the farmer’s market, red pepper and bay leaves. This is not a sauce for wimpy eaters but my picky eater LOVED it.

She asked for a bowl of sauce to dip her pasta and after declaring, “its actually very delicious,” she spread it on her oversized pasta shells and I could hear her making “mmmm” sounds as she ate. Now, that is comforting!

As my husband pointed out, that’s the most vegetables she’s eaten since she was a baby.