Decorator Containers

If you have a "country-touch" going on in your kitchen, try using glass canning jars to hold your pasta, dried beans, and uncooked popcorn kernals. These make cute, country displays, especially if you happen to find old canning jars at a garage sale or second-hand store, but even the new ones are nicely decorated. They also make cute candle and candy holders. During any holiday, fill a large glass canning jar with a colorful candy, such as "M&M's" or candy corn and glue a festive ribbon around the cap edges... just that simple! It looks pretty just sitting out and is handy to reach inside and have a snack.

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My son has never cared much for the idea of food. He's only 6 now and I am told this will change when he reaches adolescence. But for now, and since the time he began solid food, he has resisted eating almost every eatble substance known to man. He has primarily survived on pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the last 5 years. I have made countless futile attempts to get the little beast to eat and try different foods, but have given in to frustration and defeat. However, I have managed, quite by mistake, to ingeniously develop a successful strategy! If you have an impossible-eater, this technique just may work for you. What image or character does your child truly admire? A super-hero, cowboys, a television or movie character, perhaps?

One evening I made a pot of stew, knowing full well my son would not eat it. Yet, when he asked what was for dinner, I told him we were having "Cowboy Stew". He asked if that's what cowboys really ate and I replied, "Oh yes! In the old west when cowboys rode across the country and slept under the stars, this is what they cooked over their camp fires." With this information, my son ate a large helping and asked it we could have it again sometime soon! All I need to do now is tell him I have learned what "ninjas" have for dinner!

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