The kids cannot get enough of focaccia bread. Finally, they were ready to sprinkle cheese, rosemary, and Italian seasoning on their focaccia dough before baking it. This is their third time making it. Third time’s a charm indeed.
Focaccia with sharp cheddar cheese, rosemary, and Italian seasoning
I also suggested that, when the bread is ready, they dip it in marinara sauce, warm or cold. They loved it. See? Taste buds can be trained and educated. When we hear so many parents complain their children will not eat vegetables or whole wheat bread or fruit, it’s a matter of patient education.
A few years ago I read a book called “Bringing up Bebe,” about French parenting methods. The French day care system gives preschoolers red beets and asparagus and other things that an American parent would never dream of offering a three-year-old. When the children refuse a certain dish in a French day care, the notes of the dietician read, “We shall try again next week.” Here’s my point: let us not give up at their first refusal. Keep pressing the issue again and again.
Shredding cheese over focaccia dough
My children did not want to sprinkle cheese on focaccia even though I lectured them on the authenticity of the Italian recipe. They just wanted bread, plain and simple. The second time, same thing. The third time, OK, they said, let’s try it with cheese and herbs. Victory.
