California Rolls

As my daughter has matured...the big six that she is...so have her eating habits. No longer does ordering from the children's menu suffice for her. Most kids would be more than happy to eat chicken fingers, a cheeseburger or maybe even something more adventurous like...I don't know, call me crazy...pepperoni pizza. Not my daughter...she wants nothing to do with the "baby menu" as she so aptly refers to it. Her six year old taste buds are more refined then a frozen slab of hamburger with packaged cheese melted on top, or chicken nuggets that are more breading than chicken. Edamame, miso soup, prime rib...medium rare of course...crabcakes, California rolls...sashimi...a baked sweet potato, asparagus...these have all become part of her restaurant menu. She constantly surprises my friends and even waitstaff when she orders steamed mussels in red sauce with a cup of hot tea. And, please don't forget the three creams and two sugars..."thank you" she says with a big smile.


I am also baffled by the amount of food that she can eat. One would think that she would be twenty pounds overweight. Nope, not my daughter. She is a tall, thin string bean...which by the way she eats right out of the can with some garlic salt for seasoning...disgusting by my standards...a typical snack for her. Peas, cranberry sauce, avocados...things that would make any six year old turn their nose in disgust are a dining delicacy for her. I am not really sure where she picked up these peculiar tastes as I was the pickiest eater known to mankind. There were few things that I would eat and even fewer things that I would allow to be put on my food. Just recently, I discovered my daughter's love of kalamata olives, locatelli cheese and cannoli. I admire her passion for Italian food and relish in the fact that we share a like for food from our native background.

Having a six year old with such a varied palate makes for a fun and diverse evening as there are few places or things that are off limits...although, I will have to admit that she is not too fond of Mexican...I am thinking this might have more to do with the bathroom issues caused by this particular food group, but that's just my two cents. So, armed with our hungry appetite, my sister and her two kids, we head off for an adventurous night of Japenese dining...something tells me her kids aren't going to like this odd turn of events...as we open the menus, I can see the look of desperation in their eyes..."Where's the cheeseburger?", I hear them quietly whisper?