Food Fun

Wish I'd Done That: Kids love anything on a skewer. If you've got picky eaters, or if your kids are just beginning solid table food, buy some toothpicks with cute toppers, and make food chunks your friends! Cut fruit, cheese or any other food into cubes and put it on the toothpicks. Give food special names, and kids will be inclined to try something unfamiliar. For instance, if your child is into a certain book, give the food a name from the book. For veggies, cut them into shapes and serve with ranch dip, and they might try the veggie. Remember, presentation is everything when dealing with 3 year olds!

Some of you may wonder at the "Taste & Spit" in the description of my occupation. Many have heard of "taste testers", and everyone wants to be one. Images of good food, and telling the client what tastes "good" cause the general populace to envy us. However, the reality is, we never get to say whether something is good, we create what's called a flavor profile of the item. Also, this is our only prop:

You may not get the significance of this, but try to visualize a shelf-life study of a grain product, a frozen meat product, or even a cookie. Now, let's look out at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year. Now do you see where the styrofoam comes in? Hmmmmm......

I work with great professionals who are type A, linear and detail-oriented. We have great fun and comradarie, but, we can taste old oil in those french fries you are scarfing down!
Everyone wants me to tell them what ingredients are in the food, but I only do it if they pay me.....

Don't be envious - I don't really eat cookies for a living!