Octopus

Today was the Great Octopus Expotition* of Rachael C. Kenyon. She's been asking what octopus tastes like, so I told her I'd take her to the sushi place we like and we'd try some. Seriously? If you're ever in a situation where your kid likes to try new foods, go to a sushi place and sit at the bar. The chefs had to discuss the order like three times, back and forth, back and forth, Ray ran over to the chef and watched the whole thing. They brought it over, and she waited to eat it for like five minutes, because she wanted to eat some miso soup and wait until my udon came. My lunch finally showed up, and I asked her if she was going to eat the octopus.

"It's too big," she said. Well, she was right. The rice was smaller than normal, and the octopus draped over the sides like a frilly dress (the way they cut the octopus means the purple edges look ruffled). So I ripped the excess off, and she dunked a piece in the soy sauce (no wasabi). The whole time, the chefs had been ignoring her. But they both glanced over as she chewed.

"How is it?"

One thumb up.

...but, honestly, I think they were won over when she started slurping udon noodles off a plate. The other chef made her a mocktopus, mock crab tied with seaweed on one end, shredded on the other, and deep fried. That got a "It has a good taste!"

By the time we left, we were both so full that we were ready to explode. When I told Ray that, she leaned over and whispered to me, "Miss Mary [her old preschool teacher] said she used to be skinny but then she ate so much candy that she exploded and that's how she got to be fat!"

We both had to laugh about that.


*A la Roo, if you've seen The Heffalump Movie.