My thoughts came to a screeching halt as I scanned the e-mail message I had just received from our oldest daughter, Jessica. She, along with her husband and our nearly 2-year-old daughter are coming for a much-anticipated visit over the upcoming Labor Day weekend.
Since they live in New Jersey, we haven't been around the young Madeline often enough to know just what her likes and dislikes are when it comes to food. Wanting to play the role of the perfect grandmother, I did the only sensible thing - I asked. It turned out to be the classic case of "be careful what you ask for."
"You always have plenty of stuff we like," wrote Jessica graciously, " - fresh fruits and veggies and meat and pasta - but here are a few things you maybe would like to have on hand...."
I shouldn't have been surprised, really, because the little family has always been heavy into healthy eating and organic foods, but I just wasn't all that certain what I should be shopping for.
"Plain whole milk yogurt (organic, if possible)" the list began. That sounded fairly doable, so I moved on.
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"Tofu, soymilk, organic mac and cheese, graham crackers, and frozen edamame (in the shells)...."
That's where I came to the aforementioned screeching halt.
"Edamame? In the shells?" Oh boy.
I knew our Pine Journal editor, Lisa Baumann, is pretty much into organic eating, so I decided to ask her about "the list" (though I have a distant recollection of Lisa bringing some highly debatable organic cheese puffs into the office late one production night...).
"Can you tell me just what 'eda-mame' is?" I asked her. "The kind that comes in the shell?"
She threw back her head and laughed.
"You mean 'e-da-ma-me?'" she replied. "Basically, it's baby soybeans that come in the pod. They're a really great health food."
Fascinated that a 2-year-old child would be willing to eat so many things that were actually good for her, I determined to go out and buy everything on the list. I was making good progress as I walked along the aisle of the super market - until I got to the tofu and edamame. Just where, I thought to myself, would one look for tofu and edamame?
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To make a long story short, I ran out of time and patience and decided to shop for them later in the week.
When I got home, I told my husband about my organic shopping spree and added I yet had to get the tofu and edamame (explaining glibly just what that was!).
"I'd be glad to stop and pick them up," he offered gallantly.
"When you do," I wheedled, "do you suppose you could pick up a pie, too?"
