'I can be impatient, you can be insane, vice versa. What we agree on is that, from time to time, dessert is dinner.' Chef's kiss to Eli for this essay!
My brothers and I were great fans of “worms on toast” (spaghetti in tomato sauce on a crisply toasted slice of bread)
Weaned on mashed potato with beetroot to turn it pink. My mum was inventive! We had to eat a rather nasty pud that was like a thick glutinous rice pud and we called that “frog spawn”. It was served with a tiny spoonful of strawberry jam and I used to eat the jam and ignore the rest.
omg.... so many favorite lines in here... incredible writing, Eli!
"not a naturally independent diner"
the whole thing about "perfect"
"you want to do important things"
"the thing that I opened my hand to take, for some reason"
"to not only be receptive to feedback, but to preempt it"
such a vivid testament to the degree of devotion in motherhood, and in other forms of "food work" as well as being hilariously real
This is my favourite piece for a while. Absolutely perfect.
God this is perfect
'I can be impatient, you can be insane, vice versa. What we agree on is that, from time to time, dessert is dinner.' Chef's kiss to Eli for this essay!
Oh, this is lovely! I don't even have children, and I read this all the way through with delight.
Love this in every way
Reminds me, vaguely, of Delia Ephron's "How to Eat Like a Child".
Painful for the writer but hilarious for the reader.
It is pieces like this that make Vittles, for me, so very special.
Many thanks.
🥹🥹🥹 gorgeous, funny, perfect essay
My brothers and I were great fans of “worms on toast” (spaghetti in tomato sauce on a crisply toasted slice of bread)
Weaned on mashed potato with beetroot to turn it pink. My mum was inventive! We had to eat a rather nasty pud that was like a thick glutinous rice pud and we called that “frog spawn”. It was served with a tiny spoonful of strawberry jam and I used to eat the jam and ignore the rest.