SC - Famous KP people

[Jeanne Stapleton]

Hi gang--

I think what's going on with the children's feasts is twofold:
1)  the prevalence and popularity of "children's menus" in
mundane restaurants is being mimicked in our culture; and
2) a genuine concern on the part of cooks to see that it is
possible for parents to feed children at a reasonable hour,
which is usually earlier than the regular feast starts.

I would think a wise parent would be prepared with snacks,
etc., knowing their own child better; but I can also see the
concern about not letting the child "ruin their dinner" and
thereby waste food and the money paid for the feast ticket.
I'm not in favor of waste, and I'm in favor of teaching kids
"waste not, want not" early.  

Also, as horrific as the general selection of fare proposed may
seem--mac and cheese really isn't all that bad, especially when
done as "macrows" rather than out of the blue box with the
powdered mix (best use for that:  projectiles at the appropirate
moment at a Barenaked Ladies concert!  :-)).  The list of con-
venience foods provided *is* pretty much all some kids I know
will eat; and while we may wring out hands and look askance
at the child's future eating habits and limited horizons, the fact
is in the here and now, that child's weekly lunch and dinner fare
is...Chef Boy-ar-Dee, Kraft, Oscar Meyer.

I know quite a few kids who are adventurous eaters; the famed
story about how Countess Morag's second son got into a fellow
diner's hot Thai curry from the lofty perch of his high chair when
the diners were otherwise occupied and sucked several bites
down before anyone noticed...and seemed to love it!  I don't
know if Duchess Verena is still on this list, but her elder 
daughter's list of acceptable foods was pretty much cheeseburgers
and macaroni and cheese, and her younger wanted sushi for her
fifth birthday...

It isn't possible to please everyone, and I don't think the point is
even to try,but to try to come up with a reasonable approach
that has some humanity involved.  To me, the approach of offering
a selection of the more familiar foods straight from the 
feast kettles--meatballs, plain rice, bread, beef stew, carrot-based 
organisms--for children at an earlier hour than the main feast, at a 
time which is *not* subject to whatever may be transpiring in court 
at the time, seems like the soundest approach.

Berengaria

jstaplet at adm.law.du.edu
University of Denver
College of Law
Ext. 6288
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