Secret Recipe CODE

Our Little Chef and Her Secret-Code Recipes

My seven-year-old is turning into a real cook, and she is not about to give away her secrets.

She has written down her recipes in a cute little code format.  

She tells us that she "listens to what comes into her mind" when she's deciding what to put in her meals. And her specialty is soup.

The other day I handed her some meat and potatoes, thinking she'd make some kind of fried meal. Instead, the very first thing she did was pull out the big soup pot and fill it with water. Then she took the ground meat I'd given her (one of the game meats we like) and plopped it right in. There it sat, floating in one big lump. I'll be honest, I had my doubts about her cooking skills at that point.

But she kept going. She chopped up our organic potatoes, added a bag of frozen onions and some frozen corn, and when I started to see where this was headed (something a lot like the soup Grandma used to make), I suggested she stir in some bottled tomatoes. She did.

One of her very favorite ingredients is something called GHEE. It's basically clarified butter, and it comes from Indian cooking. I keep just about every flavor of it on hand, which is exactly why there is no way to duplicate one of Sage's soups without a carefully written recipe to follow.

We loved it so much that we had a little "Soup Picnic" outside that afternoon. Later we shared some with a neighbor, who could not believe how delicious it was, and could REALLY not believe that Sage had made it herself, from scratch.

So, unlike her poor brother (more on that in a minute), here is Sage's soup written out in plain English:

Sage's Soup

A big pot — feeds a soup picnic

Ground meat (we like game meats)

Potatoes, chopped

1 bag frozen onions

Frozen corn

Bottled or canned tomatoes

A good spoonful of ghee, any flavor (her secret weapon)

Water to fill the pot

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Fill a big soup pot with water and add the ground meat.

Add the potatoes, onions, corn, and tomatoes.

Simmer until the meat is cooked through and everything is tender.

Stir in the ghee, season with salt and pepper, and serve. (A chef listens to what comes into her mind, so adjust to taste!)

Now for the secret code

Sage has started writing down her recipes in the cutest little code format.

Yesterday my son was begging his sister, our little chef, to make some of her "delicious soup." Sage, cool as could be, told him to just follow her recipe and make it himself. She handed him the paper and told him to have at it.

My son jumped up and down in frustration. "I can't read your recipes!" he cried.

Sage had a smirk on her face like a tiny Mona Lisa. She was trying so hard to hide how satisfied she was. 

She calmly said, "Oh, that's too bad."

"MOM!" my son yelled. It was his last-ditch effort to get me to FORCE his sister to make soup for all of us.

I just laughed, picturing that little CODE recipe book of hers. I had wondered why she never bothered to spell the words out. Well. Now I know exactly why!

Oh, my kids are so hilarious. They are WORTH every single moment of chaos.

Life would be so very dull without their sweet, unique little personalities. Maybe, just maybe, we can talk Sage into making us another very yummy soup for lunch today.

Lots of love,

Steffanie

Shared with love from our happy, chaotic kitchen. (A little note for my celiac friends: ghee is clarified butter, and on its own it's naturally gluten-free, but always give any flavored or packaged version a quick label check.)