THE CZECH IS IN THE MAIL
Children have interesting tastes.
Take my 3-year-old daughter, Megan, for example. If given the opportunity, Megan will make a meal out of Cheetos and a cocktail of 6 ounces of water and 3 ounces of a vanillaprotein shake.
Mind you, Megan also likes Velveeta Shells & Cheese (which we call “mac and cheese” in front of her), Pop-Tarts, bananas, cheese pizza (thin or original crust) and occasionally, chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A.
The latter is where the fun begins.
Earlier this week, my family – including my wife, Sabrina, and 1-year-old daughter, Isabella – embarked on a journey to Chick-fil-A in Hutto. We ordered our food and I had to remind Megan not to run off or get behind the cash registers (she’s not old enough to work yet, but if Chick-fil-A will hire her, we won’t be disappointed).
While we placed our order, a child close to Megan’s age ran out of one of the doors. Fortunately, his dad was right behind him to prevent a potential tragedy.
As the man carried his son back into the restaurant, I told Megan, “Don’t get any ideas.” We went to our seats and the food arrived at the table.
Megan took a few bites of a chicken nugget before she discovered her side dish – drinkable applesauce. Instead of drinking the applesauce, she proceeded to pour some on her nuggets, which she did not touch again.
While I was eating my side salad, Bella – short for Isabella – reached for my container of lettuce, shredded cheese and cherry tomatoes covered in ranch dressing. I gave her a piece of lettuce with ranch on it, and she proceeded to lick the dressing off of the leaf before requesting bites of ranch from my fork.
While Megan emptied some of the applesauce onto her nuggets, she left enough for Bella to eat. The two girls shared a kids’ cup of ice cream, but neither one wanted the nuggets covered in cinnamon applesauce.
By default, I ate those four-and-a-half nuggets covered in applesauce as my dessert. Believe it or not, they actually tasted well.
It was as if Megan spread apple butter onto the nuggets. If you haven’t had apple butter before, you must try it.
Apple butter is a jam spread similar to jelly. It’s just apple-flavored instead of grape, strawberry, blueberry, etc.
Perhaps our dining experience has inspired a new frontier in chickennugget dipping sauces. Maybe I’ll suggest to Chick-fil-A corporate to create an apple-flavored dipping sauce.
Or maybe, just maybe, I’m still a kid with interesting tastes.
Chlapek is the area editor of the Taylor Press and Elgin Courier. He can be reached at jason. chlapek@ granitemediapartners. com
