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chari's Profile

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About: I travel a lot internationally, and enjoy trying to specialties of the region I visit. I often travel with my sons, one of whom is diabetic and the other who has food allergies, making my exotic dining even more adventurous.

Favorite foods: The basic four food groups: potatoes, cheese, bread, chocolate. I believe anything is better with butter. I believe what doesn't have sour cream should probably have whipped cream.

Last bite on earth: brie on fresh french baguette, with maybe a wild strawberry on the side.

The Ten Most Recent Comments By chari

From Talk

Dining with kids

It drives me crazy when restaurants assume all my kids will eat is fried chicken bits or a hamburger. We travel all over the world and my kids have developed a willingness to try different foods, because that's how they were raised. Generally I emphasize that the purpose of dining with friends and family is to enjoy delightful conversation, so they know they cannot bring books or gameboys. That said, if I know I will be gabbing at length with friends who will not include them in the conversation, I will let them bring a gameboy for use after the meal ends.

chari at 11:32AM on 07/21/08

From Talk

Is the grocery store a 'manners free' zone...

When I lived in Austria I had to go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings, and it seemed that the stockboys were always blocking access to the product I wanted. I so wanted to ask them whether the food was there for customers to purchase, or just to look pretty. But they wouldn't have understood the sarcasm.

chari at 3:11PM on 07/17/08

From Recipes

A Red Velvet Affair

So, is red velvet cake a chocolate cake or not? I don't really know, even though I've eaten in made from a mix a few times.

I remember old recipes using beet juice or tomato juice to add moisture (not really noticeable in the taste) and wondered if that's where the whole "red cake" idea came from.

chari at 1:22PM on 07/09/08

From Required Eating

Eating for Two: Raspberry Leaf Tea

When I had my first child, in Germany, the midwife prescribed raspberry leaf tea post-partum, to encourage the uterus to contract and shrink more quickly. My husband when to the drugstore and bought the tea, which really was just leaves, and I brewed a couple cups a day. It didn't taste great and I don't know if it actually helped, but it was a very common, routine treatment there.

chari at 2:48PM on 07/08/08

From Talk

What lunch box did you have - what was in it?

I had a purse lunch box too! It was Josie and the Pussycats,and predictably, the thermos broke right away. I was so sorry when my mom switched to brown bags - I had to carry the same one for about a month. My mom also re-used the tin foil she wrapped my sandwich in (or should I say, half a sandwich - she was obsessed with our weight) all week. She always gave me homemade cookies, but they got smooshed into crumbs, and the crumbs got lost in the wrinkles of the old tin foil. And there's that distinctive, strange smell of lunchboxes that is oddly acrid...

chari at 1:00PM on 06/04/08

From Talk

Top 10 ingredients I will never have in my kitchen

You guys are so lucky! I've lived half my life outside the US, and sometimes Cool Whip is as close to whipped cream as I can get. Also, it doesn't melt as fast in tropical heat. And Vegans will eat it. The Splenda stuff is the only sweetener my diabetic kid can use. And canned peas and beans were the only way to find those veggies in some places I lived. I do draw the line on canned berries, though, even when they are they only kind I can find!

chari at 12:12PM on 05/20/08

From Talk

Is there life without a microwave?

No one seems to mention my favorite use - steaming vegetables and making baked potatoes. Is there some reason - did I miss a major health warning or something? I also like to buy artisan bread on the weekends, then freeze it and defrost it piece by piece as the week goes along. Also prevents binging on bread!

chari at 8:28AM on 04/04/08

From Required Eating

Gallery of Eggs

Where I live, in Peru, hardboiled quail eggs are considered a suitable snack for school kids to take along to class. They are sold right along side the regular eggs, and are available in organic varieties. In El Salvador no fancy party was completed without hardboiled quail eggs impaled on toothpicks stuck into half a melon, served with thousand island sauce on the side.

chari at 8:58AM on 03/26/08

Responses to Comments by chari

From Talk

Dining with kids

I have a 10 and an 8 year old. They both are great at restaurants, in public in general. I have been taking them to places ( reastaurants, museums, zoos etc) since they were days old. My oldest will order from the kids menu but in certain places she prefers the adult menu. Like Applebees she will eat the chicken alfredo. My youngest likes black beans which at Chilis is on the kids menu. Both of my kids have loved spaghetti since they were little but on occasion will get just noodles with butter and parmesan cheese.

Another thing my girls love is salad. If I get a salad they help eat it. Many times we order them their own.

I believe manners is something that has to be refined constantly. you cannot go into anywhere and expect your kids to know exactly how to act. If we are going somewhere they haven't been I explain what it will be like and how they should act. I also do this when we take their friends out with us. Not that their friends are unruly but when you get a group of 8-10 years old together it is far too easy to get giggly.

I also do not let them take a video game in the restaurant. If I know the place doesn't cater to kids I will bring pads of paper and pens or color pencils to give them something to do. They love to draw and after they create the masterpiece they can easily become part of the conversation by explaining what they drew. Everyone is happy, including the other patrons of the restaurant

mommyme at 11:58AM on 07/22/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

My 10 year old has been a restaurant baby since she was 3 weeks old. The rules are pretty simple. Yes, she may bring her Nintendo DS or her iPod to use AFTER ordering, basically to keep her busy until her food arrives and I can have a conversation with whatever other party I am with. When her food arrives, it is to be put in her purse and not touched again until dinner is over and we are on our way home.

She is now getting to the point where she is exploring off of the kids menu. Usually she hits the appetizer section and is generally very happy with a bowl of wedding soup and a side salad OR her new fave, a side of fettuccini alfredo. She always munches whatever apps we have as well as the bread basket so I generally have nothing to bitch about. Every once in awhile she will still debate chicken fingers but skips the fries and has the soup.

Im teaching her to put up jam today. I hope she asks Santa for a canner for Christmas.

ChelleyD01 at 9:47AM on 07/22/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

Thank you so much for the lovely birthday wishes, brooke29 and Cassaendra! It really means a lot to me :)

Oh, and Blue Iris, I still remember the days with great fondness when a special stuffed animal or doll would be a 'guest' at one of my dining out experiences as a child.

I often remember loving restaurants that gave menus to be colored with games, often with information about the menu or 'brain teasers' that were quite fun, and sometimes going 'the extra mile' to be child-friendly can make for a more pleasant dining experience for all. Once again, I don't mind the Game Boy, but with some nostalgia think that things like games or even small toys are more 'social' to be enjoyed by kids and adults together, rather than the isolating experience of a game.

Interesting regarding the television--I suppose what is really saddening is how many restaurants for adults have TVs, and people just stare at the screen rather than interact with one another.

HeartofGlass at 5:29AM on 07/22/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

@Cassaendra - where does one order a ballgag? I could have used one for my best friend's son. Then maybe I wouldn't have had to move 9000 miles!

I actaully miss them horribly, and that's not why I moved, but it is embarrassing to be in a restaurant with a child that looks enough like you to me your son (his Dad and I bear a strong resemblance to one another) that is running around, screaming and flailing..

I too, was brought up in fine restaurants (had tea at the Ritz in London at 4) and ate pretty much everything. I was allowed to order lobster at 7 and quite frequently did, to my parents' chagrin :-)

How the difference in behavior happens, since I have been there my friend's son's whole life up till now and can vouch that she is a good mother, confuses me, and has actually caused me to hold off on having children!

cowprintrabbit at 2:16AM on 07/22/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

Our parents used to take my brother, sister and I, (born 50's style at three year intervals), to restaurants of all types on a regular basis. I'll always remember how proud they were when other diners would compliment our manners, so I've tried to observe that practice myself.

Last year GF and I took her daughter, SO, and five kids (11, 4, 4, 1, 1), to a family style restaurant following an outing to the zoo. To our surprise, they all behaved quite well. In fact, a man dining alone at a neighboring table was moved to comment on their good behavior. It turns out he came from a family of thirteen kids, so perhaps his standards for good table behavior were quite broad, but it was still nice to hear.

srhcb at 9:56PM on 07/21/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

My mother took me to restaurants whenever she went for lunch with her friends, mostly because there was no way to afford lunch AND a babysitter. And whenever she was with her friends, I was expected to be quiet, not join in the conversation or interrupt them with my own needs. That's just how it was. I don't remember this being taught to me, it's just the way it always was, so it must have been something I learned quite young. And for the most part, it was okay with me because I'd sit and listen to the gossip like it was some sort of soap opera.

On one occasion, her friend brought her kids, and I was absolutely STUNNED when these kids got up from the table on their own. There was some kind of coin-operated game in the area by the bathrooms and they proceeded to bug their mom for coins to play the game. And they got the coins. Several rounds of coins. I think I might have left the table once to check it out, but I came back pretty quickly. It seemed wrong and uncomfortable to me.

As far as the original lunch question, I think that if I was having a special lunch with a friend, I'd rather have the kids playing with a gameboy than busting into the conversation to tell me about the kid who sits in front of them at school. Yes, kids need to learn how to converse with adults, but they also need to learn that there are times when it's adult conversation and they don't need to be part of it. If playing with a gameboy keeps them quiet, I'd be happier with that than with having them wandering around the restaurant as I've seen some kids do.

As far as food preferences, in my opinion, a restaurant ought to be the place where you get to order whatever you want, and that goes for the kids, too. If pasta and butter is what the kid wants at the moment, this is the time to indulge and let the kid have it. At home, you eat what's served to you. And I'd rather have the kid order something he/she will eat, rather than insist on saucing the pasta and the kid refusing to eat it because it's not the way mom makes it.

dbcurrie at 9:00PM on 07/21/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

I've seen thirty-something men with atrocious table manners who only order chicken fingers and pizza. I think some kids never quite grow out of it. ;)

jenilowrance at 4:27PM on 07/21/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

@HeartofGlass - Happy Birthday!

I don't have kids. I remember when my brother and I were little, eating out was reserved for special occasions only, and like Cassaendra, we were dressed up and - I frankly don't recall any specific lectures given to us by our parents (I doubt there were any), but we somehow knew to behave on such occasions.

I've seen 5-6 year old children behave at fine dining restaurants, and I've seen 10-11 year old brats scream, run all over the place and throw tantrums in public places (restaurants, shopping centres, etc). I guess manners are, indeed, an integral part of one's upbringing.

brooke29 at 4:27PM on 07/21/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

"You'll eat what you're given -- and you'll like it. Or you won't eat at all."

That always worked for my parents when I was a kid. :)

FastFoodCritic at 2:59PM on 07/21/08

From Talk

Dining with kids

Yes, I think that was the reason for my friend's allowance of the Game Boy--so we could have 'grown up talk.' I'm not particularly fond of buttered pasta (or pasta, period) but the only reason I mentioned it is that I know many kids who seem to exclusively dine on buttered pasta and chicken nuggets, and I was just kind of wondering when they grew out of that phase--the girl was very well-behaved and didn't open her Game Boy, incidentally so I certainly wasn't using buttered pasta to condemn her manners!

HeartofGlass at 2:08PM on 07/21/08