Chicken Soup Review

Crappy Boy is a food critic. But I don’t mean that in a negative way. I mean it in a career way.

He likes to try new foods and then tell us his opinion. He reviews them. He even has a rating system with one to five stars. (The rating system has been a great way to encourage Crappy Baby to taste new foods when he is being reluctant. Which is often at this age. How many stars would you give it, Crappy Baby?)

Anyway, Crappy Boy can be rather poetic when he describes a food.

This was his review of our soup the other night…

 

 

We are having chicken noodle soup. From a new recipe. Freshly baked bread too, still warm from the oven.

I ask Crappy Boy what he thinks of the soup. He tells me:

He continues:

And:

That sounds bad. I think my restaurant is about to get shut down by the county.

So I ask:

And he replies:

He likes it? After that description?

He takes another bite.

Then finishes with:

So… five stars?

(He gave it four and a half.)

 

 

—————

I never did find out what he meant, he couldn’t really articulate it. He hasn’t been to an actual funeral (at an age he could remember at least) so I think he could be referring to the gathering at the house afterward. There is always lots of food. Maybe there was a soup? Maybe. No idea. ย 

He ate two bowls of that soup. Crappy Baby too.ย 

I still don’t wanna make it again.

 

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192 Responses to Chicken Soup Review

  1. Vilda says:

    Sweet! You’re really good at catching movements. It’s almost like a little film. Thank you for sharing it ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Once my aunt made split pea soup, and my cousin was barely holding it together trying to gag down a few bites. He knew better than to say anything, but it was rough going. My uncle said something like, “Way to go, bud. You’re almost done. Sometimes it helps to think of something else.” and he answered innocently, “Is that what you do when your dinner tastes like garbage?”

    • amber says:

      LOL, like garbage. Sometimes split pea DOES taste weird. That is one soup that can turn out delicious or disgusting.

    • Samii says:

      That’s awesome. hahaha

    • That is hysterical. I so remember that age, trying to choke down something my mom insisted I eat. Cranberry sauce was the worst. One Thanksgiving, I no longer could “hold it together” and I choked and gagged cranberry sauce all over the table. My mom was SO mad at me that my Dad had to hustle me upstairs, fast. ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Hope says:

        That sounds like me when I was a kid with fried liver. But if I didn’t finish, I got it cold for breakfast. Yeach times two. ๐Ÿ™

        • Kim says:

          Okay, what was it about parents serving the stinking fried liver and insisting we EAT it! We didn’t get it for breakfast the next day, but we were not allowed to leave the table if we hadn’t eaten all of that disgusting meat. I’d be having a perfectly good day, smell something delicious cooking for dinner (yeah, it always SMELLED delicious), find out it was liver, and immediately I knew I’d be spending the evening with my head hanging over that uneaten meat until bedtime. Those evenings are the precise reason why I never made my kids clean their plates!

          To get back on topic, though, the 5-star rating system and the kid critique is a brilliant way to get them to at least try new foods!

          • Mariya says:

            My 3 yr old for some reason LOVES fried liver. We never cook it because ::I:: think its nasty – but my husband will order it when we go out to eat sometimes and my 3 yr old gobbles it down.

            He treats chicken like what you are describing – unless its in “nugget” form. I don’t get it.

      • Tarina says:

        OMG for me it was Lima Beans. I was ok tolerating them in a nice bowl of mixed vegetables… but one night my loving mother made JUST lima beans. And we each got a bowl. I t took me 3 days to eat it (we had the never ending meal process too! Don’t finish? BOOM breakfast! Still not done? BOOM dinner!! ad nauseum. Literally.)

        • Charlene says:

          Ok that is just awful! I can’t believe parents could force kids to eat something they hate day after day until it was done. I didn’t mind liver as a kid but lima beans YUCK. I make my kids eat a few bites but I never make them clean their plates if it something they do not like, that is so mean. It’s not like I choke down stuff I don’t like.

    • Devan says:

      LOL!! Crying laughing @ garbage!!

  3. Justine says:

    Ha! Funeral soup. My kids are the same ages as yours, and we have a food critic among our family too. The other day I made chicken soup and she enjoyed it all but the “witches’ eyelashes floating around.” That would be parsley. I may or may not have contributed to that comment based on telling her it was Halloween chicken soup. In any case, kinda like you, it didn’t exactly make me want to have chicken soup again soon.

  4. So my soup tastes like death? Well the chicken isn’t exactly…

  5. Bwahahahahahaaaaa! *gasp* Hahahahahahaaaaa! Send me the recipe! Hahahahahhaahhaaaaa!

  6. Elizabeth Beckman says:

    me: argh, sorry ruby, i left the meat on the grill a little long.
    ruby: it’s okay, i LIKE burnt hot dogs!

    • Vanessa says:

      I’m with Ruby, I do actually love burnt hot dogs!

    • Pami says:

      Hah! My husband grilled a hot dog once instead of popping in the micro like we usually do, and our 3yo DD wouldn’t eat it because it was “black and brown, and that’s just yucky.”

    • Heather says:

      For a long time my kids wouldn’t eat grilled hot dogs if they had lines on them so you had to stand there and carefully continue to turn them like a convenience store hot dog so they wouldn’t get lines – SOOOO much easier to microwave sometimes.

  7. Rebecca says:

    Oh my gosh, this is hysterical. I attended a funeral this year for my Grandfather and I’m really hoping your soup didn’t taste like that ๐Ÿ˜‰ “It does taste like a funeral though.” LOL ๐Ÿ˜€

  8. mari says:

    Maybe he was still in the Halloween spirit

  9. Erin says:

    I seriously have no idea what to say, except that I would like to hire your children to come entertain at my next party. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  10. Jiji says:

    Oh man, this had me laughing and laughing!

  11. These are the times that I get so frustrated (not at them – just internally) that they are unable to articulate exactly what they mean. I want SO much to know what’s churning in those little heads and how they come up with the things they do. ๐Ÿ™‚

  12. Oh my gosh, that is hilarious. “What’s for dinner tonight, mom?” “Funeral soup.” This post had me laughing out loud. So funny what sticks in kids’ minds.

    • Lark says:

      Well, there’s Italian Wedding Soup so why can’t there be funeral soup? Makes sense to me. ๐Ÿ˜€

      • Lark says:

        Argh. Wasn’t meant to be a reply specifically to you, Samantha. I think my page jumped as I hit “reply”. But my reply does kind of go with your comment.

      • Karen says:

        I have a recipe for funeral potatoes (its like a potato casserole with either diced potatoes or it can be done with hash brown potatoes) My kids love funeral potatoes, so why not funeral soup. ๐Ÿ™‚ This is a cute story!

      • Sanj says:

        The day after Halloween is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) – so funeral soup makes perfect sense.

      • Rebecca says:

        My kids LOVE Italian wedding soup but they get ALL of the meatballs and I get none. ๐Ÿ™ Lmbo. The responses are almost as good as Amber’s story. I have no idea what is going on inside of my kids’ heads

  13. 12tequilas says:

    Actually, I doubt he meant it in a negative way at all. I was sure that you were going to say that at a post-funeral gathering an aunt or grandmother-type who (to distract herself from the sadness) had assumed the task of providing the kids with something kid-friendly to eat, and had made Crappy Boy some delicious soup, and it was a happy memory that came back when he tasted yours. Or just that the food was tasty at that event.

    • amber says:

      I’m guessing that is what it was too.

      • amy b says:

        I know EXACTLY what Crappy Boy is talking about! When I was young I thought that thanksgiving stuffing tasted like “funeral homes and old people.” No joke. My mom thought I was nuts. It was years later when I realized it was the combo of sage and rosemary that brought back those memories. Must have been the smell. Tell Crabby Boy that he’s not alone! Or maybe we are both nuts:)

  14. KC says:

    That is amazingly confusing. Like this morning we were having some vanilla almond milk, S says ” I love it” drinks half of it then says, “I hate it, can you save it in the fridge?” Hmmmm…

    • Elisabeth says:

      Mine does that too … “I love carrots Mom!” …”Ok, so then why don’t you eat some” … “Because they taste bad and I don’t like to eat them.” Ummm, so you love them on an emotional level then? I think we may have bigger problems than picky eating …

    • amber says:

      Yes, mine do that too. “This is the best food I’ve ever tasted!” (Takes one bite.) “I’m done!”

      • Heather says:

        My oldest says that to be polite and not hurt Mommy’s feelings. What is hysterical is the face he makes to go with it…and the fact that he’s trying hard not to gag.

        • Devan says:

          My daughter was like 3 at nanas and there was a veggie tray, my mom picked up a celery, bit and said mmmmm. My DD picked one up, bit and said mmmm (gag, choke, cough) mmmmm…..My mom was crying laughing!

      • Jorie says:

        OMG. My picky one begged me to make Toad in the Hole (what we call a fried egg in toast.) She was insistent I make it, so please at the prospect of her eating actual protein, I did. Refused to even taste it. Why? No reason. She never intended to eat it, she just loves the way it looks. ACK.

        • Lalelai says:

          I’ve never heard it called that. My friends called it Egg in a Hole and I renamed them Egg Holes. Not related to Jack Holes (jack a$$ + a$$ hole) -rants from mommyland

          • BlueAdagio says:

            My family always called them ‘Eggy in a Basket’ as in “who wants their eggs fried, scrambled, or in a basket?”

        • mrs wormwood says:

          Confusing to me. Toad in the hole, to a Brit, is sauages cooked in a yorkshire pudding batter. What you describe is called (unPC) gypsy toast to me. But then, eggy bread, french toast and gyspy toast are all names or bread soaked in egg and fried.
          Of the above, my kid will only eat the eggy bread, covered in ketchup, not sugar (yuck).
          Two countries seperated by a common language indeed.

        • Devan says:

          Hmmm, I am gonna need to learn how to make this….never heard of it, but we love eggs.

          • Marlena says:

            We call it hole and the egg. Super easy to make. We use a drinking glass to cut a hole in a slice of bread. Put a glob of butter in the frying pan, place the slice of bread in, crack an egg into the hole and fry it up, make sure to flip and cook both sides. You can season to taste too. ๐Ÿ™‚ My 3 year old loves it, and she usually hates eggs.

        • Lori says:

          We always called them an “egg in a nest” when I was growing up. I still enjoy eating them.

        • Cassie says:

          We call these one eyed jacks and my 2 yr old son has insisted that I make them regularly for about 6 months now… Hasn’t eaten one yet. Wtf?

    • S says:

      Now that I’m all grown up (got a new driver’s licence today just to prove this!) I can articulate why I leave food and drink unfinished.

      The portions are too big for my tastebuds.

  15. Jess says:

    ROFL – at work.

    I might try making bread this weekend. you have inspired me. not to make it taste like a funeral…

    ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. Marianna says:

    I’m guessing he meant “the warmth, caring, family atmosphere” feeling of a funeral gathering. Maybe he saw something on tv?

    • amber says:

      That is a good theory. It was chicken noodle soup after all.

      • Kelly says:

        You’ll have to ask him about it again when he is older and is better able to articulate. Kids dream up funny stuff in their heads and have a hard time explaining what they mean. It is probably something very logical, but he can’t quite explain it to all us non-kids.

  17. Jo says:

    Well, you’re right, there is usually good eatin’ at a funeral.

  18. Gayle Cochrane (@GayleCochrane) says:

    My daughter does the food review as well. For awhile she watched a lot of Chopped, and I was in danger of having whatever I served being chopped.

  19. Sara Walther says:

    Hahaha! Funeral soup! Put a star next to that one in the cookbook….

  20. Elisabeth says:

    I bet it was something to do with a memory of something he ate either at a funeral reception or after a movie or a show that dealt with a funeral … the memory works in weird ways, and it is shocking how much 5 and 6 year olds can remember from when they were babies … thank goodness we don’t retain all of that into adulthood … imagine the therapy bills ๐Ÿ˜›

  21. Michelle says:

    One time I made a super creamy, suuuuper tasty vegan cauliflower soup. My husband is pretty picky (and mainly carnivorous), so I was thrilled when he tasted it and said, “Oh my goodness, this is incredible you should make it all the time!” Before I was able to get my pride puffed up, he then added,” you know what it kind of tastes like? Cow Farm!” Then he merrily had a second bowl.

    ???

    • Lacey S says:

      My son is not to the critiquing stage yet, but my husband (as yours appears to be) is more than happy to fill the gap ๐Ÿ˜› Although he ONLY comments if something tastes bad (which is 67% of the time, unfortunately). I guess I can take consolation in that it is what I BUY that meets with his “This tastes like feet/crap/dying/awful” most of the time.

      He’s never said “Cow Farm” tho, that’s so cute! Is your hubby a country boy?

    • jen says:

      Are you sure he want referring to the smell after the cauliflower and cream worked it’s way through his system? Because that WOULD smell like a cow farm.

  22. LindaR says:

    My Dad (who NEVER cooks) once made Navy Bean Soup when I was a kid. (It’s capitalized for a reason – it was an epic memory for our family). I hated it. I wouldn’t eat it. My father was the sort that believed you should eat what is put in front of you and not be wasteful. So he made me sit there. And sit there. And sit there. I still refused. He made me go to my room without dinner. Guess what was served to me for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day? Guess who didn’t eat it.

    It was YEARS later before he confessed… it was the WORST bean soup he’d ever tasted but there was no way he was admitting that and wasting food.

    He’s grown up a lot since then. ๐Ÿ˜€

    • Jennifer W says:

      OMG I just cracked up at not wasting food. I made the worst crockpot breakfast the other day, and while I didn’t make my kid eat more than one bite – I ate two bowls. It killed me to throw it out even though it sucked!

      • SD Murray says:

        Ha! My Dad did the same thing to me. My mother tried a recipe with Corn Flakes, spinach and squash. It was green and disgusting. I had to at least try a bite. Green, soggy, and overwhelmingly pungent. When I gagged as I ate it my father became furious and told me I now had to finish the plate. I sat there until midnight in stubborn denial. “You don’t waste food!” was a common refrain in the house. You can’t teach an old dog a new trick –unless you insert grandchildren! There is no trace of the no-waste man of my youth when he is interacting with his grandchildren. (They only live a mile away and see the kids several days a week, so it isn’t a rare occasion and they decide to spoil them.)

    • BethanyH says:

      My in-laws like to tell the story of the Green Bean Casserole- my mother-in-law many years ago decided to make a green bean casserole for dinner, unfortunately she didn’t have a recipe so she decided just to do her own thing. Except she was pregnant at the time so her casserole ideas included TUNA! Green beans and tuna do not mix. It was so horrible they just took it out to the dog, except the dog refused to get near it too! She has never made another since and that was 20 years ago!

  23. Sue O says:

    that almost made me spit my milk out (snacking on milk and cookies I made with the kids this week). hilarious and totally unexpected “tastes like when someone dies”

    • Betsy says:

      Hehe, i read that as you made both the cookies AND the milk! Too much taboo watching had me freaked out.

  24. Erica Reed says:

    Hahaha! Oh my, I love it when your posts make me laugh out loud. I’m not sure what your religious background is, but the first part sounded like something my daughter would try to explain comparing it to communion. She’s a big fan of the bread dipped in grape juice, and for all I know, church could seem like a funeral gathering with all the people, service, etc.

  25. Jen D. says:

    Maybe it was so good it was like he’d died and gone to heaven!

  26. lsmith says:

    Carnations, mums, and roses smell like funerals to me. So chicken soup, and a bouquet of flowers and one dead person is all you need.

  27. Priscilla says:

    My almost-3-yo is a very picky eater. He has recently started enjoying orange juice. First time he had it and liked it, he said “Yum! It tastes like peaches!!” The next time he had it, he said, “Mom, today it doesn’t taste like peaches, it tastes like GREEN BEANS!!” Me: “Is that good?” And he says “Oh YEAH!” Later on he elaborated, “When the sun it up, it tastes like peaches and when the sun is down, it tastes like green beans.” LOL! My son is odd. But adorable. ๐Ÿ™‚

  28. andrea kelly says:

    Maybe because a chicken had to die for the soup?? (C’mon, millions of jewish mothers can’t be wrong!). Chicken Death Soup…what better way to celebrate Dia de los Muertos? ๐Ÿ™‚

  29. Gabrielle says:

    My daughter asked if my secret ingredient was liquid band-aid. Whaaaaa? “But Mom, it *is* liquid!” So I guess I could sneak it in more easily than actual band-aids?

  30. casey says:

    holy crap, so, so so funny. Thanks for making me pee my pants yet again.
    from my daughter: “mom, you’re a good cook, but really, nothing you make is better than chocolate.” true.

  31. Erin says:

    This reminds me of the time when I was probably 12 or so and my younger cousin, who was about 5, stayed over for dinner. My Mom had made pea soup, my cousin had never had it but tried it and actually finished her bowl. My Mom asked her what she thought and she replied, “It’s good but it looks like pond water.” To this day, almost 20 years later I cannot eat pea soup without thinking it looks like ‘pond water’ ๐Ÿ™‚

    • amber says:

      It DOES look like pond water. It might actually be more appealing to my kids if I presented it as Pond Water Soup. Or maybe Swamp Soup?

      • Erin says:

        Swamp Soup! Hahahaha…I haven’t made pea soup for my kids yet but my son might try it if I called it that too ๐Ÿ™‚

        • Devan says:

          NOT MINE!! Green=bad / gag/ choke/ cough/ cry/ throw self on floor/ go to bed hungry. (Except for lettuce accompanied by a mound of Ranch.) Fail.

  32. Christopher says:

    You’ve successfully unlocked the “Funeral Soup” achievement in the game of Parenting. Congratulations! +10 Wine/Sleep XP.

    Seriously, I have to wonder if this is how “Wedding Soup” got its moniker?

  33. Lacey S says:

    Did you use cilantro? My step-mother refuses to eat that, and when I asked her why, she made a face and said it tastes like “dead grandfathers”…. still have no clue what she meant by that….

  34. Lu says:

    Has he ever watched “Next Iron Chef”? One of the judges in an episode described a dish as “it taste like a funeral in my mouth”. As opposed to a party, I suppose. Anyway, the kid has a future in food:-).

    • amber says:

      No, he hasn’t seen any of the food shows but I bet he would LOVE it.

      • Danielle says:

        Beware introducing him to the food shows. My kids love them all. The then give me food challenges and judge my cooking and plating skills. I’ve been “Chopped” and asked to “Pack my knives.”‘ several times.
        Of course I always reply that if I’m leaving the kitchen then there are not going to very many meals made anymore. Hubby doesn’t cook and does so very poorly.

        • S says:

          Oh this is cute ๐Ÿ™‚

          My kid is training himself for the ‘Identify Ingredients’ challenge in “Master Chef”.

          Or so I convince myself.

          He uses his fingers to pick apart the food he eats. He manipulates it in his hands to explore the textures and attributes, occasionally mashing it near his nose to sniff the aroma.

  35. Woolies says:

    You’ll just have to rename it “Funeral Soup”. Maybe you could do a whole cookbook with crappy boy descriptions. Award Winning Funeral Soup!

  36. Casey P says:

    OMG, I am DYING over here. This post had me laughing out load! Your soup. Tastes like dead people. LOLOLOLOL!!!

  37. Erin says:

    When my daughter was 4 she was eating dinner and asked me – very innocently what the word scrumptious meant. Ready for the complement, I explained what the word meant. She then said, “Oh, then this meal is NOT scrumptious.”

    • Em says:

      That reminds me of the time i asked my 4 year old if she liked the dinner she was eating. Her reply-“It’s good, but hopefully you don’t make it again.”

      • Claire H says:

        Lol, my son once smiled at me very sweetly across the dinner table and said politely, “You’re a very good cooker, Mummy, but this is terrible.” I nearly wet my pants at how polite he was trying to be, and at the “cooker”!

        My husband will eat almost anything, but has been known to rate a meal by saying, “Very nice, but I wouldn’t order it again.” Thanks!

  38. Jill says:

    I love it! Funeral soup! Maybe he means it like he has died and gone to heaven! It is just that good!

  39. !?!?!?!!!!???? LOL!! Well, I guess if they have Wedding Soup, you can have Funeral Soup! ๐Ÿ™‚

  40. Melanie G says:

    that is quite poetic, he should be a judge on Chopped or Iron Chef

  41. Jessica says:

    Well, I’m guessing that he was sensing the collective feelings of the chickens in the world.. perhaps the essence of dead chicken is too similar to a funeral for a young palette to discern the difference?

  42. Charla Young says:

    This could very well be my favorite post. I love when the little poet slips out of my son. It’s also fun to try to figure out the meaning of unarticulatable stories! I think I just made up a word! Yay!

  43. Martha says:

    I was making grilled cheese and tomato soup for us all when my step-son said, “Yay! You make the best grilled cheese in the world!” As step-mom, I am feeling AWEsome about this. Then he says, “If you made it like Gramps does it would be even better!” Haha–well…nice try, kiddo. =)

    And why is it they like something one day and not the next time you eat it? Happens all the time…it’s a mystery.

    • Devan says:

      My hubby has this terrible habbit of saying “OMG! This is SOOOO GOOODDDD!!! UMMMMM YUMMMMMM…..etc” Then he says “The only way this could be better is if…….(something I could have done better)…” I do not take it well. I have asked him not to do that in nice ways and in not so nice ways. ๐Ÿ™‚

  44. cathy says:

    One evening my sister-in-law was looking after my daughter and had fed her dinner. Daughter came home raving about her aunt’s “crispy chicken”, talked about it for days-on-end and could I please-please-please make it. I tried several recipes for “crispy chicken” but none were the same as auntie’s. Finally I asked sis-in-law for her recipe. She laughed. She’d inadvertently *burned* dinner, that’s why it was “crispy”!

  45. LOL! ๐Ÿ™‚ Crappy Baby is so cool!

    You know I smell another career here. Crappy Boy has his Etsy site with his cards (which I love and hope to purchase someday) and now Crappy Baby could have his own food critique column! It would certainly be more interesting than many of the ones out there now. What would you call it, hmmm….

  46. Guess I read that wrong-I thought it said Crappy Baby… Ok so Crappy Boy can have TWO careers! I’m ADD, does it show? ๐Ÿ˜‰

  47. Darcie says:

    Maybe he confused wedding soup with funeral soup??

  48. ErynBob says:

    Quote from my 7yo son’s hand written book about his family. “My mom is cool. She likes music. She likes to cook, but I don’t know why.” I still haven’t figured out if he get why cooking can be enjoyable or if my cooking sucks so much he can’t fathom why any of us would enjoy the food. He didn’t elaborate.

  49. Lauren says:

    Ever since I was about five and tasted the soda Sprite, I thought that it tasted like the smell of elephants, and would regularly say that when someone would offer, and still say that when someone offers. Now that I am an adult I realize that the aftertaste that lingers had the same aroma as the elephants at the zoo. I get it.

  50. Shannon says:

    Come on…don’t you want to be the mom who makes “dead person soup”?!?!?!

  51. Ceri says:

    One word. Awesome! My son is special because his “tummy” has taste buds. It can distinguish what it does and does not like, and controls what he can and can not eat. It must speak to him as well. It also does not like to eat most things. I must try this food critic thing, we are always saying he needs to try things before he knows he does not like it.

  52. Paula Hartson says:

    I think I need to do some more kegel exercises. Because every time I read your blog I almost pee myself from laughing. “It tastes like a funeral” The mental images that crossed my mind when I read that. OMG Your kids are awesome.

  53. Bea says:

    The post is completely finished, and then, “I still don’t wanna make it again” made me laugh out loud. Thank you. ๐Ÿ™‚

  54. jackie says:

    I think Crappy Baby has made a culinary discovery – the opposite of Italian Wedding Soup. Crappy Funeral Soup maybe?

  55. Deb McFarlan says:

    Evidently in my husband’s family, a relative always brought the same type of cookies after a funeral. Yup, generations later they are still known as “Grandma XYZ’s Funeral Cookies”. The recipes has been handed down & they are still popular at family gatherings.

  56. Bronco Billyo says:

    Ha! I think it’s because it tastes of meat and meat is death.

  57. Laura says:

    Funny! My mom makes a casserole we call “Rat Poison”. My mom made it for my cousin when she was little and when asked how it was she replied “rat poison” which apparently was a compliment!

  58. Emily says:

    well, it does taste like dead CHICKEN… delicious dead chicken. My three yr old is struggling to understand the chicken in his cute books is the same as the chicken on our table.

    • Devan says:

      I had a raw whole chicken and I was making it stand on its legs and “dance” and I showed my girls. Then I cooked that yummy sucker and when I gave them some of the meat I showed them that it came from the dancing chicken….they may be scarred for life.

  59. Ashley says:

    My boyfriend likes when things taste like “funeral sandwiches”, the little triangle sandwiches that are usually catered at a wake after the funeral. I wonder if funeral soup is anything like that?

  60. Jessica Rivera says:

    This cracked me up!! The things your boys so make me look forward to my little one speaking!

  61. Julianne says:

    I like your kids!

  62. Justin says:

    Maybe he meant it tastes like โ€œheavenโ€ โ€“ like in where people go when the die??

  63. Julie says:

    Is this his way of saying it’s “comfort food?”

  64. Johanna says:

    We have been eating soup for 5 nights (pre-Sandy I made foods that could be reheated over a gas stove. ie: soup). Two nights ago it was French Onion. I gave the kids (4.5yo DS and 1.5yo DD) just the broth, cheese and some Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies. The kids ate the bunnies but refused to eat the soup. Throughout dinner I eliminated possible excuses (temperature, onion floaters, DD needing her own spoon). Nearing the bottom of MY big, onion-y bowl, I suggested we ALL drink from our bowls and slurp as loud as we can (always a fun thing for kids, right?!*). Again they refused.
    Frustrated, I pleaded, “WHY?”
    DS- “It’s not good for me.”
    Me- “Please explain!”
    DS- “It tastes like sister.”
    Me- “What?!” I look to DH for his reaction.
    DH- “He has a point! When she sleeps with you, she smells like your b.o.” He chuckled, “It’s REALLY bad!”
    Nice. Thanks, guys. I had a second bowl… and there are 5 more servings in there. They won’t know what hit ’em!

  65. julie says:

    I always wait to scroll down to the pictures until I’m done reading the story part and seriously, that first pic makes me wheeze-laugh. Crazy kid!

  66. Hannah says:

    I think of funeral food in a comfort food kind of way. Warm and filling after a long day. He really is quite poetic with those descriptions haha. You may have a little charmer on your hands when he starts being poetic towards girls lol. “You’re beautiful, like flowers at a funeral” hahaha

  67. Angela says:

    Ouch! That’s Awesome! My 4 yr old always asks for Mac & Cheese, but never eats more than 5 bites. At least Crappy Boy ate it. I’m kinda curious to try some of your chicken noodle soup now.

  68. joy says:

    My 4yr old did something similar to me last night!

    I made rissoles, which he was (unusually) wolfing down. I’m inwardly high-fiving myself on making a kick arse meal for my family, when he says this to me:

    “Yep, the rissoles are ok I guess. But remember when we had them last time? Yeah, well they were heaps better then…”

    And he then goes on to eat extra. On one hand I’m amazed he recalls eating them 2 months ago, but on the other hand…. ouch.

    • amber says:

      What are rissoles? I’d like the “heaps better” recipe, please. ๐Ÿ˜‰

      • Melanie says:

        They’re sort of like a slightly flattened, extra yummy meatball. I lived in Australia for seven years and used to make them for my daughter when she was a toddler. She loved them and it was possible to sneak veggies into them which made me happy. Maybe that’s why she dislikes so many veggies now… because I hid them in pretty much everything she ate LOL

      • joy says:

        Yup, an Aussie staple. Actually I didn’t realise it wasn’t an American one until just now.

        It’s basically beef mince (1/2kg) mixed with an egg, a pinch of salt, 1 finely chopped onion & 5 slices of bread (that have been in a food processor & crumbed up). place the mixture in the fridge for 1/2hr & then make them into little balls & cook them up in a fry pan.

        For the inferior version you sneak in grated zucchini, sit back & reel in the complaints.

  69. Amanda Reed says:

    Rofl!! Kids are crazy!!

  70. KipT says:

    Maybe he knows about the book ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul” and made a soul/funeral link? Anyway, what a little groover you’ve got there. Both your kids are gorgeous!

  71. Melanie says:

    My daughter (17 yrs.) isn’t fond of my chicken noodle soup either. It’s baffling because it only has six ingredients, none of which are particularly challenging to a sensitive palate (Campbell’s chicken broth, shredded breast meat from a rotisserie chicken, carrots, celery, noodles, and tarragon). I usually only make it when I’m sick, which isn’t very often, but when I do it’s like the end of the world in her eyes. Fortunately, she’s old enough now that if she doesn’t like what’s on the menu, she’s welcome to fend for herself. I still don’t get it though… it’s so yummy and comforting, especially when you’re not feeling well ๐Ÿ™‚

    • Mindy says:

      I’m guessing it’s the tarragon. Wonder if she’d like it with basil or oregano instead?

      • Melanie says:

        I’m pretty sure it’s the veggies because I use tarragon in other dishes that she does like. I made roasted vegetable enchiladas tonight (red, yellow and orange peppers, sweet potato, cauliflower, corn, onion), she had one serving and declared it to have too many veggies and the only one she doesn’t really like cauliflower. Too many veggies… there’s no such thing!

    • Sanj says:

      The chicken broth has MSG? Perhaps your daughter is reactive.

      I am very sensitive to it – even in any of its 30 disguised forms, such as maltodextrin or hydrolyzed vegetable protein – No one knew that until I was an adult, but I learned early to sense its presence. One of the biggest meal failures of my childhood was my mom’s beef stew, which was well made but had MSG in it.
      Now I cook with boxed organic chicken broth.

  72. Amy K says:

    I think you should re-name the recipe: Funeral Soup. You would laugh every time you looked at that recipe! LOL!

  73. Amber says:

    My son thought AuGratin potatoes from a box tasted like the monkey building at the zoo where he looked at the Lemurs. We still call them Lemur Potatoes though he’s 20 (and gets annoyed when we do that). He liked at at them even if they did smell like a monkey cage!

  74. Jenna says:

    AMAZING. Being food-obsessed (and food-opinionated) myself, this might be my fave one yet. Kids are so weird. Love it.

    Also makes me cringe at my future offsprings’ critiques of the adventurous and nutrient-packed dishes I dream of making them eat teaching them to love.

    • S says:

      There is not much more dispiriting than a meal lovingly cooked, being mashed about with abandon by a not-hungry-and-not-eating-enough baby-toddler.

      Assuaged by the meal then being happily picked up off the floor/table top and stuffed messily into happy baby-toddler maw.

      Good luck.

  75. Betsy says:

    Ok, I get to tell my worst food story. I went on a cleanse. The cleanse was great. I lost 12 pounds and also got a healthy gut. I miss sugar. And caffeine. And dairy, wheat, soy… well, basically everything that I don’t eat anymore. But I really don’t miss those 12 pounds.
    ANYWAY part of the diet is to eat a smoothie or soup breakfast and dinner.
    I made my smoothie (fruit, protein powder, and greens fresh from the garden), jumped in the car and raced with the family off to a school event. Took my first sip and was horrified: it tasted. Like. Horseradish. Made my husband take a sip. “Yep, tastes like horseradish.”
    much discussion ensues: did you pick horseradish leaves? No, I am not stupid. Why is it so spicy? blah blah. I had to choke it down because i had no other food with me. Much later I realized it was the collard leaves that were spicy.
    Moral of the story: do not make your smoothie with horseradish. Or young collard leaves.
    (now I am going to go pick up carpool, and only a few minutes late. Sure, this could have waited, but the kids won’t mind, right?)

    • amber says:

      That sounds horrible! I had a green smoothie gone wrong once, smelled and tasted like bile. I think it was the orange juice mixed with one of the greens, don’t remember which one though. Will steer clear of collard leaves & horseradish!

    • April says:

      Mustard greens do this too. Yuck. Did it for a green juice and was too spicy (not in a good way). Also ruined a green gumbo with too many mustard greens.

  76. Barbara Cordero says:

    Crappy Boy has learned about “Funeral Food.” The dreaded food you never serve to your own family because of it’s tainted title. Not that’s bad tasting, on the contrary, it’s usually fat laden and delicious. Case in point, my aunt the nun, Sister Mary Laurent being her title, God rest her soul, always brought Corn Casserole to the home when ever anyone died. As a child I loved it, adored it, devoured it. As an adult I never served it to my family. Until one Christmas about 10 years ago, I decided to introduce my now grown-up family to the baked goodness of corn and cream and cheese. It was a hit and has since been served to almost every Christmas since. But, it’s still “Funeral Food” and always will be.

    Love your Blog!
    Barb

  77. sarah says:

    I think it was a compliment because there is always good food served after funerals.

  78. Sheili says:

    LOL! I should of known better than take a bite of food and read this post! Food almost went flying out of my mouth when I read the “…tastes like when someone dies”. Seriously, laughing and eating is dangerous. lol!
    Totally love Crappy Boy’s expressions. priceless.

  79. Mrs. P says:

    Maybe he meant that it tastes heavenly, like when someone dies…? LOL

  80. Mindy says:

    My favorite review was from my son, then five, who said he liked my carrot soup because it tasted “dusty.” ๐Ÿ™‚

  81. Mila says:

    Did he try to say “it’s good to die for”?

  82. Karen says:

    Funeral potatoes are a popular dish in this part of the states (SE Idaho/Utah) where there is a large LDS population. I think they intended to call them that as it was a dish everyone would like that one could bring to share at a funeral. However, if you’ve ever read the recipe (LOADS of butter and rich cheeses) you know that eating more than one serving a year will insure that they will be holding your funeral next…but you will die happy.

    I’d also like to put my own twist on the “not wasting” stories. When I was first married, I tried a recipe from a new cookbook for a lentil casserole. My very UNpicky husband tried to smile his way through until I took a bite and rescued him. We didn’t want to waste it so we decided to feed it to a local band of racoons that our landlords had habituated to eat scraps and dogfood. We were supposed to feed them while the landlords were on vacation. Let’s just say that it took 4 days before the racoons were hungry enough to try it. It was THAT bad!

  83. I am falling in love with Crappy Boy. Just saying.

  84. Christine Romero says:

    I have always loved your blog, but this one just really hit close to home. I practically fell out of my chair! My husband does the same thing. I once made baked ziti and my husband raved about it, saying: “wow, I really love the skin part!” He was referring to the cheese…. Now I know my son (15 months) will probably follow suit. Thanks for all of the great posts and laughs!

  85. Geri Johnson says:

    Maybe he meant the soup was salty or tasted like tears which he could’ve related to the funeral. If he’s small & everybody’s kissing on him at the funeral & they’ve been crying all their kisses might taste like tears.

  86. Geri Johnson says:

    Eating pie at Thanksgiving, extended family all gathered around the table & my youngest uncle asks my grandma if he has to eat the board. He meant the pie crust ๐Ÿ˜€

  87. Devan says:

    Awesome! I am so using the stars rating system!

  88. Matthew says:

    Bacon is yummy. I’m guessing he likes bacon too (being a male an all). Bacon tastes of dead pig. Maybe he is complimenting your soup to such a high degree that it’s almost as nice as bacon!

    Mmmm bacon.

  89. Erica says:

    Is Crappy Boy left-handed or just using spoon in left hand because he is dunking with bread in right? I am always fascinated by left-handed folks, as we are right-handed parents who are raising a left-handed daughter (she’s 17 now). It is an entirely different world for her & actually amazing how she’s learned to adapt to our right-hand world.

  90. Heidi says:

    I was frying meatballs one day and my son comes up to me: what are you cooking mummy? Oh, i see already, yum yum, they always looke like horse dung, don’t you think mummy?

  91. Heather C says:

    Hilarious!! “This tastes like death…more please!!” lol My older son is a food critic. He’ll dance to the taste of food. Weird..I know. I think it started with the Ratatollie movie. He pretty much only eats cheese and bread, so restaraunts have a rating system (much like crappy boy’s stars) of how good they make a grilled cheese. We do force him to eat one bite of whatever the rest of us are eating and it’s usually a big dramitic gag and choke affair. Last night hubby was trying to bribe him with a treat if he took a bite of chicken taco, he offered our son a mini butter finger and he refused to negotiate with anything less than king size, lol. They finally agreed that if he ate one bite, we wouldn’t make him try anything tonight. And no one got a butter finger. (Although I now know how to make them with peanut butter and candy corn, thanks to your blog!!!)

  92. Rachel says:

    Sounds to me like Crappy Boy found the soup comforting and soothing…like any good chicken soup should be, and like how one would want to feel after having attended a funeral! What an insightful little kid! Cheers to Funeral Soup! ๐Ÿ˜€

  93. Sara says:

    This is one of my favorite posts and comment threads of all! So glad to know that I was not alone with the fried liver, split pea soup and lima beans of childhood. And that others have responded the way I did — by not forcing them one our own children. I wonder how our children will handle it when they are parents???

    • Claire H says:

      I was another one who was forced to eat horrible food. I can still remember the taste of burned rubbery pork chops mingled with tears – not fun. I’ve never forced my kids to eat more than they want to. Sometimes I insist they try something, but they don’t have to keep eating if they don’t like it. They’ll probably grow up thinking we were wusses and force their kids to eat whatever is served to them….oh dear!

  94. Nicole says:

    I love reading your stories!

  95. Katia says:

    Well, there IS an undeniable connection between chicken soup and death. As all Jewish mothers know the former is a prevention tool for the latter. Your son has excellent intuition.

  96. Layla says:

    I always laugh but this one really got me… tears-rolling-down, side-splitting laughing out loud!

  97. Sarah says:

    Hi Amber,
    Have you ever heard of Synesthesia? Just a thought if this kind of poetic taste description happens often, and is always consistent…. it’s pretty rare but also pretty amazing. Some people who have it can have visual associations to certain tastes (I have a friend who has it, one example is a certain red wine tastes like a Mr Men character to her!). Or crappy boy is a simply food critic protege! ๐Ÿ™‚ xx

  98. If he says that about a soup he likes, I shudder to think of what he says about a soup he doesn’t like.

  99. Made me laugh so hard. Maybe funeral = food. LOL — won’t make it again.

  100. Um. Crappy Boy is a zombie.

    That’s a shame.

  101. Jennifer J says:

    I laughed like crazy through the post and all the comments. My daughter came out of her bedroom to check on me. My mother served very few things that weren’t memorable in a bad way. “Clean out the refrigerator soup”, burned bean soup, creamed tuna on toast (only when my dad wasn’t home; he flat out refused to eat it), lots of other nasty soups. Then there was the size of the portions – huge and plentiful when the food was nasty, tiny if the food happened to be good. I was really glad when they built an A&P near us, so I could stock up on food for my room, and not have to be hungry after I dumped my food down the garbage disposal – the one benefit of having to do the dishes.

  102. Robin ELF says:

    Made me immediately think the soup was giving him an emotional experience, and his words described the way he felt but he couldn’t articulate it. Like chicken soup for the soul…
    Also, the scene from Ratatouille with the food critic who melts into a puddle of childhood emotions at the taste of ratatouille which reminded him of his mother serving his favorite comfort food — that is what I thought of for Crappy Boy!

  103. Kayla Kingsley says:

    Maybe he was thinking along the lines of “it’s to die for”? ๐Ÿ˜€

  104. What a review! As my middle child would say, that is ‘literately’ the most interesting food review ever.

  105. M..J. says:

    O.M.G!!! He is hilarious! A funeral, dead person?…. Oh, the things kids say ๐Ÿ˜› I can’t wait for my nephew to start talking, I’m sure he’ll say some surprises!

  106. Lisa P. says:

    Maybe he heard the expression, “Tastes like I’ve died and gone to heaven.” or “death by chocolate” or something. So funny! My friend just showed me your blog. I can’t believe I didn’t know about it before! I love it!

  107. Stacey B. says:

    Mercy, but that’s descriptive. =)

  108. jessica says:

    When my 12 year old was 4 she would describe everything as “kind if like dead people”. “This apple is yummy, kind of like dead people” or “That book was funny, kind of like dead people”

  109. Charlene says:

    Ok this has to be the funniest description of soup ever!!!

  110. Aleigh says:

    On eating watermelon: “My tongue is sending a card to my tummy, and it says ‘Happy Birthday’.”

  111. My son told me his sandwich tasted like rotten coconuts =\

    Where do they come up with this stuff? I’m certain I haven’t dished up any expired tropical fruit!

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