My Inspirations!

Opening up the New York Times Magazine yesterday, I was thrilled to read the article by Marc Bittman: Getting Your Kids to Eat (or at Least Try) Everything!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/magazine/getting-your-kids-to-eat-or-at-least-try-everything.html

I have taught pre-schoolers, infants and  toddlers in two wonderful settings in New York City, at both Williamsburg-Northside Schools and The Children's Learning Center at Morningside Heights. And the hottest topic (next to, "will they ever sleep through the night?") of parent conversations is all about food!
Food was an important part of growing up for me back in the fifties. Everything was made at home and my great-grandmother, Grace, who lived with us during the winter months, had owned and run her own bakery in Washington D.C.  When Grandmother Grace retired, she worked at the legendary Reeves bakery in D.C. Grace loved to tell us stories about the famous children who bought baked goods at Reeves, including the actress Helen Hayes! The smell of concord grapes, which are in season now, always brings back the memory of Grandmother Grace making grape jelly at this time of the year.
At Williamsburg-Northside School, many parents own restaurants and the hot Williamsburg restaurant scene impacts children's eating preferences. I overheard a four year old child say that his favorite food was kimchee! We did a study of chocolate in the preschool that included fermenting the beans in banana leaves and traveling to a raw chocolate factory!
At the Children's Learning Center in Morningside Heights, where I presently work as an Infant-Toddler teacher, we have embarked on a study of Dough: Grains for Living.
The babies and toddlers in our care have been making and playing with play-doughs and mixing and kneading doughs for the baking of breads.
We embarked on the dough project with a Scottish Scone recipe from the James Beard Bread Book and substituted sweet potatoes rather than using white potatoes for optimal nutrition. Sweet potatoes are a super-food that can be used with your family in so many ways. Purees are great for babies and toddlers enjoy eating firmer baked, steamed, or roasted "french fry" style sweet potatoes. When I worked in Trenton, NJ, a highlight was going out for lunch at a local Italian restaurant (that sadly closed) that made a rich sweet potato soup with sherry and brown sugar.
Sweet Potato Scones

Based on a traditional Scottish potato scone recipe, cooked on a griddle and generally eaten along with a breakfast of bacon, egg, sausage, and other traditional Scottish delicacies like, black pudding.
Ingredients
1½ cups warm mashed sweet potatoes
1/3 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
Directions

Mix the mash potatoes, butter, salt and flour until thoroughly blended.
Divide the dough into parts.  Using rolling pin, turn onto a floured surface (sprinkle some flour to make sure consistence is correct and doesn’t stick), roll out into two circles about ¼” thick.  Cut each circle into eight pie parts.  Cook for several minutes each side on a hot-floured griddle or skillet.

Leave to cool but serve warm with butter

Sweet Potato Scones