Grandkids present culinary surprises

Grandchildren come in all shapes, colors and sizes. Why wouldn't they? They are carbon copies of their grandparents, who come just the same way.

When school is out for the summer, emotions are mixed. Grandparents know they are in for duty time; parents know they are in for free time. They know their children will experience the love of those who taught them how to be parents. They know their children will wander into a loving environment and, while there, will taste the wisdom of a generation that wonders why things change so fast. Grandparents know that when their children's children invade their house, everything turns to a different style of doing as they try to put in motion plans for an enjoyable visit.

For my grandchildren, meals had been planned. I discussed with them rating ice cream flavors and hot dogs. Now, I don't mean eating these items together or even trying to write a recipe using the ingredients. I just thought this would be a time that we could try different brands of frankfurters and test different brands of ice cream. The idea was to read the labels and decide which brands would be healthy for grandparentsbut grandchildren also could enjoy.

Let's begin with ice cream. My grandchildren had done so well in school, and I wanted the first ice cream test to begin outside the home, so we were Bruester's bound. At the little shop, we discussed the cones and flavors of ice cream. We decided that waffle cones are good, but if one does not eat fast, more ice cream lands on the shirt than in the mouth. A decision also was made to eat ice cream where it was purchased so as to enjoy the surroundings as well as the product.

It was a different story with the frankfurters. On the day we were to discuss our plans, my granddaughter Destinye brought in a cookbook. She was amazed at the number of chicken casserole recipes. She began to label them by number and asked if we could prepare one at a time -- a far cry from hot dogs, I thought. We decided on a recipe, and wasn't I in for a surprise? We began to search the cabinet for items, and then a shopping list was made. I discovered it works well to place all the ingredients on the table and from there prepare the dish. This would not have been a casserole that I would have chosen, but it is one that I will prepare again.

On the second day, my other granddaughter Makayla decided she wanted smoothies. The same procedure was followed, and a variety of smoothies were prepared, some for breakfast and others for lunch. There was more agreement on the smoothies, and, of course, this made for a better discussion. I think I was probably happier on the second day, because I had more control.

The third day was my grandson Stephen's time to choose a meal. This might have been a male thing. He arrived with a different cookbook, and he chose a recipe that caught everyone by surprise, because he stayed on task of the original summer plans. He chose a recipe that called for a frankfurter, but it was different than we -- or should I say Granny -- had planned. His choice caught the women by surprise. Stephen wanted to have taco dogs.

All of us love tacos, but we had never tried taco dogs and were not too keen on the plan. Since this was his choice, everyone asked if they could have just a taco -- and he could have the taco dog. I said he could accompany me to do the shopping. This turned out to be a learning process as we discovered packaged shredded taco cheese. Well, you should have seen Stephen on the verge of laughing as we all ate a taco dog. It was good that we forgot to do the planned testing on the frankfurter.

Those three days found me letting our grands each have a day of choosing, preparing and making decisions. Destinye had a change to evaluate recipes, Makayla learned just what makes smoothies good and Stephen found out there is more to a taco dog than he thought.

As for me, I learned to read, listen and try new things.

Chicken Casserole

1 whole chicken

1 sleeve Ritz crackers

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 stick margarine

2 cups egg noodles

Cook chicken, remove from bone. Cook egg noodles, drain. Crush Ritz crackers in casserole dish, mix all ingredients except margarine. Melt margarine and crush a few more crackers to cover top of casserole. Pour melted margarine on top.

Source: Reading, 'Riting and Recipes

Lady's Island Elementary School

Peach Smoothies

2 cups milk

2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches

1/4 cup orange juice concentrate

2 tablespoons sugar

5 ice cubes

In a blender, combine all ingredients, cover and process until smooth. Pour into glasses, serve immediately.

Source: Taste of Home 5-ingredients Cookbook

Taco Dogs

1 package hot dogs

1 package taco cheese

10 hard taco shells, warmed

1 can (16 ounces) baked beans, warmed

Prepare hot dogs according to package. place cheese and hot dog in each taco shell; top with beans.

Source: Taste of Home 5-ingredients Cookbook