SPAM vs Goat Cheese Ravioli

When I arrived in Comox, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the streets were being layered with red and gold leaves that floated gently to the ground.The smell of cedar hung in the air. I love BC.

The twins, whom I have only seen twice before, took to me surprisingly well. Instead of clinging to their parents and shrieking “stranger danger, stranger danger!” they ran to me with big smiles and hugs.  We were off to a good start.

The next morning when my sister and her husband left for their two week vacation on the island of Rarotonga, the kids and I busied ourselves by watching a cartoon on Treehouse that only four year olds can appreciate. Some amoeba-shaped puppet sang in gibberish that the twins thought hysterically funny. It made Barney the purple dinosaur look like a Harvard graduate. I asked them if they wanted to watch the Discovery channel. They started singing the song that the amoeba was singing. Oh Barney, where for art thou?

I had been given the run-down and the schedule of  playschool times and pickups, bathtimes, whose bedroom is whose, what the dog eats, when to put her outside…rules and regulations that I needed to adhere to for the next two weeks. Didn’t sound too bad.

We talked about the kids’ food. Apparently Kaylee is pickier than Cole and neither of them are fond of vegetables. I told my sister that I cook from scratch and asked her about food stores in the area that carry organic products and locally grown produce and meat. “They like SPAM,” she replied. I winced. The Slow Foodie in me couldn’t possible condone this culinary abomination but my sister just smirked and gave me an “Oh, you’ll see” nod of her head. I shot back a “you can’t scare me” look in reply.  I raised two kids of my own and have been a step-mom to two more for the past 9 years. I could do this. Eating as much seasonal product as we can, along with supporting local producers and shunning processed and fast food has become our way of life for almost a decade. Cooking for two picky four year olds? No problemo. Taking care of the dog scared me more but then I thought, I’ve had cats for years, how different can taking care of a dog be?

An hour after my sister left, the skies opened up and it poured buckets. The dog pooped on the floor and followed it up by peeing on the stairs.

Meal times didn’t go as smoothly as I anticipated. While I was cooking, Kaylee would come in to tell me she “didn’t yike that” followed closely by Cole who parroted the same sentiments just because he could. At supper time Kaylee fared better with her chicken and potatoes than she did at lunch where she approached the table with trepidation, hands over her eyes and wailing “I’m scared!” Apparently Kaylee doesn’t like carrots. Or tuna. Especially when they’re combined in a casserole. But at least supper only took 45 minutes to get through her meal compared to the hour she spent stick handling noodles and tuna.

As for Cole, well, except for him telling me to “Stop that noise” as I sang while fixing their breakfast, he is totally on board with how Auntie rolls. He plowed through every meal and had four helpings at supper time. He was proud when I declared him a Clean Plate Ranger. Tomorrow’s menu includes goat cheese ravioli and baby bok choy from Brambles Market, a great store in Courtenay that stocks British Columbia products.

Tomorrow we’re going down to the marina to get some prawns to have with that ravioli because SPAM, chicken nuggets and alphagetti aint allowed when Auntie’s in the house.

I better go check where that dog is.