Have I mentioned here before that M. has been a self-proclaimed vegetarian since age 3? He actually has disdained meat all his life, but we threw in the towel when he came home from preschool with the revelation that some of the kids and one of the teachers choose not to eat meat. He even had a word for them: vegetarians. That’s what I am! he proclaimed.

I’m fine with it most of the time, but we tend to grill several times a week in the summer — steaks or chicken or meaty kabobs or hamburgers — and he usually winds up supping on a few pieces of cheese from the pack that we’re using to top the burgers. But last year we came up with a menu that includes him and still manages to please the rest of us. And it keeps me out away from the oven and the stove, which can’t be overrated!

Grilled Cheese

Prepare your favorite bread and filling, then toss the sandwiches on a grill brushed with oil (you do have a silicone basting brush, right??? They’re indispensable for grilling!) to achieve golden-brown deliciousness. They cook fairly quickly on our gas grill, less than five minutes per side, so you’ll probably want to do the corn first.

Microwaved Corn on the Cob

My mom showed me this trick: Shuck the outer couple layers of husk from each ear, leaving the kernels protected by at least one husk on all sides. Cut off the top bit of silk just to the top of the cob; don’t worry about the rest. Put four large or six small ears in the microwave at a time and nuke them four minutes per ear for large or three minutes per ear for small. When the timer beeps they should be slightly soft to the touch. Let them cool briefly (or use your silicone gloves and work while they’re hot for best results) and shuck them the rest of the way; the silk should come off easily too. Salt or butter to taste.

Grilled Peaches

I can attest that this year’s peach crop is on farmstands and ready to go — we bought a peck last week in southern Illinois and enjoyed every drip of juicy goodness.  They’re superb on the grill: Cut each peach in half and grill it cut-side down for a couple of minutes, just until it’s starting to brown. Turn it over and fill the indent from the pit with brown sugar. When it melts, the peach is ready to be served.

Grilled Banana Split

If you’re looking for a more impressive dessert, try this recipe for Grilled Banana Splits from Midwest Living. It calls for fresh pineapple, and that’s important — canned won’t work as well. Buy one of those handy corers from Bed, Bath and Beyond ($9.99) and the kids will clamor over themselves to help you with it.  Grilled pineapple is extremely versatile — try it with whipped cream and shortcake too.

Frozen Red Grapes

Some say these should be a dessert, akin to sorbet, but I like to have them as an appetizer because they cool the kids down but don’t fill their tummies right before supper. About.com has instructions here; it omits the step of dipping them in powdered sugar if you’re serving them as a dessert.

So there you have it — and easy, kid-friendly, vegetarian meal with no stove time!

This week we’ll be taking out-of-town guests to sample Missouri wine country, so I started checking into the free entertainment the wineries are offering this weekend. To my delight, one of our favorite duos, Mo and Dawn, is playing at Blumenhof Winery in Dutzow from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday (June 8). I love the slightly incongruous pairing of a very urban soul/jazz/electronica act with the countrified setting. One of the only drawbacks to Blumenhof is that its courtyard is in a slight valley, which sometimes blocks the cooling breezes. The wineries along the bluffs overlooking the Missouri River might be a better choice for the 90-plus days this weekend — Montelle, Mount Pleasant and Balducci are some of our favorites in the Augusta area, which is the closest American Viticultural Area (a grape-growing region designated by the U.S. government) to St. Louis. Like Blumenhof, nearly all of the region’s other wineries offer live music on weekend afternoons, and some go into the evening hours as well. For links to the wineries, visit the state Wine and Grape Board’s homepage.

Our next-door neighbors rarely head west when they’re seeking a winery day out — their choice is the Ste. Genevieve area, particularly Chaumette Winery. We always enjoy comparing our picks from the west against theirs from the south. We’re fans of the grape varieties that grow well in this region, Norton and Chambourcin, Traminette and Vignoles. To learn educate yourself in them before your winery visit, check out the Wine and Grape Board’s link above, or check out its new site, NortonSays.com, which is, of course, all about Norton grapes.

Some of the wineries don’t allow picnics, but a few do, so if you’re set on bringing your own food, be sure to call ahead. The beverages, obviously, should be purchased on site. All of them are friendly to children, within reason (no letting the kids run wild while you’re off sampling!); we’ve seen plenty of kids at tasting counters sipping their own grape juices.  If you’re making a day of wine tasting, be sure to bring a cooler along, ’cause there’s nothing worse for wine than sitting in a hot car all afternoon!  You’ll also want to call ahead to find out what music is on the schedule, because most of the wineries’ homepages are updated infrequently.  The vintners are too busy out in the vineyards, for which we can only salute them with a heartfelt toast.

One of the advantages to having a self-proclaimed 5-year-old vegetarian in the house is that we save big money at events like the Rib America festival this weekend (May 23 to 26) downtown at the Soldier’s Memorial (Tucker and Market streets). The hubby and I, on the other hand, LOVE barbecue — something we never have the patience to make at home — and we usually eat ourselves silly. Although Rib America offers free admission to kids under age 12, standard admission for adults is $5. That doesn’t include any food, which tends to be on the pricey side. Happily for me, roasted sweet corn is one of the cheaper items, and the kids are perfectly content to fill up on that.  I recommend saving yourself the fee by arriving early, say before 5 p.m. on Friday (23rd) or before 1 p.m. the other days (24th, 25th, 26th). It’s that much more money to spend on ‘cue.

Our game plan for the festival is usually as follows: Arrive early to save $$$ and beat the crowds (lines can get long at the most popular stands), eat ourselves silly, then find a spot to set up camp and watch the live music on stage. This festival always brings in a few well-know oldie acts from the ’80s (and as a child of the ’80s, I can vouch for the fun of going down memory lane!); this year’s include Dennis De Young of Styx, KC and the Sunshine Band, Night Ranger and .38 Special. Those headliners close the nights down, but the music begins earlier in the day and is thankfully not limited to hair bands (memory lane is only fun for so long) — check out the event’s homepage for a full schedule.

So we’re faced with another rainy weekend … I’m starting to wonder if swimsuit season will ever come. On the upside, the longer it delays, the less guilty I feel about indulging in sweet treats! And a rainy weekend is a very good time to whip some up. I’m a big believer in the classics like Rice Krispies treats, apple pie and meringue cookies, so I love it when we find new ways of presenting them that still taste just as good. In the past few months we’ve seen new twists on all three of them, as follows:

• Rice Krispies Arches: Regular Rice Krispies bars are a sticky mess to scrape into a 9×13 pan, let alone mold into the shape of the Arch, but a few weeks ago M. was presented with an Arch so beautiful that we had to try to duplicate it. The trick is to make a ramped-up version with something thicker than marshmallows to hold it together; my choice is to add butterscotch chips, as follows:
  1 (10 oz.) pkg. marshmallows
  6 c. Rice Krispies
  1 (12 oz.) pkg. butterscotch chips
  1/4 c. butter

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and butterscotch chips and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in the Rice Krispies until evenly coated and then, working quickly, take a glob about the size of your hand and shape it into an Arch. It should stand upright (on the legs) as it cools. It can be decorated with frosting or drizzled chocolate.

• Apple Pie Balls: These are made in individual muffin tins so there’s lots of crust on each piece to sop up ice cream — and the mess that sometimes accompanies the process of serving pies isn’t an issue. This recipe is a sugar-free one, to counterbalance the sugar bomb above!
  1 6-oz. can apple juice concentrate
  2 Tbsp. cornstarch
  1 Tbsp. butter
  1 tsp. cinnamon
  Dash salt
  5 large apples
  Pastry for 2 9-inch pie crusts, cut 12 into circles that will overhang the muffin cups

Heat the juice and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened. Add the butter, cinnamon and salt and remove from heat. Peel and coarsely chop the apples and add to the pan of hot juice. Stir to coat all the apples. Line individual muffin cups with pastry circles, letting the extra hang over the edges. Fill the cups, then crimp the edges tightly to seal. If desired for aesthetic purposes, flip the ball over so the seam is on the bottom. Cut a small vent in each (I like to do this in an A shape). Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

• Meringue Bones and Ghosts: It can be daunting to whip up meringue, but once you’ve got the knack, it’s a great blank canvas for adding in tidbits (chocolate chips or crushed candy), for dipping into toppings and for making seasonal shapes. One of the best I’ve seen is bones and ghosts for Halloween, but there are endless possibilities, including flowers for Mother’s Day or simply plopping it onto parchment paper; even in blob form it manages to seem elegant. An extra plus is that meringue, once baked, keeps for weeks. And it has even fewer calories than the pie! For tips on making it, see this Fine Cooking article. For a kid-friendly explanation on making ghosts, see this blog.

Yesterday we started a new experiment that M. “read” about in a magazine: colored daisies. We filled six glasses with water and added food coloring to each of them to make all the colors of the rainbow, then we put white daisies into each one. In theory, the daisies are supposed to drink up and turn the same color as their water — and on one we split the stem so it’s drinking two colors, blue and yellow.

The catch is that it isn’t working yet, 24 hours later. We’re seeing a few veins on the underside of the petals turn red or orange or blue, but the rest of the petals are still stark white. So I think I’ll dump in a bunch more food coloring and see if that does the trick. (To do your own Crazy Daisy experiment, click here for directions.)

I wasn’t surprised M. leaped on this idea, because for the past few weeks we’ve been experimenting with colors in other ways too. The longest running of these experiments is the Smoothie Project, which entails making smoothies of every color of the rainbow and then some. We drink smoothies a couple of times a week, and it was easy to get pink and blue and yellow and orange and purple … but then we started going for colors like true red, brown, black and white. Those are challenging us in some very creative ways.

Our basic three-serving smoothie recipe is guaranteed not to fail: Take 8 ounces of yogurt (either with fruit or plain) and pour it into the blender. Add two ripe bananas (either peeled and frozen ahead of time or fresh). Let the kids run the blender a few times to get a nice thick goo — this step can go on and on in you’re working with a 22-month-old! — then add your choice of frozen fruit (about 2 cups), ice (about the same amount) and any other fresh fruit, should you so desire. Once all that’s in the blender, pour in your choice of 100% fruit juice to cover and let ‘er rip.

This basic ratio of fresh-frozen-liquid makes a satisfying smoothie. Note that there’s no added sugar — even using plain yogurt, the fruits more than compensate with sweetness — and that there are an infinite number of combinations. Green has been one of our favorites; I’d never have guessed that M. would be OK with my tossing in a couple big fresh spinach leaves in addition to kiwis, but I’d read that they get blended up completely, and guess what? It’s true! You’d never have guessed there was spinach in that smoothie.

It’s hard to go completely wrong, although we’ve made a couple false steps: Mandarin oranges, for example, just aren’t meant for smoothies, although plain old orange juice tastes fine. And we can’t find a way to get a black smoothie, even using blackberries, black currant juice, blueberries and blue food coloring. It’s that yogurt lightening it up. We’ve recently moved on to a quest for white, using white grape juice, apples, bananas, plain yogurt and ice.  Very yummy, if I do say so myself!

In her quest to pair wine with every food imaginable, oenophile Natalie MacLean mentioned in her e-newsletter recently that April 12 is national grilled cheese day. Since she’s Canadian, I had to check out if she meant in her country or mine … and that’s when I found out that this whole MONTH is dedicated to grilled cheese. M. is going to flip when he hears that, because grilled cheese is far and away his favorite food.

It turns out that the April 12 holiday is an American one. In the course of my research, I also learned that the classic bread-butter-cheese combination is called the missionary sandwich. Who knew? Find that and other related factoids at The Official Grilled Cheese Blog.

M. is a missionary sandwich man. He doesn’t necessarily have to have Cheddar, but he does need a yellow cheese. But the rest of us have long since branched out. The current favorite is raclette cheese with fig jam on hearty, whole-grain bread. This summer we may veer toward something lighter, especially when we’re firing up the grill more often and can actually “grill” our cheese rather than “toast” it in the frying pan!

I consider myself a reforming foodie — I’m trying to not spend quite so much time sucked into food publications and blogs! — but I had to pass on this wonderful link to the Baltimore Sun’s article all about marshmallows. I finished up the last of our “sugar chicks” today, so of course I’m going to crave Peeps for a few weeks now. But I WILL NOT dig into my stash of half-price-after-Easter bunnies in the basement; it is strictly reserved for s’mores this summer. And if you’ve never roasted a Peep on a stick over a glowing embers and then sandwiched it with chocolate between graham crackers, you are missing out on some serious sweetness!

Anyway, on to today’s event — and believe it or not, I have found one more egg hunt for die-hards out there. It’s at a brand-new, 25-acre woodlands park in Des Peres called Phantom Forest and Bittersweet Woods. The egg hunt marks a tradition in the family that donated the forest (Clara Moore, whose husband Ray Moore created the comic strip “The Phantom”); it’s part of a grand opening celebration that also includes wood carving demos, birds of prey, a tree giveaway and music by the Meramec Jets Bluegrass Band.

The ribbon cutting and free egg hunt take place at the forest, accessible from the parking lot off of Barrett Station Road, north of Dougherty Ferry Road. Times are 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The rest of the activities, also free, are part of the city’s Arbor Day celebration and take place at The Lodge, 1050 Des Peres Road, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit the Web site or call 314.835.6150 for details on the schedule.

Tuesdays are bad for business in the restaurant industry. In the course of my five years covering the food world, I learned that if owners could simply erase one day of the week from their calendars, Tuesday would be gone.

This is good news for families, because in their effort to lure customers, restaurants tend to offer their best deals of the week on Tuesdays. For example, last week a brave friend took the kids and me out for supper at City Diner, where we indulged in half a fried chicken for $3.99 — with sides of mac and cheese, whipped sweet potatoes, creamed collard greens and a roll. We could have had half a pound of meatloaf instead for the same price, but fried chicken makes a better doggie bag (’cause even with S. sharing my plate, there’s no way I can eat half a chicken and all the fixin’s in one sitting!).

The chains dread Tuesdays too, which is probably why that tends to be kids’ night (individual franchisees may not participate, so be sure to call ahead and confirm). Krieger’s Sports Grill, for example, offers a free meal for a kid under 10 with an adult meal purchase. Participating Fazoli’s restaurants set aside an entire section of the restaurant for families and feeds the young’uns for 99 cents between 5 and 8 p.m. Participating Lone Star Steakhouse locations let up to two kids eat free from the kids’ menu with one adult entree all day Tuesdays and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. (Two other exceptions to the Tuesday rule are Culpepper’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, which have their kids’ night on Mondays.) Other chains with Tuesday kids’ deals include Denny’s, Ponderosa and Perkins; for a detailed list, visit the St. Louis Kids’ Web site.

Upscale and independent restaurants usually don’t offer free meals for kids, but they very often have early bird discounts — and they’re very often available all week long. Because they open at 5 p.m. and very few customers wander in for the next hour, it’s possible to get great deals like a $19.95 dinner at Kemoll’s or a $13.95 dinner at Baldo’s or a $12.95 dinner with wine at Bevo Mill. Even the lovely An American Place downtown has a three-course market menu for $29 before 6:30 p.m.

With the rising cost of food pinching restaurants on one side and belt-tightening consumers goosing them from the other, it’s good to have these meet-in-the-middle options where they fill tables and you save money.

My kids are no fans of Boboli — when I suggest pizza for supper, M. invariably asks if we can make the crust ourselves. This conversation usually takes place around 5:30 p.m., which would make a traditional pizza dough out of the question. There wouldn’t be enough time for the yeast to do its business. Luckily we live in St. Louis, land of the thin-crust pizza, and this recipe (modified from an old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook) is fast and easy and very versatile. Best of all, it makes enough for two 12-inch pizzas, so it’ll feed a hungry family. Or, if you’re a not-so-hungry small family, keep the extra half in the fridge (in a lightly oiled, covered container) for a few days until the urge for pizza strikes again.

M. prefers his pizza with cheese only, no sauce; his dad likes a white pizza with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses and zucchini. Whatever your preference, be sure not to overload the crust with toppings, as it will get soggy in the middle.

Thin-crust pizza

Crust:

1 pkg (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (105-115° F)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

Dissolve the yeast in warm water in mixing bowl. With a wooden spoon, stir in one cup of the flour. Add the olive oil, sugar and salt and stir until smooth. Add the remaining flour and stir vigorously 20 strokes. Let rest, covered with a damp towel, for 5 minutes.

Topping:

Shredded mozzarella cheese (the amount is up to you — we use roughly 1 1/2 cups)

1 8-oz. can tomato sauce

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Optional toppings: A small scattering of two or three of these: prosciutto or Canadian-style bacon, browned ground beef or sausage, pepperoni, sliced artichokes, olives, fresh basil leaves, diced tomato, sliced onion, sliced mushrooms, chopped red pepper, goat cheese, pineapple, etc.

Grated Parmesan cheese or Provel cheese (just enough for a thin layer over the toppings)

Preheat the oven to 425° F. Sprinkle cornmeal on a heated pizza stone and place it in the cool oven (or grease a 12-inch pizza pan or cookie sheet, but don’t put it in the oven). With oiled hands, divide the dough in half and shape one half into an 11-inch circle on a floured wooden pizza peel or on the pan. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Spoon on half the sauce. Top with the other ingredients and sprinkle with Parmesan or Provel cheese. If using a pizza stone, slide the crust from the peel onto the hot stone. Bake 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the toppings are cooked through.

If you’re making two pizzas, repeat the steps above; you’ll have enough sauce to cover both crusts. If you’re only making one pizza, the extra sauce will keep alongside the dough in the fridge for a couple of days.

To make calzone, press out the dough as above, but cover half the dough with cheese, sauce and toppings, using slightly less than you would for a pizza. Carefully fold the empty half over, sealing the edge with a fork. Bake 25-30 minutes.

This weekend’s activities might sound familiar to longtime readers — I think I’ve blogged about all of them before.  But good stuff bears repeating, don’t you think?  So here goes:

Free @ Three at COCA this Sunday (Mar. 9) is geared toward ages 6 to 18 along with their parents — it’s a groovin’ African dance workshop led by instructor ClauDean “Chinaka” Kizart-Johnson.  The hour-long class is free, but you need to arrive 10 minutes early to register.

The season’s final family concert from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra also happens Sunday (Mar. 9) at 3 p.m.  Its theme is fire — very a propos as winter drags on! — and there are still tickets available ($8 adults, $5 kids), although you have to call 314.534.1700 to book them as the web site is experiencing technical difficulties today.

A great many viewers are finding my site by searching for Lenten fish fries!  I just love the interest in this Friday night tradition.  But perhaps there’s a little too much love at some churches — I’ve heard stories of families waiting half an hour in one line for tickets, then in another line for food, only to find that the side dishes (and in one case all the types of fish) were sold out and no one warned them.  It’s a very good idea to go early, especially at the most popular fries.  And don’t be afraid to ask for the 411 on the food supply.  To see my picks, read this post from early February.  And note that while St. Agatha doesn’t seem to have any more Polish dishes this year than last, it is offering some wicked-strong Polish beer.  Lucky we can walk home!

Finally, since you have to buy groceries anyway, treat the kids to freebie snacks at Dierbergs Taste of Spring Food and Wine Sampling Celebration, Saturday and Sunday (Mar. 8 and 9).  We’ll see if that helps keep S. in the cart.  Probably not …