European Food Celebration

Trying European Food to Make It Work

Celebrate the year 2020 by…oh, who the **** am I kidding?

What’s the one thing we can hold onto that gives us joy? Our kids. Yes, as a parent, patience is sometimes at a premium, but in a world when we’re trying to figure out how to make it through this pandemic with our sanities intact, let’s share the things we are absolutely over-the-moon about. We hosted a European food celebration!

Geography!

Our kids have been loving their daily lessons in Geography. It’s been quite fun to watch them get excited about unique aspects of various countries. This past month has been a tour of Europe. Now, we didn’t go over every single country in detail, but we practiced countries and capitals through various online games. What’s been even cooler? They’ve been loving watching some travel vlogs where the kids get to see these places “in person,” while also salivating from all of the amazingly delicious-looking foods.

First, our two travel vlogs we’ve gravitated toward have been The Endless Adventure and Flying The Nest. Now, I will say that some of the earliest videos of the Adventurers seems to not have the bleep effect when they occasionally drop a curse word, but overall, it’s very few and far between to where I’ve barely noticed. However, I want to make sure you are aware of it, in case your kids are repeaters when they hear things.

Trying Some European Food

About that celebration, minus the sarcasm (is it though?), it’s safe to say that Meghan had the brilliant idea to create a tasting feast for the kids to explore some of the countries they’ve learned about. Some of those countries include Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Germany. Are these the only countries they’ve learned about over the past few weeks? No, but we gathered a couple of dishes from most of these five countries.

For Spain, Meghan created gambas pil pil (a garlic shrimp dish) and patatas bravas (seasoned potatoes and tomato sauce). France involved baked Camembert cheese with garlic and rosemary, which went along with homemade French baguettes. Some of the dishes were created out of convenience (and a budget). Meghan used frozen ravioli to turn it into Toasted Ravioli from Italy. Our Greek adventure included a pre-made spanakopita and tzatziki. Also, she picked up some Jaffa cakes when she found out it was German week at the grocery store.

Our Foodie Opinions

Let’s just say that Meghan’s European food celebration was a gigantic hit. The kids loved it. Now, they weren’t crazy about some of the food items, but they tried every single thing. The toasted ravioli was one of their favorites (not a surprise). They love mommy’s homemade bread. Marshall crushed some bread with the baked Camembert. Simple trick: If you don’t tell your kids there are chunks of garlic or rosemary, they won’t necessarily notice.

Okay, they did not like the spanakopita, though that was probably Meghan’s favorite. They absolutely crushed the potatoes, but without the tomato sauce. Our kids aren’t into chunks or bits of veggies in their sauces or salsas, so this wasn’t a surprise. But, they still tried it and that is the important part. The garlic shrimp was the star, in my opinion. Plus, if you soaked a piece of bread with the garlic juices, it was the most delicious and mouth watering I’m going to drool if I don’t stop talking about it right now.

European Food Final Verdict

Do we recommend creating a food celebration in your own home? Abso-freaking-lutely!!!! This is a fantastic experience for the entire family. If your partner happens to be the best cook in the family, play the part of sous-chef (like I did). It’s fun to work in the kitchen with Meghan, especially knowing that the kids are excited. They asked again and again when the food would be ready, which is a wonderful sign of their enthusiasm for trying some new things.

So, what’s next on our geography exploration? Africa! We’ll be spending the next month learning about many different African countries. This means we’ll be keeping our eyes open for what dishes we’ll want to prepare for them.

Are there any European dishes you love that we should also try with our kids? Do you have any African recipes that we should absolutely try when we put together our African food celebration? Leave us a comment below!

Until next time, don’t forget to like this post and share with all your friends. Plus, follow our blog for our latest parenting tips, homeschooling updates, and whatever else we might be whining about on a given day. Okay, until next time, we’ll see you on the homeschooling flip side.