Skip to main content

Truth and Cherries

Image from history-for-kids.com.

Dylan was telling us all that he had learned about George Washington this weekend.  He was especially detailed about how many teeth George Washington had or, rather, how many he didn't have; Dylan told us that George Washington had carved fake teeth out of hippopotamus teeth.  I haven't determined the veracity of those claims, but when he started talking about George Washington copping to cutting down his dad's cherry tree, that rang some bells.  Dylan said, "George told the truth about cutting down the tree, so he didn't get in trouble."  I decided that anything to reinforce the important of telling the truth was a good thing.  So we talked about that more in detail and I found this children's poem by Paul Perro:

Little George Washington was a good boy

So his mummy gave him a brand new toy.
It was a little axe, a real sharp one,
And George thought that it would be lots of fun.

He took the little hatchet out into
The garden, where lots of plants and weeds grew.
He chopped at some weeds, chopped them to the ground,
After that he began to look around.

He looked around for something else to chop,
He was having a ball, and could not stop.
Right at the bottom of the garden he
Came across his daddy's best cherry tree.

He chopped at it with his little hatchet
The tree was big, he could only scratch it.
So he tried much harder, chopping the wood,
Until at last it fell down with a thud.

Then George was happy and put down his axe
And he sat down and started to relax.
Suddenly, a cry, it was George’s dad;
He’d seen the felled tree and was really mad.

“Who has chopped down my lovely cherry tree?”
His face was red he was really angry.
George was scared to tell the truth but he knew
Telling the truth was the right thing to do.

So George said “Sorry daddy, it was I,
I killed the tree, I cannot tell a lie.”
At first dad was cross, then he realised
As he looked into his little boy’s eyes,

George’s behaviour had been outrageous
But he’d been honest, which was courageous.
“My boy” said dad, “I’m very cross, but still,
Your honesty is quite admirable.

I cannot punish you because I’m so
Proud that you’re my son. I love you, you know.”

If you’re brave and honest, you can go far,
You can grow up to be a superstar.
Yes George grew up to be one of the greats
A President of the United States!

Then, you know me, I came up with a dinner that was all about the cherry.  Dylan was tickled that his story had spawned a menu.  I know many people make cherry pies to commemorate George Washington's birthday.  I still need to embrace simplicity.  Tonight I made: mahi-mahi with a cherry-caper compote, bulghur wheat pilaf with pistachios and dried cherries, and a cherry cheesecake.  Recipes to follow.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir