Nacho Gourmet

Ian has a culinary talent, and he isn't letting it go to waste. He knows how to make nachos and cheese - in our case, gluten-free soy-cheese - and he loves to make it every chance he can, especially if the occasion arises to honor someone we know with a special treat.

This past Sunday was "Bliny Sunday" - a kind of Russian Mardi Gras. "Bliny" is the generic Russian word for "pancakes," but these are no ordinary pancakes. They're much like the French crepes, only far more decadent - basically a light, flour-based delivery system for butter and eggs. This tends to be everyone's "last meal" before the beginning of Lent, which follows on the next day, so people take their leave of fatty/eggy/dairy-laden foods with a particular flair. It's often the occasion for formal suppers at friends' houses, and one of our Russian friends had us over to her house, where her mother, who is visiting from God's Country, readily rose to the occasion with towering plates of pancakes and a timeless pride in having prepared them for such a momentous ritual.

The boys can't have pancakes, or any other gluten-bearing dishes, so Ian diligently prepared a heaping serving of nachos-and-soy-cheese and brought it to our friends' house with a similar sense of satisfaction and purpose. It wasn't just that he wanted to be able to eat nachos at the dinner party; it was very important to share such a wonderful treat with our hostess and all of the guests at the party, and he took careful note as to who, among the guests, particularly liked them.

And this morning, he was back in Chef model, determined to cook up another batch of nachos and cheese in the toaster oven. Both Ian and Daniel were expecting guests for a February vacation play-date, so Ian wanted to have something special for them. But he also had a question:

"Do you think I should make them when they're here, so our guests can see how they're made?"

But after further reflection, it turned out that Ian had a compelling reason to make the nachos ahead of the guests' arrival, but just barely so:

"I want the nachos to be ready, but hot, for them when they come over."

(March 1, 2012)