I presented each boy with their own plate and it was Nathaniel， the oldest and most discerning that asked me， "Mom， what' s that on the brownies？"I gingerly walk around the question and encouraged him to dig in.The bite had barely entered his mouth when he grimaced and contorted. He held the moist brownie bits on the curl of his tongue hoping not to swallow any and cried， "Ugh！ Mom， these are sick！ What did you do？ They taste terrible！" I tried not to laugh and despite me encouraging him to try another bite， （he was almost gagging from the first one， ） he quickly declined. Seeing their big brother so grossed out， the other boys suddenly lost their interest in their snack.They just wanted to leave the table on an empty stomach without incident.
Perhaps you can relate. I wanted to be the best mom in the world with a homemade snack and some health food all rolled up into one great afternoon treat. Again my attempt to sneak more nutrition into their meals was foiled. The tofu I had added to their tacos one time was a bomb. The seitan （mashed soy bean curd） I had cooked and tried to present as chicken was a culinary calamity. And although I had experienced moderate success with spinach brownies， it was clear I blew it again！
While the taste of that nasty concoction will hopefully fade from my son' s mind one day， I do hope he does remember one thing. His mom tried. God bless her soul， she tried. She didn' t hit the mark with everything she made but she did have a yummy kind of love for her family. She didn' t always make the best stuff in the world but she had a good recipe for life. She never forgot the secret ingredient of sweet love. It was never omitted.
Perhaps when he gets older， recalling all the food disasters， Nathaniel will be able to reflect upon our life as a family and see the deliciousness in it all. And simply smile remembering the taste of love only a mother can give.