Astrid–I have many, many memories of growing up in my grandmothers’ kitchens and my grandpa’s farm. He had vegetable gardens and fields of hay and cows, and chickens and pigs and a pond full of fish–so it is no wonder that food is a great part of memories of childhood. And, it is no surprise that I try to give that sort of upbringing to my own girls as well.

Lindsey–it is good to meet you! I am glad you are enjoying the blog–and I am very glad to be helping you, in my own small way, get through grad school by providing entertaining food for thought as it were. (Non required reading is always such a pleasure in grad school–or at least, so I am told!)

Diane–not only did Kat get curries and spices and garlic in the womb, she is getting it in the breast milk as well. as any dairy farmer will tell you, strong flavors from aromatic plants gets into the milk of any creature. I suspect that is very much the case for me; whenever I eat very garlicky or curried foods, the scent of them comes out in my perspiration.

So, I think that it is not surprising that Kat has already taken an interest in spices–she has been eating them all along.

BTW–night before last she tasted fresh ginger. Zak was holding a bowl of sliced ginger for her to smell, and she nearly face-planted into it. She licked her lips and lunged for it, so Zak let her tongue just barely touch one slice–her eyes lit up and widened and she smiled and laughed!

And you should have seen her in the Indian market–she and Zak had a field day sniffing and looking at everything–much to the amusement of the proprietors. They especially thought it was cute when she sniffed the asafoetida and grinned.

Greetings from austria - Astrid