The way to do it

Trying to get kids to eat vegetables can be a monumental task in some households.  Thankfully, this has never been a huge struggle in our household.  This aside, every now and then, all the green (and white and yellow and red and purple) goodness could use a little - je ne sais quoi.  A little zsoozshing up.  You know, somethin' a little different.

Problem is, zshooshing takes time.  Or maybe it doesn't.

Neither of my grandmothers spent anymore time slaving over their stoves than was absolutely necessary to turn out meals for their families.  And yet, pre-packaged prepared for you foods were rarely found there.  How did they do it?

My gram did it with White Sauce.

Simple, economical, and it takes almost no time to make.

There is, in fact, no recipe written down for this.  Kind of like the way she used to make raisin pie.  It was all in her head.

Here is how we do it around these parts:

Equal parts butter and flour in the pot.

Cook'em around for a bit.  Don't rush this part.  Things will burn (butter's like that).  Or they will taste like paste if the flour is undercooked.  Groady.  We may be doing this to help kids eat vegetables, but there are limits.  Add a dash of sugar and keep mixin' it around.

Then some milk.  Here's a great time to employ your wisk and just a leetle bit of elbow grease.  Add enough milk and let it simmer together until it is just a little runnier than you would like.  It will thicken as it cools.  Having made this mistake before, I can tell you it didn't taste like wallpaper paste or the inside of a gluepot, but it certainly looked like it.  And that did nothing for the appetizing factor, let me tell you.

Presto and voila.  At this point, give it a taste.  I like to add black pepper to mine.  The more traditional (and gram's method) is fresh nutmeg.  Need a little more sweetness?  Now's the time.

Pour it on top of your vegetables tableside.  Here, it's on top of roasted cauliflower.  If the queen is coming to visit, be sure to transfer it from the pot before serving it at the table.

It will keep in the fridge, but may need thinning out to use again.  With practise, you can figure out just how much to make so there aren't leftovers at all.

And there you go.  A quick and easy way to feel like a gourmet chef in under 10  minutes. 1. 2.

The way to do it

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