NorthernMommy and Daddy are fans of chef, author, and television personality Anthony Bourdain. When the Northerns moved north (to become the, umm...Northerns), all that they had was broadcast television. To pass some of the long winter, they bought a No Reservations DVD. It was watched over and over and over, until each episode had been memorized. Then, when funds were available, or the next season was released, another DVD was purchased and viewed to death. When LittleNortherner was born, and Mommy was home on maternity leave, she watched a whole lot more of No Reservations with the Little Man right there next to her. So much so that one day NorthernDaddy commented that NorthernBaby was going to grow up with early childhood memories of "Uncle Tony". The nickname stuck and has become an inside joke with the Northern Family.
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In the process of watching those DVDs over and over, NorthernMommy and Daddy came to appreciate the traveler that the show is styled to present. In short, a go-anywhere, try-any-food type of adventurer. Snarky and irreverent of mainstream touristy things, yet deeply respectful of the cultures and individuals that are visited.
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NorthernMommy was born with those kind of attributes (travel anywhere, try new foods), while NorthernDaddy is learning how to deal with change and new things. NorthernMommy is the one that drives adventure and constantly comes up with new places to go, experiences, and foods to try. (It does keep things interesting....)
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So, why does all of this come up?
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Because, when NorthernDaddy got home after working another long day in the heat, he found that NorthernMommy had prepared dinner. She followed the menu plan (good for Daddy - he gets his steady predictable "fix"), but she added something (uh-oh...)
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A salad.
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In the salad was a flower. Actually, several flowers.
(In his mind: it's been a long day, overworked in the heat, and there's a pansy in my dinner. What in the world? Isn't this kind of a random surprise? Popping geraniums from only-God-knows-who's freshly clipped flower bed into something that's trying to be passed off as a salad? What the heck? Grab some petunias, lop off some begonias, grab some impatiens and toss them all into the salad? Have these things been washed? Are they even safe for human consumption?)
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Logically, NorthernDaddy knows exactly how these flowers ended up in his salad. There was an episode of No Reservations where Mr. Bourdain was eating in a very high-class restaurant and they served him a bowl of brightly colored flowers that came from the garden next to the dining room. This scene made a lasting impression on NorthernMommy - she wanted to try a salad made from a bazillion bright, fancy flowers. NorthernDaddy knows this because she has voiced this wish out loud every time she sees the scene. NorthernDaddy doesn't particularly need to eat pretty flowers to make his life complete....
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God has a sense of humor, because he knew that when NorthernMommy saw the vendor at the Farmers' Market selling her freshly clipped annuals, they would end up in Daddy's dinner bowl.
NorthernDaddy blames Uncle Tony.
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Yes, NorthernDaddy ate the flowers that were served in his salad. Wasn't much choice in the matter. But now he knows that flowers taste exactly like any other lettuce green - just not as crunchy or juicy. Imagine, if you can, a dry leaf of lettuce.
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Go ahead, try some landscaping in your dinner today!
