While people in most places and countries are being faced with
difficult decisions daily, here in Australia our lives are pretty
comfortable. But that doesn't mean that we are not making difficult
decisions on a daily basis. Yesterday we
finally set out to solve one of these larger problems that have been
plaguing us. The thing is we go to cafes sometimes and we see the lovely
things on offer and sometimes we even purchase and enjoy these things.
One thing we often see are those nameless balls that are a rather big
health fad these days and are displayed with pride and a hefty price
tag. And they really do intrigue me because I know what they are made
of and we even sometimes make them ourselves and I can't understand why
someone would spend four dollars for dates blended into a paste with
nuts. There is no skill in making this dessert item unless you have
rheumatoid arthritis and pressing buttons on food processors requires
effort. In fact, yesterday even proved to me that a four year old can
make these balls better than an adult can (see attached photos).
I
made some of these date balls recently for the kids and they really
liked them. They liked them so much I started to wonder if they were as
healthy as people claim. I mean it is dried fruit and cocoa powder after
all. And so when children requested them again I decided to diversify
and try making them out of beets instead. And then the scientific part
of me woke up, and I knew that to truly see how beets compare with dates,
I would just have to make a batch of each. And even though this is
really not worthy of me writing these paragraphs about, I thought that
there are likely others out there who have been faced with this
very same dilemma - are beets or dates a better health food ingredient
for non desserty dessert items? And if people aren't wondering this then
they have at least stared at the glass jars full of reddish brown
looking balls wondering why someone wouldn't just buy a brownie.
The
beet balls were took much longer to make as peeling and grating beets
requires a lot of energy. Though I guess the same people who are seeking
healthy snacks would be happy for the extra workout. The children
really enjoyed making the beet balls because I let them take bits of
beet and color on their hands until we all had bright red scary looking
palms. I had to use much more cocoa powder in the beet balls to override
the beety taste but they came out much smoother and more decadent and
sophisticated looking. Sophia and Aurora and I liked both but felt the
date balls tasted better as they were firmer and sweeter which is
unsurprising as we are comparing dried fruit to raw root vegetable here.
Tova really seems to have no preference so long as she can eat at least
three at a time. I'm not even sure she chews enough to register a
difference in taste. So really the ultimate decision came down to Jakob
because he doesn't like beets at all. He tried the beet ball first and
said "interesting" and then went on to say things like "it's not too
sweet" and "it has a real earthy taste." And then he tried the date ball
and smiled happily as the sugar hit all the right receptors in his
brain. He definitely would not have given me four dollars for my beet
ball. So really what we learned is that children like foods that are in
ball shape but when it comes to trying to substitute other things for
sugar dried fruit is more pleasing than root vegetables. Except when I
say it that way it seems obvious just like a lot of life's scientific
questions and difficult decisions.
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