EMMA: What are those?
LAUREN: Mushrooms?
EMMA: Smells good right? What do they look like?
LAUREN: I got a little plant. They look like flowers that lost all of their petals.
ME: Such a good description!
EMMA: This one is broken.
ME: Do you need another? Here take this one. What does it smell like?
LAUREN: The real smell of mushrooms.
SAM: It smells like stinky cheese.
EMMA: I want another one.
ME: Emma, stop throwing these into the sink. These are expensive.
ME: I think they have a woodsy smell to them. They smell like the forest floor. That’s where they come from- they grow at the bottom of trees. They’re like Lorax food, cool right?
ME: What does it feel like in your hand?
LAUREN: It feels kind of round and bendy. At the top it feels kind of rough.
SAM: And they’re wobbly.
ME: Who wants to taste it?
LAUREN: Me!
ME: OK, let’s do it.
ME: I actually think it tastes like nuts. Do you guys like it?
LAUREN: No.
SAM: No. I want an orange.
ME: What does it taste like?
EMMA: It tastes like cranberries.
ME: It also tastes a lot different if we cook them.
EMMA: I love that.
ME: What, the bottom?
EMMA: Yeah.
(cooking…)
EMMA: I want mystery food!
(presenting cooked food)
ME: I think you’ll agree that mushrooms taste a little like meat when they’re cooked.
SAM: They look disgusting.
LAUREN: I think they look a little like French fries. Because they’re burnt and yellow.
ME: They taste like French fries like this. Sprinkle them with a little salt…
LAUREN: Sauce?
ME: Salt, I said salt.
LAUREN: Whopa Gangman style. Can I try it please?
EMMA: Can I try it?
ME: How is it when it’s cooked?
LAUREN: Good!
ME: You’re finding out that you like mushrooms right? Sam, do you want to try them?
SAM: No.
LAUREN: Sam, it’s really good, it really tastes like French fries.
ME: Doesn’t it taste like steak? Who wants more?
LAUREN: Me!
SAM: Me!
EMMA: Me!
EMMA: Give me that salt!
ME: Gently Emma, not too much.
LAUREN: More! But can you put a little more salt on it?
SAM: These can be dead or alive.
ME: Emma, you want another?
EMMA: Yeah. Mmmmm…..
SAM: Yeah, they’re pretty good.
LAUREN: Sam loves them!
ME: Amazing, right? Now you guys love mushrooms!
ME: What’s the lesson here?
LAUREN: That you should always try something that you might like….you should always try something again even if you don’t like it?
ME: Yeah! And here’s another lesson, sometimes things that don’t taste good when they’re not cooked taste really good when they’re cooked.