I'm A Horrible Mother

We didn't have fuzzy catepillar soup.  It was....

green catepillar soup.  Yummy, yummy!

Anyone for catepillar soup?  If so, I fix a mean one.  And I served it to those I love the most.   The other night I was trying to be a good little wife and get dinner before J went to church and I made our favorite Zuppa Tuscana soup.  I have a hog in my freezer so there is plenty of sausage, and potatoes are abundant right now, and of course I grew my own kale just for this soup.  Little did I know what was lurking inside that kale.  

I wandered outside with knife in hand and cut quite a bit of the leafy greens.  They are still beautiful or at least I thought they were.  I brought them in, gave them a good wash, and chopped them up into the pot.  The soup smelled delish!  Emma loves this stuff and she was just hovering over the steamy pot.  I had a little kale left over and picked it up to put in the garbage.  Yuck!  There was the biggest greenest catepillar on the counter from the kale.  I gave a huge sigh of relief that that little bugger didn't make it into the soup.  

As I was getting ready to serve I noticed all these little dots floating to the surface of the soup.  They almost looked like little anise seeds from the sausage, but after closer inspection they were aphids.  What to do.......It's just the kids.  I served it anyway.  I couldn't eat it though.  I was thoroughly grossed out.  J was running a little late and didn't get any before he left, (divine intervention I'm sure) but it did smell lovely.  The kids were all starting into their bowls when Jake asks, "What is this in my soup?"  Emma tells him to just eat it.  "It's just a piece of cheese."  she says.  "I didn't put cheese in my soup and this is green.   Mom is that a catepillar?"  Jake asks.    "STOP!  Don't take another bite!"  I yelled.  Finally the guilt got me.  I could handle a little aphid or two, but not a squishy catepillar.  Who knew how many more of them there were.  Emma practically cried.  This is her favorite soup and she wasn't going to let a little catepillar stop her meal.  But I insisted.  Hey, I've taken the Bear River Health Department's Food Handlers Class, and I wasn't going to let my need for dinner on the table now, make me stoop to serving bug soup.  I would take the higher ground!

The pot quickly went out to the ditch where the neighbors dog quickly slurped it down, and we had breakfast burritos for dinner.  Breakfast burritos never tasted so.....safe in my entire life.  I promise I have never served anyone catepillar soup before or anything like it, except for the missionaries, but they're blessed right?  (I'm totally kidding on that!)