The dust off...

Firstly, welcome to the new Eating with Jack.

These pages recorded precisely as the name would suggest for about 3 years; what I ate, where I ate it and a fair share of rant and opinion at the same time. Food is my life, this was a way of expressing, recording and venting all in one.

A new business meant something had to give and Eating with Jack went into hiatus. It takes time and anyone who has set up a hospitality business knows, you don't have much of that. Spin forward two years, and a blessing by way of a son gave me the motivation to dust off the blog, start afresh and share a very special part of my life and an increasing personal interest with who ever cares to read.

Nutrition is important to me at any time. When I was pregnant though, I had a desire to read as much as I could about the relationship between what I consumed and baby's development. I’ll elaborate on my reading list in a later post but there are some gems out there, many thoughtful and passionate writers whose research provided an invaluable resource for me.

I knew from the very beginning of this journey that a food education would be one of the most important lessons I could teach my child. A respect for food and the sense of occasion that comes from sharing a table, the amazing sensory experiences that food can provide and at its most basic, knowledge to look after yourself properly. (A fairly basic human premise you would think, unfortunately many struggle). So I started this process as soon as I could.

Zac was a leap year baby, born 4 months ago. The first 4 months is obviously a liquid diet, straight from the source as it were. Natures ultimate superfood. Not an easy process it needs to be said and one that requires dedication and commitment but luckily for Z I’ve always been the stubborn type. 

We involved Z in our meals from the very beginning, he became a regular taster and sniffer; a little smear on the tongue to get the taste buds going, a wave of the wine glass under his nose waiting for a response. It was a resounding success almost everything was met with a positive reaction. Z’s curiosity for food seemed obvious, then again, was it simply proud parent syndrome? In any case, I liked the way things were going.

And to now, where things get interesting – solids. This was the moment I had been waiting for. Four months is generally regarded as the earliest you can start, so I was on a countdown. For all the mess and extra laundry it was about to create, Zac now had a whole world of flavours and textures to experience. This was going to be an adventure for both of us.

So I decided to dust of the old blog and chronicle Z’s foray into solids. I’m looking forward to documenting this for personal reasons as well as a sense that maybe I have something to offer other parents, a voice of trial in a sea of rights and wrongs. 

I also love the idea that in the future, Z will be able to see the dedication his parents put into this formative part of his food education. It will be a bumpy ride I’m sure, no doubt others will get the chance to learn what worked for us and what ended in messy tears.

It’s going to be fun and we’re at the four months mark, so lets get going.