author of Feeding Eden

Spoonrests For The Soul

Spoonrests. I have several. If you are the parent of food allergic child, you may have already figured this one out: I don't want to rest Eden's cookware near any other utensil that might have an allergen on it. In our situation (multiple anaphylactic food allergies) I don't cook dairy and soy free because I have another child with her own nutritional needs. I do cook nut, peanut, sesame, and salmon free, as it were, but Eden is also allergic to many legumes my daughter likes. So I have four spoon rests and some mismatched dishware so I can mark my children's food while I make it.

My challenges surface when we are invited to be guests at meals. For example, when attending a simple bagel brunch, even when I know that Eden's next meal is safely stashed in my non-contaminated plastic containers and his fork will not touch anything my hands haven't lovingly made, I have found myself fixated on my hostesses one, single, spoonrest, potentially sloshed with creamer, hastily rinsed and now the recpipient of dripping gravy and buttery knives. Like Warhol's Cambell Soup can, that spoon will loom larger than life. I know allergy parents who have nightmares about peanuts and other allergens but I'd love to know how you feel about spoonrests.

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