Wisconsinites play 'find-the-ham' with their Illinois cousins!

In my last post, I described a fun party game for kids.  The game offers directed amusement for a large group of children plus has the ulterior motive of inducing children to eat protein -- that nutritious substance essential for health but not always a child's first choice of foods.  Some of you reading the post, may have doubted that:

1. Anyone would want to play the game
2. The game was logistically possible to play
3. The children who find the protein would actually eat it

Well doubt no more!  Last Sunday afternoon we played find-the-protein with the Roberson clan of Illinois at their annual Christmas party. And the game was a smash-hit, party success!  14 children, between the ages of 1 and 11, divided themselves into teams and raced through the 3-story house searching for a hidden platter of ham.  The children loved the game so much they insisted on playing it three times!  (They would have played more, but the adults were getting hungry and wanted the ham back.)

The grade-schoolers won the first game when they found the ham in a bedroom closet.   It's unclear which team won the second, as there were cries of foul play when a child who had said he was not participating in the second round but watched the concealing of the ham, then leaked the location to teammates.   The third game was won by the kindergartners, who beamed with pride at their success!  Following the third game, the children were permitted to eat their prize, right on the spot --behind the chair in the study.  One child turned her back on the ham, announcing, "I don't like ham."  But the others dug in!  Handfuls were consumed, mouths were stuffed.  They uttered garbled, guttural noises that approximated the sounds of 'mmmm,  this is gooood!'

Despite cries of 'Let's play it again!' the ham was whisked downstairs to the dining room where the adults patiently waited.  But they had to wait a while longer, because the children pushed ahead in line, took hold of the long, unwieldy silver fork and served themselves multiple slices of nutritous, body-building protein.   

Several of the children's parents were stunned. One kept repeating, "This is incredible!  My child is eating ham! She's never eaten ham in her life!"

"The same with my child!" another of my cousins said, "When I set a plate of ham before her at the table, she scrunches up her face and refuses to touch it.  I can't believe it!"

"Thank you so much for this game."  they all told me with enthusiastic and sincere appreciation.

There you have it --Wisconsin food fun spreads to Illinois.  Now folks in Illinois are playing with their food just like their Wisconsin neighbors. We all know that food tastes best when it's shared.  And food games traveling across state lines promise to replace hostile regional rivalries with a shared culture of hearty partying.  "Come together...right now...over (food)!"

If you have a fun food game, tell me about it!  Email me some pictures or even a video showing how you play with your food.  I'll post the funniest pictures and videos (via YouTube) on this blog.  Then I'll thank you by sending you a free O & H Danish Kringle (flavor of your choice) from Wisconsinmade.com.   Even if I don't post what you send, I'll still thank you by emailing you a coupon for $5.00 off any purchase at Wisconsinmade.com -- the website that sends food and more to you, where ever you are.  My offer stands good through 11:59 pm Mardi Gras night!  So join the fun and keep the party going!