We've been cooking so much Ethiopian food around here lately that our repertoire of Korean recipes has been neglected. Several times in the last couple weeks, our Korean boys have requested some of their favorite Korean foods. Today finally I got all the ingredients together to make kimbap.

The boys were eager to introduce their new sisters to some real Korean food. As much as I adore kimbap, I had some serious reservations about whether the girls would appreciate this introduction. They were really good about trying new foods in the first month home. But now that some of the newness is wearing off, I am hearing a bit more negativity towards food. They still eat well, but almost every day someone expresses disdain for something I offer, even things they claimed to like in their first weeks home. I figured they'd take one look at the kimbap, say, "I no like" and that would be the end of it.

Sometimes the negativity towards food that I've worked hard on makes me weary --even more so if the food is a special treat like kimbap that my family really loves. I braced myself for negativity, and decided to leave some rice plain for the girls. I also made some scrambled eggs Ethiopian-style (with minced onion, oil, and a dab of minced tomato). That way there would be an alternate food for them to eat, which would hopefully minimize the complaints.

During the prep, the girls buzzed around curiously, checking out the various ingredients. When I offered them a tiny taste of the kim (dried seaweed), to my surprise their eyes lit up in recognition. Apparently they'd had something similar in Ethiopia. Go figure. Still, I figured that when it all got rolled together, it would look too utterly strange, and that would be the end of it.

Instead, ten minutes later I found myself watching my Ethiopian daughters gobbling down kimbap with great enjoyment while my Korean sons taught them how to say hello and thank you in Korean. When my 12 year old came up to where I was working at the kitchen counter to grab her third serving of kimbap, she looked at me with a delighted grin. "We have three languages here!" she exclaimed.

At that moment I think we both realized how broad and beautiful the world is when you live in a diverse family.

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