When Gianna came home from my sister’s house one weekend demanding Sponge Bob® Mac ‘n Cheese, (thanks, Auntie D) I knew I had to do something to erase the memory of artificial cheese sauce from her mind.

Inspired by the cold weather, and still disappointed that Gianna’s vegetable repertoire was almost non-existent, I headed to the local green market in search of a butternut squash. I was going to make a sneaky cheese sauce and Gianna was going to like it!

Squash in hand, I hurried home to create my illusion. After roasting the squash in the oven for about an hour, I scooped out the inside and put it in my blender. After the addition of butter, garlic salt, cream and a lot of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, I hit puree and said a prayer. (When you live in a one-bedroom cramped apartment, to get the blender out requires some maneuvering. The prayer was for Gianna to actually like this, and for me not to have taken down the blender in vain.)

By now, I had been talking up ‘alphabet macaroni and cheese’ the whole day. I had a bag of Organic Tomato and Spinach Alphabets that I got from Trader Joe’s,  which was going to soon get dressed with my ‘pseudo’ cheese sauce.

The moment of truth: Bib on and spoon in hand, Gianna dug in. I held my breath, hoping this was going to be the day she got a healthy portion of root vegetable. The result, and I quote: “Mommy, this is some good cheese but I don’t like alphabets, they are yucky.”

Bewildered, I looked in the cabinet for the extra box of Sponge Bob Mac ‘n Cheese that my sister hid in Gianna’s overnight bag. Next time, we’ll ditch the alphabets and boil Sponge Bob to accompany my ‘cheese sauce.’ Compromise is the key to good eating.—Nicole Denis