Like most kids, my grandkids love all things olive. They have olive-tipped fingers every time they get the opportunity. They even love my olive tapenade, which has strong Kalamata olives and stuffed green olives. And that’s how this idea was born.

Last week they wanted some tapenade with lunch and I didn’t have any chips or crackers to go with it. The only crunchy thing I could find in the cabinet was a half-empty box of stale ice cream cones. Well, why not? I coated the insides of a couple of cones with tapenade and the kids were thrilled. They finished the rest of the box.

As I watched them chow down, I was thinking of how strange it was to put something that savory into an ice cream cone. Then it struck me – how fun it would be to fill ice cream cones with taco fixings!

The plan for the following week’s Famiglia Paladini Dinner was in place! The kiddos come over every Wednesday to hang out in Grandeeland, and their parents join us for family dinner.

So when they came over yesterday morning we discussed what we needed for our ice cream tacos, and we all made grocery lists. (How I love these early years of learning to write! Cute crooked little letters, formed with such solemn care.)

Our list included ice cream cones, and I was informed that we needed to get a lot of them. Olives, taco meat, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

Caleb directed operations from the grocery cart as we walked around the store. Audrey carried the shopping bag, and Nathan painstakingly weighed and bagged the tomatoes.

And we all weighed in on which kind of olives to get. Audrey said “Let’s get the red ones.” She picked up two red cans. Nathan said, “Those are BLACK.” Audrey looked at her brother like he had lost his mind. “They’re RED.” It was funny – Audrey was choosing the label color and Nathan was  looking at the picture on the label.  Perception and communication.

Back at Grandeeland I cooked the taco meat while the kids cut up all the vegetables with dull butter knives. There was lots of tasting along the way.

It took about two hours and we made a huge mess; but we also made wonderful memories!

Audrey said, “Mommy is going to be sad that she has to go to a meeting tonight and she won’t get any ice cream tacos. But Daddy is going to love them.”

And he did! In fact, we all did.

It’s a good thing we got that box of 112 ice cream cones.