Master-Chef

      Every summer my kids organize “Master-Chef” in our home. The truth is that my kids love food and never stop eating. I’m pretty sure I know who they get it from…

     They organize themselves in groups of two. I’m lucky enough to be the judge and grade them on originality, taste, and presentation. The kids must prepare an appetizer, an entree, a main course, and a dessert. Many times they’ll read cookbooks or magazines to find something they can prepare. More often then not they also call Grandma Julita (she’ll be 90 this year!), who lives in Madrid, to ask her for some secret to preparing a specific dish. They search the internet, ask some friends, etc… And of course, imagination is power! They always know to take in to account what Mom likes best as well! 🙂

     My children often get invited to eat dinner with their friends somewhere, but they know that the days we have Master-Chef, it’s hard to find better food somewhere else so it’s best to eat at home 😁

     My children are very competitive and they all want to win. They can use anything that we have in the pantry or refrigerator at home and sometimes they go to the local supermarket to pick up some missing ingredients when necessary.

     The other day, Pablo and his friend Santi were at home working really hard on the dinner for that night. They even skipped the time at the pool because they were so focused on cooking. For dessert they made a delicious fresh fruit salad. Pablo said to me: “Mom, we used all of the ripe fruit!” He added some lemon sorbet and melted dark chocolate on top. Of course he garnished it with a cherry on top. Pablo is 12 years old, but he’s been doing this for 4 years now, so he’s basically an expert! He knows that Mom really likes dark chocolate, so if he wants a high score, it’s definitely an indispensable ingredient. His dessert got a maximum score (with an extra star included!!!). He served it on a round tray with some mulberry leaves at the base, the color contrast was beautiful and really added to the presentation score. Doesn’t it look like he passed? I loved it! 😘

     It’s very important to learn how to enjoy family vacations together. The children have a lot of time. This is a creative activity that they also happen to enjoy a lot (more so because, as I said, my children love to eat). It’s also great to hear the kids praise each other and see how much fun they have together.