Learning Life Skills

My children have been inspired by watching the Canadian and Irish versions on MasterChef to do some cooking this week. The first I knew of it was being banned from the kitchen and the occasional request for info, a clattering of pans and the sound of team work. They rustled me up a spicy vegetable pasta:

Seeing as they had never attempted anything like this before it was pretty impressive but with room for improvement. Buoyed with their success they decided to make me tea too. The starter was devised and created by my 7 year old, a salad sandwich:

My daughter created the main course and cooked me a variation on Hunter's chicken with a lemon and rosemary seasoning, accompanied by a side salad:

Next the children decided that the grandparents should benefit from their newly honed cooking expertise so booked themselves into my parents' kitchen today to repeat their success. This time they grudgingly allowed me to assist and occasionally suggest improvements (such as softening the onions before adding to the sauce!).  Once again the dish was beautifully presented:

For dessert my daughter had cooked an apple, redcurrant and blackberry crumble. They dished this up with ice cream:

The MasterChef influence once again showed in the presentation with mint:

Let's hope they are willing to do even more cooking and can turn a hand to all sorts of dishes!