Junior Masterchef

Our kids don't watch a lot of television, and neither do we, really. But I've been wanting to check out Masterchef for a while, not having ever watched it before.

Several weeks ago I saw that a new series of Junior Masterchef was about to start, and I thought this might be a great way to get the kids watching something new and interesting, and I'd watch with them.

We recorded the first two episodes which screened on a Sunday night and the following Monday night, and then one day on the school holidays we sat down to watch them.

After ten minutes, Mars asked me when he could start to learn to cook. I told him he could start straight away.

That night he made his favourite food, tuna noodle casserole from his Nana's recipe, with small amounts of help from me where boiling water and the hot oven were involved.

He was completely inspired by the show, which is fantastic. Now he wants to help in the kitchen all the time, which I love. He's been pouring over the Junior Masterchef website for recipes. He wants to make the most difficult hazelnut meringue cake I've ever seen, and I've never even made meringues!

I, on the other hand, have been completely awed by what children only a little older than Mars can produce. The most amazing desserts, unbelievable pasta dishes. These kids are making food that I've never even attempted, with little or no help.

I feel like a complete dolt in the kitchen now.

I can only hope that one day soon, when Mars surpasses my level of cooking talent, that he will let me help him in the kitchen, and I might pick up a few skills from him.

Zucchini meanie

A little while ago I was putting Venus to bed when she started telling me about the zucchini meanie.

Apparently her Pooh Bear wears a bodysuit to bed, just like Bumblebee, and this bodysuit is covered in pictures of animals.

She pointed to a random spot on this invisible bodysuit and told me "this is a zucchini meanie."

"Oh," I said. "What's a zucchini meanie?"

"Well, it's a lot like a giraffe, but its neck is this long (she indicated about 20cm with her hands) and its legs are this long (about the same length), and its nose is this long, as big as my hand, and its eyes are this big (about the size of a tennis ball)."

"What colour is a zucchini meanie?"

"Red. Well, the spots are red. The rest is brown because it's very dangerous so it hides in caves and gets dirty. It used to be a normal giraffe but some people treated it special, so now it's a super giraffe."

"What do you mean when you say people treated it special?"

"They gave it special food."

"Oh. What does a zucchini meanie eat?"

"Frogs... but not all frogs. Kileanie frogs."

"Kileanie frogs?"

"Yes. They're called kileanie frogs because they always lean on things."

Looks like she's been reading Dr Seuss behind my back.