Last night, as we were wasting a bit of time before having to head upstairs to bed, Louis and I caught a few minute of MasterChef Junior.  I’ve never even seen the original version of this show, much less the one with kids…but it had us sucked in for a moment.  I’d probably have watched the entire thing had Louis not needed to get to bed for school in the morning.

It’s mildly embarrassing for me how good these children can cook.  They’re using culinary terms I’ve never even heard of and coming up with amazing dishes on the spot.  And (as one of my friends pointed out) using knives!  I can hardly trust myself with a knife.

Louis has been the world’s most difficult eater since he discovered that he could choose what goes in his mouth and what doesn’t.  It’s been an uphill battle that we continue to fight.  We’ve tried taking every form of advice and it’s really not working.  We’ve even gone about (about a million times) trying to get Louis to cook with us, thinking that an interest in how it’s made might make him want to eat it too.  Nope.

Until last night.  When he declared,

I want to be a Master Chef!!  I want to make Salami Soup!

Salami Soup?  Is that a thing?  I have no idea where it came from.  They didn’t talk about it on the show and I certainly have never made it.  But Louis couldn’t stop talking about salami soup and his desire to make it.

Well, by George.  Bennett made it is a reality for Louis.  He surprised him by making a trip to the grocery store to pick up the supplies we didn’t have, after looking up what exactly went into a Salami Soup recipe.  He even put the ingredients together under a box for Louis to unveil, just like the show. 

Louis. Was. Stoked.

Lou was especially nervous to use a knife for the first time.  Mostly because he saw a little girl on the show last night cut her fingers and he was convinced it would happen to him too.  It’s why he didn’t want tomatoes in his soup. Because tomatoes = cut fingers.  Or something like that.

The soup was actually very good and I was incredibly proud of Louis for following through with the entire cooking process, right alongside Daddy.  Up until now, he has only really volunteered to help me make cookies…and I’m pretty convinced it’s because he wants to lick spoons and eat cookie dough.  This was a new adventure for our little one.  And such a positive one at that.

All of this griping and complaining from me about Louis not wanting to help in the kitchen or try new foods and apparently all I needed to do was show him videos of other kids cooking.  Seriously?  Why didn’t I think of that myself?