Master Chef Jr. Challenge

Master Chef Jr. has been a long time favorite cooking show for our family to watch together. We binge watched the first few seasons a few years ago over the holidays and are still working through the rest. Sadly, we have the cookbook and some fun spoilers have looked ahead to find out who the winners are. I have seen them all before but thanks to my poor memory, it's all a surprise to me! We do love to be in the kitchen together and have taught them as early as we can to cook eggs, grilled cheeses and quesadillas. They do lots of chopping of fruits and veggies and pay close attention to all the elaborate recipes Robby cooks. Even Arlo can hold his own in the kitchen at the Valentine Nest!  

Another night of our 12 Days of Holiday Fun we planned a Grilled Cheese Challenge. All the contestants donned their new aprons I made them for Christmas, we met in the kitchen for the run down from the head chef and judges (us), they viewed the ingredients then sat down to write down a plan. 

Here is a closer look at the options.....

These two were paired together and were fairly happy with the arrangement. We set the timer for 15 minutes and they were off! 

Robby and I sat at the table as each dish was delivered. We imitated Gordon Ramsay and the other judges with all their critiques on textures, plating, color, flavors that compliment each other etc. They often hold up a piece of food on their fork and stare at it for a moment before taking a bite....we did that too. 

The combinations were delicious, some played it safe while others were full of adventure. 

All said and done, dinner was delicious! It's funny, there are events that don't include the disasters or explosions of frustration between siblings but this night, it was pretty great.