master chef

Here is a fun thing we did this last year with homeschool. Our very own Master Chef mystery box challenge. I gave the 3 oldest boys a plate full of the same ingredients and Matt, Collin, and I judged their creations on presentation, taste, and creativity. I gave them angel hair pasta, sausage, parsley, shallots, heavy cream, pizza dough, romano cheese, artichoke hearts, lemon, and a very limited pantry. Most of the items did not have labels so they had to smell or taste or just ignore it if they did know what it was. They did not have to use everything and they had a small bit of help with the stove and blenders and such.

I was blown away! They did so great and got really into it, not to mention the food was really good. Aden made his own marinara and added carrots for presentation. (I thought this would be gross but the carrots were really good with it.)

Collin was very articulate and tried everything, giving feedback to each dish and writing down his score.

Kaleb opted for the pizza rather than pasta and it was delicious.

Parker did a pasta dish with lemon and even used the lemon peel in the boiling water for the noodles, very smart!

As for the scoring, each judge could give up to 10 points for the three separate categories and in the end a dish could earn a maximum 90 points. (up to 30 from each judge.)

Aden had the best looking dish in our opinion, not as creative but the taste was surprising and real good. He earned 79 points total.

Kaleb's pizza won us over in the taste category, we all finished every bite. He came in with 79 points as well.

Parker was the most creative, we thought. He used more sophisticated flavors and Collin hated it. In the final tally he earned 76 points.

Everyone was happy though. For about $30 in groceries, it was enough for 3 meals. It was cheap and fun and I love that these guys are developing this skill. Collin has already said we need to find another judge because he wants in on it next time.