That's one way to beat the winter blues....

It's cold outside, so we've been watching a lot of the Food Network. I've suddenly become addicted to cooking shows (don't ask me why). Today, my eldest transformed before my very eyes into Chef Cody. He told me he wanted to have a cooking show, so our living room quickly became a gourmet kitchen. He made "Cody Surprise" which included ingredients such as cornmeal, twisty noodles, salt, pepper, italian seasoning, garbanzo beans, radish, red potato, celery, water, raisins, dried onion rings, and "cilantro" (which was actually sliced almonds!). Oh yes, and we topped it all off with some sliced bread which had been marinating in Italian seasoning. Yum!

He stirred, mixed, poured, and measured. He was just as good, if not better, than Emeril. We had a delightful time, in our living...ahem, I mean...kitchen.

And here is the finished product (and mmmm....doesn't it look good??!!)

I highly recommend this kind of play for your budding chef(s). It was definitely a fun diversion and a great way to mix away the winter blahs. We also eliminated some old ingredients that had been crowding our cupboard space with their somewhat aged dates.

On a different note, please welcome our friends, the Strathman family, to blogosphere. They have just begun their blogging journey, and we're so glad!

Happy Cooking, everyone!