chopped

One of the things on our "things to do this summer" list was to do our own version of the Food Network show, Chopped. We have all seen it a few times and the kids thought it would be fun to do it themselves. I came up with this simplified version: Each contestant starts with a box mix of chocolate brownies, there would be two mystery items that had to be used in the dessert, and then they were free to use anything in the pantry.

The mystery items: powdered strawberry jello and sweetened condensed milk.

The rules: you could ask questions, but I was not going to help, point out a mistake, or give suggestions.

Jared, being fairly comfortable in the kitchen, started out confident. Carter, having spent much less time in the kitchen, started out in a small panic. Jared was a kind competitor and helped his brother quite a bit-yes, that size bowl will fit everything...yes, you want to grease the pan.

The judges: Allen, Claire and myself.

There were 4 categories: creativity, presentation, taste and overall. When they plated and presented their desserts, we grilled the boys on their dishes, asking the tough questions, using our mature, sophisticated palettes to judge their creations.

Carter: he nabbed the good china first. He used the jello powder inside and on top of the brownie and then used the milk by mixing it with a starburst that had been melted, then topped the dessert with it. He added a sugar cookie and some root beer. Allen and Claire liked the crunchy crust the jello made, unfortunately my slice did not have any jello. None of us liked the cookie, Claire loved the candy topping, Allen did not.

Jared: having found himself done well before Carter, was the one to start adding to his dish. He added a green apple drink and a slice of cinnamon bread (and so Carter had to add his cookie and drink-I finally made Jared stop adding things, so we could finish). His brownie had layers of andies chocolate chips and crushed oreo cookies and a few york pieces in it. He mixed the milk with some powdered sugar and poured that over the mix before cooking. He also made a dip with the milk, powdered sugar, jello and some oreos. The dip won me over and we all like the crust the milk made.

The results: creativity: Jared, presentation: Carter, taste: Carter, overall: Jared. They were not happy with the tie and demanded that we say which one we all liked the best. I said Jared, Allen said Carter...so it was down to Claire, who said she didn't know. In the middle of the boys trying to bribe her, demanding an answer, exclaiming a tie was no fun, Allen put the two half eaten brownies in front of her and said, "Claire, you can finish one of these, which one do you want?" Without hesitation she reached for Jared's brownie. We have a winner.