Little Chef

Our little chef in training.

When we first started thinking about a Christmas present for Peanut a few things ran through our minds.... all of which had wheels.  

Peanut seemed just a tad too small for push bikes and so we wanted to come up with something else.

As Peanut still had birthday presents stashed away to be re-wrapped for Christmas (thank you friends and family) the plan was to buy him one awesome gift.

A few weeks ago Peanut was watching B sauté some veggies when he picked up a plastic something or other and started to mimic his daddy.

I got online a few minutes later to search for a wooden kitchen set.

I saw this vintage one, fell in love... and I thought Peanut might like it too but I think I might love it most..

On Christmas morning Peanut ran (in that almost-falling-forward-motion way that toddlers do) straight over to his kitchen without even a pause for a wowwowwowwow!

He immediately started dipping ladles in pots and moving pans around.

He turned nobs and opened doors.

These pictures were taken a few minutes after he saw it.

After reading the Amazon reviews I started to worry about assembly as the general word was that it took roughly 2-3 hours to assemble with one person saying 8 hours.

I decided to tell B about it sometime Christmas eve :)  but fortunately my very handy dad not only put it together but delivered it to our place, stashing it in our garage so Peanut wouldn't see it.

I went to Ikea and bought the pots, pans and utensils for super cheap.  

They really complete the feel of the set.

B and Peanut did some father-son bonding in the kitchen as daddy taught him the basics of cooking.

You know, simple stuff like controlling the heat, heating your pan to get the proper sizzle, taking orders on the phone, how to fire tickets, how to time your orders, checking the temp on your food, tasting your sauces.... you know, normal kid stuff.

I stocked the refrigerator with fruits and vegetables from Ikea and they use them in their dishes.

I'm pretty sure that Peanut is going to be a very inventive, cutting edge chef.
I can tell by his unusual flavor pairings.

I mean, who knew that grapes, oranges and garlic tasted so good together?

I know it tastes good because every time he "tastes" it he exclaims MMMMMMMM very loudly.

Every morning he makes us breakfast, complete with sizzling sounds and tastes for everyone.

Here is a video of daddy showing him the ropes on Christmas morning...