COOKING AND A MOVIE

The other day, Nikki made his own french fries. I only wanted it to be an introduction to peeling and slicing vegetables but he really enjoyed the activity. Of course I was apprehensive because he was actually using a real kitchen knife. I was reminding him like every 5 minutes to be careful and to watch his fingers. I taught him how to peel away from him instead of towards him and he had a bit of difficulty but he managed. Then I taught him how to remove the “eyes”. He loved that! I sliced the potatoes and he julienned them. Of course, I had to fry them because I didn’t want him to be traumatized by the hot oil. He enjoyed his french fries a lot and wanted to make more the next day. But surprisingly, Ethan wanted to make HIS own french fries (I told Nikki that Ethan should have a turn as well). I was about to make dinner when Ethan grabbed a potato and asked for french fries. He actually wanted to be like "Cooking Mama" a game in their Nintendo DS that involves cooking. He got the potato peeler and with my help he peeled away like a hurricane. Potato peelings flew everywhere! I was surprised at his speed (so it was a good thing I was holding on to the potato instead of him) because Nikki was very careful with his peeling process. Anyway, Ethan didn’t have the patience to remove the “eyes” so I did that for him. Like Nikki, I sliced the potatoes initially and let him slice them julienne-style. His fries were a little fatter than Nikki’s but he did have a lot of fun making them. However, I think he enjoyed his peeling and slicing so much he didn’t want to share the fries with Nikki. Nikki was of course irritated at that (he gave Ethan some of his fries the day before) but I managed to convince Ethan to share and he gave his Kuya a bit. Just a wee bit. But at least he shared, right?

Now that I’ve seen how interested they are with slicing vegetables, I’m thinking of other food-related activities for them. Hopefully, the interest stays until they learn how to actually cook a delicious meal by themselves.

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Ruther and I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth a few days ago. It was a nice surprise. Although I have to admit that I have yet to read the book (I'm looking forward to that actually), I thought that it was going to be a lot similar to the Hallmark version (I love Hallmark movies!). Anyway, as we continued watching, I realized that it was really different and was a story all its own. It was a really nice family movie and I like Josh Hutcherson (Sean in the movie). I saw him in Zathura and I think he's a cool kid. Anyway, I liked the story and the characters were interesting enough to make me watch the entire thing to the end. Although in truth, I thought that it was a bit short. Well I suppose after watching the Hallmark version I expected more things to happen in the movie but then again, we're talking about millions of dollars here so I'll just leave it at that. I enjoyed the flick, I was transported to a wonderful fantastic (okay scary too) world and it was entertaining. So I'm happy. :)