Playing with knives

Why, yes, that IS my 8 year old son using a knife. And, if you look closely, he's doing a pretty good job, too! But that isn't even the half of it. I stopped at the grocery on the way home from school today to pick up a few needed items (which might or might not have included things needed to make chocolate gravy). The bug hunter began to get restless, and I understood; he'd been cooped up in school all day, and with all the rain, they didn't even get to go outside and play. Indoor recess just ISN'T the same. So, I was trying to hurry through the produce section, and all I needed was an onion or two, and I'd be done. I'm just a little picky about my onion selection; I prefer Vidalias, but if they aren't available, then it at least needs to be a sweet onion. And, I would rather have the ones that are flat; they just seem more like Vidalias to me. So, as I'm carefully inspecting onions to find just the right one, the bug hunter states that HE wants to pick out his own onion. Of course, he chooses one that is perfectly round (just to spite me, I think). And then, he decides that he needs a green pepper, and a head of garlic, a potato, and some BEEF. Gotta have beef, because he is going to MAKE BEEF STEW. He also wanted carrots, which we had, and chicken broth. Had that, too, and didn't really want to dry up his creative juices by pointing out that he might want to use BEEF broth in BEEF stew. He gathered up all the items that he thought he'd need, and we headed home. Once there, he proceeded to take over my kitchen. He's helped me cook before, but it's always been MY meal, and he's just been a helper. But this time, he did it all; scrubbed the potato, washed the pepper, choppped and diced and minced to his heart's content. He even got the hang of my garlic press, and after tasting a shred of raw garlic, he stopped at about 4 cloves, which was pretty much "just right". He sauteed the sirloin beef chunks in olive oil, added the garlic, then tossed in the veggies. A dash of salt, a grind of pepper, some chicken broth, and 2 hours later it was actually pretty darn good! He was pleasantly surprised, and he even got a recipe card and wrote down the recipe. I'm beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel here; he cooks while I pay bills, or do laundry, or read a book. Or maybe, he even combines his mad hunting skills with cooking and ends up with his own show, sort of a "Jeff Corwin meets Emeril Legasse" kind of thing. And then, he gets rich, and he takes fabulous care of me and the handsome hubby in our old age. Or not. But at least I can get out of cooking every now and again without it involving either Chinese food or the Papa John's guy coming to visit. Works for me...