Eat It!

Who would have ever thought that "Weird Al" Yankovic would ever play a part in my blog?

Most of you already know that this family loves "Man Vs. Food" on the Travel Channel. We DVR the show and watch every week, and even watch reruns then they run them as well. Gabriel often plays "Man Vs. Food" most evenings when we are eating dinner. Over the past several months, I have been able to converse with him through Twitter (he follows ME now!) and Gabriel thinks its awesome that I have a direct line to him. We have even had the opportunity to meet him at a book signing and we talked as if we had been friends for years. He's such a humble and gracious person and is a great role model for Gabriel as a human being.

We also watch several shows on Food Network: "Iron Chef America," "Throwdown with Bobby Flay," and "Chopped" to name a few. Gabe loves watching the chefs compete using the same ingredients, yet coming up with different results. His favorite parts are the epic failures of some contestants and when the judges talk about what they like, dislike and why. He also likes trying to figure out who is going to win the shows.

Tonight's dinner morphed from a nice meal into a fantastic event. As we were eating dinner, Gabriel began to create his own version of "Chopped," mimicking every nuance of Ted Allen's hosting style, judges comments about our meal, screen graphics and sound effects in and out of commercial breaks, and even provided a few commercials for us. It was incredible. The kid is really good at it. He made Jen and I laugh to the point of hysteria while eating dinner.

Our dinner entertainment quickly turned into dessert talk and we decided to have a dessert-only version of "Iron Chef America." Gabriel, of course, was "The Chairman" and also played the role of Alton Brown, the moderator as our small kitchen turned into our own cramped "Kitchen Stadium." He was unbelievable from the start: from the reveal of our secret ingredient (marshmallows), to starting the battle declaring, "I say to you- in the words of my uncle, Allez Cuisine!" As Jen and I prepared our desserts, Gabriel became Alton Brown, filming parts on his new Spycam watch, and moderating the actions of the "Chefs."

I (dubbed "Bobby Flay" by Gabriel) made Marshmallows Three Ways:

1. Chocolate-Covered Marshmallows and Banana, skewered on a toothpick, rolled in crumbled graham cracker crumbs
2. Marshmallow Orange Dreamcicle- marshmallows skewered on a toothpick, with frozen Cool Whip, dipped in orange juice
3. Marsmallow and Banana on a graham cracker with caramel drizzle

Jennifer (dubbed "Cat Cora" by Gabriel) made a Marshmallow/Banana Pudding:

-Vanilla pudding with sliced bananas on a bed of graham cracker crumbs with marshmallows and a chocolate sauce topping

After the desserts were eaten, the nod went to Jen "Cat Cora" Rogerson, by the slimmest of margins.

It was a big night in the Rogerson house tonight.