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Tech, food a perfect union for these kids

Photo by Jaden Hair

Nathan Hair, left, and his brother, Andrew, make Pizza Racers, a simple, kid-friendly recipe.

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By JADEN HAIR

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 15, 2009

Kids these days are so tech savvy it's pretty scary.

I gave my sons, Andrew, 5, and Nathan, 4, a small $60 Flip camcorder, about the size of a deck of cards. I thought maybe they'd have fun recording little messages like "Hi, I love you!" for their grandparents. They quickly learned the camcorder's simple interface and I let them loose.

Well, I totally underestimated my kids. In a span of three days, 18 videos already were up on You Tube. Most of them were short clips starring Lego figurines, namely R2-D2 and Darth Vader. Another video showed an intricate maze they built with bendable Hot Wheels racetracks that curved around corners, up and over furniture, and under the tables. The video camera followed a series of cars as they started on a track elevated up high from the breakfast nook, made a free fall and zoomed across the floor. I had to wear one of those motion sickness wristbands after watching the segments; the kids have yet to learn the art of a smooth transition.

The last video was quite interesting, and I learned something: My children mock me by pretending to be me when I'm not looking.

I must have gone out to the garden to grab some herbs when Nathan pulled a stool up to the counter and Andrew turned the camera on to his brother. "Hi-ho, I'm Mommy. I do lots of cooking, and you better eat your vegetables or I'll hide broccoli in your ice cream."

Lots of giggles, then the camera panned to the floor and you see little feet running.

"Hey, if they want to be me so much," I thought, "I'll put them on television." I called the producers of Channel 8's "Daytime" show and explained that instead of my regular segment, I'd like to have the kids cook a couple of pizza dishes they learned at a class in December. The boys were so excited, they made three different pizza recipes: a mini pizza with an English muffin, a larger pizza made on a pita round and little pizza racecars that we found in a cookbook called "Silly Snacks."

Andrew and Nathan taped two segments; one aired last week and another will air later this month. The one that already aired is online at www.steamykitchen.com/category/video.

The sooner I teach them to do my job, the earlier I can retire. Maybe I'll start having them write my column, too. Here's a start, as this is one of their pizza recipes. They didn't have a chance to make these on air; four minutes goes by very quickly on television!

PIZZA RACERS

4 hot dog buns (not split)

1/2 cup pizza sauce or pasta sauce

2 cups shredded cheese

16 pepperoni slices

4 pretzel twists

16 stick pretzels

16 cucumber circles

Have your mom turn the oven to 375 degrees. With a steak knife (and Mom's help) take out the insides of the hot dog bun. Cut a little spot for the pretzel steering wheel. Use a spoon and put a little bit of the pizza sauce inside the bun, then four pepperoni slices and then some shredded cheese. You can spoon a little more sauce on top of the cheese. Have your mom put it in the oven for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Mom will take it out of the oven. It's really hot, so you have to leave it alone for a bit. When it's time to make the wheels, get a cucumber circle and poke it with a stick pretzel. You have to make all of the wheels. When the racecar cools, poke the cucumber wheels into the buns. Then put the curly pretzel in the spot for the steering wheel.

Makes 4 pizza racers.

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