My son never got much into cooking until we started watching the Food Network's "Good Eats" with Alton Brown, and the "Iron Chef" competitions, even though his father is a gourmet cook and did most of the cooking for the family. DS wanted us to have our own Iron Chef contests at home, which we agreed to, and once the capacity to *win* was involved, you couldn't keep him out of the kitchen. It's a thought - it turns cooking from following instructions (not most boys' favorite activity) to a cross between solving a creative challenge and winning a battle.
