Electric hand mixers: Not exactly what most chefs consider the zenith in exciting kitchen technology.
Unless, that is, you’re 5 years old, the star of your own online cooking show and getting to use one on-camera for the first time.
Amelia Winslow, 5, sprinted up the stairs of her dad’s South Broadway home to find her co-star, Nahum Gonzalez, 6, in the middle of a last-minute, pre-taping cowlick adjustment.
“Nahum!” she yelled, still audible from the kitchen downstairs. “We get to use the beaters!”
“What are the beaters?” Nahum asked.
“The beaters mix up stuff,” she answered.
“Bzzzzzz,” she went, imitating the sound the mixer makes.
Full of kid humor and giggles, Nahum and Amelia’s cooking show is no “Barefoot Contessa,” similarity in name aside.
“The Barefoots Show,” their web series with 1,060 views and counting on YouTube, is cooking for kids by kids — with a little help from Dad, of course.
Amelia’s father is Denver stand-up comic Andrew Orvedahl, one-third of The Grawlix comedy group and someone who knows a bit about online media.
(The Grawlix have starred in a Web series on funnyordie.com and last year were signed by Amazon to write scripts for an online sitcom.)
Orvedahl also enjoys cooking — “The Barefoots Show” is a fun way to share that interest with his daughter and her friend, he said.
“They always want to help, but a lot of times, it’s so late that I’m just like, ‘No, let me do it,’ ” Orvedahl said. “This is a way for them to do just about everything.”
For “The Barefoots Show,” they choose kid-friendly menu items — so, no, there won’t be a beef stroganoff episode.
So far, they’ve tackled pumpkin muffins, granola, French toast, chocolate-chunk cookies, smoothies and that king of Midwestern kid foods, the not-actually-for-dogs “puppy chow.” Can’t go wrong with Chex cereal coated in melted chocolate and peanut butter, all tossed in powdered sugar.
The idea is to find recipes that are neither too complicated nor too simple, Orvedahl said. Often that starts with asking the stars for recommendations.
Nahum, on a recent morning, suggested tacos. Or maybe “a type of drink that has soda in it.”
Amelia proposed salsa.
But lessons learned during the taping of the as-yet-unreleased smoothie episode would likely steer The Barefoots clear of making salsa for their online fans.
Turns out, Orvedahl said, putting fruit and yogurt into a blender didn’t make for a lot of compelling video footage.
Amelia came up with the show’s name. The opening sequence shows her and Nahum barefoot and standing on stools to get up to the kitchen counter.
Each episode begins the same way, too — with Amelia and Nahum washing their hands.
“Lots of soap!” chimes Amelia.
“Lots of soap!” echoes Nahum.
The kid chefs do almost everything themselves, only getting help with “grown-up” things such as using the oven or stove. All ingredients are pre-measured prior to taping by their sous chef.
Orvedahl also serves as director, cinematographer and film editor, initially posting the clips to YouTube as a convenient way to share the final product with the grandparents.
They taped the first episode in May and now try to do one every couple of weeks. Each episode is between three and five minutes long once edited, although even that can pose challenges when your stars are 5 and 6 years old.
“They’ve both quit mid-episode on different episodes,” Orvedahl said. “They’re like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore,’ and climb down.”
Most of the time, though, Nahum and Amelia are eager participants.
The best part of doing the show?
“It’s cooking,” Nahum said.
“It’s cooking,” Amelia said. “OK, I just copied you.”
“I like that you get to eat it afterwards,” Amelia added later.
She also really likes that hand mixer, which made its debut in the chocolate-chunk cookie episode.
After a behind-the-scenes demonstration from Dad, the chefs were ready for action.
Cue the giggles as Nahum and Amelia traded off mixing the butter and sugar.
“That was cool,” Amelia said as soon as they finished the take.
“I didn’t even lift it up.”
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch
The Barefoots Show : Watch every episode online: http://bit.ly/1v9O7Wq
“The Barefoots’ ” Slightly Almost Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you don’t have coconut palm sugar with sea salt, you can substitute a second cup of blonde coconut palm sugar with 1 teaspoon of sea salt added. Makes 16-20 cookies.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup blonde coconut palm sugar
1 cup coconut palm sugar with sea salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda2 teaspoons hot water
3 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chunks
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix butter and sugars with electric mixer, then add eggs and vanilla.
Dissolve baking soda in hot water and add to mixture.
Stir in flour and then chocolate chunks.
Place heaping spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes.
Puppy Chow, aka Muddy Buddies
Andrew Orvedahl adapted this recipe from the one found on Chex cereal boxes, cutting back the sugar by one cup.
Ingredients
¼ cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla9 cups corn- or rice- (or both) Chex-type cereal
½ cup powdered sugar
Directions
Melt butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter in microwave (or in improvised double boiler as seen on the show) and then add vanilla and stir.
Pour mixture over cereal mix.
Pour resulting mix into large plastic storage bag and then add powdered sugar. Close bag and toss to coat.
Pour out on cutting board or cookie sheet to cool. Store in sealed plastic bag.
