When Sarah Cooper was 14, everybody at her school knew her. Was she the best student? The star of the football team? The best performer in the school play? None of those things. She was named as the most promising chef (最有前途的主厨) on a popular cooking show in the US.

Flynn McGarry was another kid chef on the show. He was famous as “the Justin Bieber of food” because he had so much talent at age 12. He even opened a restaurant in New York City. Just like Sarah and Flynn, there were many other kids on cooking shows.

So how did cooking start to rise (兴起) and become so popular with kids?

In the old days, people thought of cooking as a boring chore, just like doing the dishes and cleaning the house. Only people who wanted to be wonderful chefs were interested in cooking.

But things became different little by little. Cooking shows became popular in America at the beginning of the 21st century (世纪). Many kids watched these shows with their family. Some kids became stars on the shows. At the same time, online cookbooks and cooking videos made it easy to learn how to cook. At last, more and more kid chefs were born.

Guangdong has a long tradition of making flowers into food because of its warm and humid climate (潮湿的天气). “Sanfu” (三伏天) is the hottest days of the year in China. Locals therefore often cook flower soups during the Sanfu days to clear the heat. Here are two simple recipes for flower soups.

Frangipani and Pork Ribs Soup (鸡蛋花排骨汤)

Ingredients (材料): 20g dried Frangipani, 500g pork ribs, a candied date (蜜枣), ginger (姜), salt

* Wash the frangipani.

* Cut the pork ribs into pieces and wash them to remove blood stains (血迹).

* Put some cold water, ginger, a candied date, and the Frangipani into a pot.

* Bring the water to the boil and then cook it for one hour

* Add a little salt.

Chrysanthemums and Wax Gourd Soup (菊花冬瓜汤)（Sweet）

Ingredients: 500g wax gourd, 40g brown sugar, 3 to 5 white chrysanthemums

* Peel the wax gourd.

* Put the wax gourd into a pot, add some brown sugar. Mix well with a spoon or your hand and let it lie in the pot for one hour.

* Put some hot water into the pot and then cook it for 20 minutes.

* Add some chrysanthemums. Chrysanthemums are not put inside until the soup is ready, so that they keep their fragrance (香味).

* Add more sugar if you have a sweet tooth.

Chicken soup is a kind of traditional Chinese food. It is very delicious and it’s good for our health. And I think it’s easy to cook. Do you like chicken soup? If you follow my steps, you can enjoy the delicious chicken soup.

First, you need a pot. Clean the pot and pour eight big bowls of water into it. Then, heat (加热) it as you do other things for cooking. You’ll need some chicken, carrots, salt and pepper. Cut up the chicken and carrots. When the water boils (煮沸), put the chicken into the pot. Wait for about 20 minutes and add the carrots. Then, cook for 30 minutes. And then add salt and pepper and cook them for another 30 minutes. Finally, move the pot off the oven (灶). When the soup cools down, you can enjoy your chicken soup.