I Can Cook

Monday 5th – Friday 9th October

CBeebies

Time tbc

bbc.co.uk/cbeebies 

Serving up a selection of simple recipes, top cookery tips and the chance to get very messy, new series I Can Cook celebrates a hands-on approach to cooking and aims to get the nation’s under-6s in the kitchen and cooking up a storm.

Hosted by talented newcomer Katy Ashworth, I Can Cook will teach children how to grow it, cook it and eat it plus discover the magic of the full cycle of food. From the field to the fork, children will learn to connect what’s on their plate everyday with the world around them.

For each programme, musician, actress and all-round entertainer Katy welcomes five children into the I Can Cook kitchen to create a recipe of the day.  Together they pop peppers, sprinkle seasoning and squish squash as they explore where ingredients come from and how foods are made as well as learning some simple kitchen and cookery skills.

There will also be plenty of joining in songs about washing hands and laying the table as well as action songs for lots of kitchen fun.  With a broad range of recipes throughout the series including Magic Mini-Fishcakes, Carrot and Courgette Muffins and Savoury Hot Pot, I Can Cook will offer a dedicated website at www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies - where parents and carers can access all the show’s recipes, some top kitchen tips and lots of games to play as well.

“I Can Cook is a brilliantly colourful programme about having fun in the kitchen,” says host Katy Ashworth.  “Each day five children come to my kitchen to cook, get messy and of course - eat the food that they’ve made.  In the process we learn lots about where our food comes from, how it grows and how it ends up in our cupboards and fridges.

“I also play and sing some great little songs on the guitar about the food so viewers can remember the recipes and techniques in a fun, musical way. It’s the perfect recipe for teaching children to cook by firing their imaginations and making cooking an adventure!”

In Monday’s I Can Cook, Katy invites five young cooks into her kitchen – and her garden - to help her rustle up some Carrot and Courgette Muffins; on Tuesday the little chefs learn how spring onions grow and rustle up some Magic Mini Fishcakes; there’s a lemon flavour on Wednesday as Katy and her team of squishers mix up a delicious Lime and Lemon Cheesecake; the team go Italian on Thursday as they learn how spaghetti is made and swirl up a Baked Spaghetti dish; and some timbers are shivered on Friday when the gang see how butter is made and watch Katy “hide gold from the pirates” as they whip up some Gold Digger Buns.

I Can Cook is produced by Initial, an Endemol Company. Executive Producers are Christopher Pilkington (Initial) and Sarah Colclough (BBC). The Series Producer is Driana Jones.

A Perfect Recipe for a Children’s Cookery Presenter

When the producers of CBeebies’ new children’s cookery series I Can Cook were looking for a new presenter they were seeking out a very special blend. Somebody with a pinch of common sense who could help and encourage the children, a sprinkling of cookery knowledge who knew her carrots from her coriander and a large dollop of talent who could keep the hungry CBeebies audience amused and entertained. And they found their perfect mixture in 23-year-old newcomer Katy Ashworth – fresh from a drama degree at Exeter University, with a generous side order of cookery, and musical skills and a background in teaching drama to six-year-olds to boot!

Katy from Yately in Hampshire is thrilled with her challenge to get the nation’s under-sixes in the kitchen and cooking up a storm, she says:
“This is exactly what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl, making home made TV programmes in my loft. To be given the opportunity to present such a brilliant show that embodies everything I love - food, children and music - was just amazing. I am so proud to be the face of a show that’s sending out such great message and I thank my lucky stars everyday!

“Cooking is such a simple pleasure in life that brings joy in so many of different ways and with all the technology on offer to children it is easy for them to forget these simple pleasures. I think it is a brilliant skill to carry with you all your life, and if you can learn it at a young age then even better! Cooking is something that can make a child feel good about themselves which is so important to give them confidence.”

With over 105 children donning their pinnies to join in the culinary fun, Katy needed to draw on all her talents to keep their attention on the job in hand:
“It was a real challenge to stop the children from licking out the bowl and having food fights when I wanted to do both,” laughs Katy. “But the main task was to keep them acting naturally and having fun when the cameras started rolling. Their first instinct was to go quiet when everyone on set went quiet and then start chatting away again when the cameras stopped rolling – exactly the opposite of what we wanted!”

I Can Cook serves up Katy her very first television role, was she nervous about joining the gallery of much-loved CBeebies presenters?

“I wasn’t nervous so much as absolutely thrilled,” says Katy. “I was a little anxious about my lack of presenting experience but it seemed by home movie experience in my loft really paid off! In the end I was given so much positive encouragement and it was so enjoyable working with the children that presenting the programme with a smile came very easily!”

Praise for Katy has come right from the very top. Controller of CBeebies Michael Carrington says: “I think in Katy we’ve found an amazing, new talent. Her passion, creativity and genuine connection with children just bowled me over when I saw her audition tape. She’s perfect and I’m certain that children up and the down country will be inspired by her enthusiasm, songs and sparky personality to rush straight to the kitchen and get cooking!”

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