Persons of the Week: Isabella and Olivia Gerasole

May 19, 2006 — -- The show is not "Emeril Live" yet, but 8-year-old Olivia and 10-year-old Isabella Gerasole's weekly webcast is getting there.

These sisters teach other children about healthy cooking with their Internet cooking show.

"I think everyone should learn to cook," Isabella said. "It's not just throwing a bunch of stuff in a mixing bowl and then stirring it. You really get to know the ingredients and what they taste like and where they come from."

Their webcast on spatulatta.com is the brainchild of the girls' neighbor in Evanston, Ill., who worried about the rise of childhood obesity and diabetes. (To visit their site click here.)

Gaylon Emerzian's idea was to show kids and parents alike that cooking good, fresh food can be easy and fun.

"We want parents to not think of cooking as a chore but as a family activity … quality time that they can spend with their kids," Emerzian said.

After just a year on the Web, the girls are gaining notoriety. Last week they won a James Beard Award, the most prestigious culinary award in the country. Belle and Livie are the youngest people ever to receive the award.

During their acceptance speeches, they thanked the Beard Foundation, their parents and their grandmother.

Every week, Emerzian and the girls shoot a theme-based show, such as this week's Memorial Day cookout with a Hawaiian touch. Recipes included kalbi beef, squash kebabs, stuffed rice balls and tofu salad.

The girls use the show to convince other kids that there is plenty of great-tasting food that isn't full of sugar or fat, while introducing them to new flavors like pickled ginger and hoisin sauce.

They also highlight skills kids can learn and products that are easy for their small hands to use, such as a pyramid shaped grater.

"They watch other kids cook. … I think it might make it more enjoyable for them. Because usually they just watch their parents cook," Olivia said.