阅读理解Kiran Alwy, 13, went home with 10,000 dollars in prize money after winning on Food Network's Chopped Junior, a popular cooking show in the US.
On the show, Alwy made lemonade, Lobster tail（龙虾尾）and white chocolate macaroni （通心粉）and cheese into a lobster mac and cheese. She also made a beautiful salad topper. Her ability to improvise（即兴创作）helped make her a winner.
Learning to cook became important to Alwy after her parents got divorced（离婚）. "I kind of had to cook for myself. My mom can't really cook," Alwy said.
Alwy learned her kitchen skills from her father, Moid, and her grandmother, who taught her how to make traditional Pakistani dishes when she was 8. Her parents let her start using the stove while they watched her. Moid taught her how to correctly use a knife. Alwy would practice her skills by following recipe from meal kits.
"The kits helped me learn a few skills," Alwy said. "I also learned how to improvise according to different recipe because I saw what ingredients（食材）were in things. The important thing is having your own idea."
At her dad's house in St. Louds Park, Alwy would try cooking with whatever they had on hand. "If we had ground beef in the fridge, I knew how to make a dish quickly," she said.
Outside of the kitchen, Alwy has the busy life of a middle-schooler. She swims and plays the cello. She hangs out with friends, gets good grapes and watches TV—mostly cooking shows.
