Three-year-old Pennsylvania chef spreads joy with cooking videos

RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Move over Gordon Ramsay, Guy Fieri and Emeril because there is a new chef in the kitchen.

On a Tuesday afternoon, this Elk County 3-year-old showed us how to make a delicious stromboli stuffed with cheese, meat and sauce.

“It’s something that I’ve always loved to do and I remember doing with my mom and dad when I was younger,” Kylee Matheson, Jay’s mom, explained. “So to carry that on and show that to him is special to me.”

The Ridgway toddler has been whipping up all sorts of recipes and videos of him cooking have been getting a lot of views on social media.

“To see him love it just makes us happy,” Kylee said.

The videos all started on a dreary day. Kylee wanted to make cookies and Jay wanted to help. That’s when she decided to grab her phone to capture the goofy faces he likes to make.

When Kylee put the video all together she shared it with some family.

“And they just thought it was hilarious and kept asking when the next video is coming,” Kylee said. “And that’s how it started.”

Then, Kylee started sharing them on social media and the next thing you know, videos like Jay making a chocolate cake are getting around 500,000 views on YouTube and counting.

Shares are coming from all over the nation, even reaching other countries.

“I’ve said from the beginning that I don’t care how many views or followers he gets on YouTube or Instagram or anything like that,” Kylee said. “Our main mission is just to bring people happiness and joy through these videos. As long as he loves making them, we’ll keep doing them.”

Jay shows us how to make things like fresh-cut fries, chicken noodle soup, lasagna, the list goes on.

However, he also shows us how the simplest things can spread positivity and that’s why they do it.

“You know everybody’s got something going on in their lives that nobody knows about,” Kylee said. “Everybody has their own thing going on and this is one thing that people can agree on, that it brings happiness to their day.”

The priceless faces, a passion for cooking and just pure enjoyment from a toddler make the perfect recipe for a brighter day.

“He doesn’t have any clue of the joy that he brings people,” Kylee smiled. “He has gotten stopped by people who I don’t even know in the grocery store and are like, ‘is that Jay?’”

So what are we learning to make next? While it’s still being decided, we do know one thing, Jay will definitely be serving up some smiles.

Reach out to Maggie Smolka if you know someone or an organization that’s making it matter in the community. You can email msmolka@wtajtv.com or message her on Facebook.