School cookery

[timnsal]

Youngest offspring has just started this year's 6 weeks of cookery/healthy eating lessons. How much do they expect them to learn in 6 weeks? ::)

This week they had to make soup, so off he went with homemade stock and leeks just pulled from the allotment. Definitely an improvement on previous years though - the teacher knew what stock was and gave him a merit for bringing home-grown ingredients.

Last year, when his salad contained only ingredients picked late the previous night , the teacher said it was "a shame". And his brother had to explain what stock was!

Sally

[timnsal]

[saddad]

When we had a proper "Cookie" teacher I would often take a glut of veg in... esp odd stuff like Achocha...  ;D

[pippy]

It's sad isn't it ?  I took some of my glut of french green beans to give away to playgroup staff last year ... one of them asked me what you do with them ! :-\

[timnsal]

Have to admit I wouldn't know what to do with Achocha - at least I know where to come and ask for advice though :D

Sally

[lottie lou]

I was always taught to buy spuds with the dirt on.  Just found out my girls' peers used to laugh at them as if they needed potatoes they always had ones that weren't clean and washed.

[Mrs Ava]

When I did Domestic Science we had great teachers - my fave was one called Mrs Cook  ;D.  Baked apples were the first thing I ever made using apples picked from my mums back garden - took enough in for half the class!!

[littlebabybird]

my daughter yr 7 made fruit salad this week, next week they are making a sandwich.
she says the teacher had to show some of them how to cut up apples
pathetic

a waste of 6 weeks a year? for our kids yes but......
lbb

[littlebabybird]

sorry to pull this to the top but i just wanted to share the irony that my 7 and  nine year old cooked lasagna for 8 today (with supervision from daddy for safty and lifting)
and tomorrow at school my 11 year old is going to be 'taught' to make a sandwich,

lbb

[kt.]

my daughter yr 7 made fruit salad this week, next week they are making a sandwich.
she says the teacher had to show some of them how to cut up apples

I do not let my 7 yr old use sharp knives.  Always  being over protective I guess, I know she will need to sometime.  I do the sharps stuff.  At what age does everyone else let kids use sharp instruments in the kitchen - under supervision obviously.

[littlebabybird]

my daughter yr 7 made fruit salad this week, next week they are making a sandwich.
she says the teacher had to show some of them how to cut up apples

I do not let my 7 yr old use sharp knives.  Always  being over protective I guess, I know she will need to sometime.  I do the sharps stuff.  At what age does everyone else let kids use sharp instruments in the kitchen - under supervision obviously.

sorry kt year 7 in school, thats age 11/12

my nine year old uses a knife, my 7 year old doesnt

lbb

[saddad]

If you read some newspapers you would think all secondary school pupils carried Knives!!  :-X

[thifasmom]

my daughter was allowed to use sharp knives under supervision in the kitchen from the age of 7, now that she is nine she is still supervised but not as closely just to make sure she is holding it correctly.

i remember watching a documentary a few yrs ago it had this little 5 yr old girl in India, she was preparing supper for her family and i was mesmerised by how well she was handling a large knife to cut up veges. that's when i decided to allow my daughter to use proper knives when helping in the kitchen. after all she was allowed to use proper scissors from the age two and learnt how to use them quite efficiently before turning 3 :-\.

[timnsal]

Well, suppose there is a bit of skill in making a decent sandwich - cutting the bread, assembling/ preparing a tasty filling. Took my youngest ages to master slicing bread, and terrified me for even longer!

Bunging a bit of jam between two slices of plastic, on the other hand ...

My daughter burnt herself the other day when she forgot that oven gloves would be a good idea for taking trays of biscuits out of the oven, and she's 18. She's also a qualified first aider, but I still had to tell her to stick the burn under the cold tap ::)


Overall, using knives was less scary than when they started making cups of tea and carrying them up and down stairs.

Sally

[timnsal]

sorry to pull this to the top but i just wanted to share the irony that my 7 and  nine year old cooked lasagna for 8 today (with supervision from daddy for safty and lifting)
and tomorrow at school my 11 year old is going to be 'taught' to make a sandwich,

lbb

Apparently, our lot this week had to design a sandwich - didn't even make it. Having carefully taken on board all the advice about healthy eating and so on, youngest and his group did the 'breakfast sandwich' without mushrooms, tomato or beans  ;D Didn't get a report back on the teacher's view of this.

Sally

[mat]

I still have my school recipe books from my two years cookery in secondary school.  I still use them, esp for one of the recipes "Swedish tea ring"!!!  I used knives from a very young age, it taught us to be careful.  However I think it depends on how careful the child is... you know your children. 

mat

[artichoke]

When my children were young (70s), I was really annoyed that in midwinter they had to take tomatoes and lettuces to school for their cooking lessons.

I sent them with home grown cabbages and carrots and onions for coleslaw salads. Embarrasment all round.

In the 50s we were taught to cook with seasonal ingredients. Everything went wrong during the 70s, as far as economical cooking was concerned.