Did anyone watch Jamie Olivers programme on teaching people to cook.?
I was genuinely amazed that there are people who fed their children on nothing but takeaways.
I am not surprised that people can not budget their money if this is the way they live.
I think I learnt to cook just by watching my mum when I was young.
The school cookery lessons never taught me much really.
I think cookery lessons should be offered as part of a pregnant woman's health care.
It does not need to be expensive,halls could be rented once a week.Volunteer ladies or men could teach,lots of ladies my age with time on their hands would be happy to teach I am sure.Or would all those elf and safety regs get in the way.?
Any thoughts.?
And you'd have to be CRB'd as well ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)
I watched it betula and must admit my jaw was on my lap.
My two weren't that interested in cooking as youngsters but now they can turn out wonderful meals.
Secret was a cookbook every year in the stocking ;D
Son still rings up at least once a week and asks - how would you do so and so!?!
Ninnyscrops
i would def volunteer my self for a project like that
Quote from: asbean on October 12, 2008, 22:19:50
And you'd have to be CRB'd as well ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)
Could I have a translation for CRB'd?
valmarg
police check to make sure you wern't a criminal or a pervy.
Quote from: ACE on October 13, 2008, 02:26:41
police check to make sure you wern't a criminal or a pervy.
Don't be misled, a CRB check can only say that a person has no criminal record
YET.
Quote from: Larkshall on October 13, 2008, 05:19:36
Quote from: ACE on October 13, 2008, 02:26:41
police check to make sure you wern't a criminal or a pervy.
Don't be misled, a CRB check can only say that a person has no criminal record YET.
Stupid remark! Have you got a better way?
My OH had to get level 1 military clearance not long ago, at about the same time as I got CRB checked. Beleieve me, military clearance is far easier to get!!
I worked for Social Services for many years with young families and their children. About twenty years ago we did a survey asking parents about their diet as we had concerns then and were trying to gather knowledge to see what we could do about it.
The information that came back was mind boggling!
We knew we had to act, so some of the staff offered support, myself being one of them.
We got a room set up with a cooker and some tables, all basic as funds were low, but made it into a pleasant enough area.
We then talked about recipes, simple stuff like shepherds pie, and took it right back to basics, bearing in mind some of the parents struggled to read and had no clue about food and no clue about budgeting.
We would cost the items, shop for them together, make them together and eat them together.
The feedback was always very positive and we did really well, even though parents never seemed to take it further by cooking at home for the children which was the eventual aim of the programme.
It was much the same as Jamie does now I guess, but if we recognised this over 20 years ago, well, it makes me mad about the lost 20 years where there is too little too late?
As a youngster my Mum always cooked from scratch and I would be by her side, watching, learning, chatting, helping, she taught me everything I know and aside from that, it was also my responsibility to assist her!
I think poor eating habits and general laziness when it comes to food and the preperation of it, accounts for so much of what is going wrong nowadays.
I so agree.
Sometimes I get the impression I am living in another world to a lot of the mums around me - and they are not poor, underprivileged people either. Many haven't a clue how to bake a cake or say they "haven't time" and yet they have time to spend a fortune on ready meals, expensive fruit, pre-prepared salad etc.
I remember a chap I worked with at one time telling me he always ate his main meal in the canteen at work because it was subsidised and "you couldn't make it yourself for £3". I pointed out to him that I cooked a meal for 4-6 people with raw ingredients for less than that! I really pitied him and his (young) family that they never sat down to eat a meal together. I know for a fact his wife wasn't working either.
This credit crunch business reminds me of when I was really little and my mum and I used to batch bake on a Sunday (she worked) so we had things to take us through the beginning of the week. She would make meat and potato pies, apple pie, egg custard, pasties,shepherds pie that kind of thing. The end of a roast of a chicken caracas and any leftover veg was used to make a soup. Nowadays we are more health concious but the same principles can be used. It was amatter of using the oven space while it was on too!
I suppose having been brought up in the late 1940's when rationing was the norm, it is difficult to go back to the privations then, and compare with the profligacy of today.
When it came to a meal, you either ate what was put in front of you, or you went hungry. My sister always reckoned that if you trod on my foot my head would fly open. ;D ;D
valmarg
Some of the ready meals are cooked by top chefs and are better than an inexperienced cook. Have made my own wine and bread and cakes, but think that shop bought is mostly better than mine. My children wouldn't eat my pastry, only liked frozen. Their favourite meal was fish fingers, chips and frozen mousse especially if I danced on the table. Baxter tinned soups are good, heinz baked beans are good, birds eye frozen peas are good, I grew my own peas and had about enough for 2 people for one meal. I hear what you are saying but a lot of the food you can buy is good. I went out with a top chef and he hated making puddings/sweets and said buy them in, but make sure you buy a good brand. He loved making soups and the main course, but even he made a mistake with his fish soup but because he was a chef everyone ate it and said it was lovely, apart from me who said it was disgusting and he agreed. He did cook from fresh but some things he thought were just as good tinned or frozen.
i have been asked very recently how to make rice pudding ::)
and people at school are prepared to pay me silly money to make fairy cakes and birthday cakes
some of you know i have looked after many children, you would not believe the number of them
that have Never eaten vegetables
lbb
what boggles the mind is the number of educated people who can't read and follow a recipe ::).
I did a talk at the kids school today about the soil and it's importance and I took in half a dozen carrots that I had just pulled from the allotment. The children were gobsmaked....they are covered in mud....so they grow under the ground....I only have tinned carrots.....how can you tell the difference between carrots and potatoes! The teacher asked if they could keep them and eat them in the afternoon, and as the children came out of school, they all thanked me for the sweet, crunchy, delicious carrots. I know this isn't cooking, but if children don't have access to the raw ingredients, how are they ever going to learn to cook. It is a shame. Ninnyscrops, I love that idea, and thinking back, mum has given me all of my cookery books over the years for birthdays and Christmas.
You learn to cook by example. If you are brought up with your Mum or Dad cooking you watch and take note. I remember helping my Mum and Gran to cook from a small child. I remember being given a wooden peg to help scrape spuds. Gran didn't want me to cut myself. As I got older my Mum worked part time and I was encouraged to make the tea for 5. I was trusted to make a simple tea for Mum and Dad and so it went on. Same with my husband. His Mother was a Night Sister and he made her tea before she left for work. Wouldn't say the cooking would be anything fancy but you get the basics.
I am also fascinated by looking into folks trolleys at supermarket check outs. Its the same food I see every time. White bread, Pizzas, Crisps and beer. No bl**** wonder the population is in poor health with weight problems.
The children of today need help in the Kitchen and if Jamie Oliver can get them interested, great.
Quote from: Carol on October 14, 2008, 20:26:01
The children of today need help in the Kitchen and if Jamie Oliver can get them interested, great.
I certainly wouldn't argue, we need to get cookery off the ready meal shelves and back in the kitchen
The only trouble with Jamie Oliver is his foul language. His effing and blinding detracts from the message he is trying to get across. I think he has lost an enormous audience because of this. Certainly we are not watching.
I may be an old prude, but when my ten year old great niece says that effing and blinding is 'not nice', I think that puts the foul-mouthing into perspective.
valmarg
Well I'm proud to say that my kids (both 13) can cook basic meals like spaghetti bolognese, lasagne (although I will admit to using jars for that!), chicken stir fry and most of a roast. However......I have one HUGE bug bear in relation to their so called cooking lessons at school. Now when I was at school (and it wasn't that long ago I hasten to add), the parents supplied the ingredients, the school the cooking utensils and everything was done at school, including the measuring, slicing and chopping and the washing up afterwards. I have very strong memories of the nun's instructing us to wash the cups, the bowls, the small plates, dinner plates, saucepans and then the cutlery in that order, and heaven help you if you didn't!
At my sons school however, they're expected not only to measure everything before they get there, but also to do all the chopping and slicing and provide the cooking utensils (for them, read me). In the past few weeks I've had to go out and buy pans and tins and dishes that quite honestly I won't need again and that quite honestly in this economic climate and my own personal circumstances I can't afford, because the school won't supply them. Now I'm no chef, so my slicing and chopping isn't exactly up to any kind of standard, my sons both want to be caterers, but how in heck's name are they going to pass a gcse in this subject without the basic knowledge and experience!!! Apparently there isn't enough time in the lesson for them to be preparing the food from scratch!!! Where is the sense in that? I'm not saying parents shouldn't pass on their knowledge but the schools need to be making this more of a priority surely??
>:(
Posie that's ridiculous! I would be straight up to the school to ask exactly what they think they are playing at. What are they really teaching? Is it "cooking as an assembly job" ?
Crikey Me!!
;)
Quote from: ACE on October 13, 2008, 08:51:57
Stupid remark! Have you got a better way?
Whether it's a stupid remark or not, no police officer will guarantee anyone's behaviour. I know from 8.5 years in the force. Don't be misled into a fools paradise.
to add to what posie has said, they also spend at least 1/2 of their timetabled home ec lessons
designing the packaging, planning the cost effectiveness of the product and a million other crap ideas
and ....................they are not allowed to use 'sharp' knives
lbb
ps but then, they are not allowed to play 'it' in the playground because its to dangerous
Quote from: Larkshall on October 14, 2008, 21:25:25
Quote from: ACE on October 13, 2008, 08:51:57
Stupid remark! Have you got a better way?
Whether it's a stupid remark or not, no police officer will guarantee anyone's behaviour. I know from 8.5 years in the force. Don't be misled into a fools paradise.
It has nothing to do with one policemans word. It is a check on your criminal record done through an agency that was set up to collate criminal records after the Soham tragedy. Not just once, but all the time you are in any job that needs it.
My wife has a check every two years.
I have two checks every 2 years. So once in every three years I don't get checked. Someone is making a lot of money out of this racket.
Yes I agree someone is making a lot of money out of the scheme, They should be ashamed of themselves, but if it saves a small life. It's worth it.
as a nurse i get CRB checked every year, and have recently applied to agency work as well and got CRB'd again..
i have been watching this programme and loving it usually on catch up tv yet so havent seen the latest one yet i have really enjoyed watching some of the reactions of those that have cooked their first me its incredible
If they did the chopping in school, they would need to take knives in with them.
This may lead to more stabbings. ::)
Reminds me of the bit in The meaning of life, 'you may use dividers, but not on each other'.
Quote from: dtw on October 14, 2008, 22:51:33
If they did the chopping in school, they would need to take knives in with them.
Well my school supplied the knives within the kitchen and we didn't stab anybody!! How can we expect kids to take responsibility and act responsibly when we stop them from doing everything "just in case". All I want is for my sons to be able to excel in something they enjoy immensely and that has a practical purpose in real life. Surely that's not too much to ask?
Posie, I hope your sons are measuring, chopping and slicing the food themselves and that you are not doing it for them! :-\
My eldest son worked part time as a kitchen assistant in a hotel when he was at 6th form college. He can now cut an onion or cucumber very quickly into very thin slices. He does a lot of the cooking for his wife and children and helps me out when I am catering for large family get togethers.
My youngest son has taught himself to cook and is always concocting some type of meal with courgettes, onions, mushrooms etc.
Quote from: Paulines7 on October 15, 2008, 00:00:38
Posie, I hope your sons are measuring, chopping and slicing the food themselves and that you are not doing it for them! :-\
They most certainly do. Pointless me doing it for them.
Quote from: posie on October 14, 2008, 21:04:23
Well I'm proud to say that my kids (both 13) can cook basic meals like spaghetti bolognese, lasagne (although I will admit to using jars for that!), chicken stir fry and most of a roast. However......I have one HUGE bug bear in relation to their so called cooking lessons at school. Now when I was at school (and it wasn't that long ago I hasten to add), the parents supplied the ingredients, the school the cooking utensils and everything was done at school, including the measuring, slicing and chopping and the washing up afterwards. I have very strong memories of the nun's instructing us to wash the cups, the bowls, the small plates, dinner plates, saucepans and then the cutlery in that order, and heaven help you if you didn't!
At my sons school however, they're expected not only to measure everything before they get there, but also to do all the chopping and slicing and provide the cooking utensils (for them, read me). In the past few weeks I've had to go out and buy pans and tins and dishes that quite honestly I won't need again and that quite honestly in this economic climate and my own personal circumstances I can't afford, because the school won't supply them. Now I'm no chef, so my slicing and chopping isn't exactly up to any kind of standard, my sons both want to be caterers, but how in heck's name are they going to pass a gcse in this subject without the basic knowledge and experience!!! Apparently there isn't enough time in the lesson for them to be preparing the food from scratch!!! Where is the sense in that? I'm not saying parents shouldn't pass on their knowledge but the schools need to be making this more of a priority surely??
you really have to wonder what the education system realistically thinks it can churn out with their under par teaching methods. i was also given home economics in highschool, a general class session was generally 40 minutes, but the days we had practical classes ie sewing/ cooking a dish those classes were double sessions.
i have a friend who's a teachers assistant and she has expressed concern over the time allocated for work to be done, she has seen children having to pack up their stuff when all they have done is the date and one question/ sum and when she draws this to the teachers attention, she's been told that they have run out of time for the lesson, and if they have time they will come back to it, she has never seen them do this though.
Quote from: valmarg on October 14, 2008, 20:50:08
The only trouble with Jamie Oliver is his foul language. His effing and blinding detracts from the message he is trying to get across. I think he has lost an enormous audience because of this. Certainly we are not watching.
I may be an old prude, but when my ten year old great niece says that effing and blinding is 'not nice', I think that puts the foul-mouthing into perspective.
valmarg
ditto here i love to watch shows like this with my nine year old as it helps to reinforce life skills i try to teach and impart to her, but this show has to much obscenities. it distracts you and she would also object to its use and would quickly lose interest. so we are not watching this show together.
I haven't watched any of Jamies' current series simply because I'm sick to death of seeing families who only feed their kids takeaways and ready meals. Oh and let's be honest about this, the vast majority are only taking part in the project to get on telly and it's a foregone conclusion that once the cameras have left, takeaways and ready meals will be back on the menu because it's much less hassle than actually cooking a meal from scratch :-\.
I bet half the people featured have at least one parent at home and not working, so time wont be the issue it's just laziness/taking the easy option which, let's be honest, is a sad but accurate picture of modern society as a whole.
Why cook from scratch (even a basic meal can take 1hr from prep to dishing up) when you can pop a £2.99 ready meal in the microwave or oven and it's ready in next to no time, or a visit to MaCDs', Burgerking, Pizzahut will not only deal with cooking but means there's no washing up either?
Why save for a deposit on a house when you can get a 100% or 100%+ mortgage?
Why save for the latest gadget (which will be out of date in a few weeks) when you can put it on the old plastic? ???
It's this sort of attitude that has led to the current problems/crisis in terms of Obesity and the Credit Crunch.
The importance of cooking and using fresh ingredients should be compulsory and on the curriculum from day 1. From Reception (aged 4) to Year 11 (aged 15-16) every pupil should have to do cookery once a week, that way at least the next generation will have the skills and knowledge to give them the choice as adults. The added cost to schools would surely be outweighed by the saving on the NHS re diet related issues. This takes the onus of the parents who, in most cases can't or wont cook for their families. On the other hand, for those families who DO cook from scratch, the curriculum would then be underscoring and supporting their own philosophy and family values.
My 17yr old can happily cook most basic meals and is now branching out into more complicated concoctions. My 4yr old and 2yr old both love helping pick the veg and preparing meals (mind you 2yr old Rosie tends to prefer tasting the veg in its' raw state), especially of we're using veg they've grown themselves (4yr old Daisy grew sweetcorn, Runnerbean enormas, Pumpkins, Moneymaker toms and Turnips this year).
Both have a healthy love of food and cooking, so much so in the case of the latter, that they're often on the point of tripping me up as I'm trying to get meals on the table, so keen are they to help.
Thankfully a quite a few of my friends have a similar ethos towards cooking and baking but a few others still think we're mad to spend 1 to 2 hrs preparing a meal (not to mention the time spent growing it) or baking cakes, bread etc. when a trip to Tesco would have a meal on the table in a fraction of that time and it's that attitude that needs to change which is why, I believe, that the only way forward is through school in the short term, to, hopefully, produce the next generation of home cooks/bakers who would then start to compliment the school by reinforcing their own childrens cookery lessons, by home example.
Regards
Reet xx