I have mentioned my 7th grade home ec cooking teacher, Mrs. Steadman before. Before Mrs. S, I "just cooked" or "just baked" in order to eat... When I arrived in her class at Lake Worth Jr. High School I learned the basics & have held onto them since. Thanks to her, I never "pack" flour into a measuring cup, I use the right spatula for scraping or for leveling & decorating... I ALWAYS bend at the knees to get eye level with the liquid measuring cup (which, I must say, I notice pretty much none of the television chefs do) because if not, the measurement is skewed. I always crack my eggs on the counter & not the side of a bowl... Room temperature butter & eggs (& sometimes milk) is best for baking unless it's for pie crusts or scones. And COLD milk & cream are best for ice cream making. When baking, add a little flour to chips & nuts to prevent them from falling like anchors to the bottom of the batter. And I know that the proper way of writing (& reading) a recipe is to list the ingredients in order of usage.
She also taught me all of the different types of cookies & illuminated the fact that brownies are actually a bar cookie & not something unto themselves. One of the most extraordinary cookies to me, was the refrigerator cookie. These take patience, especially in the 7th grade. We prepped the dough, secured it tight in plastic wrap & popped it into the classroom refrigerator. No eating our spoils that day- we had to wait till the following day's class to cut them with the pastry scraper & bake them... We were so hungry for them (I mean, waiting TWO whole days?!), they were absolutely de-lish!As a nod to Mrs. Steadman's teachings, I thought I'd bake a grownup version using refrigerator method- The Barefoot Contessa's (Ina Garten) Parmesan & Thyme crackers. I subbed fresh basil for the thyme because I had a huge bunch of it from other meals this week. These have a wonderful flavor & are great with cheese, jam or fruit. If you haven't tried making fresh crackers, you should!
TeeHee-- I *knew* that was an Ina recipe as soon as I saw the title! ;)
ReplyDeleteI bend to look at the measuring cup too (or put it on my window sill so it's up higher and there's no bending involved-- in any case I get eye level with the thing!) While they aren't bending, I have noticed that a lot of the tv chefs are using the new OXO liquid meaures that require no bending! I'd like one but they are plastic and for some reason I *must* have glass liquid measures! Strange, I know. ;)
I think I am going to try to make these for book club tomorrow night!
ReplyDeleteOh they would be GREAT for book club! They made the house smell so good too! YUM
ReplyDelete@Stacey- I tried to post this 3X already- I AM THE SAME way with glass measuring cups!
ReplyDeleteThat's so great that your home ec teacher had such an influence on you! Does she know? You should write her! I'm also impressed that you were baking or cooking for yourself before seventh grade!!!!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you, Linda! It was a necessity for my household growing up. Mrs. Steadman was elderly as I remember her so no, unfortunately.
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