[blindcooks] Re: Helping a totally blind friend learn to cook
- From: "Betty Emmons" <bettycemmons@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 09:13:54 -0600
I would have him place the first steak at 12 o'clock and the other at 6
o'clock. remember that heat can be felt quite a distance away and can be very
fearful. also what seems safe to you does not seem safe to him. right after I
lost my sight they had me use a cold oven to place things in so I would become
familular with the oven.
Betty Emmons
----- Original Message -----
From: Jon Rawlings
To: Blind Cooks List
Sent: Sunday, November 24, 2013 11:15 AM
Subject: [blindcooks] Helping a totally blind friend learn to cook
I need some serious input here from as many of you as possible. I have a
friend that has been a big part of my life since we were very little kids. He
never had much interest in cooking, getting most of his meals from microwave
dinners or leftovers from dinners with family or restaurant food. Recently,
however, a friend of this guy has been teaching him some very basic things like
how to set his oven to cook frozen foods and also some simple slow cooker
recipes. He's slowly gaining an interest in cooking as he sees there are ways
to make fresh dishes for dinner that he feels are within his reach. I should
mention this friend is totally blind and has been from birth. Anyhow, I hung
out with him for the better part of Friday afternoon and evening, and I decided
I'd show him how to make a good pan-seared steak and baked potatoes. The
method with the steak is to season it lightly, get a cast iron skillet roaring,
fiercely hot, then sear the steaks in the pan for about 30 seconds a side
before tossing into a 500-degree oven for two minutes a side. The steaks then
rest on a cutting board or plate under a sheet of foil for a few minutes before
being served. I prefer to leave the pan in the oven while the potatoes bake to
give it plenty of time to get hot. Well, I walked him through the whole
procedure from oiling and salting the potatoes for baking to how the meat
should feel when it has the right amount of seasoning and so on. He did pretty
well, but the biggest challenge was getting the steaks in the hot skillet. He
ended up putting the second steak almost directly on top of the first one, and
because of his fear of getting badly burned, was unable to figure out where the
second steak should go. Part of the problem was that he was handling the tongs
with the same hand that was wearing the oven mitt he had on to protect his
hand, but even after I showed him that the hand with the mitt on it was to
handle the skillet while the mitt-free hand was for feeling with the tongs, he
still couldn't quite get it. So, from those of you with no vision at all, do
you have anything to offer me that I can pass on to my buddy the next time he
at tempts this little adventure? I'm certain this meal is well within his
abilities, even at this early stage of his learning, and is something every
bachelor should know how to make for himself. Jon
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