[blindcooks] Re: Helping a totally blind friend learn to cook
- From: <tjweller@xxxxxxx>
- To: blindcooks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 10:50:04 -0800
Betty,
Thank you for this information. That is very helpful. Also the potholders sound
very amazing. Do you know where those were bought?
--
Tammy
---- Betty Emmons <bettycemmons@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 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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