School cookery lessons

[sassafras123]

Just recalling school cookery lessons or domestic science as it was called way back in the Seventies. Does it still exist? Do you recall the recipes? I remember we started with fresh fruit salad, shortbread flapjacks , crumble etc . Seemed a lot of sweet stuff. Used to hate the fact that it was always on the same day as P.E which meant having to walk to school with a gym kit, the usual bag of books and a basket of ingredients. And then dodging the boys on the way home who wanted to taste the results !

80's education here! I do remember making Yule log for Christmas.... and trying to keep it all for home time

Early 80s high school - Home Economics classes were practical and useful and totally opposite to my DC 'Food Tech' classes over the past decade in which they spent more time making it look pretty and use specific (expensive) ingredients than teaching the basics such as how to make shortcrust pastry, how to make a victoria sponge, the various methods ie creaming, whisking, melting, how to make a basic sauce melting butter and flour before adding milk. It would have been far more practical if they had learned about that as well as making stews with cheaper cuts of meat for example, or how to make a wholesome meal without meat, how to prep veg and potatoes, how to cut an onion very finely (particularly useful lesson that was).

samandpoppysmummy

Every lesson started with the teacher making sure that our hair was properly tied back, our apron was on and properly tied and that we'd washed our hands thoroughly.

That brings back memories.
Also, we didn't start HE in the 1st year of secondary school. We did Needlework instead which I hated: constantly queueing up to use the sewing machine and stitching, then unpicking, miles of tacking.
Eventually I was threatened that, if I didn't produce at least the requisite headscarf, apron and basket cover by the end of the year, I wouldn't be allowed to move on to HE.
I didn't, but luckily the family moved to live abroad for a couple of years and it was forgotten about by the time we came back.

[As it turned out, left to my own devices (and own sewing machine), I became a fairly competent dressmaker.]

Whenever I make a roux sauce now I can feel my teacher standing behind me, making sure I beat out all the lumps and shouting 'smooth and glossy' at me!

Slightly off the point, but I can always remember a physiotherapist I used to work with telling me she used to suggest that women did their pelvic floor exercises when peeling potatoes, this obviously being such a frequent occurrence back in the day.
Luckily, no-one has noticed that I start to look a bit glazed whenever I start paring the Maris Pipers