Country Kitchen:
Remembering Early Cooking Experiences
By Mary Emma Allen
Do you recall some of your earliest cooking experiences? Were they
successful or a disaster? Do you look back upon them with nostalgia or
humor?
These incidents help create a heritage for your family, giving them
insight into your life of earlier years.
Early Cooking Episodes
Cooking appealed to me from my childhood. Fortunately Mother let me help
her stir up various dishes in the kitchen and didn't discourage my sister
and brothers either.
I recall making my first meal when I was six years old. Mother wasn't
feeling well and supper time was nearing.
"What would Father and the hired man eat when they came from the evening
milking?" I wondered.
I found cold boiled potatoes in the refrigerator. With Sister's help (she
was younger), I cut these into cubes or slices. We browned them in the
iron skillet on the wood stove. Then I scrambled eggs because I
remembered Mother's instructions from helping her with a previous meal.
These dishes, with bread and butter, fresh milk and canned fruit made the
supper meal. I recall only praise for what I'd done, with Sister's help.
Another time we decided to bake a cake. Apparently I hadn't mastered
reading yet because we didn't use a cookbook, only trying to remember
what ingredients Mother used. We stirred this up and baked it in the
woodstove oven.
Mother, Father, and the hired man raved about the cake. Later Mother
explained it was a little flat because I must have forgotten to include
the baking powder.
4-H Cooking Experiences
Cooking lessons with Miss Laura were an enjoyable experience in 4-H.
Recently I came across the booklet of instructions and recipes that we
used. What fun to find those recipes and be entertained with memories.
With Mother, we learned cooking by using "a pinch of this or a pinch of
that, a tea cup of this and a coffee cup of that."
Miss Laura taught us about measuring cups and spoons and following the
recipe exactly...as the booklet instructed us. I immediately informed
Mother that we needed measuring utensils, too.
I don't think one was a better cook than the other. It simply was
interesting to learn from both methods of cooking instruction.
Cooking in Home Economics Class
When I attended Junior High (7th and 8th grades) there were home
economics classes for the girls and shop classes for the boys. Here we
alternated between cooking and sewing.
I leaned from Miss VanAnden that there was a special knife to cut a
grapefruit.
"Mother, we need to get a grapefruit knife," I mentioned when I came home
after class. We learned the correct way to set a table and prepare
breakfast. Then we graduated to making luncheon dishes and finally the
art of baking.
I enjoyed this so much that I chose the cooking and nutrition course in
high school instead of the physics class my guidance teacher thought a
college-bound student should take.
What are the cooking experiences of your childhood? Do you have recipes
you still can make for your family or include in a family cookbook?
Here's the recipe for PLAIN MUFFINS I learned from Miss Laura. I made it
often for my family.
Sift into a small bowl, 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons baking
powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt. In another bowl, beat 1 egg until slightly
with fork or whisk. Add 1 cup milk and 1/4 cup vegetable oil and stir
together.
Pour the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients, all at one time.
Stir until just mixed together. Batter will be lumpy. Spoon into greased
and floured or paper lined muffin tins.
Bake in preheated 400 degree F. oven for 20 minutes, or until muffins
test done.
(Sometimes I sprinkled a cinnamon/sugar mixture over the muffins before
baking.)
(C) 2003 Mary Emma Allen
About the Author
Mary Emma Allen has been writing her "Cooking Column" for newspapers
and online publications for 30 years and
has compiled a family cookbook. She’s currently compiling a
cookbook/story book,
"Tales From a Country Kitchen." Visit her web site for more cooking
articles. Contact her at me.allen@juno.com
