Memories of Cookery Lessons

[80sChav]

I loved Cooking/Baking in HE (as it was known then) and had many many many laughs with mates there! It was such a slack fun subject!

What memories do you have of this subject?!

80sChav

[big kid]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

we had to make a meal in one lesson. what it looked like and what it should have looked like were two different things.

[Mulletino]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

The things I remember making in cookery class:

When we were about to go up from Junior School to Senior School, we'd spend a day at the new school, one of the lessons was cookery, we made Chocolate Crackles (the corn flakes chocolate things)

The only other things I remember making were:

Vegetable Soup, the lid fell off my flask on the way home on my BMX so my bag was full of Vegetable Soup when I got home.
Welsh Rarebit - posh cheese on toast really.
Bread and Butter Pudding, I remember this as my Grandad was living with us after my Nan had died and he really liked it, so I made him some more another time.

One day we didn't do any cooking, I can't remember why, but a few of us played Dungeons & Dragons which someone had brought in, that was the only time I ever played it.

[staffslad]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

When I was at school, only girls did Domestic Science, together with Sewing and shorthand/typing. Boys did metalwork, woodwork and technical drawing. I remember that occasionally we were allowed to sample what the girls had made, and it was usually okay. I vaguely recall that the girls had to put on a simple meal for the whole class on one occasion. Traditional 70s fare: chips, fish fingers, sponge cake with custard, for which we paid 10p, or gratis if you were on free dinners.

[zabadak]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

AFAIK I made two things: bread pudding and egg... something. Nobody died! Result!

[Richard1978]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I remember my brother made something, & while he was washing up someone knocked it off the table, smashing the Pyrex dish it was in!

[amethyst]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

My first bake was rock cakes

[darren]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I actually quite liked it have done no cooking since though.

Can remember making apple tarts apple crumble.

Can remember kids throwing flour at each other.


We would normally bring a tin box in to bring it home in.

[CrystalBall]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

We used to do 'Housecraft' at upper school from 11-14 (1978-1981 for me). Basically this was one half-term of cookery alternating with one half-term of needlework. Most of the things I made in cookery turned out wrong apart from my sausage rolls and custard tart, which were actually quite nice. I can certainly remember sickly cottage pie, flavourless apple pie and burnt Christmas biscuits. Curdled rice pudding was the worst - the whole family had churning stomachs, chronic burping and wind for about two days. I can still remember the disgusting sour taste of the burps! Better than needlework though.

[Big Tim]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I enjoyed the actual cooking part of "Food Technology" / "Design & Technology: Food" / "Food Studies" - depending what they decided to call it that year. "Home Economics" had been kicked into touch as the subject name (or as my Nana used to say "Domestic Science) when I was at secondary school (1991 - 1996).

What I found tedious was the theory side of things, particularly in the later years (GCSE - Years 10 & 11), when the first six weeks of each term would comprise of turgid "design briefs", which meant endless written work and / or research, discussing as a class and in groups etc. All in the name of making an apple crumble or a dozen scones by the time we'd got eight weeks into term!

In 1994, when I first went into Year 10, we all did a course (paid for by the school) which saw us gain "Basic Food Hygiene" certificates. Great ... only we were neither old enough to work in kitchens, or allowed to hold school "work permits" (see my comments about those elsewhere on this forum) which would have enabled us to utilise them in any case! (I think it was just another bit of paperwork that the school expected us to brag about on our C.V.'s).

I do remember many times, especially in the summer, that we'd get to class late in the day, and ingredients we'd have to drag around all day had "gone off", particularly cream / milk. I also recall someone thinking it was hilarious to chuck flour from someones bag all over the changing rooms when we'd been playing rugby in P.E. - the teacher was less than amused, hollering at the instigator, in between coughing fits!

I also thought I was the "big man" one day when we were cooking something in Year 11, to do with a "Restaurant Project" - one of the more popular girls was making some sort of pork-based casserole, and had what I thought was a small bottle of "Olde English" cider. I asked for a swig ... with a grin she duly obliged. Unfortunately, the bottle was full of vegetable oil ...

[Richard1978]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I remember getting my Basic Food Hygiene while doing my Home Economics GCSE.

Luckily at my school we were allowed to put our ingredients in a fridge at the beginning of the day if our lessons weren't at the start.

Having cooking spilling in bags was a big problem, it never managed to happen to my in a big way, but I remember someone's bag being awash with curry sauce!

[80sChav]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I remember getting my Basic Food Hygiene while doing my Home Economics GCSE.

Luckily at my school we were allowed to put our ingredients in a fridge at the beginning of the day if our lessons weren't at the start.

Having cooking spilling in bags was a big problem, it never managed to happen to my in a big way, but I remember someone's bag being awash with curry sauce!

I recall all these memories you mention here including in-particular spilling stuff in bags and doing my Basic Food Hygiene - though this was until 1998-sh at College.

Great memories indeed

80sChav

[80sChav]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I enjoyed the actual cooking part of "Food Technology" / "Design & Technology: Food" / "Food Studies" - depending what they decided to call it that year. "Home Economics" had been kicked into touch as the subject name (or as my Nana used to say "Domestic Science) when I was at secondary school (1991 - 1996).

What I found tedious was the theory side of things, particularly in the later years (GCSE - Years 10 & 11), when the first six weeks of each term would comprise of turgid "design briefs", which meant endless written work and / or research, discussing as a class and in groups etc. All in the name of making an apple crumble or a dozen scones by the time we'd got eight weeks into term!

In 1994, when I first went into Year 10, we all did a course (paid for by the school) which saw us gain "Basic Food Hygiene" certificates. Great ... only we were neither old enough to work in kitchens, or allowed to hold school "work permits" (see my comments about those elsewhere on this forum) which would have enabled us to utilise them in any case! (I think it was just another bit of paperwork that the school expected us to brag about on our C.V.'s).

I do remember many times, especially in the summer, that we'd get to class late in the day, and ingredients we'd have to drag around all day had "gone off", particularly cream / milk. I also recall someone thinking it was hilarious to chuck flour from someones bag all over the changing rooms when we'd been playing rugby in P.E. - the teacher was less than amused, hollering at the instigator, in between coughing fits!

I also thought I was the "big man" one day when we were cooking something in Year 11, to do with a "Restaurant Project" - one of the more popular girls was making some sort of pork-based casserole, and had what I thought was a small bottle of "Olde English" cider. I asked for a swig ... with a grin she duly obliged. Unfortunately, the bottle was full of vegetable oil ...

I recall all these Memories you mention here Big Tim - these days sure where the days - happy memories!!

Borrowing stuff off mates too, selling it at Lunch, eating Crab Apples too before baking them in Crumbles etc 9not as I ate them) and kids being sick through them!

80sChav

[Twocky61]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I chose to do Home Economics to get out of wood/metal work lol

[George 1978]

Re: Memories of Cookery Lessons

I always associated cookery lessons with the girls carrying a whicker basket with ingredients (and later finished product) covered under a tea towel.

I remember on at least two occasions a recipe went wrong, and I also remember when we did chocolate chip cookies, the recipe went perfectly - the only problem was that when we put them in the oven and took them out again, they had grown inside the oven to one big cookie. We had to get a knife and slice them up, making them look like flapjacks or something, before putting them in the biscuit tin and carrying them home.

And unlike at home, you weren't allowed to lick the spoon or bowl for Health and Safety reasons!

We had cookery as the final lesson on Wednesday afternoons, and the lesson before that was swimming. As I didn't want to take the ingredients to the leisure centre with me, the school secretary looked after them until I came back to school, and I would pick them up on my way to the next lesson.