Shock and Awetism
Oops… fire in the
kitchen!
There’s a lot of chemistry
that happens in the average kitchen. Ours is particularly intriguing and
periodically we graciously provide shelter to altered life-forms in the fridge,
concurrently managing some pretty weird science on the stove. Honestly,
culinary creativity at our house not only sometimes runs amuck but can
occasionally get really dangerous.
________________________________________
I remember my first cooking
experiences around junior high. In seventh grade, everybody took one semester
of home economics (I never did figure out the economics part) and then
one semester of wood shop.
Our ‘home-ec’ teacher absolutely
swooned over her pet subjects such as the benefits of knowing how to use cream
of tartar to soak and clean electric range parts. With apron strings carefully
tied, steel-wool strategically on hand, we practiced removing cooked-on stains
to assure a shiny, just-like-new finish on the aluminum burner rings and
controls. I remember memorizing how to beat egg whites at just the right
temperature to form ‘stiff peaks’, taking tests on how to convert tablespoons
into ounces and the difference between dry and liquid measuring cups.
I also learned how to polish
silver, bake cakes from Betty Crocker’s box selection, and how to boil an egg.
Some weeks later I was assigned homework-- a new recipe for little appetizers
made with smoky links and crescent rolls. When I unveiled this genius
confection at the family dinner table, my parents dubbed my cooking skills a
complete success. Thus encouraged, I gradually made my way through cherry
supreme cookies, and later home-made loaves of bread.
This was all very practical
science, and I could relate fairly well to the processes we were studying.
Alas, the semester ended too early for me because I was stuck with the limited
repertoire that I possessed-- those smoky links and cherry supreme cookies
certainly didn’t comprise a well-balanced diet for my future domestic
dependents!
