So, this would be the last thing i would need to do and it would be the end of the whole coursework .Well, i have to say it has been fun except for all the lenghty worksheets.
What i liked about home economics was that i got to cook! Cooking is probably one of my best subjects as no studying is required. Cooking is not like math or science, it's fun and we do not have to memorise facts. Although home economics has exams as well, the exams seem to be a whole lot less tedious and nerve racking. Also i like having a home economics blog as it is so much better or should i say less tiring than doing those yellow worksheets. And having a blog is something all students can relate too, taking some burden off our shoulders.It was fun posting all of the photo's of our cooking processes and to pen down our thoughts. It was a good experience whether cooking or blogging:)
What i did not like was the abhorring lenghty, yellow worksheets. It gave me nightmares.The worksheet was full of questions, asking us to explain many things, cooking processes and modifying recipes. Although it might have been beneficial, i feel that it was seriously an overload of questions and answering. Maybe we could have done more cooking rather than doing all these worksheets. The practical lessons would have probably been more fun and hands on ,which of course i would much more prefer.We should have more cooking lessons than writing, not to complain but it is really boring:(
From this experience ,i learnt some skills, such as what food is the most ideal for myself and for everyone. I also learnt how to modify my recipe to suit other people's taste and to include several elements such as appearance, taste and the use of colours in cooking.Another thing i learnt would be organization skills.All the coursework required us to write down everything in a detailed and organized manner. This taught me that everything had to have an order, otherwise things would turn out to be a mess.The benefits would have to be, everything that i learnt. From all the wealth of information that i got.I am now more wise and i have learnt many new cooking skills which would help me in preparing tasty and appealing food. Thank you home economics:)
My strenghts would have to be my quick thinking. If i had been slow in thinking, all my coursework would have progressed at a much slower pace, probably causing me to hand up late work.Also, quick thinking helped me to think of dishes to cook when the words "lunch", "food preferences", "healthy" came up i already had a few dishes in mind and executed my plans.My weakness would have to be researching skills, it took me way too much time to find the right recipe that involved the right ingredients that i needed.It was challenging as, in the process of researching, i came across many other recipes that had potential as well and it was hard for me to make a quick decision.
Done by: kimberly ang(14)
class:204
Practical exam(Kimberly)
Q:How did your dishes taste/appear/ mouth feel
The appearance of my dish was very appealing as it had a roasted brown colour to it which made it especially mouthwatering to look at.The different contrast of colours were also fun and daring. The dish tasted good, but at the same time i felt that there were a few areas where i made some blunders. Such as, i only put in the salt when the dish was almost finished cooking, i should have put the salt in gradually instead. And i felt that the biggest fault was that i forgot to put in the red pepper flakes as it would give the dish a more spicy taste and some red colour to it. But the dish still turned out okay without the red pepper flakes, just that it was not spicy.The mouth feel was springy as the spaghetti was cooked just right and the turkey bacon and garlic was not overcooked as well.The turkey bacon was crispy and the garlic fragrant, infused with the springy spaghetti, i would say it turned out quite good.
Q: How did you feel about it
I felt that overall, everything was good and mostly, things fell into place. Usually i would be very nervous whenever it comes to the real practical exam. Even during the trial cooking, i also felt flustered and unorganized. But i was glad that during this practical exam, i managed to compose myself and surprisingly i was even calm. I could set up all my things on the cooking counter, figure out what to do first and the different processes. When i was cooking, i felt that i was quite organized and could think straight therefore i feel that i did good:)
Q: What were the modifications you made to improvise on your dish?
Initially there was some wine in my dish. But there was no alcohol allowed as it was not halal. The wine did not go well with my dish anyway.Therefore i removed it from my recipe.I also added more salt to the dish to make it more flavourful.At the same time, i added bell peppers to my dish as it gave it more colours and vibrancy.The pasta now looked and tasted good.
Q:What are the difficulties you faced while cooking
The turkey bacon seemed to take very long to brown and turn crispy.I also faced some problems with cleaning up. This was because everyone including myself just threw all the unwashed pots and pans into the sink as everyone was busy cooking and left the washing for later. But this made the sink clustered and one of the sinks even got choked because there were food particles stuck inside.Also, after cooking, washing all the utensils took a while as it accumulated from leaving it in the sink.
Q: How did you overcome these difficulties
I told myself to be patient and at the same time i turned the heat intensity up so that the turkey bacon would brown at a quicker speed.As for the utensils i tried to squeeze some time in between waiting for the oil to heat up to wash the knife and the cooking board and after cooking i tried to speed up to set the table so that i could finish washing the utensils and cleaning up that area.
Q: Strengths and weakness.
I felt that my strength was my ability to manage my time so that i had enough time for cooking, setting the table and washing up.I was also very organised therefore all my utensils and ingredients were all neatly set up to avoid confusion.My weakness would be that i tend to get edgy and panicky when things start to go wrong. I get even more confused and irritated when i do not know what to do. That's when people start to tell me to calm down and think of ways to salvage the situation. Otherwise i would be having a panic attack.
Done by: Kimberly Ang(14)
Class:204
The appearance of my dish was very appealing as it had a roasted brown colour to it which made it especially mouthwatering to look at.The different contrast of colours were also fun and daring. The dish tasted good, but at the same time i felt that there were a few areas where i made some blunders. Such as, i only put in the salt when the dish was almost finished cooking, i should have put the salt in gradually instead. And i felt that the biggest fault was that i forgot to put in the red pepper flakes as it would give the dish a more spicy taste and some red colour to it. But the dish still turned out okay without the red pepper flakes, just that it was not spicy.The mouth feel was springy as the spaghetti was cooked just right and the turkey bacon and garlic was not overcooked as well.The turkey bacon was crispy and the garlic fragrant, infused with the springy spaghetti, i would say it turned out quite good.
Q: How did you feel about it
I felt that overall, everything was good and mostly, things fell into place. Usually i would be very nervous whenever it comes to the real practical exam. Even during the trial cooking, i also felt flustered and unorganized. But i was glad that during this practical exam, i managed to compose myself and surprisingly i was even calm. I could set up all my things on the cooking counter, figure out what to do first and the different processes. When i was cooking, i felt that i was quite organized and could think straight therefore i feel that i did good:)
Q: What were the modifications you made to improvise on your dish?
Initially there was some wine in my dish. But there was no alcohol allowed as it was not halal. The wine did not go well with my dish anyway.Therefore i removed it from my recipe.I also added more salt to the dish to make it more flavourful.At the same time, i added bell peppers to my dish as it gave it more colours and vibrancy.The pasta now looked and tasted good.
Q:What are the difficulties you faced while cooking
The turkey bacon seemed to take very long to brown and turn crispy.I also faced some problems with cleaning up. This was because everyone including myself just threw all the unwashed pots and pans into the sink as everyone was busy cooking and left the washing for later. But this made the sink clustered and one of the sinks even got choked because there were food particles stuck inside.Also, after cooking, washing all the utensils took a while as it accumulated from leaving it in the sink.
Q: How did you overcome these difficulties
I told myself to be patient and at the same time i turned the heat intensity up so that the turkey bacon would brown at a quicker speed.As for the utensils i tried to squeeze some time in between waiting for the oil to heat up to wash the knife and the cooking board and after cooking i tried to speed up to set the table so that i could finish washing the utensils and cleaning up that area.
Q: Strengths and weakness.
I felt that my strength was my ability to manage my time so that i had enough time for cooking, setting the table and washing up.I was also very organised therefore all my utensils and ingredients were all neatly set up to avoid confusion.My weakness would be that i tend to get edgy and panicky when things start to go wrong. I get even more confused and irritated when i do not know what to do. That's when people start to tell me to calm down and think of ways to salvage the situation. Otherwise i would be having a panic attack.
Done by: Kimberly Ang(14)
Class:204