Learning to cook

Learning to cook Students get lessons at ENCSD camp By Lisa Boykin Batts Times Life Editor What a treat it was to watch students learn how to cook at a Deaf Immersion Camp Tuesday morning. The Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf hosts the two-week camp to expose middle and high school students across the state to new things including masonry and carpentry. They can also learn about theatrical arts and physical education. I got to sit in on a cooking class where students were preparing breakfast foods: banana bread and sausage and egg casserole. Teachers Randi Pakula, Morgan Shrieves and Faith Tabron instructed the students on such things as reading the recipe completely through before starting, browning sausage and going back after you’ve finished and reading back over the recipe to make sure you didn’t forget an ingredient. Shrieves, who teaches high school history at the school, said cooking classes are important for these students who are working toward independent living. Some ENCSD students might not get cooking instructions at home, she said, maybe because parents don’t know sign language and can’t communicate. Residential students are also away from home during the week when families are preparing meals. Student Shai-Ann Faulker of Fayetteville said she learned how to cook from her mom and can make banana pudding and cook some meats. She said it’s important that she learn to cook for herself so she doesn’t have to depend on family. It’s also a good skill if she’s babysitting, she said. I agree with Shai-Ann. We all need to know how to feed ourselves! Shai-Ann liked the food she and her group prepared Tuesday morning and said she would make it again. The teachers worked one-on-one with their students Tuesday, making sure they had things right. They pointed out how to measure 4 tablespoons on a stick of butter, showed them a spatula to use when pouring batter into a pan and demonstrated how to crack an egg. “I’ll show you one, then it’s your turn,” Shrieves told one boy, who said he’d never cracked an egg before. Before the camp is over, the cooking class students will also make a cauliflower crust pizza, a pasta dish, Rice Krispie treats, stromboli, a pound cake and cookies. lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810 Banana Bread  8 tablespoons butter  1 cup sugar 2 eggs 3 mashed bananas 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 11⁄4 cup flour 2 teaspoons baking soda  Mix ingredients and pour into loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.  Egg and Sausage Casserole  1 pound pork sausage 1 (8-ounce) package refrigerated crescent roll dough 8 eggs, beaten 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 teaspoon dried oregano Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with crescent roll dough and sprinkle with crumbled sausage. In a large bowl, mix beaten eggs, mozzarella and Cheddar. Season the mixture with oregano and pour over the sausage and crescent rolls. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allrecipes