To be a completely independent individual, cooking is a major skill one should have.This quarantine has got a lot of people to step into the kitchen and try some new dishes and I am one of them too. I am a big time foodie who needs a little bit of both sweet and savoury so I decided to step in the kitchen and take it upon myself. I explored a variety of recipes and made a bunch of dishes for me and my family. I made different variations and improvements in the recipe according to my convenience. For example I substitute sugar with honey or natural sugar such as bananas or excluded some ingredients which weren’t available to me at that moment. I wanted to be creative and so I made many different modifications in all the things I did for example, I made different coloured chocolates/icing for the cake, I used different toppings or ingredients to creatively garnish the dishes I make.
LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
Before reaching the gas stove I started with the simplest of things such as peeling vegetables and recognizing the basics of ingredients.My strength for this experience is that I am a quick learner and I have had some background knowledge about cooking with the help of youtube videos. But on the other hand I realised that I am very impatient and I get bored too quickly even when I am in the middle of something. I was able to work throughout the experience because I knew my strengths, I had several different mediums from where I would save the recipes and try it out along with the help of my mom. To ignore my weaknesses I steer clear of all the things that could possibly distract me and I would simply dwell myself in the moment and enjoy the time I spend with myself.
LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
As I formerly mentioned it was hard for me to focus but what was even more challenging was to get the ingredients and their quantity right. Getting all the measurements right was a very demanding and tiring task. This was difficult for me because of the lack of experience I have had and the fact that the skill was entirely new to me. Another challenge for me was to understand the boiling point of any vegetable that is on the stove. It made me realise that each vegetable or meat has been cooked and heated for a certain amount of time and at a certain speed of flame. At first I made a lot of mistakes such as the meat being uncooked and chewy, and sometimes I ended up overcooking and burning the dish. But along with time I got a hold of this hobby of mine and later I could cook all the possible dishes by myself and it tasted amazing. I am happy that I learned to cook so many dishes and I am proud that I will be able to look out for myself in the future when I intend to live all by myself.
I practiced- thinker and risk-taker learner profile when I creatively made new desserts and dishes with different flavours and tastes. Thinking creatively helped me in making decisions for what had to be done or not. I also covered courageous or risk taker when I took it upon myself to deal with fire and sharp utensils and risked making all the new dishes for the very first time. Also inquired because I was curious enough to ask for any improvements and suggestions to anybody who tasted my food. I made use of technology to answer my questions in case someone didn’t know the suitable response
To sum up I am glad to say that my food tastes good and edible. Now that I have this newly developed skill of mine I do not have to depend on someone to prepare me food. I could easily live by myself in the future as I can cook myself food at any convenient time I want without spending my money unnecessarily on junk and street food daily. All in all this experience was fun and exciting for me as I made something new each time.
evidence: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Uzpssn82K56kgh8eQkIdewr1sGhxRM7IdLs7gsaeH04/edit