your dad’s favorite vegetable soup. Thefirst thing you do is . . .
a. read the first step in the recipe and do what it says: Add carrots
to the pot.
b. read the whole recipe, including the ingredients list, and realize
that you have to peel and chop the carrots first. You do that and
add them to the pot.
c. read the whole recipe, including the ingredients list. Then you
measure, peel, and chop everything and have all the ingredients
ready before you start cooking.
5. The cake batter is in the pans and ready to bake. You . . .
a. slide the pans into the heated oven and leave the kitchen. You’ll
remember to take them out. Probably.
b. slide the pans into the heated oven, set the timer, take out the
pans to cool when they’re done, and turn off the oven.
c. slide the pans into the heated oven, set the timer, and turn off
the oven when they’re done, leaving the pans in there. They’ll
stay nice and warm.
6. It’s time for your morning smoothie. You . . .
a. make the same banana smoothie as always.
Why mess with success?
b. read through a cookbook and decide you’ll
take a chance on a blueberry smoothie soon.
c. invent something new—new fruits, new
yogurts, new combinations—every week!
Answers
1. If you chose c, you already
know the difference between
spoons used for measuring
and spoons used for eating or
stirring. Measuring spoons (and
measuring cups) allow you to
add exactly the right amount of
an ingredient to a recipe. When
you’re baking something like
bread or cake or cookies, it’s
especially important that mea-
surements are precise. That’s
because the ingredients that make baked things deliciously puffy
or chewy have to be in just the right amount to do their job. It’s
chemistry in action!
2. If you chose a, you know there are special
tools and techniques for mixing ingredients
together. A whisk is an actual gadget that’s
used to whip ingredients by hand when a
spoon won’t do. With a whisk, you can add
air to eggs so they’re light and fluffy, or mix
oil and vinegar together into a creamy salad
dressing, or make thick whipped cream from
the liquid in the carton.
3. If you chose b, you have a
good sense of what makes
a meal both exciting and
healthy. When planning a
meal, cooks decide which
foods from different food
groups they’ll include.
(That’s the healthy part.)
They also think about
ways to make a meal look
yummy on the plate, such
as combining colors and
serving a pleasing variety
of foods.
4. If you chose c, you realize that
the best way to follow a recipe
is to read it all the way through
before you start cooking. Then you won’t have any surprises. (“What? I was supposed to turn the oven on??”) Also, it gives you a chance to prepare your ingredi- ents and have them ready so that you can time things right during the cooking part.
5. If you chose b, you prob-
ably have some experience
with a regular oven. You
know that when you turn
the oven off, it stays hot
for a while, so any food still
in there will keep cooking.
(A microwave oven, on the
other hand, stops cooking
the instant it turns off.)
6. If you chose a, b, or c, it’s all good!
Whether you love sticking with familiar
favorites or trying new creations every
day, making food is all about expressing
yourself and discovering what you like.
happy & healthy
Apples are tasty and good for you. But if you ate only apples every
day—apples for breakfast, apples for lunch, apples for dinner—you
would turn into one. Well, maybe not. But you would be really, really
sick and tired of apples.
There’s
