Domestic Science.

[Deleted]

Ahh, Schooldays and Domestic Science.

Just wondered what you all remember about your first lesson?

For me, what I thought was a rather basic Cheese and Potato Pie with tomato slices on top, nice pattern made with the back of a fork and grilled til it was golden.

And a teacher called Mrs Sugar......I kid you not, she lived in the same village as me.......in a later lesson she hit me over the head with a floured rolling pin and then carried on rolling out pastry......Health and Safety wasn't big in the 70's

[jean]

1968 and my first lesson in Domestic Science was how to lay out a tea tray, which meant a teapot, cup & saucer, milk and sugar and the perfect slice of bread and butter, I was terrified

[Chuckles]

Jeez GH I can't remember that far back ;D

But, if I go up in the attic I've still got my old school books from secondary school Including my Cookery note book and recipes we did

Now the teacher, well once seen never forgotten. Miss Bartrum, short, full figured woman hair in a bun and very strict and Major like ;D

[jean]

I have to say it was the use of offal and lard that turned my stomach, the sort of biology lesson on kidney's and the bits that had to be cut off and then all gelled together before cooking, and the worst lesson of all - stuffing hearts who ever did that and actually ate them I don't do offal in any sense or form and never will

[Tig]

The first domestic science (cookery) lesson which involved actually making something was cottage pie! My parents were very fussy eaters, and although I made it (and it looked lovely!) I was told to give it to some neighbours - who said it was scrummy! (parents , I loved my Mum & Dad to bits even though they never ate my early attempts, but later they scoffed all that I served

[andy]

Never did it....boys did woodwork, girls did cookery and never the twain shall meet. I personally think cookery and basic skills around the house such as changing a plug, wallpapering, brick laying etc should be compulsory.

[Shrubrose]

I think the first thing we ever made was fresh fruit salad and it was yummy. Dont know how I got it home without spilling it. Must have been in a tub with a lid. Our teacher was called Miss Ockleshaw. She could be a right tartar. And was definitely a throwback to the 50's!

[4pygmies]

I do - half the school was absent because of a huge snow storm. I made a perfect apple pie. When the lesson was repeated when everyone was back, I burnt it and that was the one that was marked. Sooo unfair........that must be why I hate cooking....

[Deleted]

I remember really looking forward to my first domestic science lesson in 1963, I had images of baking a Victoria Sandwich or such, but alas no - the first lesson was about using a washing machine! The next lesson was about milk and how it was pasteurized etc., then the third lesson we cooked a rice pudding. Imagine though having to take it home on the school bus!! Tricky to say the least ;D

[Plocket]

I can't remember my first lesson but I remember the cooking seemed very basic. I think we did a baked stuffed apple

I used to cycle to school an one day my basket of cookery stuff fell off the back of my bike on the way home. I was gutted

[jean]

Then there was the sewing side of things too Everything took so long to make. The first thing I had to make was a sleeveless round necked top, it was gopping - in fact I never wore anything I made in those classes and used to run things up on the old singer treadle machine at home in no time. I used to love the Vogue patterns best ;D

[Deleted]

andy said:

Never did it....boys did woodwork, girls did cookery and never the twain shall meet. I personally think cookery and basic skills around the house such as changing a plug, wallpapering, brick laying etc should be compulsory.

Andy, I did woodwork - made a nice letter rack with dovetail joints!! I also did metalwork and had to design and make a spoon for a tea caddy.....where ever did they think these things up!! I can change a plug and hang wallpaper, haven't tried brick laying but it can't be that hard

I did needlework too Jlottie, actually we did that before our turn at Domestic Science.......we had to make an apron to wear in the cooking class . Hated needlework, but I do remember something called Bias Binding that the teacher was always going on about......never paid attention to find out what is was for ;D

Back to Domestic Science, I also remember making a 'Cottage Loaf' and Chelsea Buns in the early classes ;D

[jean]

Domestic science in my day was the sewing and cookery all together, thank goodness they decided to let us learn to type as an extra

Andy I would have loved to do woodwork and metal work but at an all girls Grammar School - no chance

One thing that I did learn was how to make lots of different types of pastry, I still have a go at making puff pastry on occasion but the hot water crust for pork pies and the like still involve far too much lard for my liking

[Plocket]

My sewing teacher was an idiot! Now bearing in mind my mum KNOWS about sewing, I've picked up bits and pieces along the way. We were making REVOLTING wrap-around skirts and the teacher told me I was putting the waistband on the wrong way around. I carefully checked the pattern and what I was doing, then assured the teacher that I was doing it right. Class was just ending so I went home and got mum to check that I'd tacked the band on right, which mum agreed with, so I left it as it was. In the next lesson the teacher pounced on me and asked if I'd changed the waistband, so I told her no. She went ape - ripped out all my tacking and proceeded to sew the waistband on herself, with no tacking. And of course it was the wrong way round!!!!

I wanted to do pottery at school but wasn't allowed. Like you JL we didn't have woodwork or metalwork options I found the cookery classes really basic when at 11 or so: I was already doing more than that at home.

[Deleted]

jlotie said:

Domestic science in my day was the sewing and cookery all together, thank goodness they decided to let us learn to type as an extra

Andy I would have loved to do woodwork and metal work but at an all girls Grammar School - no chance

One thing that I did learn was how to make lots of different types of pastry, I still have a go at making puff pastry on occasion but the hot water crust for pork pies and the like still involve far too much lard for my liking

Seems the joys of a 'secondary modern' not only included boys but woodwork and metalwork

I didn't do typing at school (you can probably tell ;D), for a couple of reasons......Typing meant 'office work' to me and I had no intention of doing office work, the teacher was as mad as a snake (with a head that 'bobbed' like a nodding car dog ), and I'm sure she was well past retirement aged even then ;D I remember that my friends who did typing also had lessons on 'How to answer the phone correctly'..........

I did chemistry, experiments + boys in the class = more fun than typing......if only I'd have know computers were going to be invented, typing may have had more of an appeal ;D

[Deleted]

I remember being really exited at the prospect of making "Welsh Rarebit "- how I wondered what this posh nosh would be. How shocked I was when it turned out to be cheese on toast

[carolann]

We had to make our aprons and caps before we where allowed in the cookery room, then the first thing we made where rice crispie cakes. Later we had to learn how to set a table and serve a meal, we had to cook 3 of the teachers.
Does anyone remember making their christmas cake in September? We had to make ours then because there where so many classes, each week you had to do things to it like putting the sherry in then marzipan and lastly decorating it. I still like to cook but I knew what to do before I started at secondry school.

[Plocket]

We didn't do exciting things like cook christmas cakes! We did baked stuffed apples, lemon drizzle cakes, upside down cake - stuff like that.

So how did you cook your teachers then???

[skarloey]

We had to rotate the girls stuff with the boys stuff.

The first thing we cooked was an omelette and the first thing we made was a patchwork cusion cover. I also made a school skirt and was bizarrely good at needlework - can't remember the last time I sowed a button on but I crocheted the little fella a blanket when I was pregnant.

I have also made a toasting fork in metalwork and an egg holder thingy in woodwork.

I didn't do typing because our year was the first year that did computers. It was all very new and exciting.

[carolann]

very very slowly over a pit

[MamIDdau]

I agree Andy. I would rather have learnt how to do stuff with cars and how to manage finances etc. rather than the useless stuff we learnt.

Can't remember what we first learnt. I remember making spag bol though around breakfast time and then having to carry it around all day and then home on the bus.

[oldmoleskins]

I did cookery at school, mainly cos I fancied the teacher and thought in my adolescent way it might make her fancy me... didn't get what I was after, but gained a very useful intro to cooking which became something of an alternative pre-occupation.

OM.

sorry, I drifted off there for a moment and forgot the question: apple crumble - in a brand-new enamelled baking dish my old mum insisted on buying me as she was a bit ashamed of her own beaten-up ones...

[Plocket]

carolann52 said:

very very slowly over a pit

Perfect ;D ;D ;D

[Shrubrose]

plocket said:

My sewing teacher was an idiot! Now bearing in mind my mum KNOWS about sewing, I've picked up bits and pieces along the way. We were making REVOLTING wrap-around skirts and the teacher told me I was putting the waistband on the wrong way around. I carefully checked the pattern and what I was doing, then assured the teacher that I was doing it right. Class was just ending so I went home and got mum to check that I'd tacked the band on right, which mum agreed with, so I left it as it was. In the next lesson the teacher pounced on me and asked if I'd changed the waistband, so I told her no. She went ape - ripped out all my tacking and proceeded to sew the waistband on herself, with no tacking. And of course it was the wrong way round!!!!

I wanted to do pottery at school but wasn't allowed. Like you JL we didn't have woodwork or metalwork options I found the cookery classes really basic when at 11 or so: I was already doing more than that at home.

Oh P, that teacher sounds rotten. And you obviously remember her for all the wrong reasons. Poor her and you.

Miss Ockleshaw used to have us make tea for the teachers in the staff room at break time following our lesson. Yvonne O'B. who was a little minx, decided she would fill the sugar bowl with salt. We got detention for a month. None of us would 'split' on her. 'Detention' amounted to no cooking (rather than being kept behind at the end of the day). And we had to clean cupboards, ovens, sinks, write about what we'd had for tea the night before, and generally anything she could think up. When we moved from the 3rd to the 4th year, she couldn't get her head around it and used to shout '3 er 4a, behave yourselves'. I'm sure she 'loved' us really

[Plocket]

I don't really think of her as rotten, just a bit stuck in her ways. It must be difficult to have a child tell you you are wrong, especially when you are the teacher. ;D

What a hoot! I wouldn't have had the nerve to do something like that but I would have thought it was almost worth all the cupboard cleaning etc.!!! ;D

[MamIDdau]

We had Mrs Barton for Home Economics who was also our form tutor in our first year. She was also something to do with the Brownies.

No one really liked her in our class. And she had a blue mole (on her face).

[Shrubrose]

aprilaydee said:

We had Mrs Barton for Home Economics who was also our form tutor in our first year. She was also something to do with the Brownies.

No one really liked her in our class. And she had a blue mole (on her face).

Didn't you find yourself singing 'dont it make your brown eyes blue'? April. Or am I being a tad too evil?

[MamIDdau]

No... think that song might be a bit before our time at the age we were at back then... ;D

[jean]

"Seems the joys of a 'secondary modern' not only included boys but woodwork and metalwork "



Think I definitely missed out GH lol ;D

[Deleted]

jlotie said:

"Seems the joys of a 'secondary modern' not only included boys but woodwork and metalwork "



Think I definitely missed out GH lol ;D

We also had Bike Shed's and smoking Jlottie.....

I had forgotten the Pineapple Upside Down Cake we made......I loved it, infact, I might have a go at one again ;D
I do remember making a Pork Pie and Chocolate Eclairs - that was further into my Domestic Science education and was over a few weeks because we did different pastry week after week after week I think Cornish Pasties featured on Shortcrust week and Sausage Rolls on Puff week ;D