Nancy’s Chicken Salad:
* chicken cooked and deboned ( 2 cups chopped )
* mayonnaise 1/2 of a table spoon
* 1 bunch scallions chopped well in to the ends of the greens
* 1 generous tbs ginger spice jelly mixed with 1 tbs juice of any pickles.blend together
* mix…….. then add
* 2 tbs black cherry preserve
* Mix and serve ..
why ever changing .. some times fresh cherries are perfect. Or dried cranberries or ……….what ever you are in the mood for . Chicken is very accepting and of course non judgmental.
These are the wise words of Nancy Simonic, a former home economics teacher who feels that she will always be a home economist. Nancy lives in my town and she is passionate about the importance of home economics programs in schools.
She loves to share her knowledge of cooking and has even set up her home in a demonstrating kind of fashion; She has her prep and cooking island perched high above on a platform to make sure that no one gets in her cooking way. She is not opposed to others helping her in the kitchen, she actually welcomes it, but if you are to be on her “perch” you need to take it seriously. Respect everyone’s space, be self-sufficient up there or sit down below and watch :-).
She explained that even though she stepped down from her home ec career in the early eighties after the school board deemed home ec not important enough to be paid for with tax dollars, she still believes that all the valuable knowledge one learns in classes like cooking, sewing, wood shop and metal shop can lay the foundation for succeeding in any career. For example, how can one maintain a career if they cannot be self sufficient in their home? Kudos to Nancy!
One more thing: Nancy, herself, is a successful home chef and entrepeneuse (is that a word?). She feels that her accomplishments are, in part, due to her ability to tolerate failure. She is able to try, without much fear, new things in life AND in cooking, because her parents always encouraged her to experiment, make a mess, and it was all O.K. because it was part of the learning process. What a great message to impart to our children.
Another excellent point she made was to use visuals when teaching cooking to our kids. She found that when she had long, red, beautiful eighties nails, her students paid excellent attention! I will have to try that one. Thanks, Nancy!!
P.S. Make sure to check out my video and recipe for making Raymond’s Style Home fries at http://www.baristanet.com/baristakids/blog/take-back-the-kitchen-raymonds-potatoes–at-home/#more You can weigh in on the discussion of whether or not cooking potatoes IS actually Taking Back Your Kitchen!
One Response
i would pay good money to see you with long, red 80's nails! i would also love to see home ec back in schools!!! i bet nancy enhanced many people's lives. what a short-sighted decision that was for education when the country decided we no longer need to be self-sufficent.