COOKING WITH BRAD
This blog post outlines Brad’s recent cooking adventures. Shopping, food preparation and cooking are major goals for Brad at the moment, as he works towards his goal of independent living in his flat. Brad has been learning these skills with the help of Sally, his Occupational Therapist. The interview below includes segments from both Sally and Brad’s perspective.
SALLY
Usually, Brad and I meet at his home. We make a list of things to buy with his visual shopping list and then meet at the supermarket. Brad will use the visuals to find the items in the supermarket; once he has found the item, he will move the visual to the right side to mark it as done. After Brad has all the items on his list, we will check them out and then meet back at home.
Brad is encouraged to complete most of the tasks independently. When he does ask for help, he is encouraged to use his assistive chopping board, which he does a great job of using. So far, we have made soup, pizzas and spaghetti bolognese. Brad always does a wonderful job and is proud of his efforts. Our cooking sessions are lots of fun, and I look forward to continuing them.
BRAD
So far everything I’ve made has been good (touch wood!) I’ve made a quiche, fish tacos, spaghetti bolognese, pizza and pumpkin soup. Pumpkin soup was my favourite, I had to hide it from my family because it was so good. This is essential because Mike (my brother in law) has stolen my chocolate when I’m away, he even knows about my secret hideout!
Working with Sally has been really good. We start by shopping for ingredients. When I walk into the shops everyone knows me. The boot-makers like to chat with me and everyone from the clothes store wants to say hi. And of course, I’m well known at the coffee shop where I get my cappuccino. When we arrive at the grocery store I use a book with pictures of the ingredients I need to buy. Sally made this guide for me and it makes it easier to find everything. Occasionally I’ll struggle to find something and I will wander around for a bit, but we always eventually find what we need.
Next stage is to cook. I feel relaxed when I cook. It’s similar to how I feel when I paint. A new thing I’ve learnt is how to preheat the oven to the right temperature. Although one part I don’t like is chopping onions, even wearing glasses doesn’t stop me from crying. Another challenge for me is peeling - it’s difficult - especially with one hand! This (modified) peeler helps, it makes it less tiring. I used it to make fish tacos. Overall, cooking has been good and exciting. I feel accomplished.
Although a long time ago my mum accidentally put milk in the kettle. Another time she made a pavlova and then together we drove over to my sisters. She put the pavlova on my lap for the ride over but I was wearing slippery pants…it went everywhere! Touch wood I haven’t had any disasters like these happen yet!
