A Smart Girl's Guide: Cooking - Patricia Daniels American Girl

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of these scenes describes you the best?

      1. The French bread recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of sugar. You . . .

      a. use a cereal spoon to add a heap of sugar to the mixing bowl.

      b. add just enough sugar to fill up the cereal spoon, then dump the

       sugar into the bowl.

      c. find the measuring spoon marked “1 T,” fill it just to the rim, and

      add the sugar to the bowl.

      2. You’re supposed to “whisk” three eggs

      together. You . . .

      a. crack the eggs into a bowl and use a

      cooking tool with wire loops to stir

      them until they’re frothy.

      b. crack the eggs into a bowl and blend them

       briskly (rhymes with whiskly) with a wooden spoon.

      c. put three eggs in a bowl and hope for the best.

      3. You’re in charge of planning

      tonight’s dinner. Your menu is . . .

      a. rice, French fries, pizza, and

      mashed potatoes, because every-

      body loves those, right?

      b. roast chicken, rice pilaf, and a big

       green salad.

      c. something easy—maybe chicken

      nuggets and brownies?

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      4. It’s time to start making your dad’s favorite vegetable soup. The

       first 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!

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      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.

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      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.

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      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

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