A lesson in Strudel

By : Bon Appetit Mom | 1 Comment | On : May 10, 2013 | Category : Uncategorized

The other night I went to a program at the Plainview Jewish Center. It was run by the Sisterhood. It was from The Baking Coach. It is a small business, that teaches groups to prepare a food item as a group project. The project of the night was to make apple strudel. We were to prepare the ingredients as a group and take the product home and bake it. We were given graham crackers in a baggie to crush to a fine powder. We sat at our table and crushed them. Next we were given apples that were cored and sliced. Our next task was to peel and cut them into small pieces. We were to take our apples up to her station and add a tablespoon of premixed sugar and cinnamon. The next step was the work with the phyllo dough.  The  women distributed three sheets of phyllo dough on a piece of parchment paper and a wet paper towel on the sheets to keep them moist. We were given 3 sheets of phyllo dough, melted butter and latex gloves. We were told to separate the sheets with the melted butter, and the graham cracker crumbs. On top of the last sheet we were to put in the apples, top with butter and the cookie crumbs. We were given a small tin with a lid to take it home in and bake for 30 minutes in a 350° F oven. Now for my critique.  There was a lot of prep work to be done. The apples had to be prepared, the butter melted, and the phyllo dough separated. While doing all of the prep work, the woman was to instruct us how to make the strudel. The woman was very nice. I also think she was very overwhelmed. She arrived late, and with so much preparation that needed to be done, another person should have come with her to help. In that respect her time for instruction was limited in time and in content. It also was a program that went on much longer than it should have because of the circumstances. The apples should have been prepared in advance. I can almost understand doing the phyllo dough at the last minute because of the nature and the delicacy of the phyllo dough. I think when you take a job on like this it is the responsibility of the organization to plan it better. It was a function of women that was first starting at 8:15 in the evening. To start a program that late, materials should have been prepared. She also looked rushed and harried. That was unfortunate because many of the women did not know what to do and spent a lot of time needing to go up to her and ask other women what to do, many who had no answers themselves. I had fun at my table with the women that I sat with. I think the women in the sisterhood had a good time, but I think if The Baking Coach was run better , the program would have been more successful. I must say that I looked at the coach and thought about my own teaching skills. Could I have done a better job? Since I do not know the reasons behind this coaches reasons to be tardy and unprepared, I will not asses blame. I do know as a teacher, that when I ran programs that involved materials, I needed my materials to be there and ready. Once my game plan was laid out and ready, my ability to instruct was there.I must say that I loved to teach and that I was pretty good at it. I thought about that while I was watching the coach perform. I realized that I missed teaching. It was fun and something I was good at. I am now going to investigate looking into teaching. I am not sure of the direction that it will take me, but who knows. Stay safe my fans and Bon appetit.