Ep. 78- Humans are Meant to Connect. So Why Not Cook? Debra Erickson. The Blind Kitchen.

On this episode we are grateful to have Debra Erickson.  Debra is a blind Chef (the only blind student in Culinary school) and a former Cooking Instructor for the Oregon Commission for the Blind, so she walks her talk.  She now owns The Blind Kitchen, whose mission is to help other people with vision loss to cook safely, confidently, and independently.  She has been often praised for her ability to describe adaptive culinary tools and techniques with clarity.

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Please visit our website https://eatbetterfoodtoday.com  for this week's recipe, interviews, books, research, videos.

Look for information on Debra at https://www.theblindkitchen.com/

 

Other Mentions by Debra https://diversabilityvillage.org/oregon-commission-for-the-blind/

https://aira.io

https://www.navilens.com/en/

 https://blindunited.org

 

What’s In Season https://www.seasonalfoodguide.org/

 

Cleveland Kitchen: https://www.clevelandkitchen.com/

 

Segment Notes:

 

Breakfast  1:22

The Journey to the Blind Kitchen  1:45

-        Retinitis pigmentosa diagnosis at age 28

-        Eventually lost most vision in early 50s – no current cure

-        Graduated Culinary School in 2019, taught until COVID

-        Created The Blind Kitchen during COVID in 2020 to Teach Remotely

-        Aira helps with Remote Assistance

Creating The Blind Kitchen  5:38

-        Studied, Researched while at Culinary School to Adpat to Her Blindness

-        Organized information to Learn How to Cook with Vision Loss into 12 Categories

Adaptive Culinary Tools  8:49

-        Labelling – how do you know which soup is tomato if you have two cans

-        How Do you Shop, Use Kitchen Tools

-        Long Handled Wooden Spoons, Glove, Talking Thermometer

Descriptive Videos  20:18

-        Debra talks and has a professional voice actor to help

-        Edgar Garcia Chavez won an American Council of the Blind Award for audio-video

Setting up a Pantry  22:16

-        RFID Labels that work with Your Phone

-        Pen that Records your Voice and reads back the ingredient when you tap the Lid

-        Common Items with rubber silicone bubbles – none, one, two …

-        Use small Lazy Susans

Shopping, Cleaning  27:20

-        Shop online

-        Use app NaviLens if in a store to read barcodes

-        Open Dishwasher as a Hazard

-        Work Trays – work on these, contains spills, easy to cut on, clean

Cooking  32:44

-        Induction is the Safest but Multiple Burners More Expensive

-        Glass top Less Expensive but no tactile markings to position the pan

-        Tapping all around the top of the hot pan for even heat feel to know its centered

-        Double Spatula a great Cooking aid

Getting Comfortable Cooking Food  39:56

-        Introducing Kids to Heat – A Special Toaster Bag for Grilled Cheese 

-        Locking Lid Pan with Built-in Strainer 

Healthspan. Connecting.  45:19

-        Exercise groups and organizations

-        There are Online Organizations to Connect With, To Help

-        Everyone has some Health Issue to Deal With – Adapt, don’t Go Into a Shell

-        Don’t Be Isolated

-        25% of people in the US are disabled, 2% of those are Visually Impaired 

-        COVID Forced Us to Find New Ways to Connect 

-        No one Should Be Lonely

First Step -  If You Become Visually Impaired  52:24

-        It Doesn’t Have to Be that Way 

-        If There’s Something You Love to Do, Seek it Out. You Just Might Have to Do It Differently

-        If You Know Someone Visually Impaired, Get Them Involved, Talk to Them

-        Humans are Meant to Connect 

The Recipe: Mexican Street Corn with Vegetables  55:31

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