SASKATOON – With age comes wisdom but gender roles have created a stark gap when it comes to the basics of household duties, prompting a need for some training.
“Men’s cooking” is teaching seniors in Saskatoon the 101’s of kitchen tasks.
The group of six men in training would never claim to be chefs, in fact, the kitchen is foreign to them. They grew up in a different era.
“You were the one who brought home the bacon and they were the ones who cooked it,” said Brian McSheffrey who’s in the final class of Men’s Cooking – Level 1.
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The Saskatoon council on aging has partnered with the Saskatoon home economics association to teach men the basics of cooking. The idea arose out of necessity.
“When couples, one of the spouses die, women got along quite well after because they have the skills” said Murray Scharf, who enrolled in the first class offered here in 2011, “but the men don’t have those skills.”
On Tuesday, the grouped whipped up perogies, lazy man cabbage rolls and oatmeal cookies for dessert. Over four sessions, the gentlemen are introduced to the Canada food guide, learn to alter recipes for diabetic needs and are taught simple tasks like cutting an onion, browning hamburger beef and using the microwave.
“The first time I used the microwave I was asked to make tapioca pudding,” reminisces Scharf. “I reproduced Mount Vesuvius and I had to clean up.”
The hope is for the men to be able to get by if left on their own but the benefits extend further than chopping, dicing and stirring as the groups form friendships which are important also an important element of aging well.
The men’s cooking program is offered three times each year, and each session includes four classes. Those interested in the course up at the Saskatoon council on aging.
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