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Tag Archives: cooking

A Sense of Adventure

06 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by Ann Kilter in Autism

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

adventure, asperger's, autism, cooking, transition, travel

Will let us know, with a little glee in his voice, that he is going to have the burden of going to Tampa next week. In the winter, no less. For business. Sense of humor, that boy. I admit I feel a little uneasiness over his travels. Patty says he should make sure he gets to see the ocean on this trip.

In other news, Will told me this on Tuesday that he is going to have turkey meat for sandwiches for the next several weeks. At 9:30 at night, he said he would be taking the the turkey out of the oven. I guess helping me with my turkey adventure twice, gave him some practice. When Will moved away from home two and a half years ago, I couldn’t have imagined him making homemade tortilla shells, let alone a turkey. He takes on cooking projects many young men his age wouldn’t even think of. His idea of a Christmas present is a good sized bottle of sage, thyme, and powdered garlic.

Creative and not afraid to try something new.

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Self-sufficient

09 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Ann Kilter in Autism, high functioning autism, Independence

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

asperger's, autism, cooking, independence, Self sufficient

Will frequently does things his own way since he moved out almost two years ago. He often does not eat until 9:00 o’clock at night. His diet is substantially lacking in produce. He drives a 14-year-old car. And there is nothing I can do about it except razz him a little. And he says to me, gently, “Mom, I am going to do what I want to do.” and “Are you going to buy me a car? No? Then I will keep driving this one.”

He’s independent. It does my heart good.

He still needs help and encouragement from time to time. I did at his age, too. He panicked last week when he locked his keys in the car while it was running. He tried to call to ask us to drive 70 miles to rescue him. Providentially, he couldn’t get ahold of Ralph or me, so he called his sister, Patty. She suggested that he go to the apartment  complex office and borrow a key to get into his apartment to get his extra set of keys.

He amazes me, as well. Last night I called to ask him if he was watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. He sounded busy, but he said he could talk as soon as he finished making his home made tortillas. (at 9:00 o’clock at night.)

“Really? You’re making tortillas from scratch?” I said.

“Well, I was making tacos last week, and I realized I didn’t have any tortillas, so I googled the recipe on the internet.”

“How do you like them?”

“They taste much better than the tortillas I buy at the store and are easy to make. I am making these from now on.” He said.

This is my boy who could barely make a grilled cheese sandwich before he left home. The first few weekends in his apartment, Ralph showed him how to make spaghetti, barbecue, and chili, and they packed meal sized portions for the freezer.  Will has been cooking all of these since he started living on his own. He does more once a month cooking than I ever did. I have never made tortillas either.  Last year he asked for a rice cooker for Christmas, and a hand mixer for his birthday. This year he would like a large frying pan or pot with  own lid for his birthday. He is quite a cook.

When we go to visit him next weekend for his birthday, I’ll bring the pan with lid.  He also asked me to make chicken and dumplings for his birthday meal. He listed the spices in his cupboard and asked if he had everything he needed. He is going to buy the other ingredients, too. He just wants me to make it.  That does my heart good, too.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-flour-tortillas/

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Pancakes

12 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by Ann Kilter in Achievement, Asperger's syndrome, Autism, Disability, high functioning autism, Independence, Thankful, Transition issues

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

autism, church cookbook, cooking, easy recipe, independence, pancakes, simple recipe

Will posted the following on Facebook last night…

“I am very grateful that Ann Kilter taught me how to cook. These pancakes are delicious!”

Then he told me that he is planning to make one of Trinka’s recipes: Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Last spring I gave him one of our church cookbooks. He must have been reading through it last night. Church cookbooks (or Junior achievement cookbooks or Women’s club cookbooks) are a gathering of favorite recipes by the members of an organization. Our cookbook is a treasure not only because of the wonderful, ordinary, simple recipes, but also because they are the favorite recipes of people that Will has grown up with. Now that he is living away from home, it is nice to have that connection with his home church.

Last night he made one of the recipes I contributed: Grandma’s Waffle Recipe. My mother is one of those cooks who throws ingredients together without measuring anything. This method of cooking has resulted in some spectacular failures, but the great majority of the time, her cooking is highly praised.

I, however, am  not that kind of cook. For the most part, I closely follow the recipe. When I was nine years old, my mother was in the hospital for 10 days. My dad was left alone to fend for himself along with me and my three younger siblings. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he was helpless in the kitchen. So I cracked open one of the many cookbooks my mother kept around for inspiration, and cooked dinner every night. My mother was shocked that it was me doing the cooking, and not my younger sister (by one year), because I always had to be dragged away from my books to help out in the kitchen. She bragged to everyone about how it was Ann that did all the cooking while she was in the hospital. She asked me how I managed to cook all those dishes. I answered, “I can read, can’t I?”

My mother always made wonderful pancakes and waffles, so over the years I repeatedly begged her for the recipe. She would say, “I don’t have a recipe. I just throw everything together.” Finally, during one of the times she was staying at my house, I said, “Let’s measure everything as you mix your pancake recipe. That way, everyone in the family can have this recipe.” So we measured at every step, and I wrote it down.

I never feel bad about serving this recipe because, for pancakes or waffles, it has a lot of protein.

pancakes

Grandma’s Waffle Recipe

5 cups flour; 1/2 cup sugar; 4 heaped plastic teaspoons baking powder; 2 level teaspoons salt (sparse); 4 cups milk; 1/4 cup oil; 3 large eggs.

Mix together  until roughly smooth (add a little milk if it is too thick. Stir in.) Use in waffle iron or cook as pancakes. This recipe is very easy to cut in half. (Use two eggs).

This recipe makes a lot of pancakes; so if we have any batter left over, I put in the fridge for pancakes the next day.

I am strongly considering having pancakes for supper tonight. 🙂

P.S. – As I am mixing the pancakes up, I am realizing that I left out a few important instructions. 1) You need two bowls. Mix the dry ingredients together in large bowl, and the wet ingredients together in another bowl (put the eggs in first and whip them lightly with a fork. Then add oil, mix, then the milk). Then make a well or cone shape in the dry ingredient bowl, and add the wet ingredients, and mix until mostly smooth.

When cooking pancakes, you need a flat pan…I use a large flat frying pan, although if you have just a frying pan, you could cook one at a time. My mother used a griddle. Grease the pan with margarine, shortening, or bacon fat. I am going to use margarine tonight. Turn the heat on medium low. After the pan is greased, then ladle about half a cup of batter where you want each pancake. (As you can tell, words fail me in these instructions). Spread the batter a bit with your ladle so that it is flattened out a bit. Let the pancakes cook until you see bubbles on the top it is not as shiny. Then flip the pancake to the other side. Check underneath with your spatula to see if they are brown. Then flip quickly with your spatula. Then cook until  the pancake is lightly brown on the other side. I always peak under the pancake with my spatula.

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And here is the sweet reward.

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Like Father Like Son

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Ann Kilter in Asperger's syndrome, Autism, diagnosis, Disability, high functioning autism, Independence, Transition issues

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

asperger's, autism, cooking, like father like son, parenting

During one of our weekly telephone conversations, Will told me that he was eating sausage and green beans. “See,” he said, “I am eating a vegetable.” And then he told me that the reason he didn’t eat many vegetables is because he cooks like Ralph cooks. When Will first moved away, Ralph spent some Saturdays at his apartment teaching Will how to cook Will’s favorite meals.

Ever since I went to work in 2004, Ralph has been cooking the majority of the weekday suppers. This is because 1) he knows how to cook and 2) he gets out of work at 2:00 p.m., whereas I usually work until 5:00 p.m. or later. Ralph pushed me to work full time, so I told him that if he wanted to eat before 8 p.m., he would have to cook.

Ralph’s repertoire of meals*** include spaghetti and garlic bread, chili mac, chicken nuggets and fries, breaded fish from the freezer and fries, meatballs with barbecue sauce and tater tots, sausage and green beans, tacos, pot roast with carrots and potatoes, turkey with stuffing, barbecue (made with ground hamburger) on a bun and tater tots, hotdogs and steak on the grill with french fries. Will told me that since Dad didn’t have many vegetables in his cooking, he didn’t either.

One of the nuggets of wisdom I managed to catch from the conferences, meetings, and self-education regarding autism when my kids were growing up was that our kids have autism, but they are also like their parents. They will have their parents traits. It was a reminder to think about that fact that their autistic traits were not everything.

So Will tends to learn along black and white lines, which in some ways is good for computer programming and calculus. His creativity seems to be along those lines as well.  I tend to think like that in terms of my work at a law office.

Patty told Will last night that her theology professor told her that she was a better student of theology than Will was (they went/are going to the same small Christian college). In part, this is because she brings her depth of understanding as a history major to the subject, along with her willingness to challenge her teacher on his positions. She is a conservative fundamentalist, in a truly historical Calvinist way of thinking. Ralph picks her up from college and they have highly entertaining (to them) discussions. Patty says he thinks deeply about these things. Ralph majored in Bible and pastoral studies in college.

Some characteristics our kids demonstrate have nothing to do with autism, and owe more to their parents’ traits.

***My meals include chicken and dumplings (carrots, onions, potatoes, corn), baked tilapia with rotini and a vegetable, salad, chicken nuggets and fries and a vegetable, baked pork tenderloin and rice and a vegetable, crockpot Boston Pork roast and rice and vegetables, etc. Sometimes when Ralph and I discuss what to have for supper, it is really a discussion about who is going to cook supper.

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