Hi, all...
I've been reading your posts with interest for several weeks, and I
now have a question. I was recently given a complete Oster Kitchen
Center, with mixer, meat grinder, food processor, blender, dough
hooks, 2 mixing bowls, etc etc. The book that came with it is dated
1979. I've read that the older KitchenAid mixers are much more
reliable than the newer ones, and was wondering if anyone knew
anything about the Oster one. (Obviously, since it was free, I'm
ahead of the game, but any advice/comments would be welcome)

I'm not a beginner cook, and I do a lot of "comfort foods". I share a
house with my sister and her 2 kids (boy, 7, and girl, 3) who cook
with me every night. They REALLY enjoy cooking, and are developing
some real skills. The 3 year old's "specialty" is roasted chicken.
Her recipe is "give the chicken a good bath, dry him off, rub him with
oil and spices, shove onions and garlic in his butt, then find a
grownup who can put him in the oven". She even did the thanksgiving
turkey this year for 20 people, who were a bit...surprised that she
knew what she was doing. The 7 year old makes homemade pies and beef
jerky, and both kids love baking bread, cookies, and pastries. The 7
year old is desperate to learn how to cook different seafood, which I
know little about, and just ate his first whole lobster last night,
and is also interested in learning asian recipes. We've gleaned a lot
of good hints from the group, and hope to continue learning from all
of you!

Jeanne

"Jeanne Burton" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, all...
> I've been reading your posts with interest for several weeks, and I
> now have a question. I was recently given a complete Oster Kitchen
> Center, with mixer, meat grinder, food processor, blender, dough
> hooks, 2 mixing bowls, etc etc. The book that came with it is dated
> 1979. I've read that the older KitchenAid mixers are much more
> reliable than the newer ones, and was wondering if anyone knew
> anything about the Oster one. (Obviously, since it was free, I'm
> ahead of the game, but any advice/comments would be welcome)
>
> I'm not a beginner cook, and I do a lot of "comfort foods". I share a
> house with my sister and her 2 kids (boy, 7, and girl, 3) who cook
> with me every night. They REALLY enjoy cooking, and are developing
> some real skills.

Your niece and nephew sound brilliant! They are lucky to have such a
creative aunt. Cooking is such a great thing for kids to do. It's result
oriented with a big reward at the end :-)

- r

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 05:54:40 GMT, "rmg"
> wrote:

>
>"Jeanne Burton" > wrote in message
.. .
>
>> I'm not a beginner cook, and I do a lot of "comfort foods". I share a
>> house with my sister and her 2 kids (boy, 7, and girl, 3) who cook
>> with me every night. They REALLY enjoy cooking, and are developing
>> some real skills.
>
>Your niece and nephew sound brilliant! They are lucky to have such a
>creative aunt. Cooking is such a great thing for kids to do. It's result
>oriented with a big reward at the end :-)
>

Actually, it's just fun <G>
My nephew's first grade teacher told us at conferences that he has "an
innate grasp of fractions and math functions" which I believe is a
direct result of cooking.
I may be teaching some kid's cooking classes starting next fall in the
lighted schoolhouse and YMCAs locally. Wayne (the nephew) wants so
badly to take classes like we see on FoodTV but even going in a 2 hour
radius of Toledo, the most complicated class I've been able to find
for kids culminates in handing the kids a prebaked pizza shell and
letting them make smiley faces on them with pepperoni. My kids would
be totally bored. I figure they can't be the only kids out there who
like to make creme brulee and good salads and such... we'll find out!

Jeanne

In article >, Jeanne Burton
> wrote:

> Hi, all...
> I've been reading your posts with interest for several weeks, and I
> now have a question. I was recently given a complete Oster Kitchen
> Center, with mixer, meat grinder, food processor, blender, dough
> hooks, 2 mixing bowls, etc etc. The book that came with it is dated
> 1979. I've read that the older KitchenAid mixers are much more
> reliable than the newer ones, and was wondering if anyone knew
> anything about the Oster one. (Obviously, since it was free, I'm
> ahead of the game, but any advice/comments would be welcome)
>
> I'm not a beginner cook, and I do a lot of "comfort foods". I share a
> house with my sister and her 2 kids (boy, 7, and girl, 3) who cook
> with me every night. They REALLY enjoy cooking, and are developing
> some real skills. The 3 year old's "specialty" is roasted chicken.
> Her recipe is "give the chicken a good bath, dry him off, rub him with
> oil and spices, shove onions and garlic in his butt, then find a
> grownup who can put him in the oven". She even did the thanksgiving
> turkey this year for 20 people, who were a bit...surprised that she
> knew what she was doing. The 7 year old makes homemade pies and beef
> jerky, and both kids love baking bread, cookies, and pastries. The 7
> year old is desperate to learn how to cook different seafood, which I
> know little about, and just ate his first whole lobster last night,
> and is also interested in learning asian recipes. We've gleaned a lot
> of good hints from the group, and hope to continue learning from all
> of you!
>
> Jeanne

Hello-o-o-o-o, Jeanne! Welcome to the fray that is r.f.c.

About all I know about the Oster Kitchen Center thang is that a friend
had one about 30 years ago and used to make quadruple batches of
chocolate chip cookies for her 6 kids all the time.

I've a just-3-year-old granddaughter and figure the only cooking she'll
learn to do will be from me, her loving baba. Was it difficult to get
your little one willing to get her hands mucky from oil? My little
one's experience is limited to sprinkling the sprinkles on cut-outs
after they're frosted. I've got a couple nice birdies in the freezer
that would make for good-enough roasting -- what's your recipe (time and
temp)? What's in your rub?

I'm thinking you can teach me about cooking with a leetle one. (I
didn't teach my own.)
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> More on 1-4-05 - Chicken Tortilla
Soup, and Swiss Steak.
"Are we going to measure or are we going to cook?" -Food writer
Mimi Sheraton

In article >, Jeanne Burton
> wrote:

> Hi, all...
> I've been reading your posts with interest for several weeks, and I
> now have a question. I was recently given a complete Oster Kitchen
> Center, with mixer, meat grinder, food processor, blender, dough
> hooks, 2 mixing bowls, etc etc. The book that came with it is dated
> 1979. I've read that the older KitchenAid mixers are much more
> reliable than the newer ones, and was wondering if anyone knew
> anything about the Oster one. (Obviously, since it was free, I'm
> ahead of the game, but any advice/comments would be welcome)
>
> I'm not a beginner cook, and I do a lot of "comfort foods". I share a
> house with my sister and her 2 kids (boy, 7, and girl, 3) who cook
> with me every night. They REALLY enjoy cooking, and are developing
> some real skills. The 3 year old's "specialty" is roasted chicken.
> Her recipe is "give the chicken a good bath, dry him off, rub him with
> oil and spices, shove onions and garlic in his butt, then find a
> grownup who can put him in the oven". She even did the thanksgiving
> turkey this year for 20 people, who were a bit...surprised that she
> knew what she was doing. The 7 year old makes homemade pies and beef
> jerky, and both kids love baking bread, cookies, and pastries. The 7
> year old is desperate to learn how to cook different seafood, which I
> know little about, and just ate his first whole lobster last night,
> and is also interested in learning asian recipes. We've gleaned a lot
> of good hints from the group, and hope to continue learning from all
> of you!
>
> Jeanne

Hello-o-o-o-o, Jeanne! Welcome to the fray that is r.f.c.

About all I know about the Oster Kitchen Center thang is that a friend
had one about 30 years ago and used to make quadruple batches of
chocolate chip cookies for her 6 kids all the time.

I've a just-3-year-old granddaughter and figure the only cooking she'll
learn to do will be from me, her loving baba. Was it difficult to get
your little one willing to get her hands mucky from oil? My little
one's experience is limited to sprinkling the sprinkles on cut-outs
after they're frosted. I've got a couple nice birdies in the freezer
that would make for good-enough roasting -- what's your recipe (time and
temp)? What's in your rub?

I'm thinking you can teach me about cooking with a leetle one. (I
didn't teach my own.)
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> More on 1-4-05 - Chicken Tortilla
Soup, and Swiss Steak.
"Are we going to measure or are we going to cook?" -Food writer
Mimi Sheraton

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 09:46:41 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >, Jeanne Burton
> wrote:
>

>
>Hello-o-o-o-o, Jeanne! Welcome to the fray that is r.f.c.

Thanks!

>About all I know about the Oster Kitchen Center thang is that a friend
>had one about 30 years ago and used to make quadruple batches of
>chocolate chip cookies for her 6 kids all the time.

That sounds promising...I'm really curious about the meat grinder
part. Gonna have to try that. I think we'll enjoy making
sausage...probably the Alton Brown recipe. (The kids LOVE him. And
Emeril, but I think that's because he's very animated/showbiz and
entertaining to them.)

>I've a just-3-year-old granddaughter and figure the only cooking she'll
>learn to do will be from me, her loving baba.

Yeah...the kids' mom doesn't cook at ALL...we had some issues with her
at first because she didn't want Wayne using a chef's knife, etc. I
taught her to stay OUT of the kitchen while we cook, and we're all a
lot happier now <G>

Was it difficult to get
>your little one willing to get her hands mucky from oil?

Not at all...Sarah doesn't mind getting messy. She has an apron that
she likes which protects her clothes, but arms/hands are always fair
game. You should see her up on a chair, punching down dough...she's
up past her elbows, little as she is. It's cute!
Perhaps the reason I'm successful with the kids is that I assume they
can do anything, and I teach 'em to do it. I don't assume they're
"too little". I grew up in a house where my mom didn't cook at all,
and my dad cooked all weekend and we reheated all week. By 8, I was
doing the majority of cooking in our house. I know I did my first
complete Thanksgiving dinner at 11.

My little
>one's experience is limited to sprinkling the sprinkles on cut-outs
>after they're frosted. I've got a couple nice birdies in the freezer
>that would make for good-enough roasting -- what's your recipe (time and
>temp)?

We use an adaptation of the roasted chicken recipe from Emeril's
"There's a Chef in my Family" (highly recommended. Every thing we've
made from it is wonderful and it's written for children. The sequel,
"There's a Chef in my Soup", is also good. The children pull them down
along with other cookbooks with pictures and love to pick out things
they'd like to make.)

We use a 3 to 4 lb chicken, wash it, stuff the cavity with a quartered
onion and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, then rub the outside with olive
oil, pepper, paprika, and whatever spice sounds good that
day...sometimes thyme, sometimes sage, sometimes even oregano (we like
oregano!) and always snipped chives and fresh parsley. Rub that in
well, then put the chicken on a rack in a baking pan, and put it into
a preheated 500 degree oven. Leave the chicken in for 20 minutes,
then without opening the door, reduce the oven temp to 375, and bake
around 45 minutes more, or until the internal temp is 160 degrees.
Let it rest about 15 minutes, then serve.

This is known as "picnic chicken" in our house, as we take it with
salad and side dishes to the park and eat it cold. The best thing
about it is that the skin gets REALLY crispy and a beautiful brown
color.

What's in your rub?

It's not a "real" rub...we kind of make stuff up as we go...

>I'm thinking you can teach me about cooking with a leetle one. (I
>didn't teach my own.)

Plan on EVERYTHING taking twice as long as if you do it yourself.
Plan on finding fun ingredients. We buy at least one veggie/fruit
every week that we've never eaten before, and figure out something fun
to do with it. A big favorite is different-colored veggies, like
purple potatoes, or purple green beans (disappointing because they
turned green when we cooked them), fun lettuces for salads like frisee
or radiccio, etc. If the kids cook 'em, they're involved with them
and they'll eat ANYTHING...these kids have never met a food they
didn't like.

Jeanne

On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 09:46:41 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >, Jeanne Burton
> wrote:
>

>
>Hello-o-o-o-o, Jeanne! Welcome to the fray that is r.f.c.

Thanks!

>About all I know about the Oster Kitchen Center thang is that a friend
>had one about 30 years ago and used to make quadruple batches of
>chocolate chip cookies for her 6 kids all the time.

That sounds promising...I'm really curious about the meat grinder
part. Gonna have to try that. I think we'll enjoy making
sausage...probably the Alton Brown recipe. (The kids LOVE him. And
Emeril, but I think that's because he's very animated/showbiz and
entertaining to them.)

>I've a just-3-year-old granddaughter and figure the only cooking she'll
>learn to do will be from me, her loving baba.

Yeah...the kids' mom doesn't cook at ALL...we had some issues with her
at first because she didn't want Wayne using a chef's knife, etc. I
taught her to stay OUT of the kitchen while we cook, and we're all a
lot happier now <G>

Was it difficult to get
>your little one willing to get her hands mucky from oil?

Not at all...Sarah doesn't mind getting messy. She has an apron that
she likes which protects her clothes, but arms/hands are always fair
game. You should see her up on a chair, punching down dough...she's
up past her elbows, little as she is. It's cute!
Perhaps the reason I'm successful with the kids is that I assume they
can do anything, and I teach 'em to do it. I don't assume they're
"too little". I grew up in a house where my mom didn't cook at all,
and my dad cooked all weekend and we reheated all week. By 8, I was
doing the majority of cooking in our house. I know I did my first
complete Thanksgiving dinner at 11.

My little
>one's experience is limited to sprinkling the sprinkles on cut-outs
>after they're frosted. I've got a couple nice birdies in the freezer
>that would make for good-enough roasting -- what's your recipe (time and
>temp)?

We use an adaptation of the roasted chicken recipe from Emeril's
"There's a Chef in my Family" (highly recommended. Every thing we've
made from it is wonderful and it's written for children. The sequel,
"There's a Chef in my Soup", is also good. The children pull them down
along with other cookbooks with pictures and love to pick out things
they'd like to make.)

We use a 3 to 4 lb chicken, wash it, stuff the cavity with a quartered
onion and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, then rub the outside with olive
oil, pepper, paprika, and whatever spice sounds good that
day...sometimes thyme, sometimes sage, sometimes even oregano (we like
oregano!) and always snipped chives and fresh parsley. Rub that in
well, then put the chicken on a rack in a baking pan, and put it into
a preheated 500 degree oven. Leave the chicken in for 20 minutes,
then without opening the door, reduce the oven temp to 375, and bake
around 45 minutes more, or until the internal temp is 160 degrees.
Let it rest about 15 minutes, then serve.

This is known as "picnic chicken" in our house, as we take it with
salad and side dishes to the park and eat it cold. The best thing
about it is that the skin gets REALLY crispy and a beautiful brown
color.

What's in your rub?

It's not a "real" rub...we kind of make stuff up as we go...

>I'm thinking you can teach me about cooking with a leetle one. (I
>didn't teach my own.)

Plan on EVERYTHING taking twice as long as if you do it yourself.
Plan on finding fun ingredients. We buy at least one veggie/fruit
every week that we've never eaten before, and figure out something fun
to do with it. A big favorite is different-colored veggies, like
purple potatoes, or purple green beans (disappointing because they
turned green when we cooked them), fun lettuces for salads like frisee
or radiccio, etc. If the kids cook 'em, they're involved with them
and they'll eat ANYTHING...these kids have never met a food they
didn't like.

Jeanne

OH BOY! this is the best thread of 2005! (I know it's still January,
but I betcha it holds the record for at least six months!)
Jeanne you rock! I cooked my first meal at 8 but didn't do a whole
Thanksgiving until after my mother died (I was 30).
My daughter would NOT learn to cook - even chocolate chip cookies. Now
she's almost 23 and has a boyfriend and wants me to drop of dinner at
her apartment and leave before he arrives!
Keep us posted on your progress with the kids (you too Barb!) and be
sure to ask for kid friendly recipes. I am at work now but when I get
home I will send some stuff from my own computer.
Lynn in Fargo

PS: I had an Oster kitchen center in the seventies when I was first
married - loved it!
================================================== =

On 13 Jan 2005 14:02:53 -0800, "Lynn from Fargo" >
wrote:

>OH BOY! this is the best thread of 2005! (I know it's still January,
>but I betcha it holds the record for at least six months!)
>Jeanne you rock! I cooked my first meal at 8 but didn't do a whole
>Thanksgiving until after my mother died (I was 30).
>My daughter would NOT learn to cook - even chocolate chip cookies. Now
>she's almost 23 and has a boyfriend and wants me to drop of dinner at
>her apartment and leave before he arrives!
>Keep us posted on your progress with the kids (you too Barb!) and be
>sure to ask for kid friendly recipes. I am at work now but when I get
>home I will send some stuff from my own computer.
>Lynn in Fargo
>
>PS: I had an Oster kitchen center in the seventies when I was first
>married - loved it!

Believe me...these children challenge me a LOT. Wayne (the 7 year
old) desperately wants to learn to make egg rolls/spring rolls and
sushi. Also any kind of seafood, which I know nothing about, being a
heathen who thinks that fish should be square, battered, and served on
a bun. His favorite foods are lobster, squid, and frog legs, and I've
never cooked ANY of them...

I'm not totally sure that what we cook counts as "kid recipes"...
because they have rather sophisticated taste.

Jeanne

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 23:57:27 -0500, Jeanne Burton >
wrote:

>Hi, all...
>I've been reading your posts with interest for several weeks, and I
>now have a question. I was recently given a complete Oster Kitchen
>Center, with mixer, meat grinder, food processor, blender, dough
>hooks, 2 mixing bowls, etc etc. The book that came with it is dated
>1979. I've read that the older KitchenAid mixers are much more
>reliable than the newer ones, and was wondering if anyone knew
>anything about the Oster one.

I've had my Oster for, gosh, 13 years now? Got in like 1989 or 1990, so
maybe 14 or more years. It's still going strong. We did have to fix one
thing in the arm, once. And that's it. I don't plan on parting with it
until it dies. Though I am sorta drooling over some of those kitchen aid
stand mixers....

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 23:57:27 -0500, Jeanne Burton >
wrote:

>Hi, all...
>I've been reading your posts with interest for several weeks, and I
>now have a question. I was recently given a complete Oster Kitchen
>Center, with mixer, meat grinder, food processor, blender, dough
>hooks, 2 mixing bowls, etc etc. The book that came with it is dated
>1979. I've read that the older KitchenAid mixers are much more
>reliable than the newer ones, and was wondering if anyone knew
>anything about the Oster one.

I've had my Oster for, gosh, 13 years now? Got in like 1989 or 1990, so
maybe 14 or more years. It's still going strong. We did have to fix one
thing in the arm, once. And that's it. I don't plan on parting with it
until it dies. Though I am sorta drooling over some of those kitchen aid
stand mixers....

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar

In article , Jeanne Burton at
wrote on 1/13/05 2:06:

> On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 05:54:40 GMT, "rmg"
> > wrote:
>
>>
>> "Jeanne Burton" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> I'm not a beginner cook, and I do a lot of "comfort foods". I share a
>>> house with my sister and her 2 kids (boy, 7, and girl, 3) who cook
>>> with me every night. They REALLY enjoy cooking, and are developing
>>> some real skills.
>>
>> Your niece and nephew sound brilliant! They are lucky to have such a
>> creative aunt. Cooking is such a great thing for kids to do. It's result
>> oriented with a big reward at the end :-)
>>
>
> Actually, it's just fun <G>
> My nephew's first grade teacher told us at conferences that he has "an
> innate grasp of fractions and math functions" which I believe is a
> direct result of cooking.

The grasp and comprehension your nephew exhibits reminds me of something I
read in a reader's opinion column in one of my model railroading magazines
some years ago.

The author noted that his son, who was about 5 or so, IIRC, had developed a
better understanding of things like geography, colors, spatial ability,
verbal skills like spelling, and developed his manual dexterity from
rerailing cars himself. One line I recall was, "I know it sounds corny, but
it's beautiful to watch a young mind grow!"

> I may be teaching some kid's cooking classes starting next fall in the
> lighted schoolhouse and YMCAs locally. Wayne (the nephew) wants so
> badly to take classes like we see on FoodTV but even going in a 2 hour
> radius of Toledo, the most complicated class I've been able to find
> for kids culminates in handing the kids a prebaked pizza shell and
> letting them make smiley faces on them with pepperoni. My kids would
> be totally bored. I figure they can't be the only kids out there who
> like to make creme brulee and good salads and such... we'll find out!
>
> Jeanne
>