Manual Training School Recipes

I went to alittle country school, Pureora Forest, and in form one and two, had togo down to Benneydale for manuel. I remember making cheese straws and anzac biscuits. I think we had to take an ingrediant,such as an egg,depending on what were going to make. Loved doing that. I then did home economics in high school.Loved that as well. Dont ever rember getting a book.

Did cooking atOraka Heights in the years 1962 and 1963 and still have my cookery book from those days.Toad in a hole and cornish pasties are a few that I remember without looking it up .still use the book as have also written some of my favourite receipes in it.GREAT.Memories
By the way this was at primary school andthink the teacher was Mrs Crack who was wonderful.

My Mum used to unpick anything I sewed at school and resew it before the next lesson. No child of hers was going to get crap marks!

I remember that carrots in white sauce recipe too - it was called Scalloped Carrots and most of it ended up in the school gardens. Horrid stuff.

I did "Manual" in the 1950s at the training centre in the grounds of Mount Cook School, Wellington - long since demolished. The boys' woodwork classes went on at the other end of the building. The girls' bit had a large teaching room with six electric ovens, two storage and equipment rooms, and a model flat.

Our first task was to make ourselves maid's headbands on elastic, and embroider our names on them. A little help from Mum with the making, but it certainly taught us which end of the needle to thread. And it let the teachers call us all by name! It was very common then for young girls to do embroidery, but they learned it at home because sewing was not taught till secondary school.

They thought butter was too expensive to give us rookie cooks (at 2 shillings a pound) so they melted it half and half with dripping, and set the resulting hybrid into big enamel bowls. We always used this in our cooking. Oil was unheard of.

As we approached the end of the two years' training on Wednesday mornings, our task was to make lunch for the teacher, four at a time, in the model flat. Sausage and apple pie.

The final lesson after 2 years was to make our own Christmas cake, the most difficult thing we attempted. We all brought brandy to school in little corked medicine bottles, and some of it made it into the finished cakes.

We had to cook for the teachers too and I remember making toad in the hole and the sausage flew across the table onto the floor.lol.not sure what marks we got for that.

I still use the banana cake recipe and still have my book. 1963 ish,6 months cooking 6 months sewing and we traveled to waihi and back once a week from whangamata in an old old bus just to do it.

This is one from school cooking lessons around 30 years ago - still make it regularly- especially when blackboy peaches are about (or I freeze peaches just for this recipe)

Felixtowe Tart

65g butter,
¼C sugar,
2 egg yolks,
1 C flour,
¼C cornflour,
1 t baking powder,
¼t salt,
1-2 C drained cooked fruit (Blackboy peaches esp nice)

Cream butter and sugar, add yolks and beat well.Add sifted dryingredients and mix well.Press into greased pie plate and bake 180 C for 15-20 mins.Spread with drained fruit and cover with meringue and brown top in SLOW oven -130 C
MERINGUE.2 egg whites beaten stiff, then gradually add ¼ C sugar while beating.

I still make cornish pasties, cinnamon tea cake and hot choc fudge sauce.
I still have the pathwork tote bag, but outgrew the skirt!
Bread board is used at our holiday home and mum has the key rack :-)
(Lincoln '82,83)

Otumoetai Intermediate back in the 70's, we made pavlova, scones, and pizza.I think it was Mrs Nicholson who was the Home Economics teacher, I was her pet and did really well right through college with economics, topping the classes.Use to love that and woodwork, as well as sewing, made a wooden coffee table and sewing we made an apron with an appliqued pocket and a skirt.

I have memories of the crap we made at manual, this was around 1982-83. Girls and boys were still segregated.
One of the boys got hold of a couple of pancakes we made and stuck them together around the edges and made a rather good whoopie cushion! (they were that rubbery)
and after hesitantly tasting the soup, my own father said "what did you thicken this with! Plaster of Paris!"

It's nice to hear some places had a successful time, ours was a joke.