The Final Learning Project Post

It is hard to believe that this semester is coming to an end, and to say this semester has been a challenging one would be an understatement.  But, it’s not over yet and there is still some business to finish up.  In this post, I will be summarizing my learning project and discussing my experiences with the assignment.

Week 1: The Path to Becoming A Better Chef: Learning Project Blog Post #1

Week 1 was an outline of what skill I wanted to get better at through the learning project.  I chose cooking because of how important of a skill I believe it to be.  It is one of the skills that everyone has to utilize multiple times every day, and being proficient with it has some major upsides. 

Week 2: Cooking with Branden

This was the first week where I actually spent some time working on my cooking skills.  I made a chicken stir-fry from scratching using YouTube.  Chicken stir-fry is one of my favourite meals, but I always just bought the frozen, pre-assembled package.  I found a YouTuber by the name of Pro Home Cooks that created a chicken stir-fry video specifically for learner cooks.  I followed his instructions almost exactly and the result turned out really good.  This was probably my favourite thing I made during this learning project.  A big takeaway I learned during this week was how to properly fry chicken.

Week 3: I Want My Baby Back Ribs

During this week, I decided to tackle ribs using the oven.  I once again used YouTube as a resource this week, except I used a different YouTuber.  To perfect my ribs, I followed a YouTuber by the name of The Stay-at-Home Chef.  I had made ribs before, but I had only ever used a BBQ to do it, and the ribs never turned out as good as they did this time.  One major takeaway I learned this week was the importance of seasoning your food.  In the past, I was not one to really season my food.  This changed as a result of the learning project and my cabinet is now full of different spices!

Week 4: Lemon Garlic Butter Chicken & Animoto!

In week 4, I did a couple of different things.  Turning away from YouTube, I used Reddit as a resource.  I also tried out Animoto for the first time to document my learning project by making an instructional cooking video.  I found the Animoto program really easy to use and it is something I can see myself using in the future. 

Week 5: Tik Tok Pasta

In week 5, I turned to Tik Tok.  I would have never thought to use Tik Tok for this learning project, but after listening to Katia and some of my fellow classmates rave about it, I decided to give it a shot.  I made something that was trending on the app at the time called “Tik Tok Pasta.” This recipe was something I never would have tried in the past because I perceived it to be a weird combination of foods, but I’m glad I decided to give it a shot.  A big takeaway I had this week was to not be afraid to get creative and experiment in the kitchen.  Cooking is an art and you never know what you will discover through experimentation.

Week 6: Making the Perfect Omelette

Week 6 was a hectic one.  I moved during this week, so a lot of my kitchen tools were packed away in boxes and I only had the bare minimum for groceries, but I still managed to do some work in the kitchen.  This week, I used a blog called the Reluctant Gourmet as a resource for my cooking, and I made a basic omelette. It was this week I learned the importance of the “low and slow method” of cooking.  Using different levels of heat depending on the type of food you are cooking is such an important cooking skill that I was oblivious to before this learning project.

Week 7: Brownie Cheesecake and Kitchen Stories

For week 7, I took to the App Store to hunt for a cooking resource.  I came across a great app called Kitchen Stories.  I used this app to make a brownie cheesecake.  I’ve never been much of a baker so this was a new experience for me.  The biggest takeaway this week was honestly the Kitchen Stories app.  I’ve used this app for personal use a few times since I used it for my learning project, and I plan on using it well into the future. 

Week 8: Pinterest, Chicken Thighs, and Sautéed Vegetables

After some recommendations by a fellow classmate, I chose to give Pinterest a try in week 8. I used Pinterest to make chicken thighs and some sautéed vegetables.  Pinterest was probably the resource I liked the least while doing this learning project, and I can’t see myself using it in the future.

Week 9: Tasty™ Homemade Buns

In week 9, I took to the App Store again and made some homemade buns for the first time.  I used an app called Tasty to do this, and it went well, but if I were to recommend an app to use to learn cooking, I would recommend Kitchen Stories over Tasty.  My big takeaway this week was that dough is not as difficult to work with as it seems.  Now that I’ve made and used dough, I would really like to attempt something like homemade pizza.

My Favourite and Least Favourite Resources Used

My favourite resources that I used for this learning project would have to be YouTube, the Kitchen Stories app, and Reddit, with YouTube being my overall favourite.  YouTube is probably the best resource to learn any skill.  The content is all free, and there are thousands of videos to choose from.  Visual learning is so important when it comes to learning a new skill, so that is the major reason why YouTube is my most highly praised resource.  Kitchen Stories and Reddit also are two great resources to learn cooking.  Kitchen Stories also has visual demonstrations which is a major bonus, and Reddit is a great platform to connect with other people that are interested in a particular certain skill or hobby.  Tik Tok and Pinterest were my least favourite resources.  They aren’t bad resources to gain some cooking knowledge, but the other resources I have listed are a lot better.  These resources are great for finding and exploring new resources, but they aren’t great if you are a beginner cook looking to learn from scratch.

My Experience with the Learning Project

Overall, I found this project to be a fun experience.  I chose cooking because I wanted to become more comfortable in the kitchen.  Upon finishing this project, I am no master in the kitchen by any means, but it’s safe to say that my goal has been reached, and I am more comfortable in the kitchen.  Before this project, I stuck to what I knew; I never really ventured out of my comfort zone and constantly made the same meals.  Now, I am not afraid to try new things in the kitchen and expand my horizons.  I also got some experience with blogging on other edtech tools as a result of this project. Before this semester, I felt blogging to be uncomfortable; I didn’t like putting my experiences out there for others to read, but now that has completely changed. I feel comfortable blogging, and I enjoy putting my thoughts out there for others to read and for them to be able to connect with me.

This project was a great way to highlight how beneficial learning online can be.  There are so many different resources out there that make learning online so accessible.  I have found a ton of great cooking resources that I will continue to use throughout the rest of my life. YouTube, Reddit, and phone apps are just a few of the resources out there that can guide you through learning a new skill. Throughout this past year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have heard a lot of negatives about online learning, but it isn’t fair to label online learning as inherently bad.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of skills that one can learn for free from the comfort of one’s home because of online learning.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading!