Cooking in the dark

Venona Thomas cooks her graduation dinner at the Alaska Center for the Blind, the final task of her "Activities for Daily Living" program. Her sister Lynn Perkins waits in the next room. The center could use a grilling machine, a talking meat thermometer and two microwaves.

Another graduation, and the staff and clients of the Alaska Center for the Blind are celebrating as they always do: with a home-cooked meal prepared by their most recent "Activities of Daily Living" graduate.

How does a blind person plug in a toaster. Boil an egg? Go grocery shopping?

Clients such as Venona Thomas, who was 40 when she suddenly lost her eyesight, often have no idea. At the center, they learn strategies to do these things and more.

When Thomas first went blind, she said, she burned herself trying to cook on the stove and worried about how she was going to take care of herself. On her graduation day, there was no question. Thomas, wearing an apron and wielding a cooking fork, presided with confidence over two deep-fat-fryers full of chicken and a pot full of potatoes in the center's teaching kitchen.

Her meal -- a dinner for 20 of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, a tossed green salad, croissant rolls and a cake -- was her final test, valedictory speech and graduation party rolled into one.

Sister Lynn Perkins flew in from Los Angeles to mark the occasion. When Perkins walked in and saw her sister cooking, she said, "I almost started crying, I was so happy."

As she cooked, Thomas explained the skills taught at the center that enable her and other blind students to take command of the kitchen.

The popping and bubbling of the frying chicken slows when it's time for the pieces to be turned. A long cooking fork allows her to check the positioning of any item on the stove without a nasty burn. And planning ahead by marking stovetop and oven controls with raised lines makes it possible to adjust the temperature and set timers.

Other training at the center teaches everything from how to read Braille to how to safely plug an appliance into a wall socket. Computer classes train students in using voice-enabled software to access the Internet. Other lessons involve such skills as crossing the street or paying for items at a supermarket.

Thomas was taught by instructors like Sahar Husseini, herself blind, who says a simple philosophy guides her.

"I don't wish it on anyone, but it's not the end of the world," Husseini says. "I really think being blind is just really darned inconvenient."

Executive director Carolyn Peter, who nominated the center for the Book of Dreams, said the organization could use new equipment to help teach others to cook for themselves, a vital step toward independence.

In particular, the center could use two microwaves and a low-fat griller to offer students less intimidating, safer first steps toward cooking in the dark. The center also could use a talking meat thermometer, recommended by the Department of Environmental Conservation in a recent inspection of the facility's kitchen.

Center for the Blind

J-1 George Foreman Grill, $100

J-2 Talking meat thermometer, $130

J-3 Two microwave ovens, $250