How to Open a Can of Biscuits

By this time in my teaching career, I should know not to take things for granted.  I should not expect my students to know anything and should therefore cover all the bases, especially when it comes to my beginning cooking classes. 

In the past few weeks since Christmas, I've been drilling into them about cleanliness and the importance of sanitation.  I succeeded in ruining appetites in my class before lunch and had them all terrified of me grading their kitchens after our first lab experience.  All seemed to be going well.  In fact, the first lab (which consisted of making refrigerator cookies) went very well.  It was probably one of the best first lab experiences I've had in my teaching career thus far.  And then we get to the second lab.

In the second lab, my students choose between 2 recipes one for BBQ Cups the other for Pizza Cups.  Most choose the Pizza Cups.  Pizza Cups are very simple to make.  You just grease a muffin pan, open a can of refrigerator biscuits, put one in each cup and press against the sides.  Then fill them with sauce and whatever pizza toppings you like and bake for 10-12 minutes.  The kids love them and it's usually the recipe that I have kids coming back later to tell me they made at home. 

This past week I had a first during this lab.  As I'm walking around the room monitoring each group's progress, I notice the green kitchen is all hovering around something.  I walk up to the group, and they turn to ask me a question.  As soon as I see what's in their hands I can't do anything but laugh.  One of the group members is holding the can of refrigerator biscuits in one hand and the can opener in the other.  "Ms. Miller, we can't figure out how to get these open," he says.  They had used the can opener to partially open one end of the can.  It worked until it was about halfway around and then they had tried prying the end the rest of the way off.  Biscuit dough is oozing out the end around the metal.  Amidst their dumbfounded looks at my insistence that they are trying too hard, I take the can and show them where the directions are on the side and peel the paper back to open the can the correct way. 

I had never dreamed of my students not being able to open a can of biscuits, but then again they are in beginning cooking class.