Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Dining With Donna Podcast: Interview with Debra Erickson, Founder, The Blind Kitchen

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Dining With Donna Podcast: Interview with Debra Erickson, Founder, The Blind Kitchen · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Dining with Donna,
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the podcast where we make cooking approachable,
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enjoyable, and accessible to everyone.
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I'm your host, Donna Jordan, and I am inviting you into my kitchen today
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to explore step by step recipes, smart kitchen hacks,
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and more meal ideas that fit real life.
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Whether you are cooking on a budget, planning a busy weeknight dinner,
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or preparing something special for family and friends,
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will focus on cooking with confidence without relying on sight,
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using sound, touch, aroma and simple tools that keep you safe and in control.
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So grab your apron, bring your curiosity, and let's get cooking.
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Debra Ericksen it is my privilege and my pleasure to welcome you to my podcast.
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Debra Erickson: Well, thank you for the kind introduction.
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I'm very excited to be here and to have this conversation with you.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Great. So let's get started, Debra, for listeners who are meeting you for
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the very first time, can you share your story of vision loss when you first notice symptoms
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when you were diagnosed and what that transition was like for you personally and
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professionally.
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Debra Erickson: Well, I was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa when I was 28,
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and I had just gone to the eye doctor to get a pair of glasses because I had astigmatism,
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a mild one since I was a child.
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Yeah. And when he looked in my eyes and said,
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I think you have an eye disease, and I want you to see a specialist,
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I couldn't have been more shocked. There was no history of vision loss in either side of
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my family. And I'm one of 12 children and there was absolutely no,
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no history. So I ended up going and it was confirmed.
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So my parents were recessive gene carriers, but I had no symptoms that I was aware of.
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Of course I had decreased peripheral vision and I had I knew I couldn't see very well in
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the dark, but how much can another person see in the dark?
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So I had no suspicion at all that I had a serious eye disease.
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And so, like many people who have RP, some people call it resistant people.
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That's what RP stands for.
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I tried to fake it as long as I could.
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I did not want to identify as blind.
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It just it wasn't part of my identity.
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And I came to the point where I couldn't anymore.
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I was falling down, getting hurt, knocking things over,
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apologizing to shopping carts.
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And so I done a lot of that.
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So I went to the Oregon Commission for the blind,
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and that's where I got my blind skills and started accepting that this was indeed part
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of who Debra Erickson was.
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And that included the word blind.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: What a hard knock.
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Debra Erickson: You know, we've all got something.
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It's just this that nobody gets out of here without.
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Without stuff. So.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. Let's talk about the heart of your mission.
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Your mission? That vision loss does not have to end your love of cooking.
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Okay. What do you say to someone who tells you quotation mark?
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I used to love cooking, but now I am afraid.
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Debra Erickson: Well, first of all, I relate to them.
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When I first took my me, my first meal prep class at the Oregon
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Commission for the blind, and I had to stand in front of a stove and
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they completely blindfolded me just to make sure I wasn't using my available vision so
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that I would get immersed in the whole experience.
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I was terrified, absolutely Terrified because I saw the little vision left and I.
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But but once it was taken away from me.
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So I know that fear. But my instructor was lovely and she was very calming and and had
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me helped me develop a trust in her.
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And so when people say they're afraid, I'm like,
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you're right to be afraid. That kitchen can be a very dangerous place.
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You can cut yourself. You can burn yourself.
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Yeah. You can, you can look clumsy, you know,
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you can look disorganized.
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It is a scary place. But if you have the right tools and techniques and information,
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you still can cook. You just have to do it differently.
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Because our world relies on vision, we have a very visual world.
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So when that is either eliminated or reduced significantly,
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things have to change.
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And that is part. And cooking is one of those things.
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You can do it, but you just have to do it differently.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And that's that's very true.
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I mean, I mean, I had functional vision up until about 20 years ago,
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and I had to readjust and thank God I had my mom alongside me to,
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you know, say to me, keep on going, girl, this is how you're going to do it from
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now on, you know, so I understand.
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Debra Erickson: Yeah. It's important to have, you know, some cheerleaders along the way
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because it can be pretty frustrating and pretty,
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you know, depressing. And so it's nice if you have support groups or some type of,
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of people along the way that can help you readjust your attitude when it needs it.
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Because we all need it occasionally.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: We sure do. One thing that really stands out about The Blind Kitchen is your library of
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audio described instructional videos.
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How did you decide to invest so heavily in teaching content.
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And what do you think makes a cooking demo truly useful to someone who can't rely on
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sight?
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Debra Erickson: So when I was in culinary school, I had to solve a lot of problems.
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I was the only blind student, and so I would go on the internet at night
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and, you know, to study for the next day.
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How can I flip an egg? How can I know if this pan is centered on the stove?
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How can I, you know, measure things without wasting it because you get points deducted
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from you? And so I had to solve a lot of problems,
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and I can't tell you how frustrating it was to find a YouTube video with the perfect
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title. And then all of a sudden it's just music.
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I just wanted to pull my hair out.
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And that happens a lot, where you get the perfect title or the
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perfect video and it's not accessible to us.
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So when I started, when I was deciding on what The Blind Kitchen would be,
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it could be just a cooking show with a, you know,
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a twist on vision loss.
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Or it could be, you know, a podcast where I talk to other people with
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vision loss that like to cook.
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But but Donna, in my core, I'm a teacher and I that's that's who I,
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my most authentic person is.
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And so I decided it wouldn't be an entertaining website.
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It would be a teaching website where I could share the information that I had learned in
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my journey. I didn't create all of these systems and tools and things like that.
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A lot. I had a lot of teachers helping me to to learn how to solve different problems.
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And the Blind Kitchen became that place where instead of finding things in different places
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on the internet or on a blog or in an article,
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The Blind Kitchen became and the library specifically.
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So the tools Are the the bread and butter for The Blind Kitchen.
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That's how we pay our bills and keep keep the the website going.
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But the the the library is the heart of The Blind Kitchen.
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There are so many tips and tools and strategies.
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And there are like 12 different ways to label things from low tech to high tech.
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And so we discuss it. It depends on your wallet.
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It depends on your comfort with technology.
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So it's nice to have choices.
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And I just love the library in The Blind Kitchen.
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It really has grown immensely.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And you've had to invest a lot of time and finances in all of this,
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haven't you?
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Debra Erickson: I absolutely have you.
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We film in a in a professional studio, and so there's all the costs that go along
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with that. The script writing, the, you know,
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props and food, you know, things that are related to it.
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But I have a an excellent team and we just turned three in October.
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Where from where we opened our website doors.
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And so the growth has been pretty amazing.
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It was slow at first, but now all of a sudden it's it's been
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exponential. It's been quite the journey.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Wow I am impressed. Now you serve so many different learners kids,
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teens, adults who lost lost vision later in life.
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How does your teaching change depending on the age and life stage of the cook?
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And what are your best tips for families who want to teach a blind child how to cook with
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confidence?
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Debra Erickson: Okay, so each of those populations I would call that you mentioned each person has to be
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approached as an individual.
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They have a history. Some have cooked before and now they lost vision and they're not sure
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how to proceed. Others have never even been in a kitchen before.
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And I want to address the child thing.
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And I know this is a passion of yours as well.
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Yes, but they children with vision loss.
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The parents are amazing, but what they want to do is keep their kids
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out of the kitchen, many of them, because that's a dangerous place,
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you know, they can get cut and burned and it's their job to protect their children.
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But in end, there's no funding or or classes for for sighted
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parents of children with vision loss.
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I mean, I suppose there are some here and there, but it's not a thing at this point in
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time. So I actually am I it'll be it's my third one where I'm doing a zoom presentation
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to school districts, and the target audience is not the visually impaired children,
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it's the parents of visually impaired children.
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So the the child accompanies them or the young adult.
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And then I teach different ways that the parents can make their kitchen accessible.
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Introduce them to tools.
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So if they have a child as young as three, can use some of my tools safely to cut up
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bananas, to cut up the slicer that that can't cut their skin,
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but it can cut through a banana.
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And I have quite a few tools like that, but the but the parents just don't know how.
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And so I and the other thing is, is a lot of people think it's very expensive
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to renovate a kitchen to make it accessible.
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And then what happens to the people that can see the notification? How are they going to
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manage. So but these are ways that they I teach them ways they can mark their flat
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screen, you know appliances and things like that with,
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like, maybe a bump dot or maybe a halo or maybe,
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you know, different, different inexpensive, low tech.
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And the people in the family that can see can still use it.
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It's just very it's remarkably easy.
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But if you don't have the information, you can't be expected to just know it.
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And so this the course is called The Kitchen is for everyone.
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And so the the parents are supplied with a certain amount of tools.
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And then I go through and teach them the different tools,
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how their kids can use them, but also things that they can do that have
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nothing to do with, with tools specifically to make their kitchens accessible for their
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child with vision loss.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I think this is absolutely amazing because when I think back and I have I had sighted
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parents. I know that my mom and my granny were petrified to let me into the kitchen.
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Absolutely. No, you can't do you can't even lift a dishcloth,
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you know. But I was very determined to ensure that I got in there and that I learned how to
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cook. And eventually I convinced them, you know,
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so it takes a lot of work.
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Debra Erickson: It does, because parents are so protective and well-meaning,
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and that's how they love their children, is to protect them.
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But if you can give them an alternative route where they can still love and protect their
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children and help them make their way towards becoming independent adults,
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that's a better answer.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Absolutely. Now, you also emphasize smart systems for safety,
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like, you know, like what to do with knives in the sink and how to avoid surprise cuts.
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Can you share a few of your most effective safety routines that listeners can adopt
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immediately?
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Debra Erickson: Yeah, so the first thing I think is to have a safe,
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clean, predictable work area.
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And I we can talk about that if you want to go into it.
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But there's a couple of things people can do immediately.
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If you are cooking with vision loss and you're using a cutting board or a work tray
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or whatever, and let's say you're fabricating chicken or or cracking eggs or whatever,
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and now your fingers have some bacteria on them.
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It's just chicken juice right now, but it will if it's at room temperature for
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any length of time. Cross-contamination can occur because harmful bacteria can grow.
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So if you're going to wash off your fingers and you touch your counter,
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you reach over. You make sure the faucets in the right place,
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you reach over and turn on the water control.
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Grab the soap dispenser and now you rinse your hands.
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Well, you've got to go back and disinfect all of those areas because you got juice on them.
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So one thing that people can do, and I think this is great for sighted cooks
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as well, is run a couple of inches of soapy hot water in the in the bottom of one of your
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sink or in a dish pan.
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And that way when I go, my fingers are messy and when I need to wash
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them so I can either use my forearms or the back of my hands if there's no,
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you know, contaminants on them, and then I can find my way to the sink and
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just immediately plunge my hands in that hot,
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soapy water. And so now I now I can reach for the soap or whatever or the,
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you know, turn it on and nothing.
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I don't have to go back and decontaminate things.
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And plus, if I'm, let's say I'm using a measuring cup or measuring spoon and I'm done
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with it, I can just put it in that water.
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And I've already started my cleanup.
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And the reason you only do a couple of inches is because as a blind cook,
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I'm slower now. I have to be very thoughtful.
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And so when that water can become cold over time.
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And that's pretty disgusting to put your hands in cold water.
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So then I just have to turn on the faucet, run some more hot water into it.
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It's going to it's going to revive the suds, and it's going to raise the temperature of
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the water to be pleasant again.
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And I'm I'm on my way.
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I don't have to redo everything. Just add a couple of inches.
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So that is one way another safety tip that for a mixed family especially,
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or people, you know, where you have someone, some that can see and maybe someone that
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can't is that we sell something called Sharps Basket,
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but you can use any container that makes sense for you.
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And they're, they're basically like drawer organizers,
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elongated. And so if I have scissors, if I have a knife,
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if I have anything, A peeler that could potentially cut people.
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They are parked in that box at my work where I'm working at.
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There's also an identical one at the sink.
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So if I am using a knife and now I'm cutting up that chicken,
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I really don't have time to clean the knife and put it away.
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I can just take it and carry it over to the sink and drop it in that basket.
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And I know when I get near those baskets, I've got to slow down and be careful.
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And the whole family knows.
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And so that way, oh, I can't even tell you how mad the chefs at culinary school would
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get when they'd find a knife in the bottom of a sink.
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Anybody could cut themselves.
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You can't see through soapy water.
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And so this way, all the sharps are in a predictable location until you have the time
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to clean them properly and put them in there and put them away.
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And no one's in danger then, but the family has to make an agreement and
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adopt it and use it consistently.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: A lot of it is common sense, would you say?
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Debra Erickson: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
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In fact, one of the I think the strengths of The Blind Kitchen is in its simplicity.
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I'm not I'm not handing you smart speakers or making you do,
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you know, complicated gestures and stuff on your iPhone.
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Mostly it's just learning to use simple tools that can achieve a task safely and often
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attractively, which can be a challenge as well.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And these, for the most part, are are low tech tools,
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would you say?
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Debra Erickson: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So Yeah.
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No, they're talking thermometers.
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That helps food safety as well, because you don't want to undercook serve
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someone an undercooked piece of chicken or seafood.
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Yeah. So that's another safety device.
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But in The Blind Kitchen, we keep things simple,
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and. But we also present more complex things that people can research on their own,
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such as way around, which is a tagging system,
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a labeling system that works through an app on your phone,
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and you have to buy their special tags.
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But it's a beautiful system.
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But but people, can we tell them about it?
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But we're not going to be the ones to teach it or sell it.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Okay. Okay. Can you explain a few of your most loved tools in plain practical
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terms, something like how something that rattles when water boils or a spout that
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dispenses a precise amount replaces visual cues with sound and touch.
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Debra Erickson: So you've mentioned two of our most popular.
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The one is the boil alert disk that when you put it in the bottom of a pan and the water
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reaches 212 degrees and starts to boil, It rattles because the bubbles that form at
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that temperature force it to rattle.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I got.
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Debra Erickson: One. You have one. Yes I do.
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I love mine. And the other thing is, you know,
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I'm sure Cavewomen and cavemen were able to boil water at some point in time,
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but they needed to be near it.
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And you, if you can boil water, you can be near it.
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You can feel the pan vibrate.
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You can hover your hands above it, feel the steam.
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But what I can do without boil alert disc is be across the room and know exactly what's
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happening in that pan. Right.
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And that that's that's I love that.
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And then the, the auto measure spout is the spout that dispenses exactly one tablespoon
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of liquid or oil, and then it stops, even if you're still holding it upside down.
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It's magic. It works. And it doesn't know power.
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It's just works with magnets and steel ball bearings.
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The. So there are other ones like how to measure wet liquids,
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especially things like vanilla and stuff without waste.
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And how do you know you got it right?
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So we have a wet measure spoon system that comes with a little.
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Basically you put the spoon is shaped like a ladle.
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That's the key to this because that's how we transfer liquids in our society efficiently
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is with a ladle. And so we use that same idea for smaller amounts of liquids.
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We have a liquid dropper in bottles.
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Like if you're doing hot sauce, one thing you you're encouraged to do when
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you can see is just to shake the hot sauce. And you can kind of look and see the drops
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that fall on there, and you stop when you think you've had enough. If you can't see it,
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you don't have that option. You want to. You want to be careful about how much you're
23:13
dispensing. And so this is this is just it's a little kind of like eyedropper.
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But of course, it's not an eyedropper, but a medicine dropper, but it measures
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exactly one quarter teaspoon of liquid.
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And then you can dispense that into pan, stir it,
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taste it. Oh, nope. We need a little bit more,
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but it allows you to be very precise and and have control over how much of that liquid
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that's very flavorful.
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Liquid smokes. Another thing, you don't want to overdo that,
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but you can. But you drop it into the pan.
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You're doing it in manageable amounts.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Wow. I didn't know about that one, but that sounds interesting.
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Debra Erickson: It's handy.
23:57
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: For a listener who's who is newly blind or newly low vision.
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What are the first three practical changes you recommend making in the kitchen to reduce
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stress and increase safety right away?
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Debra Erickson: So the first thing I would suggest people to do is to set up a safe and comfortable work
24:27
area and predictable. Predictability is huge.
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So the first thing is a work tray and you can use what it is,
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is basically a larger than average cafeteria tray or school tray.
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I use those for everything, so I have that in front of me.
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When I start to work, I run my sink or soapy water.
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That's that's the first thing.
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I have my sharps basket at the top of the work tray,
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not on the work tray, but but above it.
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Then I have what I call a scraps bowl to the left of it,
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so that if I have eggshells or or if I'm, I use the cutting board,
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the work trays as cutting boards to, or if I have peels,
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or if I have, you know, anything that I need packaging that I need to
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discard. I don't have to go across the room to the garbage can or anything like that.
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I can just drop it in there.
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So in my work area, everything is predictable and that gives me a it makes me calmer
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because I know where things are at, and I can have another work tray to the side
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of that on which I put the ingredients for the cookies.
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I'm going to make. That way I know I have what I need and I can put it away as I go.
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So that's one thing, is to have a predictable work area that works for you.
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The other thing I would recommend is to find a way to identify and label foods in closed
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containers that you can't smell or taste or, you know,
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like two cans of soup.
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And that can be as simple as putting a rubber band on one can of soup,
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like let's have cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup.
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You can't tell the difference. They weigh the same, they sound the same. They smell the
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same. So I, I use, I can use be my eyes or IRA or my meta smart glasses or ask my
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husband, what is this and what is this?
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And then I put the rubber band on the cream of mushroom.
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And the reason I do that is because cream of mushroom has a R rubber band.
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Chicken doesn't have an R, so even if I go back six months later,
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I assigned meaning to that rubber band.
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And and so there are many ways to find out what's in closed containers.
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And there are as many ways to label them.
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Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And, you know, there are so many things you can use these like IRA,
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be my eyes, the meta glasses, you know, like,
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you know, have your choice, right?
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Debra Erickson: I use them all. I use them all.
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I, I know I should be afraid of it, but it is a very powerful,
26:55
helpful tool, especially for describing your environment or reading what's on a package to
27:01
you. It's not perfect.
27:02
No technology is, but it is really a game changer for people with vision loss.
27:10
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Not knife safety is a huge concern for many blind cooks.
27:17
What are the specific techniques that you teach for cutting and shopping Safely,
27:25
especially for someone who feels anxious about sharp tools.
27:32
So me?
27:33
Debra Erickson: Yeah. Well, so that anxiety is serves a purpose.
27:38
It tells you you could get hurt here.
27:40
So noting the anxiety and overcoming it if.
27:45
But you have to be confident in the tools that you have.
27:47
And we've got a couple of things I'll give you.
27:50
Like we have a cut resistant glove, we call it a cut glove.
27:53
And I literally can put my hand palm up wearing the glove and run a sharp knife back
27:58
and forth across my palm.
28:00
And I can feel the pressure and I can feel the movement,
28:03
but I never, ever get cut.
28:05
And it works. What the way it works is, it's first of all,
28:09
it's very cut resistant, although it is thin and flexible,
28:13
a little bit stretchy. But when I'm cutting, if all of a sudden I feel contact between the
28:20
knife or the tool and my fingers holding the food.
28:23
I'm just going to stop.
28:25
And then that way I. If I weren't wearing the glove by the time my brain would have
28:30
registered. Oh, something's wrong down there. You made contact. It would have been too
28:33
late. So it can be as simple as that.
28:36
But I'll tell you some of the aspects about the tools that we have.
28:41
So one one characteristic found in a lot of the cutting and chopping tools are that they
28:50
have a serrated edge, or they might have pointy,
28:52
jagged teeth. You know, almost all my much of my stuff is made with
28:56
stainless steel and it's sharp enough to fabricate the food,
29:00
but not sharp enough to cut your skin.
29:02
And that is true of several of the tools, the avocado tool and the.
29:08
We have a corncob remover, corncob cleaner.
29:10
It takes it off. And the other thing that that happens in The Blind Kitchen is that we
29:16
have tools where the blades exist in a cone or a tube where your fingers cannot make
29:22
contact with the blades when it's being used properly and set up like one of those,
29:26
we have a chopper tool that lets you push up and down on a spring loaded handle,
29:31
and then so those blades are sharp and they are doing the work you want it to do.
29:36
We also have like a peeler.
29:38
So the other aspect of tools found in The Blind Kitchen is that it lets your fingers be
29:44
close to the action without being in the food.
29:47
So like the avocado tool, it number one reason for emergency visits
29:55
related to food are avocado tools and or avocado cuts.
30:00
So you this it's shaped like a triangle.
30:03
It's got a serrated edge.
30:05
It's sharp enough to cut the skin of the avocado,
30:08
but not sharp enough to cut your skin.
30:10
Then at the point of it, it has jagged little teeth.
30:13
Again, part of this, it's only one piece of stainless steel,
30:15
but they're jagged and they can get under that seed and help you pry it out.
30:20
And then the third thing is, is that it's angled a little bit curved.
30:24
And it does a beautiful job of scooping out the the avocado food from the,
30:30
from the skin. Other things are that we have a finger guard where if you're cutting and
30:36
you're nervous, it's, it's a about the size stainless steel,
30:41
about the size of a credit card.
30:43
And it has two rings on the back of it.
30:45
And you put your finger through the rings.
30:47
So now when you're curling your hand like a bear claw,
30:50
that stainless steel is between your blade and your fingers.
30:55
It a knife can't cut through stainless steel.
30:58
Right. So it gives you the confidence until at some point,
31:01
maybe you'll be ready to just perform that same task with a cut glove.
31:05
But that's Yeah, that's a good thing.
31:09
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Wow. You got a lot of tools there for me to look at.
31:13
Debra Erickson: We do.
31:16
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Now, before The Blind Kitchen, you were teaching cooking to blind and low
31:22
vision adults as an instructor.
31:26
What did you notice that your students needed most?
31:31
Tools, technique, confidence, or permission to try again?
31:39
Debra Erickson: Well, it it depended on the student and their cooking experience and their blindness
31:44
experience. If you've been blind from birth, you're going to have a different way of
31:49
approaching the world than if you just lost your vision due to macular degeneration.
31:54
So again, you meet the person where they're at.
31:57
But I think for most people, mostly they needed confidence.
32:04
They needed to trust that they could do these tasks safely.
32:07
So even students that were blind from birth and I would have I was working for voc rehab.
32:12
So these were high school graduates, so they could be 18,
32:15
19, 20 years old. Many of them had never been in the kitchen.
32:20
They hadn't been allowed.
32:21
So I'm their first introduction.
32:24
But they. But the other thing I had, which was wonderful, is they were all
32:27
motivated. They chose to take my class so it wasn't like they were forced to.
32:31
And that's a big difference. If you don't want to cook, don't cook,
32:34
you know, don't come here.
32:36
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So so I had motivated students but the,
32:41
the had been told all their lives you're going to get cut,
32:43
you're going to get burned. Don't go in that room. It's the most dangerous room. But I
32:47
would argue it's the most powerful room in terms of serving others and dishing out,
32:52
you know, showing your love and and with nutritious,
32:56
delicious meals. And so the the answer to that is they had to they needed confidence to
33:05
get started. And then then later the tools and techniques came in.
33:08
But I had to the first thing I always did was to use an oven.
33:13
Ovens are a little less daunting than stovetops because even though ovens are hot,
33:18
once you close the door, there's a feeling of safety that comes over
33:21
you with the stovetop.
33:23
There's still exposure and noises and stuff.
33:26
So I the way I develop trust was I would say,
33:30
okay, we're going to I'm going to show you what a stove looks like. We touched the
33:33
broiler while it's off, of course.
33:34
And I tell them I'm turning this on until you give me permission to turn it on.
33:39
And so people had never seen the inside of a of an oven.
33:43
They had no idea how it worked about the racks,
33:45
the pullout and all that.
33:46
And so I never had a student that did not safely pull either veggie burgers or bacon
33:53
that we baked in the oven out of the oven safely on the first lesson,
33:58
everybody did it. Never had one fail, but some took longer than others.
34:04
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Well, yeah, because they were intimidated or.
34:06
Debra Erickson: Absolutely. Yeah yeah, yeah.
34:09
And it's important to notice that you've got to pay attention to your body signals.
34:13
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Yeah. Wow. Park is starting to wind down, but I got this question for you.
34:20
What was missing in the world of blind cooking resources when you started?
34:27
Why wasn't it enough to have mattered?
34:31
Tips online and what did you want to build that didn't exist yet?
34:41
Debra Erickson: Okay, at my core, I am a teacher and I cannot believe how many hours I spent trying to find
34:48
information in all these little pockets, jewels and nuggets that that came out of it.
34:53
And so with the Blind Kitchen, I wanted it to be a one stop place.
34:58
Whether you bought things or you just were looking for information.
35:03
That's why I made all my videos available to everyone.
35:06
You don't have to pay to go behind a paywall to see the videos.
35:09
They're available to anyone.
35:11
Right? And and the tips and techniques.
35:13
And I just wanted it to be organized with vision loss.
35:18
If you can become more organized, even if you were disorganized,
35:22
when you could see your life is going to be so much better.
35:26
And that's what the Blind kitchen was. It has categories of information and tools that have
35:32
to do with each of the cooking methods grilling and barbecuing dining out,
35:39
accessing and reading recipes different techniques such as cutting and chopping.
35:45
We have a cutting series on there that tells,
35:47
depending on the kind of food you're trying to cut, how to do it cleaning,
35:51
organizing, labeling, identifying all of that stuff had to be it
35:59
was it took me a while to figure out a framework for it,
36:02
but culinary school helped with that.
36:05
And so that that is what I wanted is an organized,
36:08
predictable place of information that people with vision loss or that know people with
36:16
vision loss, because there's a lot of agencies that help people with vision loss
36:20
learn to cook. There's a lot of families who there,
36:24
they don't there. So let's say they have the grandmother used to be the,
36:30
you know, the one that did the holiday meal or the Hanukkah or,
36:33
you know, Thanksgiving.
36:34
And now, because of vision loss, she's sitting on the couch watching a
36:39
football game. She doesn't even care about it.
36:41
And she can hear the activity in the kitchen going on.
36:44
And, you know, it's kitchen's a fun place to be when you got family.
36:48
You're sharing history and tips and all this stuff.
36:51
So I wanted and they don't identify as blind or visually impaired.
36:56
And that's a big chunk of the baby boomers that are losing their vision over time.
37:02
And they don't. But they could use the information in The Blind Kitchen to solve
37:07
some of their problems. Not every problem.
37:09
Not everyone is completely blind.
37:11
In fact, most of us have varying degrees of light perception and and clarity.
37:17
And so the Blind kitchen ended up being a place where people could go and find the
37:24
information they need in an organized way.
37:29
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I can hear the passion in your voice and I think like being a teacher and one who is
37:36
determined to remove barriers to the kitchen,
37:39
it sure helps a lot doesn't it.
37:42
Debra Erickson: It does, it does. It was a natural fit actually.
37:45
I had to learn it and then and I still I discovered I really loved cooking in culinary
37:53
school. And so yeah, so it was it was a natural fit.
37:57
And, you know, somebody once told me.
38:01
Find. Find something you like to do and then find a way to get paid for it.
38:06
And I think I found. Yeah.
38:09
Yeah. I think just like you.
38:10
Yeah. You know, it's like, I like doing this.
38:13
I can reach people. People seem to respond.
38:16
And so I feel very lucky to have made that connection.
38:23
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And my final question of the day Debra what's next for The Blind Kitchen.
38:28
Where what's next for you.
38:30
Where are you going. What are you hoping to achieve.
38:35
You've done so very much.
38:37
I mean I'm just blown out of my mind with everything here.
38:41
What's next for you?
38:42
Debra Erickson: Yeah. Good question. So the a problem I want to solve.
38:47
So a lot of people, when they have vision loss,
38:52
become isolated. Transportation becomes a thing.
38:57
Finances become a thing.
38:58
And sometimes it's just easier just to stay at home.
39:01
But, you know, and so I would like to build some type of community around people with
39:09
vision loss who like to cook.
39:10
Now I have I know it exists in the world because I do.
39:14
The ACB community calls once a month, and those people and people come to it,
39:18
and I've seen friendships form because of it.
39:21
So maybe it'll be cook alongs, maybe it'll be like a zoom link where I send
39:26
out, here's all the ingredients, let's cook together and we can talk.
39:29
Have someone manage the communications.
39:32
I'm not quite sure how to do it.
39:35
The other thing would be to perhaps do a podcast.
39:38
We have a ton of material.
39:40
We have so much content that we've already done.
39:43
But right now I'm just going to stay in my lane.
39:46
I've got about ten more tools.
39:48
I want to get on the shelves and, and make videos for and that kind of thing.
39:52
But that but creating community in some way.
39:57
I would love to do that.
39:59
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I think that's a great idea.
40:01
I think creating community communities builds confidence.
40:06
It starts Friendships.
40:08
It really does a lot. It goes a very, very long way.
40:11
And there are no barriers to the world, really.
40:14
I mean, you can use zoom, you can use podcasts,
40:17
you can use anything really.
40:19
Debra Erickson: No, you are exactly right.
40:21
And when I am in, I'm when I'm in this, this call with you,
40:25
I feel like I'm with you.
40:27
I feel like we're connecting at a heart level.
40:29
It's not an artificial thing.
40:31
And I feel it when I'm doing my presentations and somebody comes up with a problem or a
40:37
challenge that they have, I can hear it in their voice.
40:40
Oh, that's all I have to do.
40:43
And it's very refreshing to hear that because it's like,
40:46
oh, I just, you know, I hope I just made their day a little better.
40:52
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: It has been a privilege and a pleasure to have had you on my podcast.
40:57
And I'd like to invite you back at any time you think you want to spread the word about
41:01
anything. And if there's anything I can do to help you spread the message,
41:05
I don't think there's much more I can do because,
41:08
you know, you have it all under your your thumbs,
41:11
right?
41:12
Debra Erickson: Well, there's always more that can be done.
41:15
Always more so. And you have a quite a diverse background,
41:19
different than mine in terms of the legal and and things like that.
41:23
So if you know, you never know what another person has in their,
41:29
their toolbox, that that could help you because I don't know your world and,
41:33
and I say that to any of the listeners as well.
41:36
If they have any ideas, I'm always open.
41:39
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Great. So I want to invite you to come back anytime you think you would like to.
41:46
I'd like to help you spread the message. And I want to thank you for having been on my
41:50
podcast.
41:51
Debra Erickson: Thank you for having me.
41:53
It's really been a pleasure.
41:54
I've enjoyed our conversation immensely.
41:57
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Thanks, Deborah. And you take care.
41:59
Debra Erickson: You too.
42:00
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Okay. Bye bye.
42:01
Debra Erickson: Bye for now.
42:02
Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Bye.
42:06
Podcast Commentator: Thank you so much for listening.
42:08
That's a wrap for this episode of Dining with Donna.
42:12
Donna wants to hear from you.
42:14
What did you cook? What worked and what would you like to learn next?
42:19
Share your favorite accessible kitchen tips.
42:22
Send in a recipe request or tell us the kitchen challenge you like Donna to tackle on
42:28
an upcoming episode. And if today's show helped you feel more confident cooking
42:33
without relying on sight, please share it with a friend and leave a
42:38
review. Your support helps more listeners find their way into the kitchen.
42:44
Until next time, keep it simple, keep it safe,
42:48
and keep it delicious.