If this will be your first year cooking Christmas dinner with sight loss, or if you’re sighted and hosting someone with sight loss for the first time, we’re here to help things go smoothly.
Charlee Jarvis shares her tips for taking some of the stress out of cooking Christmas dinner, and for being a good host to blind and partially sighted guests. Charlee was born with nystagmus, microphthalmia and optic nerve coloboma, which left with no useful vision in her right eye, and very limited vision in her left.
She says, “I guess to start with one of the most important things, I think, when you're cooking lots of things at the same time, is timings, isn't it? Because you have multiple dishes at different times. So, I tend to use my smart speaker for that, because then you can have multiple timers on the go. You can say what the timer is for, so you're not losing track of what time is what, and that sort of thing.
“I know sighted people sometimes write things down or they just read the packaging or whatever, but I can't do that. So, I'd say smart speaker is the way forward, especially because a physical timer, they you can only do two or three countdowns at once and sometimes you need a lot more than that. So, I definitely say a speaker or a smartphone or tablet is easier for that. I prefer just talking to the smart speaker, because then I don't have to pick up my phone if my hands are dirty.”
Are there any tools that you find particularly helpful?
“I'd say my go-to in the kitchen is talking scales. I use them every day, even without Christmas dinner because, you know, like measuring porridge is an example, you need to get the ratios right. I don't like thick, clumpy porridge.
“So yeah, definitely talking scales because I can't see normal ones and for Christmas baking and things if you get your ratios wrong, it can ruin the whole thing.
“I also have the easy-to-see measuring jug for my liquids. I tend to put it against a bright colour so that I can see when I put my liquid and I can see the markings because sometimes certain colours you can't see, especially darker things like gravy. It's all right if it's milk because then I could see it against the white. But when I put gravy in it, that can be a bit of a pain. So, I'll either try and put it against a different background or I'll shine a light on it, or I'll put a bump-on, if I know I want to make 500 mls of gravy, I'll just put a bump-on on 500 mls, and then, you know, I can.”
What's your preferred way of dealing with hard-to-read cooking instructions?
“So personally, I'd love to be able to tell you that I use Seeing AI and all these fancy apps, but I'll be honest, I just take a picture of it and then I'll zoom in. Because I especially like on my iPad because it's a bigger screen, so I can make it as big as I like and it doesn't get all fuzzy and pixelated. Because I have a bit of vision, I can read it if I make it big enough. Obviously, if you didn't have vision, something like Seeing AI or Be My Eyes is what I would suggest. But pictures work fine for me.”
Do you have any safety tips for people new to cooking with sight loss?
“Something I struggled with when I first started sort of taking things in and out of the oven by myself is like judging the difference between the rack and the tray, because obviously everything's silver, so I couldn't tell and I burned my wrist. Now I have these silicone oven shelf guards, that go over the front of your oven shelves. It just wraps around the edge, and is bright orange, so that you can tell where the rack starts.
“I really like RNIB’s heat-resistant oven gloves because they cover more of the arm. I don't really like the thin little ones that aren't higher up because they can slip down. Also you get better grip than with traditional oven mitts.”
What advice would you give someone who is hosting their first Christmas dinner for someone with a sight condition?
“It’s really helpful to orient your guest, letting them know where the bathroom is, for example. Even if they’re a regular visitor, tell them if you’ve moved furniture and where you’ve put the tree.
“A lot of it is the basic things that are always helpful – don’t leave bags or presents lying in the middle of the floor, keep a clear path from the door, push chairs under the table when they’re not in use, let someone know if you’re moving away, and use their name when you’re talking to them, so they know they’re being addressed.
“And this is Christmas dinner specific… You know, when you go to someone's house and instead of plating up the food, they have all the different individual dishes on the table and you serve yourself. I don't like that because A) I don't know what's in them and B) I don't know how much is socially acceptable to take, like how many roast potatoes am I allowed, as an example?
“So, I think if somebody else is serving dinner, it would be good first of all to not make assumptions and to ask the person if they'd like to be served, or how they'd like to be helped. And then if they do say they'd like to be served. Just go through it, a dish at a time. Explain what everything is. Ask if they'd like it, how much they'd like.
“Also, keep the table simple – keep it to just the food, the place setting and, you know, like crackers if you're going to have Christmas crackers, but try and avoid big floral arrangements, candles and all of that extra stuff because it just makes it confusing.
“And things like patterned tablecloths are quite overwhelming as well, because you can't always see the difference between the dish and the tablecloths. So, be conscious of what colours you use, maybe. Just making sure there's good contrast and I guess as well being a bit careful with things like gravy boats that have lids. It's just really awkward and it's easy to spill. So maybe either offering to serve or just using something that's a bit easier to pour. Like a normal jug, is easier than something with a lid 'cause I just it's an extra thing to fall off, isn't it?
“Make sure there’s enough light for people, and if you’re going to be watching a Christmas film or Christmas TV, make sure you choose content that's got audio description. I know it can be difficult because not everything has it. That's a whole other conversation. But you know, with streaming services especially, you can check in advance if it has it. So just giving thought to that as well.”
