By Brian Charlson | From BayLines Express, September, 2022
Having donated home-baked cookies as well as BBQ and taco parties as items at both BSCB and ACB fund-raising auctions, it should come as no surprise that I love to cook and bake. Over the years this has allowed me to show the sighted world that persons who are blind can cook and bake and do it well.
In the past, I have cooked for employees at Yahoo during their disability awareness event, had an article published in the food section of the Sunday Boston Globe, and been interviewed on a number of radio stations. In July of this year, I was on Chronicle, an early evening magazine program on WCVB Channel 5.
This came about when a colleague at the Perkins School for the Blind was approached by the producer of Chronicle and asked about doing something that would help people understand the importance of website accessibility. It so happened that Perkins Access, an accessibility consulting branch of the Perkins School for the Blind, had just finished working with America’s Test Kitchen on their website. The question was, how do we do this and make it real, not dry? The answer, let’s have a person who is blind cook on camera and explain some of the tools and techniques he uses, including accessing recipes on the web. Enter from stage left, Brian Charlson.
Now it was only a matter of setting a date and time to do the interview and filming. Once that was established, what to cook and what equipment and techniques to showcase.
It so happened that I had just finished renovating my basement kitchen that I had promised myself I would fix up once I was retired from the Carroll Center for the Blind. A guy has to have something to do while his wife is at the office.
As for a menu, that to was a bit of a no brainer. I had to cook a “Taco Truck Dinner” for one of the two people who had the high bids at the 2022 BSCB auction. Refried beans in the Insta-Pot, pork carnitas in a Dutch oven, Mexican rice in the microwave and guacamole in my molcajete.
The day came and so did the television crew, four people in all. There was the videographer, the producer, the representative from Perkins, and a person from a public relations firm in Boston. All women and all were very professional.
Between the opening interview and the taping of me using and explaining each piece of equipment and technique, they were here in my home for a little less than two hours. Most shots took only once to get right, but two of them I had to do two or three times.
Now came the wait. When would the show air, and how much time would I get to tell my friends and family? The answer was on a Thursday night in less than a week. When the show was listed on the WCVB website, there was no mention of my segment, so I didn’t know if it was at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. I also didn’t know just how long it would be.
You need to understand that watching Chronicle on a Thursday never happens in my house. We are all fans of Jeopardy, which airs at the same time. Family members were willing to make the sacrifice this one time, but I had better not ask them to do so in the future.
On came the show and my segment was the second of four that night, starting 2 minutes and 30 seconds in. They did show me taking the pork out of the oven, reading the braille on my Insta-Pot, using a knife on a cutting board, and showing off a volume of my copy of The Joy of Cooking in braille. What they didn’t show was me making guacamole or using my talking microwave oven.
All in all, I was pleased with how things worked out. None of the things they said about blind people were wrong and I didn’t sound or look like a fool. The one thing they didn’t get right was my name. They didn’t get it wrong once; they got it wrong six times. So, if you hear about a blind cook named Brian Carlson, that is me, Brian Charlson. If you would like to see the show, you can view it on your computer or smart phone at https://www.wcvb.com/article/problem-solvers-music-to-help-quit-smoking-and-accessible-recipes-for-the-visually-impaired/40798551 and go to the “Play” button. You will first hear a short commercial and then the program. Happy Eating!