Mine was required! Then I went to a private school, and it didn’t exist. But extra music and art classes did! 
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I occasionally have a reason to blanch, but I hate the process of the ice bath – wasted water, fishing vegetables out of cold water, separating out ice cubes, fully draining/drying the greens. About a year ago I happened to read as part of a routine recipe to stick blanched greens in the freezer for a few minutes, spread out single-layer on a baking sheet. I’ve had success with doing this instead of a water bath. It may not “stop the cooking” as instantly, but it results in retained color and it’s a lot less mess.
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That is a good idea
I took shop and home-ec in the late 1970’s in Montana and nearly half the home-ec class was guys. We all had a very good time, maybe it was the nature of the sewing and cooking aspects of the class put the guys in an inferior position to almost all the girls. But it was a very social class in which the usual social groups interacted a lot more, i.e. the “socials” interacted with the FFA sorts and the athletes interacted with the “nerds”. It was a good time and it was the first time I saw all the groups in my high school forget their background. That did not happen again until our 10th Reunion.
Shop was a ton of fun but we only had one girl (FFA type and a sweetie) but it was fun in a different way. Nothing like getting busted for using a power stapler to nail a 3/8’ slat to the work bench, especially after I tried to hide that fact by piling 3 more slats on top of the one I inadvertently stapled to the bench.
I think it was sound of the impact, then the quiet “shit” that clued my shop teacher in to the transgression because he came out of his office and homed in on me and my mistake like a heat seeking missile.
I really need to stop this OT stuff…
Because I did have a question about blanching. My ex-GF’s Mom (she is Sardinian) made “Italian Green Beans” that she got from her back yard. When she made them (seemingly just braising them in a water or chicken broth?), they came out slightly firm but a bit less green than out of the garden, but they were delicious, slightly sweet and completely addictive.
When I used the green beans from the same garden and tried to replicate the dish at home, they came out even less green and much more soggy. I am going to buy the next fresh green beans I see at the grocery and blanche them to see if that is the difference, but is there anything else I should do to get really tasty, firm green beans on the stove top? Or is blanching alone a large part of it?
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Home ec was mandatory for girls in my CA middle school. Boys took shop. Good times: I sewed a dress out of that '70’s wonder - Qiana. Also learned how to make corn dogs. And got my ears pierced in the back.
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Yes it is.
One of my alltime favorite dishes of my mom’s was green beans from our garden, braised gently in bacon fat from lardons. Lots of garlic. But she didn’t blanch. The finished dish, while amazingly delicious, ended up Army Drab.
I’ve spent years trying to replicate the dish with brighter color, and the only thing that’s made a huge difference with fresh or frozen beans is blanching (canned is a lost cause). However, the slow-braise method will cook out a lot of the vibrant color no matter what, so it’s just an improvement.
If you want the brightest color, I would blanch in salt, chill, and then saute to your desired firmness.
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Were they cooked with tomatoes? There’s a version made with tomatoes and olive oil that might fit the bill.
We did an apron and a blouse. I will admit my mom helped me (cough) with my sewing assignments. The big deal for the cooking part was to make spaghetti with meat sauce and serve it to the boys in our home room class. (cue frilly aprons and high heels??). Only problem is, the class period wasn’t long enough for the spaghetti to cook properly (water took forever to boil). So we had crunchy spaghetti … I do remember my teacher’s name, though. And I won’t shame her, or possibly her memory, now …
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Oh yes, the gender segregation. I HATED the mandatory home ec class. Probably it was because the assignments were just gawdawful. A dusting mitt in learning how to sew and boxed pudding or noodles for cooking. What a mess.
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Yeah, gender separation aside, I didn’t learn anything in home ec that was remotely useful. My mother showed me how to use the sewing machine - and she was good. (when she was growing up, she learned on my grandmother’s treadle machine - which I got to use, too). The cooking instruction was horrendous. My mother did better, and she wasn’t the June Cleaver type. Everyone in her fam, males and females, knew how to prepare and put a meal on the table.
I think the only thing I ever learned that was useful was how to make hospital corners. Then someone invented fitted sheets and that was that. We did have to make meal planning charts that were supposedly nutritious. 
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The only useful thing I learned in home ec was the importance of level measurement when following a recipe. Don’t even get me started about the childcare instruction in the home ec of my youth, which was dutifully taught to girls but not to boys.
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Same here… At 8 years old, my mother showed me how to thread a needle and sew a button back on my shirt. A few years later, she showed me how to use her sewing machine. Presently, I have an older sewing machine that I use from time to time. I’ve altered some great Goodwill finds (dresses) for Sunshine.
Yes, my mother taught both my sister and I how to prepare meals, etc. To this day, I’ll still call her when I run into a problem… and most of the time she’ll have the fix.
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@ipsedixit Thank you for this tip, I used it today.
The only vegetables I blanch are asian greens, and a tiny bit of oil certainly gave them a “restaurant” sheen they have not had before.
Did it change much else? Nah, but they do look prettier!
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In the restaurant business that’s worth about $1.00 more right there.
It’s amazing what and how much more people will pay for better looking food.
Yours truly included.
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Well, I can make a plate of snow pea leaves for maybe $2-4 for which I would pay $16-20 at a restaurant, so it’s not just the $1 
But, markups aren’t about item cost, I know, or I’d have given up eating out entirely 
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39 here. And masked
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Ok folks, I missed this entirely, but it is encouraging because I was wondering if I was crazy for thinking about this last week.
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This would have been funnier with just the first sentence standing alone. 
Has anyone mentioned the pinch of baking soda trick with boiling green vegetables? I find wildly varying advice/instructions online but have had good results so far. Unclear what the impact might be on vitamins and nutrients (found a lot of conflicting opinions without citation).
We do eat with our eyes, too. I always try to “set a pretty table” (mom’s words) and attempt to make my food look good for my guests. I want them to feel special without thinking I’ve killed myself with the effort. That includes not only shining up the vegetables but thinking about what people are going to put on their plate and trying to make sure that everything plays well together, both visually and taste wise. I’m no expert, and I certainly notice it and really appreciate it when other people or places pull it off.
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