Over spring break, I went to Florida with my parents and my best friend Sara. Other then the obvious appeal of a beach front hotel, palm trees, and 85 degree weather every day, I was looking forward to the food. Going out to eat is a rarity for my family because my mom loves to cook at is good at it and my dad doesn’t like to spend money on thing he says he can make himself (this philosophy has lead to creations that have all failed miserably). So with the only food in our hotel room being a box of Honey Chex and apples, we ate out every single night. The first night we ate at a beachside restaurant called H20 which ended up having the best bread of all time. Here I got an angel hair pasta dish with fresh tomato and basil. The next day at lunch, we ate at a place called The Big Kahuna, a Hawaiian inspired place where I was creative enough just to get chicken nuggets. I do regret being so lame about my food orders because I have chicken nuggets sitting in my freezer right now and I had to travel all the way to Florida just to enjoy some. The 3^rd night we took a water taxi around the canals lined with billion dollar houses and yachts. We knew we were in for some good food when we got off and walked along a place called “Restaurant Ave” by the locals because of every building being a restaurant, ice cream parlor, or candy store. We finally settled on a fancy Italian place where I got a beef lasagna and Sara tried gnocchi for the first time. It took me all of 5 minutes to eat my huge plate, after complaining about how full I was, my parents tried to kill me by bringing us to an ice cream buffet. Throughout my time in Florida I really started to appreciate food and how much I need to learn about portion control.

Over April vacation I got bored one day and I started thinking what I could do.  I called up some of my friends and we hung out for a while.  When they left I became hungry.  So I started looking in my house for something to eat and there was nothing good to eat.  So an idea popped into my head that I should make something to eat.  So I started to look for stuff online to make.  After a while I found a peach blueberry upside down cake.  It required blueberries and sliced peaches (obviously), which I didn’t have.  So my family and I had to go out for a while and I thought on the way home we could pick up some blueberries and sliced peaches.  So we did.  When I got home I started my mise en place. After about 30 minutes of mixing ingredients, I put the peaches in the bottom of the dish with some brown sugar and butter, and then poured blueberries on it.  Then I poured my batter over it.  While it was cooking I saw heavy whipping cream in the fridge so I started to make my own whipped cream.  When it came out of the oven I let it cool and put the whipped cream on it.  It took a bite and it was sooo good.  I gave some to my parents and my brother and they all had seconds.  It was gone in 10 minutes.  I would definitely make it again.

                              

                            -Sean H.

So you know that feeling when you are really bored and you want something sweet? And not just sweet, something chocolatey sweet. So, of course my first reaction is to check through all of the cookbooks in my house (mind you, that means like 40 different cookbooks). What can be tough about baking, especially if you are suddenly baking on a whim, is the fact that you can't seem to find a recipe. Either they are too complicated, like ham and maple bacon cookie, or they call for ingredients you just know you don't have, like real rhubarb muffins. Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen rhubarb. But, then I found the perfect chocolatey sweet recipe. Giant. Chocolate. Sugar. Cookies. Yes!

And I have everything, which in of itself is a miracle. My house is hardly ever stocked to make anything besides oatmeal cookies. And admittedly I did substitute unsweetened dutch coco powder with Swiss Miss hot chocolate powder. And all real came along. The thing about baking is that if you just follow the recipe, you'll end up with at least something. With cooking, its a little bit trickier. Baking is all measurement and technique and then voila!

What I like best about my house is that its small. Like really small. The kitchen and living room is essentially the same room, only divided by strategically placed cabinets. So I can put in an episode o Firefly or Buffy, and half watch while I bake. I can't stand silence, especially when I am making something. So I had an episode of Firefly playing while I baked the cookies. The recipe said that they took about 20 minutes to bake. But, when I took them out they were all flat and brittle. Over baked. The edges were darkened black and the little marshmallows that had slipped into the batter had formed little glazed over puddles (that part wasn't actually that bad). Besides the fact that they were practically cement cookies, they were pretty tasty. Nice and chocolatey. And the caramelized marshmallows were a nice touch too. Now for the sake of my family's teeth, I ground them up and poured the crumbles over some vanilla ice cream. Now that turned out well!

-Gabriela P.

                      Lauren S. Blog 4

 I have had many interesting food experiences throughout this month. I have tried many new things, and have cooked things that i have never made before. For the most part, they have all turned out really well.
 One thing that turned out really well this past week, that i made for the first time with a new recipe, is white cheddar baked macaroni and cheese. I had a bunch of friends over, and thought that it was something that everyone would enjoy. I started out by cooking the pasta, and preheating the oven. I then made my traditional home-made macaroni and cheese. Using flour, milk, butter, and different cheese's to make a basic white cheddar macaroni and cheese. Next, i poured half of the pot of mac and cheese into a glass cooking pan. On top of the layer of pasta, i layered large, sliced, pieces of white mozzarella cheese and covered most of the pasta. On top of that, i poured the rest of the pasta with the cheese sauce. This made the dish double layered with cheese. On top of the next part of pasta, i layer down more mozzarella cheese, sprinkled some  parmesan cheese, and layered the top with seasoning and bread crumbs. The dish came out very well, i served it with garlic bread, and caesar salad, which everyone also loved.
 Another dinner i enjoyed making this month is BBQ steak. I grilled steak for about 15 minutes. Every time i flipped the steak, i would brush the steaks with BBQ sauce and seasoning. The steak came out really well, and BBQ  really complimented the steak. I served this with sweet potato fries and applesauce. 

 The Hook Restaurant

            For my sister’s birthday (April 21^st) we went to a new restaurant in Sandy Hook called ‘The Hook’.  It is an Italian restaurant that turns into a regular bar/pub at 10 or 11 o’clock each night.  The interior design (my first impression of the eatery) was nice. It was a relaxed feel. The tables were a little close to each other, which made it a little stuffy and uncomfortable.

Now what really mattered was the food.  The bread was very good; crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.  The appetizers, to me looked like they were frozen and then microwaved.  The rest of my family thought otherwise.  The fried mozzarella and the fried calamari were the two main culprits.  The entrée that I ordered was Filet Minion.  It was served on a nice dish, with mashed potatoes and assorted vegetables. However, I had asked for my meat to be cooked medium-rare, and it seemed to be well done.  The meat was still very good.

I personally believe that this restaurant is a little too expensive.  The service was great.  Though the restaurant has some flaws, I believe that it will only get better, and I would recommend it to anyone. 

~Mike Davenport

So when I was around 12 I went to Florida with my dad. while we were there as typical custom with him, he chartered a fishing boat for one day. Normally we went fishing in regular depth water off the coast (5-40 feet deep). This time however he decided to take me deep sea fishing. Once you find the fish, craziness ensues. I started when a two foot long king mackerel took the line and ran. After ten minutes it was in the boat and two rods both got hit at the same time. Hours later I was ready to collapse. There were six fish in the boat, all of which were King Mackerel longer than the first I caught. Longest being a little over four feet I think.  Now seafood in Florida is awesome if you've ever had it. The hotel was on the beach overlooking the surf. That night I ordered a Yellow Tail Snapper. Its a pretty fish that when cooked, is amazing. The white fish was cooked with other seasoning and came served with steamed and buttered clams on the side. It was a ridiculous melt-in-your-mouth sensation that I decided to enjoy for the next two dinners after that. Florida is great for three things; food, water, and fishing. and hey, what else do you need.
Grandon S.

So i woke up this morning and laid in bed pondering what to have for breakfast. At first I thought, well i'm not too hungry maybe ill just have some fruit or just wait to eat until lunch. After waiting for about an hour I looked at the clock and saw it was almost 1130! Wow, I should probably eat, I thought to myself. But what exactly to eat was the question. Within a few minutes I began crazing my dads home made pancakes. So I went down stairs and rummaged through the kitchen for this recipe. Of course it had to be on a little piece of paper shoved behind everything, you can never find what you want when your starving. I decided to throw in some apples and cinnamon to give them a little different flavor. I wish these pancakes were healthy considering they call for 1/4 of stick of butter just in the pan to crisp the edges, but yet they are so delicious. I was nervous to see how they were going to turn out with the apples in them, luckily they were even better then usual. A great start to a good day!

Ryan M. Baking 1 4/29/12 Food at the Garden About a month ago, I went to a New York Rangers game with my brother and my dad. I had only been to one other Rangers game before that one, so I was pretty excited. Going to Madison Square Garden for the first time is not something that you will soon forget, and strangely, one of the things I remember most about my first time at the Garden was the food. I had probably the 2nd largest burger that I had ever seen with enough fries to feed six accompanying it. They served the meal in a convenient container, so that you wouldn’t spill all of your food on the way back to your seat. The burger itself had almost all of the toppings that you would expect on a burger and although it wasn’t the best burger that I had tasted, it was still pretty good for stadium food. Since French Fries are pretty much fool proof, they were as delicious as you would expect. On this trip to the Garden, I was sitting in a much different place than where I was during the first game, but I figured that they would still offer the same variety of food. When we got to our section (As high as you can get in MSG), I took a look around and saw only pizza establishments. Now don’t get me wrong, I love pizza and I could probably eat it every day of the week, but it isn’t exactly what I would call “Hockey” food, if there is such a thing. With no other options and my vast hunger I gave in and bought the most expensive and smallest pizza in my life (8 dollars, 4 small slices). Compared to the burger I had before, the pizza was a hors D’ oeuvre and an inadequate one at that. I was almost tempted to buy another one, but the hole in my wallet was only getting bigger, so I decided against it. It was a good lesson to learn early in life, eat before a sporting event or else you’ll go broke and hungry. I’m going to one on the 30th, so I’ll have to remember.

So while in Aruba, I went to an Ostrich farm and fed ostriches, but on the way back I saw that they sold Ostrich burgers and sandwiches.. I mean, food has come a long way, but I don't understand how people can just kill animals to make food out of them. Maybe my facts aren't 100% correct but, it's still an animal being sold to be eaten. Don't get me wrong I have eaten my share of cow, pig, chicken and whatever else is a common food today. But I never understood why.. Lately, I've been wanting to vegetarian because meat hasn't really been something I've wanted to eat much of lately and plus the exact topic of at hand, it's from animals.. It is the cycle of life, of course, animals eat animals and so on so from what I learned in science class years ago. I just really like animals, and don't see how humans can just use them for meat. Maybe I'm a little drastic here, but I mean, we don't get sold to be eaten, because canabolism is wrong, or just gross. So how can that not apply to animals. There just as much part of this world as us. But I can also see that they are a main source of our seafood, meat and dairy(?).. It just weirds me out some, I guess. I've found myself eating less and less meat or chicken, (is chicken considered meat?) lately and just sticking with basics like salad, soup, and oatmeal. My parents think I'm crazy, but I just feel bad for those animals. -Jamie D

Unhealthy food consumes our everyday life. Have you ever noticed that in the grocery store buying healthy food is much more expensive than bagged or frozen food. I feel as though society has made it so hard for us to make healthy food decisions. There’s so many Burger kings, McDonalds, Wendys etc in the world it makes me think that our destiny is just to consume it all because, why not? It’s so hard to say no to fast food because it’s so delicious but yet so unhealthy for our bodies. So why do we keep on eating it? Its just a simple way of living, it’s easy and on the go. There’s way more unhealthy food stores than healthy so we have to go out of our ways to make healthier life styles. I feel as though junk food has taken over our society. No wonder why the obesity rate in America is so high, its because of all of these on the go food places. It’s so convenient it’s hard to say no.-Ashley Beckett

I haven’t really had any baking experiences out side of class lately, so I guess I’ll just tell you about what we made during class. The assignment was a bar cookie that we looked up during class. Our “group” decided, Mike wanted to do it, to make lemon bars. Just like HALF the class did. It wasn’t too hard of a recipe; the only thing was there were two parts to it; the lemon topping, and the shortbread, which it topped. For the shortbread I just put butter, flour, and sugar into a food processor and blended that all together. The lemon topping asked for eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice (which we substituted with lime juice), flour and confectioners sugar. Seems easy enough. But I guess when it said add 1/3 cups flour, it wasn’t clear enough. I won’t name names, but someone ended up putting in 1-½ cups of flour. I wouldn’t say it made the cookies horrible, but it wasn’t really a cookie, more like a cake. Normal lemon bars are usually really rich and powerful, making it hard to eat multiple at a time. The ones we had… I bet you could go through the entire tray before you even tasted a hint of lemon (or lime in this case) because of how the flour overpowered the taste. Of course that’s an over exaggeration, but the taste was much weaker than what an average lemon bar would be. Eric F.

I haven’t really had any baking experiences out side of class lately, so I guess I’ll just tell you about what we made during class. The assignment was a bar cookie that we looked up during class. Our “group” decided, Mike wanted to do it, to make lemon bars. Just like HALF the class did. It wasn’t too hard of a recipe; the only thing was there were two parts to it; the lemon topping, and the shortbread, which it topped. For the shortbread I just put butter, flour, and sugar into a food processor and blended that all together. The lemon topping asked for eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice (which we substituted with lime juice), flour and confectioners sugar. Seems easy enough. But I guess when it said add 1/3 cups flour, it wasn’t clear enough. I won’t name names, but someone ended up putting in 1-½ cups of flour. I wouldn’t say it made the cookies horrible, but it wasn’t really a cookie, more like a cake. Normal lemon bars are usually really rich and powerful, making it hard to eat multiple at a time. The ones we had… I bet you could go through the entire tray before you even tasted a hint of lemon (or lime in this case) because of how the flour overpowered the taste. Of course that’s an over exaggeration, but the taste was much weaker than what an average lemon bar would be. Eric F.

KFC is a fast food restaurant that you see very often when driving down a main strip. It is a really popular for its fried chicken. They have fried chicken in every variation possible. Think of any kind of fried chicken and they most likely have it. Most of there chicken I must admit is good, however some of their sides are questionable. The fries, mashed potatoes, and biscuits are always safe options and generally taste good. However some of the things, one in particular are questionable options. I have learned this from a really bad experience. One time we took a family vacation with all my cousins down to North Carolina. It was a very long drive and took almost a whole entire day. We became very hungry around dinnertime and decided to stop somewhere quick that way we could keep driving and arrive quickly to our destination. However, we were in a very poor part of Virginia with not much around. A KFC’s lights popped up into our view so that’s where we decided to stop. I was a young kid about the age of nine, and my food interest basically consisted of macaroni and cheese and grilled cheese. Luckily KFC was offering a special of macaroni and cheese for a limited time. So my cousin and I decided to try it. It was nothing special however, didn’t taste bad I’d say it was just average. However about 3 hours after, once we arrived at North Carolina, me and cousin began puking and had high fevers. We also had the shivers and couldn’t move off the bed. Our parents wondered what possible could have caused this, and figured it out that the only thing we ate similar was the mac and cheese from KFC. It was a horrible experience and ruined two days of our vacation. We were so sick that we actually slept through a small hurricane. Cailah C

This week, I decided to take it into my own hands in exploring some culinary adventures in my house. My dad was away on business and my mom found herself not wanting to make food for just the two of us, so I stepped up. The first day that my mom didn’t want to cook, I made myself some chicken stir-fry. I know that’s not really baking and pastry but no need to fret, for I made chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Doing that reminded me of the first time I’ve ever made chocolate chip cookies. I made the dough from scratch, and when I went to put them into the oven they looked fine. Tasted fine. But when I took them out after the required time, they were still in balls. Just cooked cookie dough wads. The ones I made this week though turned out much better. More pancaked shaped. Which was my next task. I had to wake up for soccer practice at around 7 and I had some lucky charms. But when I came home I was really craving some good ole fashion pancakes. I’ve made pancakes plenty of times at home before, but I decided to mix it up this time. Throwing in some cinnamon and vanilla and bananas. I’m not going to brag but… wow. Other than that however I basically ate fast food and ice cream. So not the most healthy of weeks for me, but a good one. Eric F.

Joshua Kaufman

Class 1

Mrs. H

4/27/12

                                                My Assistance Was Needed

Dear Mrs. Hoagland,

            My food experience was on April 26, 2012. I joined a group at Newtown High School called the Paladar. It is every week and this week it was Thursday. So what its about is advance culinary about 6 students find a recipe they want to make and the prepare it for fellow members and staff. Therefore, I’m just in a free period hanging out because I have period 4 and 5 free then I decide at the last 10 minutes of period 4 to go down to the culinary room to get some food before everyone comes to get there own. I went in and started to talk to people and then people started to rush in and then the got so swamped that I got put to work. I was there for food and got stuck putting sauce, sour cream, and other items into cups. Then I had to get equipment for people who needed it. I even packaged up food and gave it to the people. Then when it started to slow down because 1^st lunch was almost over I went and looked at the menu because I was there for food. I saw sweet and sour meatball grinder. I was like sweet with mash potatoes and cranberry sauce. I was in heaven. So go over to the station and Tom Chin made it. I ordered one and I was thinking that the mash potatoes and the cranberry sauce were on the side. Boy was I wrong. He starts to make it gets some bread takes out some of the inside bread and then stuffed it with mash potatoes. After that tom put the sweet and sour meatballs and cranberry sauce on the grinder. My reaction was this is going to suck. It looked cool, but all the combinations through me off. He packaged it up and said here you go. I took a seat and ate it and my mouth was in heaven all the flavors came at me at once. I was like oh my god and kept going and before I knew what I was doing I bit my finger because I ate it so fast and I wanted more. Then I went in said to tom “great sub”. He say “I know”. After that I stayed for the rest of the lunch waves and helped out. Then after school I saw Mrs. Hoagland and the only reason I’m having this in my story is to hold Mrs. Hoagland to her word. She said “Thank You Josh! We owe you a MEAL!” So I hope you don’t forget about me Mrs. Hoagland.

            From,

                        Josh

This is an era of unhealthy food choices—fast food, fake food, and bagged food. All terrible choices, a choice that is causing our society to die off younger because of diseases and look worse because our bodies’ metabolism is slowing down from all of the dangerous substances that we are putting inside it. When people don’t have enough time to cook something and sit and eat to have for dinner, it leads to something to “pop” in the microwave or oven to warm up. Usually, it’s something that comes out of a box, like Ramen noodles or pre-made, frozen pizza. Food used to mean something, cooking it and eating it with your family, telling them the highs and lows of your day. But now, food is just something to eat when you’re hungry and that is what is killing our society. Whenever we get hungry we eat something, and when it’s not a meal time, we end up eating something out of a bag or box, mean it’s artificial. These foods hurt our bodies more and more, and they are only causing diseases for us. Our society is becoming more and more obese every day because we are all too lazy to cook something on our own. Also, because even our fruits and vegetables aren’t organic anymore, there are different hormones in them to make them grow faster or sweeter or larger, we think it helps the company but really, it’s only hurting our bodies. WE as the people of the country need to learn how to remain a healthy eating diet, no matter what it is, to make our country and ourselves as individuals healthier.

Sam R.

Happy Easter. So over the break for Easter I got to do almost nothing related to the holiday. On Saturday I had 2 friends over for a sleep over. And on Sunday I had fish for dinner. Fish on Easter. Buttered and Salmon along with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Nothing special about it except for the occasion. My mom decided she wasn't going to make a special dinner for the evening and she told me but still felt bad. Instead of a good meal, I got to go on a shopping spree. I guess Easter wasn't such a bad turn out after all.
Grandon S.

When I came into this class I was expecting a lot less quality than it is.  I imagined it to be like Home Ec (family and consumer sciences).  Some stuff that we made in that class was pretty bad (no offense Home Ec).  When I eventually got into this kitchen and started cooking I was amazed on how high quality it was.  One of the foods my group and I made was a muffin.  Those muffins were excellent.  I actually took pride in making an awesome muffin.  This was one of the only things I finished eating in the period.  I almost felt professional for once.  Now I know I can survive without going out to eat.  So far there was not one food that I didn’t like.  The first thing we made was Crepes.  I had never heard of them before but when I made them and got a taste, I loved them.  Another thing that I like is when you are done with your food you have many options for toppings.  For example when we made the Johnnycakes, we had a variety of options like 2 types of jam, butter, pulled pork! And that vegetarian bean chili.  We could very easily eat whatever we make plain but that wouldn’t be fun at all.  Baking and Pastry is the best class yet.

                                 

                                  -Sean H.

The other day my dance team all went into New York City to perform at an aids benefit. For Dinner we all went to this cute little restaurant called Ariba Ariba, it’s my teachers favorite Mexican restaurant in all of New York. She had promised to take us there for so many years and finally we got to go! From the outside it doesn’t look like much, just a small beat up building in NYC but inside was filled with ambiance and culture, it felt very authentic. The menu wasn’t very large, with only about 10 different meal options, I chose the quesadillas and a strawberry coolatta. Within 15 minutes all of our food was ready and on the table.... and I had never had better quesadillas in my life. Now, I know they are not the hardest thing to make but they were delicious. But, I wasn’t quite sure how they made all the meals so fast...? There was no way they were pre-made because everything was too good, but it was a question I pondered. For dessert we got a traditional Mexican dessert, flan. Non of us really knew what it was, but turned out to be a jello like caramel custard with a caramel liquid sauce all over. No one else liked it but I did... All in all the restaurant was a hit and I would recommend any time to anyone.

Before taking this course, I never once attempted cooking something from scratch. I never knew what any kitchen utensil was used for or even the fact that such things as a cookie cutter or a pastry dish existed.. I learned how to even use a stove, at least somewhat- The flame still freaks me out. However, from going into that cramped busy kitchen at NHS, I learned more in 2 months than out of my15 years. I always pictured myself being that person in college, who had no clue how to do anything but put cereal in a bowl and call it a meal. I still somewhat do, but I definitely find it amazing how much more comfortable I feel in a kitchen now. I'm used to everything being made by store bought cookie dough or bread, ect. So being able to actually create food, with my own hands and doing, it's something I never imagined myself doing, till this class. I've tried new foods, made pn my own, also unfortunately made mistakes in some of the recipes but I still learned from it. Most of all, I grew a broader view and greater appreciation for those who dedicate their careers to cooking/baking and are really good at it. While most people would take this course for the food, as it is indeed a benefit, I feel as if I benefit more out of the experience than anything else. Measuring dry ingredients, liquid ingredients, how to use a cookie cutter, how to follow the recipe, how to blend, ect- everything. I don't know how else to sum up what I'm saying other than- the fact that making food or food in general never exactly appealed to me until the day I actually started trying to make some in the kitchen. Talk about life experiences... as corny as it sounds, this is the only experience I'll have and remember for when I attempt making decent foods in the future. I don't get how people can say baking and pastry or culinary is a pointless class. Because obviously, without it I would be stuck trying to figure out how to cook when I'm older, and ending up miserably failing as well as potentially burning the kitchen down. No joke!
-Jamie D

So In days like these, where I stumble across the time of when my dogs get fed, is when I realize how spoiled, food wise, the pets of my house are, rather than me. My dogs get precisely 1 cup of dog food, but to top it off my parents give them cottage cheese precisely to 1 and a half spoons full, plain yogurt precisely to 1 spoon full, boiled eggs crushed up all nice and neatly evenly spread among their dog bowl, and of course, how could I forget, they even get about 3 different types of vitamins. Of course, the amounts of when they get what are spread out throughout the entire week, however their food preparation is as if they were waiting at a 5 star restaurant and they were the last person (or canine) standing in their way of staying in business. They have a set time to be fed too, Between 6-6:15am and 5:15-5:30pm. My parents act as if the world is ending, when my dogs don't get spoiled with all their healthy meals during said time spaces. Whereas when it's time for me to eat though, the kitchen is dead silent. My meals consist of cereal, Dino chicken nuggets, salad, and mainly overall, Soup. I'm not complaining, but that's maybe because I've never had a well made, all fancied up meal before. Though to my dogs, they practically get that everyday compared to some house pets. So when I think of being spoiled food wise, the first thing to comes to mind, are my dogs. That being said, I've never even had cottage cheese or boiled eggs in my life before. The different kinds of food I have eaten in my 15 years is quite lacking, and disappointing to a lot of people, actually. Considering the fact that this blog entry should be a page long, and I'm not quite sure how long I've already ranted on about my spoiled house pets, I figured I should entertain some, and list at least a couple of the common foods I have never even tried before, so here I go- Any type of soup other than chicken noodle, Any type of seafood other than shrimp, Vegetables (other than carrots,broccoli,corn,pees,lettuce- so like cauliflower, peppers, spinach ect.), and to go into deserts- Smores, Pie, and Cheesecake. In addition, basically anything fancy, that you would probably make in culinary class. I could go on for a lot more too. Well, my life has been very uneducated in food, and I don't exactly belong in the kitchen much, considering I can't even boil water. Seriously..I don't know how to use a stove, as sad as that sounds. Maybe that's why I took B&P, to at least be able to understand a kitchen when I go off on my own so I won't starve myself. aha oh well. All I know is, my dogs are living the life, enjoying their noms. Thinking about that, I just realized, that dogs would eat practically anything, yet an individual person is picky on the type of food they would eat. My animals get fed like their royalty, yet they'd eat garbage, but I get fed basic elementary foods and I'm actually a human being, in which it is out nature to enjoy classy things, including fancy meals. Ironic much. Welcome to my life.
-Jamie D

This Monday, I went to New York City with my dance team for a benefit performance. For some unknown reason, we had to arrive for a 1pm rehersal when the show wasn’t until 7pm. Needless to say, we were horribly bored. Once lunch time rolled around, we needed a place to go because the Starbucks next door just didn’t cut it. Someone suggested their favorite restaurant that was just a few blocks away. The restaurant was called Arriba Arriba! It was a Mexican bar and restaurant and it was AMAZING. There lunch menu was short but everything sounded great. I still laugh about how every item on Mexican menus are just tortillas, beans, cheese, and rice for every single thing. I ended up getting a California burrito which was easily the size of a football (and yes I ate the entire thing). It was a regular tortilla with cheese, beef, rice, guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, beans, all topped off with enchilada sauce on top. It was sitting in a pool of spicy tomato and green pepper sauce. I also had a virgin strawberry coolata on the side (not worth the $7). I had stuffed myself with all I could eat and still had about a half of it left and convinced myself to stop eating it because I was most likely gonna puke if I ate anymore. But it was just too good to stop. I finished the entire thing and went into a food coma on my chair in the corner. After a while of trying to get through my food induced sleep, our waiter TJ came over and said the word I never wanted to hear: dessert. I showed some self control myself and didn’t order anything, my tablemates however were not as strong-willed. Within minutes, plates of Crème Brule, Flan, and fried ice cream were sitting on the table, mocking me. What I learned from this trip was that I have little to no self control when it comes to food, I don’t like flan, and that football sized burritos will put me to sleep. – Hope M.

Lauren S

Joshua Kaufman
Class 1
4/2/12
Baking and Pastries


THE 50 BUCKS THAT NEVER LEFT MY HANDS

Dear Mrs. Hoagland,

My parents were going to New York City for the weekend and I was stuck home all by myself. I was like great cant drive; can’t go anywhere. So then I was like to my parents what am I going to do? My mom said “watch a movie or hang out with friends”. I said “ok, but what am I going to eat”. My mom said “Here’s 50 bucks call food in”. Then after I got the money for my food for the weekend I got an idea. I decided that I would keep the 50 dollars and eat whatever was in the house. There wasn’t a lot because my mom didn’t go grocery shopping this weekend because she was away. So I was looking and looking nothing. Until I found a box of Ritz crackers and then I was like only if I had some pepperoni. I looked and in fact I did. I had 2 packages of pepperoni and a box of Ritz cracker. For dinner Friday night I had Ritz crackers and pepperoni and I thought it was a heavenly combination the spiciness if the pepperoni complemented the salty and sweetness of the Ritz cracker. I know what you all are saying “sweet” but in fact yes. If you put a Ritz cracker in your mouth and you let it sit there the sugar of the cracker comes out and you can taste the sweetness of it. Then for the next day I had Ritz and Pepperoni for lunch and dinner. It was the same magical experience I had yesterday. The saltiness hit my stomach like a feather hitting the ground. The Sweetness swept me of my feet. It was a match made from the gods. Then for the day my parents got back I had it for lunch and the only thing magical was my stomach up chucking everything I ate that weekend. I was at the toilet for an hour. That’s where everyone should learn something. Things are good in moderation and proportions. Then I thought to myself not a bad way to make 50 bucks. Then when my parents got home they said “Josh, what did you eat” while holding the 50 dollars. I smacked myself as hard as I could in the face. I forgot to take the 50 dollars off the counter where I left it. Overall it was a great food experience that I hope to have again in proportions.

From,
Joshua Kaufman