Caroline L.

I enjoyed the pie unit, however I am not a big fan of pies so I gave my pies to my friends.  Most of my pies came out very well.  My favorite was the pumpkin pie.  The filling was very creamy and the crust was crispy and flaky.  Another girl in my group her pumpkin pie, the crust around the edge fell off.  My group works very well together.  We have great mise en place and we are always  the first group finished.  Our pinwheels were not finished int time so I never got to taste them but I'm sure they were great too.  Rolling out the dough into circles was the hardest part because it was sticky and didn't easily form into a circle.  We even were asked to roll out dough for the Veteran's Day breakfast.  Sauteing the apples was my favorite part because the cinnamon, apples, and butter smelled very good and it was a new thing we hadn't done before.
 

In the pie unit my table made apple pie, pumpkin pie, and other crusts. Overall, I think everything turned out great and our table made little to no mistakes in the process. My least favorite was the pumpkin pie, because I am not a fan of pumpkin and we didn't let the pie sit for long enough, so it was a liquid. My favorite was the apple pie because I loved the apples and it was very sweet. conrad morris /Users/conrad/Downloads/photo-3.JPG

Working at a girls field hockey game is totally different to a football game. However, it was something I liked and enjoyed just as much if not, I like it even more. I think that at a football game there is no time to enjoy the people that come or the people that are working. At a field hockey game however, you get time to take in everything around you, the teachers, the other workers, and the people who are buying. Furthermore, doing the field hockey game on a special night gave it a little more emotion because it was breast cancer awareness game so there were a lot of people there in pink, raising money for a really good cause. The field hockey games are something that I will certainly be up for in the upcoming future of the Snack Shack. – Gent

Working a Friday night football game at Newtown High School’s snack shack is really unique. I think that it’s really unique because you’re making food for hundreds and hundreds of people who are there to enjoy their Friday night. In the beginning I was just hoping that the time would fly by, and I could go home and get ready to go out with my friends which was in the back of my head the whole time but I learned something really important that night. I learned that, being part of the snack shack is like a working family because after 10 minutes I just know where everybody is and I yell in the direction of that person and continue my job. I didn’t actually realize that things can be done so easily when you have chemistry like that with other kids in a classroom. In fact, I don’t think you can do anything like this in any other class in the school. It makes me feel like I am on a soccer team, everybody is just working together and nothing works if one person isn’t doing their job. It was truly an experience that I’ll never forget, I don’t know if being a part of the snack shack on football games is my thing but I will definitely give it another try and I won’t forget it as long as I live. –Gent

In the yeast bread unit, the class made four different types of bread. The first was a no knead dough, next we made pizza, pretzels, and cinnamon rolls. The no knead dough was very good and very simple, however it was much better on the third day, after it was given time to rise. The pizza was fantastic; I personally loved the grilled taste. The cinnamon rolls were good, but I do not like nutmeg and this flavor was a little too overwhelming in the dough. Lastly, were the pretzels. This is where our group had a little difficulty. When we began the process of making our dough for the pretzels we overheated the milk and water mixture and killed our yeast. Because of this we were given the opportunity to quickly fix our mistake. I was happy about this because pretzels would taste pretty bad if the dough didn’t rise. On our second try we had better luck, and we learned a few things from this. When we killed our yeast, we learned that we were measuring the temperature wrong such that we needed to fully submerge a tiny dot on the thermometer in order for it to read the temperature of the liquid, which we did not do, and that the thermometer itself was broken. We knew this because it measured the air temperature at 60 degrees, so by the time our milk mixture got up to the required temperature, it would have been at least 15 degrees off. I am glad I learned this, because next time I make yeast dough I will keep in mind that yeast is a living organism and needs to be treated with care. -Meg M

Yeast Bread Unit Our group did a great job this unit. We only had problems when making the pretzels, because the yeast died and we didn't know why. Eventually, we found out the thermometers were not accurate because they didn't read the correct room temperature and we didn't fully submerge the thermometer in the milk/water. We learned from the mistake and never killed the yeast again. This unit we made pretzels, bread, pizza, and cinnamon rolls. In my opinion the cinnamon rolls tasted the best and I also got to eat a large quantity because a group member was missing and we made a lot. The last thing I learned this unit is that, not all group members will always make it to class and when this happens you have to work harder to make a good bread.

Conrad M.

We started the unit out making rolls of bread. I knew working with yeast could be challenging however our table, 22, didn't encounter any problems in keeping the yeast alive. Our rolls came out perfectly golden and shaped nicely. We also made grilled pizza witch turned out delicious. Even though we kneaded the dough well enough, I realized I should have rolled it a little thinner because it turned out thick. The only issue we had this unit was when we boiled our perfectly shaped pretzels in the water and baking soda, we had trouble scooping them out with.the skimmer and most of them lost their shape. However, our group definitely improved in efficiency allowing our baking to come out almost perfect this time. Alexanna J

For the quick bread unit, we first learned the creaming method, witch is mixing together sugar and butter until smooth and creamy, and than began with buttermilk pancakes that came out golden and fluffy. We all took turns to pour in out batter and flip them. I attempted flipping it without a spatula and just in the pan and it worked well. We than made crapes with melted chocolate inside and powdered sugar on top. They were delicious. Than we made chocolate chip muffins using the creaming method as well. Using the biscuit method, we made chocolate chip scones by plopping the dough in medium sized drops on the pan. Those were definitely my favorite. Alexanna J.

The quick breads unit was a fun learning experiance. During this unit I learned that mistakes are going to happen even if the recipe is followed correctly. Everybodies batter is different and some more dry or wet than others. For example, our group table 31 needed more flour(4 cups) than what the recipe had called for when making the bread. Also when making the scones the mixture was a little dry, so adding a little more buttermilk was necessary. Personally, I would consider my self a beginner in the kitchen, but some of the members in my group are very experianced and I have learned a lot from them. I realize that other groups make mistakes too and I try to pay attention, so our table does not make the same mistake. My favorite day was when our table made chocolate chip pumpkin muffins because I feel we worked fast and efficiently with our creative recipe. The result of good team work and little mistakes was a delicious product. Conrad M. /Users/conrad/Downloads/photo-1.JPG

For the quickbread unit, Table 21 baked cinnamon muffins, banana chocolate chip muffins, buttermilk biscuits, and chocolate chip scones. Each dish had varying successes. Both muffin recipes were made with a mixture of flower, sugar, butter, buttermilk, and a combination of baking soda and baking powder. Extra ingredients such as vanilla, cinnamon sugar, chocolate, and bananas were added for flavor and were not needed for the baking process. The cinnamon muffins came out well with a crispy golden brown outside and warm, fluffy inside. The use of spring-loaded scoops to portion the batter and fill both the middle and top of the muffins with cinnamon sugar added to the flavor. The banana chocolate chip muffins were also evenly portioned with the help of scoops, but they lacked the golden brown color of the cinnamon muffins. While cooked all the way through, only a few of the muffins managed to acquire the desired color for presentation. The chocolate chips and bananas were balanced well, but the bananas were too green and made the muffins almost taste sour. The buttermilk biscuits were the least successful dish made. Using the biscuit method, butter is supposed to be cut into the flower of the biscuit dough until there are split pea sized pieces of butter. When making the muffins, the butter was only as small as 1/4 size pieces because we did not split it further before using the Kitchenaid Mixer. The biscuits were a bit dense and lacked truly flaky layers because the small pieces of butter were not present to melt. The chocolate chip scones allowed a second chance using the biscuit method. Using both butter knives and a pastry cutter, we were able to cut the butter into the appropriate sized pieces, and the scones came out fluffy and golden brown.

Lilly F.

Baking and Pastry One: Quick Breads I enjoyed the quick breads unit. I was already sort of skilled in the area since I have previous knowledge on scones, biscuits, pancakes and muffins. I already knew how to cream butter and sugar. My group also tinkered with a recipe, we took out the nutmeg and added vanilla and chocolate chips. Everything looked as good as it tasted. On our first day in the kitchen, it was a bit hectic because we had never cooked in there. Cooking in the culinary kitchen was a whole new experience. I had never worked in an industrial kitchen before, I also wasn't too familiar with where everything was. We learned skills that would carry into the other classes, for example, to clean as you go. Cleaning as we went, helped us not to rush at the end of the period. Recently, from baking scones and muffins, we learned we need to work quicker and more efficiently in order to get our pastries out of the oven. I also learned to be patient when turning on the gas stove, I nearly singed my eyebrows off trying to turn on the stove top. I look forward to what our next unit will bring. Erin H.

The last Cake

Since my mom’s birthday and a lot of other people I know birthday are coming up. I’ve to use the brownie recipe I got from baking and pastry. When my table and I made those delicious brownies, I was thinking when I should make them again. Now, I’ve found the perfect time to use this recipe. But, I’m kind of sad I think this will be my last blog post since it’s may and almost time for finals.

   I have to say a few things, when I first got to Baking and Pastry I didn’t know how to make a pie let alone a simple brownie. But through one semester and a lot of fun classes, good partners and helpful teachers, I can now melt chocolate, and fill cupcakes. What I mean to say is, Baking and Pastry has really taught me a lot. On Friday before my aunt comes to celebrate her 50^th birthday, I’m going to make a cake from scratch. But the one thing I have to say was the best thing to make in Baking and Pastry were the pretzels.

    They were amazing, tasted delicious and were so much fun to make, the doughnuts. They were fun too but there were a lot more to make. But making them, using the kitchen and enjoying time with my partners. They came out, amazing and we’re fun making them too.

   Now, one semester won’t make me a master at the art of Pastry making, but I’ve learned a lot. Even though I tend to add too much lemon zest in the lemon square, or sometimes I need a second opinion, but this class was amazing.

     I have to admit, I have to say this year has been great, even my phone thinks this class is great. I texted my friend saying I was in Baking and Pastry but, it turned into “Baking and Mastery”. So, even though I have about two weeks for this class, I intend to make them the best days, because now I can do so much more than before. Thanks Mrs. Hoagland, you’ve made this semester great! Now, to go bake a cake for my aunt using the skills from this class! Rory .S ~

Connor LeMay Today my group made macaroons and even though we didn’t get to bake them they were really good. To make them we had to whip egg whites into a meringue. A meringue is when egg whites are whipped with sugar until they stiffen and make almost like a frosting. I was really excited to make this because I tried once before to make meringue but I didn’t know what to do with it. I made a meringue then and added clove, cinnamon and nutmeg then put it in the oven to toast. If you do this they taste like marshmallows and it’s really good. This weekend I think that I’m going to try and recreate the macaroons and this time I’ll be able to taste them cooked not raw like in class. After class, I looked up more recipes that involve meringue and one that I really wanted to try is Baked Alaska. It’s an old dessert that was really expensive but it stopped being popular because everyone did it. Baked Alaska is cake with a scope of ice cream on it then meringue piped over the whole thing. To finish you take a torch and toast the whole thing, the tricky part is that if you don’t cover the whole thing then the ice cream melts and it is supposed to stay cold. This is a recipe I really want to make but I don’t think that my family would enjoy it and thatll be a lot of work.

Oh pizza how everybody loves pizza. Its just so magical and it can be eaten at any time f the day and a lot of foods can not say that. You can have it in the morning after a rough night, in the afternoon for lunch, or even for dinner. You can have it any where or anytime and nobody is going to judge you. But how good is it? That’s the question that seperates the good joints from the bad pizza joints. At Three Brothers in New Jersey, is possibly the best pizza you will ever have. One slice will fill you up and leave you with the feeling, “Am I in Heavn?” well that’s what I thought when I first tasted it. I have a house down there on the shore and I probably go to this pizza place for every single one of my meals when I’m down there. They have plain cheese, pepperoni, buffalo chicken, white, Hawaiian, etc…every kind of pizza you can think of is there and there is no doubt in my mind that it’s the best in the world. The way the crust is made, how think and crunchy but soft it is… and the cheese, don’t even get me started on the cheese, just smelling it makes your mouth water, you can be blind and still have your mouth water. And just the looks of this beauty we call a pizza is just such a sight it should be in a museum. I’m sorry but you haven’t lived until you have been to Three Brothers in New Jersey. Its just one more thing to add to your bucket list and I can cross it off my bucket list at least 500 times. It is that good! Tim K.

The other week my friend Lauren and I made cinnamon rolls and it was the best thing i have ever baked. We bought crescent rolls and mixed cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, brown sugar, butter, and a little bit of salt which we spread over the rolls. We rolled them up and put them into the oven at 400 degrees F for 15 min and then mixed confectioners' sugar and milk and put that into a plastic bag. We cut the tip of the bag and after the rolls cooled we drizzled the glaze over it. It was so sweet and a great treat to make!

For this April vacation I went to Jamaica. We stayed at the Hilton all-inclusive resort so all the food was free. One of the things that Jamaica is most known for is its jerk seasoning. It is a seasoning that is slightly spicy that they put on almost every kind of meat. Chicken, pork, sausage any meat you can think of, they have it with jerk. Not only meat but they also put it in soup. My favorite jerk product had to be the chicken. It was amazing! The chicken was juicy and moist with a little heat. To go with the meat they had a jerk sauce that added spice. Since I am not really a person who likes spicy things, I didn’t eat it with the sauce, however people seemed to rave about it. Although you could get the chicken at any restaurant or buffet, during the middle of the day a person would bring a cart to the beach. In the cart it had the chicken, the jerk sauce and a thing called a festival. Festival is pretty much a dough sort of pastry. It tastes kind of like a dense sweet roll. They were great too. No matter what time of day it was, I was always in the mood for jerk chicken. The day before we were going to leave, my mom and her friend went to all the local shops in search of the jerk seasoning. That was how much we wanted it. Eventually they found it in a shopping center and brought two big bags of it home with us. At first I was afraid to eat at the resort because normally an all-inclusive place did not have good food, but it actually was really good. Our trip to Jamaica was not only a relaxing vacation but also a culinary adventure! -Christina Moore

Cookie Bars Cookie bars are a fun treat that everyone loves! They are cookies made from anything you want! My favorite is a S’mores Crumble Bar. Making this item was very fun yet a little challenging. It consisted of Chocolate, graham crackers, and Marshmallows as it main ingredients. When combined, these three complement each other deliciously. You may know the taste from the common campfire snack, S’mores. The S’more Cookie Crumble bar I made tasted just like a S’more, but in cookie formation. Making the cookie bar was really fun. Other kids in my class made all different types of cookie bars. Some made “Slutty brownies” which is a cookie with an Oreo layer and brownies on top. Others made peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough bar. As you can see, there are many different options when choosing what type of cookie bar to make. If you want to get creative, this is great for bringing to a social gathering or party. They don’t take too long to bake and they sure are tasty! When making yours, get creative! Makenzie C.

Have you ever noticed that Newtown has about three shops just for ice-cream? They aren’t spread that far apart either, they all are in close proximity to the center of town. Although there are three shops selling the same product, we as residence have found a way to differentiate the three. The very first shop we had was the one across from our Saint Rose Church, which I believe is just called The Ice-cream Shop, but I could be wrong. This classic was the place to go in its thriving years, as it has all types of ice-cream, including sundaes, soda floats, and one of my favorites, snow cones. The shop can be said to resemble an ice-cream truck except located on a busy road and attached to the ground. If you’re not in the mood for real filling ice-cream, this is the place to go for its light truck like essence. The next shop that opened up, for my luck, down the street from me is the Creamery. The Creamery has been wowing its customers since the day it opened. Located on a dairy farm run by a Newtown family, these folks only use the fresh milk from their cows to make home-made ice-cream. Here you can find all types of creative names for flavors such as 302 chocolate moo (chocolate fudge) and the grasshopper (mint). It’s been known that people from surrounding towns come to the Creamery for their ice-cream, as it’s the “best in the state”. Although the creamery is only open in the late spring through summer, they offer customers to buy gallons of ice-cream to hold them over through the winter. The Creamery is THE place for real hearty home-made ice-cream. The final place that opened just this past year is actually a chain shop. The frozen yogurt shop, Peachwave can be found across from our Walgreens. This place although a chain, is light and bright in decoration and gives you a health food feel when you walk in the door. Looking at the flavors you will find that most of them are either sugar free or fat free or even both! Also the large area for pick and choose toppings always is switching it up for fan favorites. Half of the toppings bar is fresh fruit and by fresh, they mean it! The other half has the classic toppings along with some new ones like chocolate rocks or graham cracker crumbs. If you’re a health freak or just looking for a light treat on a hot day, Peachwave is the shop for you. So, seeing the different styles of ice-cream we have in our town you can decide which one fits you. Which shop would you choose? The ice-cream truck essence, the home-made farm ice-cream, or the light and healthy treat? Morgan C

On Tuesday I went to Danbury High School on a field trip for one of my classes. We were taking a tour of the school and my partner brought me to the culinary area of the school. Something that I found really interesting about there culinary program, is they have a cafe in the school. The cafe is run by the culinary teachers and the students work there. They alternate from cooking the food, being a waiter/waitress, and busing. Teachers in the school will schedule for there class to go for lunch, it is privilege for them to go to the cafe. What I found interesting about the cafe was that it is basically a mini restaurant, students have to pay for the meals and then tip the waiters/waitresses. I thought it was really cool how other students that aren't apart of culinary can enjoy  According to my partner, the food is really good too. Amy M

Recently, my family and I went out to dinner at the new restaurant, 160 Main. My dad is friends with the owner, who also used to own Mona Lisa, the restaurant that occupied the same building before it changed from an Italian place to a remodeled American grille. We wanted to try a few different things on the menu, so my dad ordered the chicken pot pie, my mom got the meatloaf, and I ordered the slow braised beef. We shared little bits of all the food, and my personal favorite was the braised beef. It was still on the bone and was on top of a pile of potatoes and vegetables and was covered in a red wine demi sauce. It reminded me of a meal my mom and I sometimes make. It’s a pot roast that just sits in h the crock pot for about 6 or 8 hours with all the other ingredients cooking with it. When it comes out, it’s very tender and stringy, and just falls apart. Also, the other ingredients that cook in the crock pot with it form a nice gravy to put over potatoes and vegetables with the pot roast. Overall, I really liked the new restaurant, 160 Main. The food reminded me of home which is always a good thing when trying a new restaurant. I would recommend that everyone try it sometime.

Jake L.

Connor Yesterday after class, I went home and used the cookie recipe to make cookies for my family. I made them with dried cherries instead of chocolate chips though, because we didn’t have any chocolate chips. They turned out very well but I did have a few problems. Since I made them as drop cookies and not uniform sizes, two of them weren’t done when the others were. My mom now decided that I need to make cookies for when we have family over for Easter. She wants me to make peanut butter cookies and snikerdoodles because they are my grandmother’s favorite cookies. So then yesterday, I was looking for recipes a found a few good ones on the food network’s recipe. Also, my grandmother recently bought a bread maker so now she has been sending us all these recipes she’s wanted to try. She has already made three loaves of Italian bread and sent them to my aunt. For Easter she is making wheat bread and cinnamon raison. She thinks that she is going to use the cinnamon raison loaf for a strange bread pudding she found online. She always brings bread pudding to holidays because she says it is a family tradition but no one ever eats it even her. The recipe she found involves all these weird savory spices like; coriander, savory, sage and paprika but she insists it is a dessert.

I have always had a love for ice cream. Whether summer or winter, night or day, I am always in the mood for this icy treat. Some of my favorite flavors are vanilla and cake batter. One of the reasons why I love this treat so much is because of all of the flavors. Now a day, you can find anything in ice cream from waffle cones to cake to even bacon. Not only the flavors themselves but also toppings. I would have to say that I like a lot of different toppings but my favorite is anything with chocolate. Chocolate chips, Oreos, brownies, peanut butter cups, I like them all!

                As much as ice cream from the grocery store is good, there is nothing better than going to the ice cream shop. The one thing that sets the store apart from any regular gallon in your freezer is the soft serve. I love soft serve vanilla! I like the soft texture of it. The ice cream shop across from St. Rose has great things called avalanches that are pretty much soft served ice cream mixed with any kind of topping you like. Places like Peach Wave are great too (however I don’t quite like the taste of frozen yogurt as much).  My absolute favorite place in the entire world to go to no matter what season it is is Cold Stone Creamery.  They have the best cake batter ice cream I have ever tasted. It doesn’t get better than some cake batter ice cream with brownies and Oreos.

                As much as I love cake batter ice cream, I cannot drive down to Danbury every day and get it. Making homemade ice cream always seemed impossible to me. I never had an ice cream maker so I always turned away recipes that required one, however a couple of weeks ago, I bought an ice cream maker. After looking up a couple of different recipes I found one that seemed good. One of the things I didn’t like about this cake batter ice cream recipe was that you had to heat it up and then completely cool it. This took a very long time and I am pretty impatient. I found a different recipe the next time that didn’t require heating it. After tasting both, I would have to say that they tasted exactly the same and it was much easier to make the second one. Here is the recipe for the second one:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cup cake mix

Directions:

1.       Place freezer bowl of ice cream maker into the freezer. It is better to keep it in there 24/7 that way it is always ready.

2.       In a medium bowl, whisk the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved.

3.       Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste.

4.       Stir in cake mix, making sure there are no lumps.

5.       Pour mixture into the freezer bowl and let mix until it has thickened (about 25-30 minutes).

6.       Remove ice cream from freezer bowl and place into a separate container.

7.       Place freezer bowl and the ice cream into the freezer to further harden.

-Christina Moore

This week my friend Gill and I decided we really wanted to bake a home made pizza. We went to the store together and bought all the ingredients we wanted to put on the pizza like tomato, mozzarella cheese, garlic, broccoli, onion, and other vegetables. We didn't know how to bake our own dough so we bough whole wheat dough at the store. We got home, rolled it out, put all of our toppings on it and baked it. It was one of the most delicious pizza's I've ever had, probably because everything was so fresh! Now that we have learned in class how to make pizza dough we will try it next time using that recipe for dough. Cant wait! -Natalie P.

Coffee has a very distinct aroma and flavor and today it is one of the most consumed drinks all across the world. It is made from the roasted seeds of a coffee plant. This plant is mainly found in Latin America, Southeast Asia, India and Africa. Coffee is something that many people need to get through their day. This is because of all the caffeine that it contains and the energy that it gives people for their everyday lives. Coffee has been around for about 500 years now and as time goes on so does the love for the hot drink.

Over the weekend I had this cheeseburger from a restaurant near Sacred Heart University. It was possibly the best burger I have ever had. The reason this is, is because the way it was prepared and cooked to perfection. I ordered it medium rare and they cooked it absolutely perfect. Then the chef melted cheddar cheese and then followed three crispy onion rings. Then three slices of bacon, a slice of lettuce then, topped it off with the fresh bun. When I took the first bite of the burger I tasted heaven in my mouth. The Onion Rings gave it that extra crunch and flavor, along with the lettuce giving it extra crunch for that mind blowing bite. He used cheddar cheese which you could actually taste when you chewed. And the base, the burger couldn’t have been cooked any better. This was possibly the best burger and I thought I’d share with you what made this ultimate dinner so good! Tim K

BAKING HAIKUS

Cookies:
Soft, warm, and gooey
oatmeal, chocolate chip
cookies are the best

Brownies:
Yummy chocolate
Brownie mix baking in oven
I can't wait to eat

Cupcakes:
Sprinkles and frosting
on top of a mini cake
made by the dozen

Blueberry Muffin:
Healthy, sweet muffins
with bright blueberries inside
I ate half the batch

Pancakes:
Circular, golden
with maple syrup on top
I can't get enough



Emma B

Last weekend, my mom and I went to the mall and she found a short rib sauce for her slow cooker and she made that last night. The recipes was for short ribs over mashed potatoes so, I took the mashed potatoes portion band she handled the ribs. I made homemade mashed potatoes with just plain old Idaho potatoes but I put some of the short rib juice in there to flavor them at the end. Finally, my mom made sauteed spinach and carrots with time as a side dish and they were very good. She likes to make that a lot because she had it at a restaurant in Hartford but it was actually on a pizza. It was a like thin sliced carrot and spinach pizza and now she makes it without the pizza. Personally, I love to have spinach cooked down with; red pepper flakes, garlic, shallots and a little feta cheese. I came up with it one day when I was home alone and wanted to have a healthy lunch. I love a lot of garlic so I instantly grabbed that and since I had no proteins I just grabbed a tub of spinach. The recipe is actually really simple, I put some oil in a pan and brown up garlic and shallot, then I add; salt, pepper, garlic powder and red pepper flake. Finally, I put the spinach in until it is cooked down and add toasted almonds. Today, I was driving into school with my mom and she said she wanted to go to Figs this weekend. She went a few weeks ago and said that it was very good. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me any reviews or what they might serve to see if I want to try it. I haven’t heard anything about it from anyone but my mom and she really isn't a great critic, she doesn't ever like to say negative things. We once went to this really bad restaurant in Brookfield and when my dad asked if she liked it all she said was that the menu looked very nice. So, I was wondering if anyone could help me get an idea of what Figs serves and how the actual food is. Connor L.

My favorite part of baking is seeing how pretty you can get your dessert to look. I love baking cakes and cupcakes just so i can be able to decorate them to the best of my ability. I was actually so interested in decorating cakes, I took a cake decorating class when i was 12 and I didn't even care that i was the only person under 60 in the class. I think it is something to do that is so fun it is impossible to get sick of it. Right when you think you've learned everything your introduced another technique you can use to make your decorations look even better! Whenever I get the opportunity to bake a cake for an event I do. This is a cake I decorated for my friends birthday this past summer. I hope we have fun decorating cakes and cupcakes this year in baking and pastry!! Natalie P.

            A few days ago, I woke up and wanted pancakes. After making them in class, I looked around for all the ingredients, but we didn’t have everything and I was the only one home. I did find some store-bought pancake batter though, so I decided to use that. I knew it wouldn’t be the same as what we made in class, but it would be fine. As I was looking around the kitchen, I opened up the spice cabinet, almost by accident and the cinnamon sugar caught my attention. That was one ingredient that we used in class that I knew I could use at home too. So I mixed up the pre-made batter and poured a little onto the griddle. Then I sprinkled some cinnamon sugar onto the top liquid side. I flipped the pancake when I saw the little bubbles and then immediately sprinkled some more cinnamon sugar onto the top, cooked side. It was still hot, so the sugar melted almost immediately onto the surface. When the bottom side of the pancake was done, I took it off the griddle and dumped on some more batter. Before I put any cinnamon sugar on that one, I tested the first pancake out. I drizzled a little hot maple syrup onto it and dug in. The flavor was incredible, and there was a bit of a crust on the outside of the pancake. The sugar must’ve caramelized on the pancake. I made a few more after that, all with cinnamon sugar of course. From now on, the only way I can really enjoy a pancake is if it’s cooked with a little cinnamon sugar. I never would’ve even thought to try that if I hadn’t seen it done in our class the other day. This class has made me want to make more things on my own at home.
Jake L.