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.