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!