Last night I made box brand mixed cupcakes. By making them from a box mix it took less time then from scratch and was a gurantee of them turning out good, but by realizing the ingredients in the box mix it made the cupcakes seem even more unhealthy then they already were. With so many chemicals and fake products and then ontop of it puting 1/2 cup of oil! Eventhough when I took them out and had one they were really good, super moist, and cooked to perfection I couldn't get over the fake products. If i'm going to make something, unhealthy or not, I want it to atleast be real products, not man made chemicals in a factory. Next time I want to try and make homemade cupcakes from scratch and maybe even try something new like put some cinnamon in them with cream cheese frosting. It's always fun to try new things.

Brittney I.

Last night, I made a banana cream pie just for fun. It was all homemade except for a store-bought pie crust. For those who are not well versed in the world, a banana cream pie is a pie crust with a sweet, creamy banana filling made of a couple bananas, milk, eggs, sugar, and a little vanilla extract with either a whipped cream or meringue topping. The filling was the easy part; all I had to do was make sort of a banana mush in a saucepan with all the filling ingredients. I simmered it over low heat until the mixture became more of a thick custardy texture. Then while letting that cool, I made the meringue topping. This was more difficult because if you don’t do it right, meringues aren’t good and can end up ruining the dish. All you have to do the meringue is beat egg whites and cream of tartar with sugar. It becomes a really fluffy and foamy and tastes really good. Then I put the filling into the pie crust and swirled the meringue on top. The hardest part of this was baking it right. If you undercook it, it is just mushy and gross, and if you overcook it, it gets hard and the filling can heat up too much and get too runny. Luckily for me, I did it just right, cooking it only about 8 minutes just until the tips of the meringue swirls were lightly golden-brown. It was hard to let it sit because I was so hungry but I had to let it cool for over two hours before I could eat it. I ate it with my family and everyone liked it!

Hope M.

Joshua Kaufman
Class 1
Mrs. H
Baking and Pastries



STEAK
Dear Mrs. H
My family and I went out for my birthday which was February 13. I chose to go to a restaurant called Marisa’s. The dinning was amazing very dim lighting and the food was to die for. I got the steak and me I don’t like my steak with any fat on the sides. The steak came out not a drop of fat on it. Medium just the way I like it. It was the size of my forearm so 9 inches and the width of it was 3 fingers so 3 inches. The steak was a five star course. Then what do you except for 35 dollars. With it came green beans fresh not canned. There was enough for an army or about 3 people. Then when I ate it all up; I had dessert with a cappuccino. The cappuccino was nice and sweet just how I like it. The tiramisu I got was to die for. The lady fingers were so delightful. The creaminess of it was too good to be true. I ate every bite I could because my dad had some. It gets 5 out of 5 in my book. That’s based on dining, food, and service. I highly recommend it. As well, as the bread was to die for all you can eat it kept coming and coming. It was always hot and I at like a whole loaf. Talk to you next time.
Sincerely,
Joshua Kaufman

Crepes
Last Tuesday, my mom jokingly asked what I was going to make for dinner. It was a rhetorical question, and obviously wasn’t expecting the response I gave her. I told her that I would make crepes for dinner. Surprisingly, she allowed me to. I made the batter, and began cooking the same way we did in class. While mastering the flipping technique, I popped the crepes out one by one through the very simple process. The fillings were applied after. Nutella, Jelly, and Powdered Sugar, show that this is not the most nutritious meal that I have ever had for dinner, but I can say that it was fun, and I was certainly proud of that dinner. Food critics (My Family) are raving about my crepes saying “Delicious!” “What a great idea!” “Cooked to perfection!” Overall, my experience making crepes both in class and at home was pretty cool.

Brio-Tuscan Grille Restaurant
My food experience at Brio, a restaurant in Danbury was one of the best that I have had in a very long time. The appetizers were delicious, and the service was great, but nothing can top my entrée of steak and mashed potatoes. Once I got the dish, I was in love; I hadn’t even taken a bite. The meat was cooked to perfection. The knife sliced through it like butter, and the savory taste was out of this world. I slowly took in the scrumptiousness of the meal, as I began to eat the mashed potatoes. Good, old-fashioned mashed potatoes, whipped perfectly, and tasted like they had been seasoned by God. The service was great, and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone that wants an outstanding food experience.

~ Mike D.

Food to me is so much more than something I put in my mouth every day. Food is a part of memories, smiles, and laughter. Food is what brings friends/family around the dinner table every night, at holidays, or lunch tables in the cafeteria. Most of us don’t really think about this on a daily basis but sometimes its nice to think about the way food impacts our lives. During the holidays my family and I always make home-made noodles my great, great grandmother created and has passed down to each generation of ours so far. We first make the dough, roll it out, and then cut it into the shape we want it to be. Its not a difficult food to make but its just the fact that my family loves doing it each year and it never gets old! I find it so incredible that such a simple plate of food can carry such wonderful memories throughout so many years. I cant wait until I’m older and have a family of my own to carry on such a memorable, loving tradition. In my opinion it doesn’t matter what you eat every day, it’s all about the memories you create by doing so.

I am Italian so good food sort of comes with my life. My parents are divorced; so whenever I see my father, we always dine out. I think the most important thing with eating good food is that it needs to be an activity, not just a necessity. When I dine with my dad, we enjoy our food. Or at least we try to. Many a times, restraints can be deceiving.
But, when you find a good restaurant, having a meal becomes a pleasure. There is this one restaurant in long island my father and I have been going there forever. And its the little things that make it special. Like the way there are slices of oranges and lemon in the pitchers of water. I remember being 7 or 8 and not drinking any water at dinner because I didn't like the taste of citrusy water. And I of course didn't have the heart to ask for a different glass. As I grew, I began to love the flavored water. Or I just got thirsty enough to drink it. It was cool and refreshing and had the slightest tang of orange. It was the details that real counted.
The reason why this restaurant, Sole Mio, sticks in my memory so much isn't because the food was so good. I mean, it was delicious and well made and everything Italian food should be. But once you were seated at your table, you had a basket of bread and a little plate of Kalamata olives placed on your table like a little gift. There are about three Kalamata olives on a plate with two maybe three small basil leaves. Then olive oil is poured onto this little presentation right in front of you. Kalamata olives. They must be one of my favorite foods. It was kind of beautiful; the dark purple and the fresh green mixed with the yellow-green of the oil. Now I am getting hungry
And the bread basket! Its not just the traditional Italian bread slices. Buttery garlic knots and long strips of bread baked with tomatoes and sweet onions on top. I always tend to go for the garlic knots first. I usually end up hollowing it out and stuffing the olives into it. Its funny; if you asked me what I ate there as a entree, I wouldn't be able to tell you. But, I can easily recall the water, the bread basket and the olives, the stuff that I really love and enjoy. Its the little things that matters and make your memory so vivid and fresh. Its the details that make the meal.
Gabriela P.

Food: we cook it, bake it, watch it, eat it, play with it (sometimes) and yet, not so many people think about its significance to everyone on the planet. Food comes from so many places, physically and not so physically; meaning it comes from tradition. I’m Italian, German and Hungarian and the meals I have when I’m with each side of the family vary, very much. When I’m with my mom’s side, the Italian/Sicilian side, we have lasagna, ravioli and all the stereotypical Italian foods, all homemade of course. On the Hungarian and German side, when I was little, with my grandmother still alive we would have a special crepe that my dad and I make once in a while. I love making it with my dad because it brings back memories of my childhood with my grandma, I miss spending time with her and when we make this crepe, I have a feeling of relief because I know she’s happy with my grandfather. Food to me isn’t only something we put in our stomachs, it all has a story and means something to someone. Even if the food itself isn’t special, the person you’re making it with is, that’s something you can look back on. Cooking and baking with family or friends is probably one of the most fun things you can do because you can completely mess the recipe up, and not even care, it’s just something you can look at and laugh. Food brings people to the table, to talk about the ups and downs of their day. Food makes memories.