National Coffee Day was... YESTERDAY?!

Yes, loyal readers, your source for all the things that matter has let a hot one slip by. (Not that I haven't before, it's just I've never used it as a point in my writing.) September 29th, of every year, is national coffee day. Whether it be mocha, espresso, black, or two creams, September 29th is the day to come together and celebrate. Hell, if you don't like coffee, I'm also writing about tea. Just keep going.

My earliest memories of coffee, of course, extend from my dad making it every Sunday morning. He'd let me grind the beans and pour them into the filter and then clean out the coffee grinder. I loved that coffee grinder, and I honestly can't remember what we did with it when me moved. Of course throughout the entire process I'd be taking in the incredibly good smelling coffee beans and grinds, knowing that the beverage it produced tasted like crap. My dad drank coffee black. I didn't even know you could add stuff to it! Since my mom drank tea straight, also hating coffee, I grew up finding the hot stuff on the table on Sundays incredibly bitter always wishing I could partake in the act of drinking coffee like I saw on TV or in movies.

Finally, I turned 18 or something and I figured I'd try cream in my coffee. "Wait a second, this cannot be the same drink. Coffee is supposed to suck. This tastes good." Yes, I am a convert but not a purist when it comes to coffee. Sorry. However, figuring out that I really did like coffee led me to grow in my enjoyment for tea, which I had slowly been working into for the last two or so years. Once I found out what Asian teas were like versus the Lipton stuff my mom always rocked, I was hooked. What was once bland and bitter in my mind led to the exploration of orange, jasmine, peppermint, peach, and green and white teas. Good stuff. No fat, no filler, no chemicals. All goodness.

So let's just take a moment to reflect on the importance of coffee in our lives. Coffee is one of the few beverages that shaped the face of the world. Trying to understand its full impact on global economic development would lead you down a path of non-stop research and remarkable discovery. Or you could read a book. Anyway, I love coffee and I hope you do to. If not, try a mocha or espresso or latte or some flavor syrups or a machiatto. If not coffee then try tea.

Chai tea lattes, green tea fraps, iced Asian oolong, and white tea are all as different as their names. While coffee always tastes like coffee, tea never always tastes like tea. Lipton is doing some serious work to expand their lines too with the introduction of whole leaf bags (only settle on ground leaf bags if you're on a budget or really don't care). I have a great white-peach mix from Celestial Seasonings. They also make a great, great peppermint tea. My favorite is my loose citrus oolong that I have a special metal holder to steep in so I a) always get fresh tea, and b) never use more than I have to. Try an iced white tea. It might be the most refreshing thing you could ever drink on a summer day. It has no sugar or calories and is lightly and naturally caffeinated (same as coffee). Just make sure to pace yourself.

One time I drank a venti double-bag "calm" herbal tea from S*bucks. You can get two bags for no extra charge and at $1.45 it's the cheapest thing on the menu. So I like my tea strong and the water is really hot. That means I let it steep for a long time before I actually drink it. By the time it got cool enough to drink, after ditching the outer cup and blowing on it for 20 minutes, I downed the tea in about 5. That led to a massive amount of strong tea hitting my system. It wasn't but 10 minutes later that I had a very light cold sweat and was really jittery. My heart was definitely beating above normal and my body felt lighter. The one thing I did notice was heightened senses and mental activity. My eyes were focusing like crazy and my brain was working faster than it had ever before. I ate some food to "bring me down" and it was only 20 minutes later that I was back to normal. I was kinda scared because I had never done that before, but at the same time it was exhilarating to be jacked up on caffeine. A legal high if you will. Now tea, when drank slowly, is a great stimulant. Natural, slow, paced, and gentler than coffee while being strong. The ease of getting such beverages has created a nation dependent on coffee. Thank god I've never drunk coffee and tea consistently enough to have to go through caffeine detox like some of my friends do when they don't get their coffee. They miss one day and they get headaches and weird deprivation symptoms. I enjoy my drink, not depending on it everyday, MIKE. (That's right, I'm busting down the fourth wall and comin' in through your monitor.)

What I say next is a rant and may not be especially relevant to the previous writing done in this article: WARNING! Think about how much money you blow and calories you take in at S*bucks for a $4 and 100-250 calorie drink every morning 5-6 days a week for your entire working career for a stupid "specialty" drink! G*ddamn "baristas" and their g*ddamn tip jars. Ooh, barista. They're the yuppie equivalent of "sandwich artists" at Subway. Listen: GET A COFFEE MAKER OR A STEEPER AND TAKE YOUR STUFF STRAIGHT! OR AT LEAST DOABLE AT HOME! Take some pride and stop dishing out money at places that make your favorite drink the wrong way some days but you keep coming back and want to be a good customer and not complain, oh and you're in a rush because stopping there takes too much time out of your commute but you assume it'll be good tomorrow again so you'll just be back again to be disappointed, again. Making coffee and tea yourself is incredibly rewarding, so do it yourself some time!

Anyway, there are an incredible amount of ways to enjoy it, and it's all good. No, it's great. And it can get you jacked up without having to deal with the fuzz!

Pizza is my name!

Ok so, I am officially broke. I've been broke since 2 weeks ago, but now I only have a couple 10's left in my wallet. And because of my financial issues I had to spend my snack money wisely. For me, 3 meals a day isn't enough. I always have food in between meals and one late at night. So I'm constantly looking out for the best deals in food. Of course I order pizza for the most time. From Papa Johns, Domino's, and Pizza Hut. But just recently I found out a place with the best deal around. Little place called Mad Mushroom Pizza on Northwestern has a large pizza that's as big as my body for only 10 bucks! And I am not kidding you, this pizza is huge. Also, it tastes great! The best thing is when you order it in the restaurant and eat it right on the spot when it was fresh out of the oven. Be careful tho, it's really hot. And me and my friends would say, "It hurts so good!"
I also noticed that Papa John's is awefully overpriced when you get your pizza delivered, if you have 5 minutes to spare, you should definitely head over to Purdue West and pick it up yourself. It's worth it, trust me. I've ordered pizza from Papa John's many times and I always thought it was expensive. But 2 nights ago me and a couple of my friends decided to go to Papa John's for dinner and a medium pizza was only 5 bucks! When I ordered it for delivery I think it was around 8-9 bucks. I know, it's ridiculous. However, disregarding the price, I guess Papa John's has a very good pizza. Well, compared to Domino's at least. So, if you are too lazy to go to Mad Mushroom, go to Papa Johns!
There's something about Domino's that I really don't like. Their pizza hardens and becomes gross too fast before I can even enjoy the 2nd slice of my pizza. This always upsets me. I would always have to microwave it before I eat have another slice. And being as lazy as I am, this is really irritating.
So yeah, here it is, my little synopsis of all the pizza places around the campus that I've been to! Enjoy your rest of the weekend.

Pizza, out

On the Go.

If you go to Purdue University West Lafayette, you have probably eaten at the food courts. Sometimes there is just no time for the food court when you have homework classes and many other things to do during the day. When that happens to me, I just walk over to the "to go" section.

You walk in and grab a grocery bag. In the bag you can have one entree and 4 sides or just 5 sides. They have everything labeled weather it is a side or not. They have everything from cookies, to ice cream, to sandwiches, to yogurt. Today I went in there and there was cheesecake! Along with cheese cake, I got 4 other sides such as a Nutrigrain bar, sliced apples, brownie bites, and yogurt. Although those all sound good, I decided to write about the cheesecake.

It is cheesecake in a plastic bowl with no crust. It looked a little weird, but I'll try anything once. When I tried it I was impressed how good it was for how weird it looked. It was real sweet with cherry's on top. If you go to Purdue and looking for a quick dessert, try Earhart's "to go" section of the cafeteria. It will surprise you on how good things can be, even if they are in a plastic container.

You inspired me!

The person that posted on Scottys Brewhouse has really inspired me to go back there. We usually go there when my family is in town because my dad loves Scottys. I have to admit, I love their food, they have a little bit of everything which is appealing to almost any palate. My favorites happen to be the Sweet Chicken Club wrap, the Taco Salad, the dill chips, and the onion rings. But my absolute favorite meal there is the Backyard BBQ Chicken sandwich with loaded waffles fries with Cajun seasoning. The chicken is always moist and delicious and the BBQ sauce, well I cant say enough for the BBQ sauce. They way they grill the chicken with the BBQ sauce reminds me of home with my dad cooking on the grill. I love the way the edges of the chicken and the BBQ sauce kind of take on this crunchy goodness taste when it is cooked on the grill. It is just so good to me, I can't seem to get enough of it.

The waffle fries are another food there worth mentioning. They have the best waffle fries that I have ever tasted! I love the Cajun seasoning, and no matter how much they tell you that it is spicy, it really isn't. It just gives it an added boost of flavor and seasoning. I also love to get the nacho cheese on it instead of the cheddar. Although I like cheddar perfectly well, I really enjoy the creamy, gooeyness of the nacho cheese. I can never finish my entire meal when I go there, which is great, because then I get to enjoy it all over again the next day.

Their shakes are pretty good, so are their beer specials. Oh, and last time I was there I discovered that they now serve liquor at Scotties, whereas before it was just beer. Now you can get any type of drink that you like. I still prefer water with lemon, but that is just me, plain and simple. I really ha vent found anything at Scottys that I don't like, their food is just plain good. They also have a full color menu available on the web so you can check it out before you even go. It really is an awesome place with something for everyone.

Lemony Dessert!

Lemon squares are a popular bar cookie dessert made with a cookie crust and lemony topping. They are a personal favorite of mine. They remind me of lunches growing up throughout high school. One of my friends parents would make lemon bars once a week for everyone at our lunch table.

Since they are one of my favorites, I decided to share a recipe with everyone else. My mom followed this recipe and thought it was fairly easy, and I thought they were delicious. I found this recipe on a blog called Just Hungry.

Even better lemon squares

• 1/2 cup (4 oz, or 120 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 1/2 cups flour - cake flour, or all-purpose, not bread flour
• 1/4 cup icing (powdered) sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbs. flour
• 1/2 cups fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice
• 1 Tbs. grated lemon or lime rind

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Put the butter, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and icing sugar into the food processor. Process until mixed and crumbly. Alternatively, mix the ingredients together with your hands until crumbly. Turn out into a 8" x 8" / 20cm x 20cm square baking pan. Press the mixture around the bottom and sides. Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly browned.

In the meantime, make the filling. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and process until blended (or mix by hand). Pour the filling into the crust, and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

Makes 16 squares.

These home made lemon squares hit the spot. At the end, we suggest putting powdered sugar on the top of them. My friends, family, and myself all thought they were pretty good, but would agree that you would have to like lemon to like this particular dessert.

I would suggest these bar cookies for any occasion, and I would definitely take the time to bake them again. I hope you enjoy the lemon squares just as much as I did.

Easy Mac

Being in college means having barely any time to eat some days, and other days just not feeling like going to the food court. I am always looking for a quick lunch. Last weekend, when my parents came to visit they brought me Kraft's easy mac. It really came in handy because the last three days that's what I had for lunch.

When I was searching other blogs, don't quilt your day job asked, "Where did it all go wrong in the blue box?" She was referring to Kraft's easy mac. She didn't enjoy how cheesy, easy, and delicious the easy mac was. She thought that Annie's easy mac was better. She had said that Kraft's easy mac isn't even edible.

I would have to disagree, I would definitely prefer Kraft's. I had never had Annie's easy mac, so I had to try it to put it to the test. Instead of putting the noodles in the microwave, you boil the water first and add it to the noodles. I thought that this made it harder than Kraft's easy mac.

There is a reason it is called easy mac, it's really easy to make! First, you put the hard noodles in a bowl with 2/3 cup of water. Then you microwave it on high for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. When it is done, take it out and put the powdered cheese in there and then mix it. After it is mixed, wait about 5 minutes for it to cool down.

Annie's just wasn't the same cheesy taste. I thought it was boring and I just wanted the blue box back. I definitely would prefer Kraft's easy mac over Annie's easy mac. The next time you are looking for a quick, good fix for lunch, choose Kraft's easy mac.

Therapeutic Cooking

Cooking can be be really tedious work and I bet alot of people would say that it is something that should be avoided if givin the chance. In today's world everything is cooked, frozen, prepackaged, preportioned, and vacuume sealed shut. Everything could be purchased at the store or bought at a fastfood restaurant. Everything is so readily available at our fingertips and we use it as an excuse to not cook, so much so that now, baking things from a box is considered cooking. So many people reside to buying take-out or frozen packaged meals because they have no time to cook but the other half of the time it's because they are scared to.

If you think of cooking in a different perspective, there's really nothing to be scared of about it. Cooking alone can be very soothing and almost therapeutic. Spending time alone to cook is giving yourself time to do something without thinking about all the hectic parts of your life. It's odd, but for me me, cooking helps me block out everything from my life and it helps me concentrate on something that I can control. Even the scents of different ingredients and the aromas of mixing various concoctions add to the experience.

The act of combining individual flavors that meld together to become something completely new is so simple and overlooked. Think of a food that you enjoy and that you can identify all the ingredients in. Now think of why it tastes so good and what's in it that gives it that special something. Think of how those individual ingredients contribute to the aroma and sensations that come from eating it. I bet you've never thought of food like that before! This kind of cooking allows you to experiment and create something that is delicious according to your tastes. The more exposed you are to different kinds of foods the better it will help your cooking. Knowing how different ingredients smell and taste in its original form can give you inspiration and can help you alter recipies to how you see fit.

If you think of cooking as being therapeutic and soothing it can be also be easy and alot of fun. As you understand and appreciate cooking more it becomes more of a hobby than a chore. So get cooking and don't be afraid!

On-the-Go! Just Like Mom's Sack Lunches!

On-the-Go! is definitely a viable and heart-warming option for lunch here at Purdue University. On-the-Go! allows you one main meal course (a sandwich or something of the like) and four side dishes (consisting of anything from fruit to chips or a drink). You can use up to two meal swipes per entry at an On-the-Go! location. It provides an easy option for those that don't have time for a sit-down meal due to classes around the lunch time meal block. It also provides a little bit of fun filled past times.

Now you might be wondering how that really is a memory filled experience, it's just a meal on the run isn't it? I ask you to only remember a few years back, to the golden ages of child hood when your mom (or dad) provided you with a sack lunch before you headed off to the bus stop (or got in the car [or out of the car for that matter]) on the way to school. Those meals held the simple necessities of needed nutrition: a drink, a sandwich and a snack or two. Snacks like fruit roll-ups, snak-pak pudding, jello, fruit, candy, cake items, chips and maybe even some vegetables are the memories of lunch time trades and feasts. Who doesn't think of a sack lunch as part of the cliche little kid going to school routine?

So I implore you to enjoy your child hood memories next time you chow down after picking out your favorites from On-the-Go! And if you haven't yet tried it, do so, you may be amazed at what you find. I don't think I have to say more than small card board box containers of chocolate milk. Oh the memories!

Smoking Out a Turkey; Grilling Parts of Beef

It's a kind of raw poetry that comes from the above title of this article, one that makes me remember the sweeeeet smell of smoke emanating from all of my clothes and bare skin, and especially hair, after any summer evening cooking adventure on the grill. Actually, that smell usually made me sick after I was done eating the food and was just relaxing. I'd keep smelling it and smelling it, and finally I'd give up, biohazard my clothes and take a shower. But those moments leading up to that meal, waiting for the grill to be perfectly heated, the meat to be perfectly seasoned and the sweet chemical reactions that occur from placing various parts of dead animals on a grate of lifeless steel in a bath of infrared radiation that emanates from the burning of refined liquid dinosaurs or from a cloud of CO2 released from the ignited methane from pieces of chopped up, dried out, old-growth forests.... ah...

The reality of barbecue and smoking isn't too pretty sounding all of a sudden, isn't it? If you couldn't tell from the above passage, this reality has never stopped me from expressing myself in the form of one of Ireland's greatest contributions to all of cooking, other than the potato (once considered the devil's food thanks to Ireland's less-than-reputable reputation): barbecue and smoking.

See, Ireland is called the Emerald Isle because it is green. What makes it green? The faces of the many tourists who spend a night at a local pub. Just kidding, lame joke, let's move on, stay with me. Ireland is covered in turf. And peat. Thick, rough, beautiful turf and peat. In fact, it wasn't long before living on all of this turf and peat that the Irish let some dry out... and then burned it. Don't ask me what they were thinking when they decided to burn dried green plant life, but they found its purpose to be better suited towards the production of easy heat anywhere. This led the Irish to be able to cook food portably for lunch in the working fields. In traditional European fashion, they wanted cooked meat for lunch, so they developed a system where they would take a stack of meat, a stack of turf, and combine the two in a marriage of open-fire-roasted goodness. What we have were was modern barbecuing as we have all come to know it.

Yes, we can all thank the Irish (myself included in this populous) for the all-American way of cooking. I love patriotism.

Two summers ago I found myself at a conundrum: barbecue sauce sucks. Well, the stuff at all the stores did to me. I needed something sweet, tangy, and savory. So I did what any respectable chef would do: I made some. Making my own barbecue sauce in 18 bottle batches that my mom and I would cook with, and slowly sell and give out to close friends, taught me that if I apply my passion to a field where there is none I can create a truly awesome product that people will want. I never got around to selling my sauce full time, or even part time, but it did lead me down the road to barbecuing. It is a world full of superstition, guarded secrets (like my sauce recipe), and true personalization.

I encourage you to find the flavors you enjoy the most. If you like an Italian chicken, marinate in an Italian salad dressing or create your own custom French herbs du provence dry rub. You really cannot go wrong with seasoning the meat, unless you branch off into one-off custom crave flavors like Red-Bull Beef (yes, I tried it at request of my friend and it sucked) or coffee-marinated beef (which is good at dinner but would make the ultimate, ULTIMATE country friend steak breakfast. Imagine it after your initial repulsion fades away... oh yeah.) Try anything and try everything.

Cooking. If you have an oven, I highly recommend trying rib and pot roasts. Get a high-quality digital readout meat thermometer and it will be physically impossible for you to overcook any meat that goes in the oven. If you have thinner meat and chicken, get a grill-pan.This will make it so you don't have to pan fry your foods and keeps them above the fat without needing to get an entire barbecue. I never used one, but it's always an option if I need it. Lastly, the grill. There are many who believe only in charcoal. Many who lay their faith in natural gas, and others who love propane. It's just one of those necessity/personal preference things. I had a grill that had a ground line to our natural gas line, so that was what I used. However, the difficulty and messiness and savageness of using charcoal and mesquite led me back to my Irish heritage and was always a load of fun. The natural gas does not need refilling like propane, and both offer insanely fast heating times and cleaning times. (TIP: To avoid having to scrape your grill at the start of every session, leave your grill on high heat for fifteen minutes after you take the food off. This will burn off enough food for it to never become a problem. It also keeps the ants away.) (ANOTHER TIP: when grilling beef, here's a really easy way to check its level of "doneness". Face your non-dominate hand palm up towards your face. See the part of your palm in between your thumb's base and where your hand meets your wrist? It's that thick part that protects your metatarsals when you fall forward. Not the whole bottom of your palm, just on the thumb side. Okay, take your dominant hand pointer finger and poke that square in the middle. Feel the give and texture? That's "rare" beef. Okay, now touch your non-dominate pointer to your non-dominate thumb. Poke the palm area again. That's "medium-rare". Now put back your pointer finger and touch your non-dominate thumb and middle finger. That's "medium". Starting to get it? Keep going with it. This test works by using the tension in the muscle of that part of your hand as a reference. Open = rare; pointer-thumb = medium-rare; middle-thumb = medium; ring-thumb = medium-well; pinky-thumb = well. Remember this, you'll thank me one day off in the distant future.) Cooking your own meat your way, even if you mess up, is incredibly rewarding after eating only "Flame-kissed Black Angus Burgers" from all of the dining halls for so long. And it's way better than fast food or microwave dinners. Try it and feast.

I hope you've had fun reading this, and I recommend always trying everything for yourself. Get out there and cook a dead something already!

Burgers!

Finding a good hamburger is hard for me. I am really picky because it can't be too thick or too thin. It has to be juicy and absolutely no pink allowed for me.

Cristo's is a family restaurant that has just about everything. I could pick from sides such as macaroni, fries, loaded fries, and many others. The atmosphere was great and the service was good too.

I ordered the "mini burgers." There was four mini burgers and I had the macaroni as my side. The macaroni was home-made and was so cheesy. It was the best macaroni I've ever had at a restaurant. The burgers were really good, but not the best I've ever had. It was cooked the exact way I like it, but for me it wasn't juicy enough. I thought it was a little chewy.

Overall the burgers and macaroni was a good choice. I have liked everything that I have had from there so far. Im glad we went to Christo's.

Request granted.

Hello readers. Recently I wrote a very controversial post... on Emeril. And in the true nature of comments, I was commented upon... and challenged.

"I think your blog starts off being offensive. I understand you saying what you do not like, but hate is a strong word. To tell you the truth I did not continue to read your blog after the first two lines. I personally love to watch Emeril Live. One of my favorite things he does is when he says "Bam" or "lets kick it up a notch". Even though this is a class assignment you never know who is going to be reading your blogs and it could rub some people the wrong way. Since you "hate" Emeril so much I would like to see you write a blog on why you hate him so much, and exactly what you feel is wrong with his show."

Okay then.

I hate Emeril for the exact reasons why you love him.

I hate how he has two catch phrases that state out loud what his "intent" for each ingredient is rather than justifying why he is adding it. "KICKING IT UP A NOTCH" is not nearly enough explanation for the use or a description of the taste of any addition.

"BAM" is just another phrase he can use so he isn't saying the former phrase every 30 seconds; rather, he can alternate so that he has at least a full minute of filler material for any two steps.

How else does he fill up his one hour show doing what most shows do in half that time?

An answer to that rhetorical question: a live band. That I hate. (I feel like I’m watching whatever comes out of Jay Leno’s toilet when Emeril banters with his band leader every episode.) Oh, and he uses a live audience to talk to and have filmed reactions to the dishes he cooks up. Wait… a live audience… a live band… FINALLY! I get it! Emeril LIVE!

Now that epiphany has passed, I’ll address my other concern that his recipe execution is not informative, just entertaining, while getting back to my original point. Emeril does not justify anything he does. He acts like everyone should know exactly why he is doing whatever he is doing at any given moment, hence “BAM!”. Alton Brown explains every myth and preconception related to every ingredient he adds and then explains the truth in scientific understanding of exactly why he is adding it. Alton Brown tells you what do to, how to do it, and most importantly why. He doesn’t just go, “BAM!” and toss it in and stir it around. He uses puppets. Top Chef also adds this element of deeper understanding of food when they have to, in professional culinary terms, completely justify why they did their food this way, why they chose these flavors, why they presented the dish this way, and why it tastes great or sucks in front of an entire board of chefs. I would looooove to see Emeril on Top Chef… as a contestant:

“So, Emeril, can you tell us why you chose to use such standard Italian flavors to make a pasta-based dish once again?” “Thank you, Chef. Well… for this dish I really wanted to KICK IT UP A NOTCH!” “Turn in your knives, Legasse.”

I hate Emeril because he doesn’t fulfill my curiosity in cooking. I hate Emeril because he is trying to entertain and show how cool it is to cook rather than really prove his methods and ingredients. I assume it tastes good and I would be willing to try some of his recipes. However, I hate his show because of the format it comes in. I think a lot of people agree, seeing as Emeril has been pushed around the Food Network lineup to where he never has new episodes announced because they can only be discovered every fifth Tuesday of each leap year.

Now I’ll address a much deeper concern that was made in your comment. You say that I never know when something I write is going to rub someone the wrong way. Honestly, I expected someone to be offended by a point that I would make in the course of writing this blog.

I did not expect it to be this one.

And yet when I read your entire reply, which is more courtesy than you extended towards me before commenting on how offensive my article was, I found a request to blog on exactly why I hate him so much and what is wrong with his show and, I must admit, I got pretty concerned about justifying myself. Yes, I know that my writing may rub some people the wrong way and you know what? You just helped me confirm exactly what I thought would happen if it came down to this: right now, typing this, I am having one of the best times writing that I have had in a long time. Blogging is free expression and it is all about writing what you feel and feeling what you write. And I don’t feel that I should censor myself because it is a class assignment. It’s still my blog. If I censor myself I’d just be doing it for the points.

My Last Hurrah!!

The blog, Orangette, recently wrote on her post about having a last hurrah. She explained that for her it meant saying goodbye in a big bang sort of way. Well now that summer is about to end she wanted to have a last hurrah! with the foods of summer by making buttered corn and tomatoes with tapenade. In my opinion having a last hurrah with summer food would be with fruits, no offense, but they are the foods that remind us of summer. I know that when you go to the grocery there will always be the fruits that you want but something about summer makes them more ripe and juicy, and besides, having summer fruits in the fall would make them less pleasant to eat since it's so cold. Here are some recipies that I have made in the past that bring out the best in summer fruits. Hurry and make them before it's too late to have your last hurrah with these summer fruits.

Top 5 Summer fruits to eat before summer ends:
1. watermelon
2. pineapples
3. peaches
4. berries
5. mangoes

All of these recipies have been tested and altered by me so that it is easy and simple to make but also flavorful. Get cooking!

Watermelon Granita

9 cups of cubed seedless watermelon
1/3 cup of lime juice
1/3 cup mint chopped finely
1/4 cup of sugar

Puree the watermelon in the food processor, strain out solids and discard. Combine the puree with the lime juice, mint and sugar and put in a 9 by 13 inch metal pan. Place in the freezer and scrape with a fork every 20 to 30 minutes for 2 1/2 hours. The end product should look like coarse crystals. Serve in a parfait glass.


Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate

1 1/4 lbs of good white chocolate (coarsely chopped)
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 lbs of frozen mixed berries

Put the white chocolate, heavy cream and vanilla in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

Take berries and place them on a pan and spread them out and freeze to prevent from sticking. Divide berries on plates and ladle the hot white chocolate sauce on top.


Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone & Honey

6 large ripe peaches (halved and pits removed)
6 tbsp honey plus more for serving
8 oz marcarpone cheese at room temperature

Preheat grill to medium high ( if you don't have a grill handy an oven works just fine). Place peaches cut side down onto grill and cook lightly until charred for 2-3 minutes. Tranfer to a plate and wrap in foil and continue to cook on grill until soft for another 5 minutes.

Divide peaches on individual plates top with mascarpone cheese. Drizzle with honey. Mmmm yummy.

Don't go for the muffins!

As you all know, I have been experimenting with recipes from the website Hillbilly Housewife. I thought I would try the blueberry muffins since I have just about a cup of frozen blueberries in my freezer and that was the amount I needed for the recipe. Again, the recipe was easy to make, but to tell you the truth, this particular recipe I wasn't that fond of. The muffins turned out okay, but I wasn't completely impressed with them. It almost seemed to me like they we rent sweet enough, or light enough. The texture was kind of dense, which could be from the whole wheat flour. The blueberries were delicious though. The muffins are edible and aren't disgusting tasting, but I guess I just was expecting more. Needless to say I wont be making these again unless I am desperate for some blueberry muffins.

How great is food entertainment?

I love the Food network. Love it.

I hate Emeril. Hate him. But I love Alton Brown.

Alton Brown is the host of the Food Network's Good Eats. Padma Lakshmi is the host of Bravo's Top Chef. These two shows were my limited time spent in front of the TV this summer. Give thanks that they exist.

However, we don't get the Food Network or Bravo here at school. We don't get either of these, and I am pissed.

Many of my summer days were spent watching reruns of Good Eats and Top Chef. I never was a fan of that Hell's Kitchen show, that guy got on my nerves. I never realized how strange it was that I enjoyed these kinds of shows until I realized that no one else I knew cooked or was even remotely interested in these shows. I could not believe it! What wasn't there to love about cooking and said related programs?

Then I realized that much of the population thought of cooking as a chore or the local McDonalds. Then I truly started to appreciate the network of food. It is rare that such a specialty channel survives. G4 combined with TechTV to produce an amalgamation of Cheaters reruns and crap. Attack of the Show is good, especially with Olivia Munn on screen. However, having a show on a network like Bravo, and having a food network is an entirely chance existence that I took for granted until I really came into my own with cooking.

Alton Brown fulfilled my scientific side for cooking. He had a definite process and method for everything that he made on the show. Top Chef fulfilled my desire for a smart reality show and had supermodel host. I never was a fan of any other show that had contestants until I first viewed this series.

Thank god for food entertainment and the hours of excellent programming and information it provides. God bless Alton Brown and Padma Lakshmi.

Meals On Wheels

Everyone knows the cliché ice cream truck songs that signify the bliss of soon to be melted ice cream and sticky hands during a hot summer day, but what if you had that same blissful feeling upon catching site of the semi-trailer that has been your kitchen for two and a half months, with or without the ice cream part?

Lost? I would imagine you to be so. I'm talking about the life and dining experiences of drum & bugle corps. Don't know what a drum corps is? Think of a marching band
on steroids that tours the nation during the summer months comprised of young adults 18-21. Thats a drum corps.

Drum corps travel by charter bus with up to four buses, support vehicles and up to two semi-trucks (one for equipment, the other a mobile kitchen). Drum corps stay at local schools everyday to rehearse and then move on to the next show or rehearsal site. Chances are, a drum corps has stayed at a school near you.

When traveling across the country in a convoy fashion, like drum corps do, a viable way to feed those involved must be found. That issue has been solved by a mobile kitchen on wheels: a converted semi-tractor trailer. It has all the essentials of a kitchen: freezer, refrigerator, storage, cook tops, a giant griddle (that can double as a grill), two convection ovens, counter space, industrial sinks, water tanks, drink tanks and anything for a kitchen you could imagine. This allows the volunteer cook crews to provide home cooked full meals to the participants wherever and whenever necessary. And believe me they do a wonderful and incredibly challenging job.

Drum corps is an intense musical and athletic activity. It requires you to be in your peak physical condition to be able to sprint around and across a football field during the intensity of the eleven minute and thirty seconds of performance. Since you rehearse in a performance level setting all day [a typical day will be mapped out later] you need high quality foods to fuel your body and keep you healthy. This is achieved by making sure the meals cooked are healthy and filling and contain nutritious items, especially fruits, vegetables, and high in protein and carbs. Water as well as Gatorade is also consumed in extreme amounts through out the day.

Now you may be saying, that this is all well and good, but as I explain what a typical day is like you may grow to understand the importance and awesomeness that this mobile kitchen truly is. A typical day starts at around 0700 am with wake up, hopefully after a few solid hours of sleep on the gym floor of the school your staying (depending on the length and time of the journey from the previous day's show/rehearsal facilities). You would then eat breakfast and by 0800 am be out at the practice field getting ready for some sort of stretch/run procedures. After that rehearsal begins. You would rehearse till about noon, eating a midday meal and then returning to the football field again. rehearsing now till about four or five pm. at that time you would shower, pack and load the buses and trucks and eat another meal. Once the corps is situated you would travel to the show site, unload and warm -up, perform the show, relax for a short time, eat the evening meal and prepare to travel to the next destination. normally a show ends around 10pm or later. That means corps pull out from the stadium at 11pm or later. You can see why learning how to sleep on a bus is key.


Since you now know the basic premise of a day, lets break the meals down in detail. a normal person lets say needs 2000 calories to function in a day. Multiply 2000 by 2 and you get 4000, thats the average amount of calories that person would need to function while competing with a drum corps. It isn't as easy as you think. Especially since the drum corps season runs from the middle of May till the middle of August. Three months of grueling rehearsals in the summer sun and heat. On average a drum corps spends about $100,000 on food for the summer. That covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack (the 4th meal after the show) for about 200 people that travel with the corps at any given time. A division I drum corps can have up to 135 competing individuals, besides that there is support staff and teaching staff, as well as a few administrative staff that have to be fed every day.

A typical breakfast will consist of bagels or muffins, cereal, fruit and possibly a hot option of either oat meal, eggs, pancakes, etc. Lunch is anything from cold cut sandwiches to brats, mac 'n cheese, or pasta. Dinner is a staple meal usually consisting of meatloaf, pot roast, hamburgers or hot dogs, pasta, and the like. Snack is usually a repeat of dinner or something similar. Snack can also be a smörgåsbord of everything from the past couple days, and the created concoctions are amazing! The staple food of drum corps is PB&J. No meal is complete with out a PB&J and it is present at every meal, either as a quick snack while in line, a hearty addition for the extra carbs, or an alternative dish. If you were to feed a drum corps pot roast for dinner, it would take on average about 100 lbs. of pot roast to make sure there was enough and maybe a tad bit extra [note these stats are from my cooking and marching experience with the Madison Scouts the last few years]. Also on average about 36 gallons of Gatorade or "drink" will be consumed during one meal as well. The amount you eat astounds you, and 4 hours later your dying of hunger, yet again.


This is just a taste of what the drum corps dining experience is like, and I have been a part of both sides. I have volunteered with the Madison Scouts in '03, '04 and '05. I marched with Impulse! in 2006 and with Madison Scouts this past summer. From being on the member side of it all I can truly say that the men and women who work the food trucks for drum corps across the nation summer after summer are amazing people doing amazing work, from all of us that have marched and enjoyed your delicious delectables, THANKS A BUNCH!

Loaded Wedge Fries

Last night I went out to eat at Scotties. My boyfriend's family was in town and wanted to go out to eat. I wasn't really hungry so I decided to just get fries. When I was looking through the menu, the picture of the loaded wedge fries caught my eye.

When the waitress brought them to me, they smelled delicious. On them came nacho cheese, bacon, and sour cream.

I would definitely go back to Scottie's. Next time I would actually like to try the food; it all looked delicious! The atmosphere was bar-like and it had many televisions with the sports games on. I would suggest this restaurant to anyone who likes good food.

I HAVE FOUND IT!

I have found the most glorious, tasty bread!!! Its called Amish Bread and I got the recipe from recipezaar.com. This time around I wanted to make just a plain, white bread that would be easy to do and taste good. This particular recipe had some good reviews and it seemed simple enough, so I tried it. Boy was I pleasantly surprised!!! This bread is so light and delicate tasting and the texture is also very light and airy. Its awesome plain with some butter, but I cant wait to make a sandwich out of it.

The recipe was simple to follow. It said to let it rise for 2 hours the first time around, but I let mine rise for closer to 3 and it was to the top of the bowl by that time. Then you punch the dough down and knead the air out. Next, you divide the dough into two equal parts and put in greased 9x5 pans. You need to let it rise again, for another 2 hours, or until the dough is above the sides of the bread pans. Then bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Although, I baked mine closer to 20 minutes and it was done.

Let me tell you, those Amish really know what they are doing! I highly suggest trying this bread, even if its your first time making bread. Its so easy and very, very delicious! This is my favorite of the breads that I have made so far. Give it a shot!

German Food. Es ist Zeit Partei!

Okay, so we all have a little European in us, seeing as we’re all descended from Europeans, and I definitely see the benefit of all of us taking a little time to educate ourselves on… that’s right: German cuisine.
I know a lot of you have German ancestry, or have some crazy uncle in your family that likes to play polka, so I dare you to tell me you don’t want to hear about this.

Germans love food. Fact number eins.

Breakfast in the Fatherland is usually just a simple meal of bread, toast, or rolls (Brötchen or Schrippe) with various jams (Marmelade or Konfitüre), marmalade or honey. Usually accompanying the meal in beverage form is strong coffee or tea for adults, and milk, cocoa, or juice for the little ones. Other sustenance comes in the form of eggs, ham, salami, and other meat-based spreads, such as Leberwurst or liver-sausage. Oh, and the Germans love them some Wheaties, with cornflakes often taking a prominent spot on the table.

Now lunch is a little different. At least traditionally it is. Lunch (Mittagessen) is the main meal of the day for Germans. They like to have their feast around noon, making their dinner (Abdendessen or Abendbrot) always a smaller meal. However, in the last 50 years, Germany has done the same as the rest of the world and changed to a dinner-centric dining lifestyle. Lunch is a working meal to get through the middle part of the day and get home to little Axel and Gretel. Still, in the rural parts of Germany, the people there have their main meal for lunch, keeping the work-centric life in favor of modernizing their eating habits and worklife. And while dinner traditionally is like breakfast with the whole meat/bread/cheese thing going on, lunch could be anything from trout (the most common German freshwater fish) to vegetable stew. But it’s probably not. It’s probably meat.

Germans love cooked meat. Fact number zwei. They especially love pork. Germans citizens consume up to 67 pounds of meat per year. And that’s just for one of them, not the whole family. Germans also love beef and poultry, and don’t forget the pork. They love pork. The only thing they love more than the pig itself is when it is pot-roasted. Pot-roasting is the most common way to cook meat in Germany, as evident to any person who has ever eaten at a truly German restaurant. They love to cook their meat just short of forever making for some seriously messy fork-only dishes.

Germans are widely known for their beer making skills, fact number drei, but did you know they make a killer lemonade-ale? That’s right, Germans have gone so far with beer that they’ve taken steps back just to amuse themselves with the brew. Not only do they have countless varieties of the stuff, they like to mix it with lemonade to make a Alsterwasser, with cola to make a Diesel or Colabier (sound it out… get it?). Germans also enjoy domestic wines from their areas along the upper and middle Rhine because the northern part of the country is too cold for grapes to grow. The wines often turn out sweet and do not make it to most international markets. However, sweet wines of the world have their pinnacle in Germany best exemplified by the winter-time beverage Gluhwein. This is a sweet wine that is mixed with various seasonal spices and then heated and served as a hot beverage such as a coffee or cocoa. The experience of drinking one of these beverages is unforgettable as the heat cuts through the alcohol and the spices add to the sweetness of the wine. It also makes for a swift knock to the head if you’ve been celebrating winter for a little too long…

I can’t pin down my favorite German meal, but bratwurst and knockwurst and other sausages are something that no one but the Germans, and German-descended Wisconsinites, can ever pull off. And as if they weren’t good enough as they were, somewhere along the line someone decided to add grilled onions and huge, soft buns to the mix creating what may be one of the world’s most perfect foods. My favorite German drink, though I can’t say I’ve had a Colabier, is Gluhwine in the winter and beer every other day of the year.

Get out there and order yourself up some pork from a German restaurant, or hell, go to Germany! You won’t go hungry, I promise you that.

Time for a healthy snack

With a hectic schedule, it's hard to fit in all of your meals in a healthy way. I start off everyday eating fruit and yogurt for breakfast. Then through out the day my meals get worse. I try to pick up quick meals in between my job, classes, homework, and hanging out with friends, but it's harder than you would think.

When you are really busy it's very important to eat healthy. Eating healthy actually gives you energy to go on with the rest of your day. Fries and other unhealthy foods will give you a quick boost, but not enough energy to last you all day. I will admit, it is hard to find healthy snacks.

On the website, Smart Snacking, they explain how you can judge which foods are healthy and which are not. They say not to judge the health content by just looking at the box. Even if it says pure, low-fat, or high in nutrients, it doesn't mean its good for you. To find what is good for you make sure you check the back labels.

Quick, healthy snacks include such things as peanut butter sandwiches on wheat bread or "ants on a log." Ants on a log is celery with peanut butter on it. It also has raisins on top. These snacks will help you finish your day with energy and help you feel better about yourself by eating healthy. I hope these healthy snack tips help in the future when you start to grab those fries!

Dessert First!

I know, most of my blogs have been about dessert. What can I say? I love dessert! From cookies to brownies, to cakes I love them all. They are so good and sweet, but usually hard to perfect. I have always thought that cakes were hard to bake. It makes a big mess, it doesn't always turn out right, and it's hard to frost. As you can see from my picture, my cakes don't always turn out very good.


Yesterday, I was searching the Internet and I found a blog called Cookie Madness on Betty Crocker's Warm Delights. They are miniature bowls of cake mix. You put the cake mix into the bowl, add water, and then add the caramel if you want. After that, you put it in the microwave for 45 seconds! I was a little skeptical myself on the first try, but I loved them. I could even make these cakes in my dorm room.


There are seven different types of warm delights
- hot fudge brownie
-molten chocolate cake
-peanut butter fudge brownie
-fudgy chocolate chip cookie
-cinnamon swirl cake
- lemon swirl cake

Here is the link to the Warm delight website.


Instead of making the usual cake, I decided to "bake", in the microwave, a warm delight. I followed the easy instructions on the back and watched the transformation begin. I was excited when the microwave was done. I could smell the cake; it smelled like it was homemade!


The blog that I had read told me that it tasted really good with a scoop of ice cream on top. I didn't have any ice cream, so I couldn't try it. It sounded good though so I added a picture from the other blog.



Overall, I didn't expect them to be as good as they were. I will have to keep buying these plus the overall cost is only 1.57. It's good and it won't put a hole in your pocket!

Best Summer Job

During my last 3 weeks of highschool I signed up for Senior Project. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is essentially a project alternative to a final where we are exempt from school for 3 to 4 weeks and allowed to do projects. The ideas range from shadowing a pharmacist to making a musical album or you could even be a teacher.

Knowing myself, I thought what better way to spend my last 3 to 4 weeks of highschool doing something that I would love! I wanted to work with food! I looked online and searched for a nearby bakery and I called the first one that came up on google. The bakery that came up was Three Tarts Bakery and Cafe and I was intimidated at first because it seemed like a very well thriving business that wouldn't care to have some teenager working for them. I called the bakery up and talked to the owners of the bakery thinking that I would never get the job but I was proved wrong when she said she would be thrilled to have me. I was so ecstatic because baking had always been a passion of mine but many things were going through my head. Would they make me do the dishes? Would they have me working in retail with the customers? Would they make me mop the notoriously dirty kitchen floor? I wasn't really sure what they would have me do.

The day I walked into the bakery my jaw almost dropped to the floor because everything looked so enticingly scrumptious. There were mini eclair, custard-filled creampuffs, mini macaroons, lemon halos, chocolate rasberry squares, columbiers, homestyle cakes and much more. It would take me a while a list all of them. Surprisingly though I learned how to make alot of the things that I saw on display that first day I walked in. I learned how to make chocolate ganache, various teabreads, rice krispies, deco cookies, icings, tartlets, bear claws, tiramisu etc. One of my most favorite things to do in the bakery were to decorate cupcakes. Although daunting at first I learned to master them. Not only did I learn practical things but I learned a hands on way to run a bakery. I learned that quality is the most important thing because making a good product is satisfying but the gratification you get from seeing little girl bite into a carmel cupcake with orange buttercream and toasted coconut and smile is priceless.

This is a link to the Three Tarts Bakery and Cafe, please look at all the photos of the food because I'm really proud of what I did this summer. http://www.threetartsbakery.com/

Check out my sourdough!!

Ok, so in case you couldn't tell I am way super proud of my sourdough bread that I made. I made the starter on Friday and let it sit out on my counter top all weekend til Sunday when I made the bread. I got my bread recipe from recipezaar and its for just a basic sourdough recipe, but they have a ton of different sourdough recipes on there to choose from. I doubled my batch to make 2 loaves so I could give one away to my toast burning brother, remember him?






The recipe calls for bread flour, which at first confused me. I didn't have any and I wasn't sure if I could substitute regular all purpose flour for it instead. I learned that it was best to use the bread flour because it helps the bread rise more because of the higher protein level in the flour. I went to Sam's Club and bought a 25lb bag of bread flour for like $5.25. I figured I would be making a lot of bread in the future, or at least that's what I told my husband when he asked why in the world I needed 25lbs of flour. But being the good husband that he is, he let me buy it. So, I went home and began to bake some bread. The dough was pretty easy to put together and here it is after I was done kneading it and got it in the bread pans.

It said to let the dough rise from 1 1/2 hours up to 3 hours. I let mine sit on my stove top covered with a kitchen towel and I would say it took about 2 hours for mine to rise. Here it is all risen and ready to go into the oven.

The recipe says to bake it at 375 degrees for 10 minutes and then to drop the temp down to 350 and bake another 30-40 minutes. I baked mine for the 10 minutes and then an additional 30minutes at the lower temp. The bread came out awesome and it has been a big hit so far! I have heard that making sourdough bread can be tricky, but for my first time making it, I think it was quite easy and the bread came out great! I will definitely be making this one again!! Here is the finished product!

The Great Dane- The Pretzel Burger.

This weekend, I went to go visit my brother in Wisconsin. He moved there last month with his girlfriend because she received a full ride to the University of Wisconsin to get her masters. We took a family trip up to see him. He was so excited to show us all of the different restaurants and places to eat. We went to his favorite.

My brother's favorite place was called The Great Dane. It was a restaurant and a brewery. When you walk inside you see it is set up nicely. There is a bar on one side and the restaurant on the other. The brewery was downstairs. The menus were newspapers and they had every type of burger you could imagine. I saw something called the pretzel burger and decided I had to try it.


The pretzel burger has one hamburger patty and something they call a brat patty. It had two huge slices of meat on it. On top they put the usual vegetables. The bun was a soft pretzel bun. You could choose weather or not you wanted salt on your pretzel. It's hard to explain so I made sure I took pictures of this absurd pretzel burger.

The bun was extremely soft and the burger was delicious. Its smell made me have an urge to eat it right that second. It was so thick that I could barley put it all in my mouth. I defiantly would go back for this. I would suggest ordering this or the Cajun chicken. I tried that too. It was a little spicy but very good. Overall I would give this place a very high rating and one of the best burgers I have ever had.

If you are ever in Madison, make sure you look up this place. It is a hard place to beat.

My brother also ordered one of their wheat beers that they make right there in the restaurant. I wouldn't know, but I take his word that it was a very good beer. It is also in the picture. He said he had tried others from there and he hasn't disliked one yet.

We even asked where they purchased these Pretzel buns from. The waitress checked into it and they buy them from U.S. foods. Just in case you want to try the Pretzel burger on your own.

Eat or not to eat...

Alright, so, I love food. Or I should say that I love eating! I've always enjoyed trying varieties of food and filling my stomach. I eat when I'm bored. I eat when I'm happy. I eat all the freaking time! It just amazes me that I'm not ridiculously overweight. I love Mickey D's, Burger King, Wendy's, Olive Garden, you just name it! But now that I'm living in a college dorm without my car, food i can eat is so limited. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted when I was back home but now I'm forced to eat the food that's in the dining halls. And what stinks is that I'm getting really sick of all school food. I know it's only been like four or five weeks but, yes, I can't eat this food anymore.

I started eat my meals at the Windsor Dining Hall, which is one of the five dining halls and it's closest to my dorm (If i haven't told you yet, I'm really lazy.). Anyway, I had my meals three times a day there for about a week and the food there got old, fast. Also their food isn't that great! It's probably safe for me to say that their food is just horrible. They had same food everyday pretty much. Cold fries, cold bread sticks, spaghetti with cold sauce, and etc. All the food they had seemed like they've been sitting out for days. From time to time, they would have their special soup and salad, but they weren't that good either, I mean they were edible and filled me up. But I needed something new.

So since Windsor didn't work out well, I decided to check out the other dining halls. I actually didn't know that there was a dining hall 20 feet away from my dorm. I asked my friends if they wanted to go there but we didn't see anyone else going to that dining hall so we decided to go try Hillenbrand. It was quite a walk, but I was up for it. I needed something new. I couldn't eat any more of Windsor's cold fries and cold spaghetti. Hillenbrand is smaller than Windsor and they had smaller menu. Although they had a quesadilla bar where you can make your own quesadilla, I'm too lazy to walk a mile for my meals. But seriously, if you aren't lazy like me and are willing to walk all the way to Hillenbrand, GO FOR IT! I mean, their quesadilla's really great. They make it for you on the spot with all the ingredient you choose. I dunno about you, but I love eating food that's just freshly out of the oven. Hot, crisp, and full of the taste. And when you first bite into the quesdilla, I can guarantee you that you'll instantly fall in love with it. But, like I said, I'm not a fan of walking so I've only been there a couple times. Also, I got tired of eating quesadillas fast.

So this time, me and my friends decided to go to Ford. I mean, I decided to go to Ford and my friends followed me (They are really indecisive.). Anyway, soon as we got to ford, I could tell that their food was quality. The line stretched like 100 feet away from the dining court AND there was another line once we made it into the dining hall. It felt like we were actually waiting in line to get on a roller coaster at Cedar Point. So we managed to make it inside the dining court and started to look around. There were so many different food we can get! Chinese food, pizza, hamburger, WARM french fries, and many more. I thought i would never get sick of the food in this dining hall. I'm not gonna lie. I enjoyed eating at ford for almost two weeks. I mean, it was great! They change their menu a little bit everyday so I would have different food most of the times I was there. However, after a while it became the same routine everyday. Yep. It was time for a new dining hall.


The only dining that was left was Earhart. Earhart also had a pretty long line. This dining hall also has a 'make your own food' bar but the food changes. I really enjoyed this a lot. Although all the other food were the same as the food at the Ford, this make-your-own-food bar was great. The ones I've enjoyed the most were the spaghetti and pizza. I used the shell and the pasta. And I topped it off by covering the top with cheese and when they took it out of the oven. Mm Mmm, scrumptious! Scrumptious, what a great word. You could use scrumptious for anything! It's one of my favorite words. But yeah, I really enjoyed the make-your-own-food bar. You should definitely try it out if you haven't tried it already. But if you have it often you'll get tired of it just like it did for me.

So, just great. I've tried all the food at all the different dining halls. I need new food but I hey, I can't be too picky right? So, I don't really want to eat these food but I sort of have to eat. I don't know what to do! I'm just eating to fill up my stomach these days. I mean, I feel content after I'm full, but Eating itself isn't fun anymore. I need some new food! Help me, what should I do???

-Pizza, Out

Tally me banana!!

For some reason, I have really gotten into baking these last few weeks. It almost feels therapeutic to me and so far I am loving it. The bread I made last week was awesome and we have completely eaten it all. But tonight I got the itch for banana bread and it just so happened that we had 3 ripe bananas. Perfect!! So again, at 8pm I start making bread. Perhaps one day I should try doing this during the day instead of staying up super late baking bread. But anyways, I used another recipe off of Hillbilly Housewife. I believe its called "My Best Banana Bread," and I assure you, it is!! I have already eaten 2 slices of it while it was warm and fresh out of the oven. There is just something about homemade banana bread that makes me think of home and growing up. My mom used to make us banana bread as well as many other things and she was the one who taught me how to cook. Thanks mom!

So, while I was baking my bread I had some time on my hands, so I started to look for more bread recipes. I have to admit that I really enjoy sourdough bread, so that got me thinking that maybe I should try and make my own. My only problem was I didn't have a starter. Oh, but I found one from Allrecipes and you can find it here. So, while I was waiting for my banana bread to finish baking, I whipped up the starter. I figure it will be my adventure for next week, so check back to see how the sourdough bread turns out!

delicious sugar cookies

I'm not going to lie. I miss my mom baking cookies and making food for me. Every weekend my mom would make these cookies. I was always the one to have friends over and they would always look forward to them. Sometimes they would be frosted, sometimes sprinkled, and sometimes plain. Other times we would decorate them ourselves. Everyone would always ask whether they were home made or not. No, they are not home made, they really come from a package. They are always soft and so good! When people would walk in my door the first thing they would ask is, "Are there cookies?." Usually the response was yes.







Well I went home this weekend and there was cookies sitting on the counter! I decided to write my blog on these because they are easy to make and obviously very good. They are moist, soft, sweet, and not that bad for you. All you need is Betty crockers' sugar cookie dough, one large egg, and one stick of butter. These ingredients are usually found in the average household pantry. The best place to buy the dough is at Target. Some places don't carry this type of cookie dough.

First you melt the one stick of butter in a large bowl in the microwave for 60 seconds. Then you crack open one large egg into the bowl. Then you add the cookie mix ( 17.5 ounce bag) into the bowl. Stir all together. Believe me you are going to want to eat the dough, so your going to want to buy two bags. Some people debate that the dough is the best part.

Although these are the best cookies I've ever had, there is an allergy watch on the bag. If you are allergic to wheat, milk, soy, or eggs, these cookies are not for you.

You can make them as drop cookies, rolled cookies, bar cookies or however you like your cookies! They are also good as cut out cookies. They make 3 dozen two inch cookies or less if you want bigger ones.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Foil two pans and put 12 table spoons full of cookie dough onto the pan. Put them in the oven and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or if you like them darker, then bake them a little longer. When they are done let them cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

The best part is icing the cookies! I prefer the fun-fetti icing, it's delicious. You can also buy regular icing and pick out your own sprinkles. To keep them soft, put the plate into a big zip lock bag and seal it. It will keep them fresh for a couple of more days.

Anyone can make these, they are easy, and they only take 20 minutes to make.

The absolutely most refreshing thing I've had all day...

...is not even a beverage or a piece of food. I was poking around on Apple.com Trailers, and I found this: How to Cook Your Life. It's a movie coming out on October 26th, and it is definitely one of the most interesting things I've seen in a long time. I felt refreshed and engaged after watching this trailer the first time, and then felt just as excited about food after the next handful of times watching it. We really have lost our respect for the art of food, always ready to scarf it down plate after plate, Value Combo #2 after Value Combo #2.

"When you're cooking, you're not just cooking; you're not just working on food. You're also working on yourself; you're working on other people."

This trailer made me really think about all of the time I've ever spent preparing food. I was always excited to make a big meal with a lot of dishes for my family and friends and always making sure each step and dish yielded an incredibly enjoyable meal, and that the courses always complemented each other.

"The food will taste better when the cook is joyful..."

I always believed that love was the best ingredient, but how much more tasty is a dish filled with laughter? Having a good time and making food yields a meal, that as long it is edible, is incredible tasty regardless of actual taste. Eating the food is just as important as making it, and sitting all by yourself eating your hard work is no fun at all. It's all about sharing the experience, the food, with your best friends, your family.

"Treat the food as if it were your eyesight, as though it were that precious."

Food is important. It runs us; it runs the world. Why do we toss its importance away and fill our society with frozen meals, fatty snacks, and fast food? I understand that time is an important factor in making meals, so I propose a nation-wide policy of dinner time. A time to connect with your family, with those who are special to you. It's also a time to start cooking for yourself. Concentrating on the preparation and flavor of the foods, as well as the experience of eating it all.

"Is food precious? Is food worth caring about...? Are you precious? Are you worth caring about?"

Food often defines memories that we have. Food fills our senses which makes it a great bookmark in our brain for various events in our lives. If you've lost the path to zen and food, please, please, please take a look at this trailer.

Bon Appetit-Go Italian!

As you can tell, the weather has been slowly but surely getting colder. The transition from summer to fall in Purdue has been an answer to my prayers, at least for me. That's because as the days get colder, we start craving warm and comfortable foods and that is always a good thing.

Now what better way is there to go with comfort food than to go italian? The ultimate comfort food is lasagna! Something about the meatiness and the contrast between the saucy marinara and the creamy ricotta cheese tells me you can't go wrong. Well the thing is, making lasagna isn't the easiest thing the world. I had to go through 5 boxes of noodles, many bottles of marinara sauce and a trillion dirty dishes to come up with a recipie that is fool proof. This recipie that I came up with has a little bit of everything from the best lasagna recipies that I've come across. The reason why I've done this is because every lasagna recipie that I've made had some defects that I wanted to fix, so I just accumulated the best in each one to come up with one recipie that I am sure everyone with love. The turkey meat gives the lasagna a meaty bite and the rolls of the lasagna are a modern twist to the more traditional style.

Lasagna:
15oz ricotta cheese
10oz frozen chopped spinach
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 lb of ground turkey meat
1 large egg beaten
4 cups marinara sauce
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1-2 tblsp on olive oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Add dry noodles to boiling water on high heat. Salt the water to your preference. Boil the noodles untill just tender and lay the noodles out on an oiled baking sheet to preven sticking.
2. In a sauce pan over medium heat, cook the ground turkey meat in olive oil until all the pinkness is gone.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, beaten egg, turkey meat, spinach, salt, pepper, and half of the mozzarella.
4. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the mixture onto each noodle and roll each up. Put the seam side down on a buttered 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Spoon the marinara sauce onto the rolled noodles.
5. Sprinkle the remaining amount of mozzarella and bake for 45 minutes.
6. BON APPETIT!

Memorable Moments, Brought To You By Food

Have you ever had a special occasion where you remember everything about it?

Maybe it was a wedding, or an awards ceremony, something so special you will cherish and remember it forever?

Have you ever relived and remembered that experience when you eat food that you had at that event, the plate of deliciousness inviting back memories of the fun and good times spent with others?

I have. And I think food can let you remember and re-enjoy those special moments again. A perfect example is the piece of cake couples eat on their first wedding anniversary, perhaps from their actual wedding cake.

I have a special memory like that today. Today is Ross' birthday. Ross sadly passed in the VT shooting this past spring. Today I honor Ross and remember him by eating his favorite meal: ramen noodles. When I eat this food, I will not only recall the good times, but appreciate the life he lived and how he loved us all. He truly did make a difference, you couldn't argue with his smile.

Here's to you Ross, I know you're enjoying a big bowl of ramen in heaven . . .