Cheesecake

Since starting college, I’ve eaten a lot more cheesecake than I used to. I used to only get cheesecake when my grandma made it for Thanksgiving and Christmas and once a year during marching band season in high school. (We used to sell cheesecakes as a fundraiser.) Now I eat it about once a week.

Here at the dining courts, they have a variety of cheesecake. Sometimes they just have plain cheesecake that you can put strawberries, cherries, or caramel topping on. Other times, they have flavored cheesecake like pumpkin cheesecake.

Although this cheesecake is good, no cheesecake is as good as my grandma’s. I don’t know why, but food that my grandma makes always tastes better than everyone else’s food. Unfortunately, she is getting older and gets tired easily, so she stopped making it and just sticks to pies for dessert.

Surprisingly enough, Fazoli's actually has pretty good cheesecake. They have several different kinds. My favorite is the chocolate cheesecake with chocolate chips. The turtle is also good.

Now that I eat cheesecake more often, I have come to appreciate it more and would consider it to be one of my new favorite desserts!

Word of the Day: gouda

College Dining Courts

Here at college some people say that the food is so good and they compare it to the food that was served back at home. I would agree with them on one part for a week or so but after that it gets really old and starts to taste like crap. I have been at school for four months now and I got sick of the dorm food after the first month.

The main problem with it is that the dining courts don't change the meals up very much. It is always the same things every week and it is just getting old. Like for instance the foo court that I go to a lot they have pizza and cheeseburgers every single day. Why not change it up a bit? I know I'm not the only one who notices that there isn't much of a choice.

It's not that the food isn't good it's that they leave the food sitting out under heating lamps and either the lamps don't work properly and the food is cold or that the lamps dry the food out and therefore mot tasting very well.

What I think the dining courts should do is change it up a bit and have more choices for the students to choose from and not make the same thing every single day. Also find a way to keep the food warm without drying everything out and loosing the flavor.

Mint and Chocolate

After the chocolate and peanut butter combination, mint and chocolate is my next favorite chocolate combination. They just go together so well. And there are so many foods out there that are mint and chocolate (mainly candy)! There are Andes mints, crème de menthe Hershey’s Bliss chocolates, mint chocolate chip ice cream, mint M&M’s. The list goes on and on.

I just recently tried the crème de menthe Hershey’s Bliss chocolates. They are amazing. The chocolate is soo smooth and the mint is perfect! They are soo much better than Andes mints which were my original favorites. Compared to the Hershey’s Bliss, the Andes mints taste like cheap chocolate (I would still eat them though).

I also just recently tried the mint M&M’s. At first I thought they were a little disappointing. I wasn’t expecting them to be so crunchy. After eating a couple though, I decided that I liked them and I actually couldn’t stop eating them!

One mint/chocolate candy combination that I’m not so fond of is York Peppermint Patties. They’re ok, but they’re definitely not my first choice. In other words, I wouldn’t turn one down if someone just handed it to me (unless it was given to me by a suspicious character). (The mint M&M’s actually kind of reminded me of a crunchy York Peppermint Patty at first.) And then there is the mint Three Musketeers. I like them better than York Peppermint Patties (and regular Three Musketeers), but they wouldn’t be something I would choose if I wanted to buy a candy bar somewhere.

At the dining courts on campus, they sometimes have mint brownies and mint cookies. The brownies are chocolate brownies with green mint icing. They are pretty good. The brownie is fairly moist and the icing has the perfect amount of mint flavoring. The cookies however aren’t so good. They look like the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies (which I LOVE!), but they’re not. They are dry and the mint flavor isn’t very strong.

If anyone has any delicious mint and chocolate recipes, send them my way!

Word of the Day: bliss

Frozen Pizza

Here at college I have had the opportunity to try many kinds of new frozen pizzas. I have become very fond of some and not so fond of others. I eat frozen pizzas a lot since they are quick and easy meal and there isn't much to them. What I like about these pizzas is there isn't much to clean up after just wipe up the counter space and then you are done.

My favorite brand of frozen pizza is DiGorno because it is a really good pizza and it doesn't taste like cardboard like some of the frozen pizzas I have tried like Jack's. Those pizzas are very thin and seem like they are made of cardboard and don't have a very good taste.

Red Baron pizza is not a bad brand but still does not match up to DiGorno but it comes in a close second place. Then tombstone and finally Tony's. Those are my top four frozen pizzas that I would recommend to anyone who is looking for a good easy meal if you don't want to cook or make a huge mess in the kitchen.

What to Eat When You Have the Munchies?

Ever had the munchies? Well I have. So what are the best foods to eat when you’re too high to function? Well personally, I like Double Stuf Oreos, chocolate Donettes, tea, any kind of chips...this list could go on forever because everything tastes pretty good.

And why do these things taste so good? Well I’m not exactly sure, but when I’m high, I am definitely more aware of my body and how I feel.

I really like crunchy things, chocolaty things, cheesy things... The Double Stuf Oreos are good because they’re chocolaty AND crunchy (always get the Double Stuf ones cause they have more cream filling than the regular ones and everyone knows that the cream is the best part). The chocolate Donettes are good because they’re chocolaty. The tea is a recent thing, but I am now addicted (cold tea, especailly Arizona). I get goosebumps every time I talk about it. Sour Melon Powerade also goes well with the taste of Mary Jane. Chips are good, again, because they are crunchy and sometimes cheesy. And I also like pizza…and lots of other stuff...

If you feel like driving (which you probably shouldn’t do), I suggest going to Taco Bell or Steak n Shake. Steak n Shake is open 24 hours and Taco Bell is open til about 1:00 am. At Steak n Shake, I like to get a turkey club with cheese fries and a mint Oreo milkshake. The turkey club has turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. At Taco Bell, I like to get a chicken quesadilla, cheesy fiesta potatoes, and a pina colada frutista freeze.

My friend and I bought Pop Rocks because we thought they’d feel weird in our mouths, but neither of us can remember we have them (probably because we’re under the influence). Yesterday, she finally remembered she had them, so she tried em'. She said it sounded like a thunderstorm in her mouth and she felt like she was in a rainstorm and that it was soo cool.

So next time you have the munchies, try some of these foods and if you have any suggestions on other things to eat, I'd love to hear what they are!

This post is dedicated to Proposition 19. I’m sorry that you didn’t get passed. Please try again in 2012. And people! VOTE YES!

Word of the Day: brownies

Thanksgiving

It is getting to be that time of year again. When everyone is making plans for Thanksgiving. I have to say that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because of the endless supply of food that my family makes. Everyone in my family has some sort of job to help prepare for the special day.

For my dad and I we have the honor of deep frying the turkey. We have discovered that this is the best way for us to cook it because all we have to do is bring the cooking oil to the right temperature and place the turkey in there for 45 minutes (3 minutes per pound). So we just sit in the barn and just hang out while everyone else is making the rest of the feast.


My mom, grandma, and sister are in charge of the desserts and stuffing and potatoes. They make all kinds of desserts from Pecan Pie to cookies. My favorite thing they make is my grandmas Pecan Pie. She makes the best Pecan Pie. I don't know how she doe it because it's her secret recipe.

My brothers are in charge of pealing the potatoes and apples for my mom grandma and sister. They don't do much but they don't mind either cause they would rather be doing something else anyway. Sometimes one of my brothers will come out to the barn with my dad and I and just sit with us but not for the whole time.

After everything is done comes my favorite part EATING everything. The key to not getting full fast is to take it slow don't scarf down the food like a wild animal. This way you get as much as you can eat and not be hungry for a day and a half. The next best thing to Thanksgiving day is the couple days after with all the leftovers. You are eating like a king for a couple days after Thanksgiving is the best because you don't really have to dirty the kitchen for anything special because the meal is already made.

Thanksgiving has it's ups and downs more ups than downs. The worst thing is cleaning up after the meal. All I like to do after a great meal is sit there and relax and watch some football but, most times I can't do that due to cleaning. I shouldn't complain about it because when my whole family helps out we knock it out pretty darn quick. After that everyone relaxes for the next two days.

M&M's

M&M’s are the perfect thing to eat if you are craving chocolate. They are little so you can just pop them in your mouth and they don’t even melt in your hands (that’s what they say but after a while the color stains your skin).

A brief history: M&M’s were invented in 1941. They were made to be sent to soldiers serving in WWII. In 1954, they came up with the slogan “melts in your mouth, not in your hands” and the first M&M’s characters were introduced. Colored M&M’s came out in 1960. In 1982, the first M&M’s were taken into space. In 1996, you were first able to mix your own bag of M&M’s of all colors. In 2004, you could first customize your M&M’s to say whatever you wanted.

There are lots of different kinds of M&M’s. There are the original plain M&M’s, peanut M&M’s, peanut butter M&M’s, the new pretzel M&M’s, dark chocolate M&M’s, almond M&M’s, M&M minis, and they used to have crispy M&M’s. There are even premium M&M’s like Chocolate Trio and Mint Thrills. I have never had the premium M&M’s but I’ve always wanted to try them, especially the mint ones because I love mint and chocolate together.

I like pretty much like all M&M’s but the plain ones are definitely my favorite. The crispy ones used to be my favorite before they stopped making them. They came out in 1999 and slowly disappeared through the years. (I personally think we should start a campaign to bring them back.)

As far as the customized M&M’s go, I’ve never done it but I’ve always wanted to. My friend already told me she’s getting me some for my birthday. I’m not sure what they’re going to say.

That same friend also told me that she went to a store in New York called M&M's World. She said that they have all kinds of M&M merchandise and every color M&M you could ever think of. There is also one in Las Vegas and Orlando.

Word of the Day: crispy (in memory of crispy M&M’s)

Pudding

Yesterday my roommate and I had an in depth conversation about pudding. It all started with a care package from her mom. She opened it up and it was full of snacks and winter accessories (scarf, hat, gloves, etc.). Among all of this was pudding. Cinnamon roll pudding. It’s new.

She tried it and didn’t like it, so I tried it. It smelled exactly like a cinnamon roll. It did not taste exactly like a cinnamon roll though. It wasn’t bad, but I would never buy it. I can’t really describe what it tasted like. I mean it kind of tasted like a cinnamon roll, but the texture of the pudding made it weird. (That probably makes no sense. It really is hard to describe. If you like pudding, you should try it, but I personally don’t think it’s that great and would much rather have chocolate or chocolate swirl flavored.)

As we were discussing the oddness of the cinnamon roll pudding, my roommate mentioned that her family didn’t usually buy the prepackaged pudding. They usually buy the instant pudding. I said that I hated that stuff because it gets a weird rubbery layer on the top. She disagreed with me and asked how we made ours. I told her we made it on the stove and she told me that all you had to do was whisk in milk and put it in the fridge. We argued about what the directions on the box say for a while then googled it. It turns out that they have instant pudding, which is what her family buys, and cook and serve, which is what my family buys.

<- instant

cook and serve ----->

Although I’ve never had the instant pudding, I am going to recommend it because of the fact that the cook and serve gets the weird rubbery layer. Unless you just want to buy the prepackaged pudding which is a heck of a lot easier anyway. Next time I want to buy make-it-yourself pudding, I’m definitely getting the instant kind.

Word of the Day: pistachio

Candied Gourd

Candied Gourd could evoke childhood memories of every Chinese, including me. It's almost the favorite nosh of all the children. It has been a common scene in a Chinese novel or an old movie that a man holds a bunch of Candied Gourd with several children around him in the alley. I was once a member of those children anxiously waiting for a string of Candied Gourd. Nothing for me is sweeter than Candied Gourd, the taste of childhood.

As an American, you may be curious about the Candied Gourd is. Actually it is made of haws indeed but is called gourd. People skewer about ten haws on a wooden stick and coat the haws with a thin layer of syrup. The syrup would become solid in a few minutes so it makes the haws taste a bit like candies. Since the haws are really sour, I don't like eat them directly. Also it won't attract me so much if the the Candied Gourd is made up of sugar lumps which are as sweet as candies. Only the perfect combination of sour haws and sweet syrup would make the Candied Gourd so tempting.

Now I'm going to tell you the procedures to make Candied Gourd. First of all, pick some fresh haws (sometimes people would add other fruits like strawberries and oranges along with haws in the Candied Gourd) adn cut out the kernels with a knife. And then skewer them together. The second step is perparing syrup. You should put some sugar and a half volume of water into a pot and cook them with high fire for 20 minutes. The time and intensity of fire should be controlled carefully. If the cooking time is short, the syrup would be so sticky; if the time is too long, it would taste bitter. (I can only tell these steps, but can't do it well) Finally you only have to dip the skewered haws in the hot syrup adn cool them until solid. Hopefully you can make a delicious Candied Gourd by yourself.

Candied Gourd only belongs to childhood. It has been a few years since I last ate it. Every time I saw a little kid enjoying Candied Gourd, my sweet and sour childhood would appear in the mind.

Microwave Bacon

Have you ever had microwave bacon? Well, it’s all right but I definitely wouldn’t choose it over real bacon.


The microwave bacon is precooked and comes in a box. I bought Oscar Mayer brand, but there are others out there. It cost around $3 for 15 strips. You just take a couple pieces out and stick them in the microwave for about a minute and that’s it.

Compared to real bacon, it is kind of dry and chewy and doesn’t get as crunchy (which is how I like my bacon...crunchy). On the plus side though, it’s faster, easier, and there’s less of a mess to clean up afterwards (bacon grease is a pain in the ass and splatters everywhere).

If you are on a diet, this is a good alternative to real bacon. Oscar Mayer’s microwave bacon is about 70 calories for four strips and real bacon is about 40-50 per strip.

Since I’m in college and can’t really cook bacon whenever I want, I bought the microwave stuff. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it. I guess I was thinking that I might want bacon sometime. That wasn’t really the case though. I ate a couple pieces and then it just sat in my fridge. A while later, I checked the expiration date and decided I better start eating it before it went bad. Surprisingly enough, it tastes pretty good with cheese and salsa in a quesadilla. I finally threw it away about a week and a half after the expiration date because it started to get slimy. I don’t think I’ll ever buy it again.

So if you’re craving bacon but don’t want to take the time to cook it and then have to clean up the mess (or if you’re on a diet), I recommend the microwave stuff. It is actually pretty good on BLTs. But, if you’re wanting a delicious breakfast with the works, get the real stuff.

Word of the Day: brinner (it’s breakfast for dinner)

Apple Recipies

This weekend I went home to visit my family for the weekend. I was having trouble finding something to write about during the week but, as soon as I came I found something to write about right away. My mom is a very good baker and loves to bake so I occasionally get things from her when she comes to visit me at school and I appreciate it very much. This weekend my mom went out and bought 36 apples and made four different apple dessert recipes. My mom makes really good apple pies, crisp, muffins, and apple snack bars.

Up-side Down Apple Pie

Crust:

· 3 cups of all purpose flour

· 1 tbsp sugar

· 1 tsp salt

· ¾ cup of cold butter, cubed

· 1/3 shortening, cubed

· 5 tbsp cold water

Pecans:

· ½ cup packed brown sugar

· ¼ cup butter melted

· 1 cup pecan halves

Filling:

· 1 cup sugar

· 1/3 all purpose flour

· 2 tbsp butter melted

· ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

· 8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

For the crust combined all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix all the ingredients together and divide the dough in half. Wrap the two halves in plastic and refrigerate both portions for 45 minutes. Coat a 9 inch deep dish pie pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom and sides of the plate with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar in the butter and stir in pecans. Arrange in the bottom of the prepared pie pan with rounded sides of the pecans facing down.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one half of the dough to fit the bottom and sides of the pie pan. And trim the edges .

In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon. Add the apples and toss to coat the apples. Fill the crust. Take the other half of the dough and fit it to the top of the pie. Trim and seal the edges then cut slits in the pastry.

Bake the pie in the oven at 375 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown. After the pie is cone baking carefully loosen the parchment paper around the edges of the pie. Invert hot pie onto a serving plate and remove the parchment paper and wait 15 minutes to cool off before serving.

Apple Nut Muffins:

· 2 tbsp butter

· 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

· 1 tbsp all purpose flour

· ½ tsp ground cinnamon

· ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

· 2 cups ficed peeled apples

· ½ finely chopped nuts

Muffins:

· ¾ cup butter, softened

· 1-1/2 cup sugar

· 3 eggs

· 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

· 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour

· 1-1/2 tsp baking powder

· 1-1/2 tsp baking soda

· ¾ tsp salt

· 1-1/2 cups of sour cream

In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add the apples cook over medium low heat for ten minutes or until tender. Remove from heat and then stir in the nuts and let cool.

In a large bowl mix the butter, and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Beat in the vanilla. Combine dry ingredients .

Spoon ¼ cupfuls of batter into greased jumbo muffin cups. Spoon apple mixture into the center of each. top with remaining batter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

Apple Snack Bars

· 2 cups of sugar

· 2 eggs

· ¾ cup vegetable oil

· 2-1/2 cups self rising flour

· 1 tsp ground cinnamon

· 3 cups diced peeled tart apples

· 1 cup chopped walnuts

· ¾ cup butterscotch chips

In a bowl combine the sugar eggs and oil. Then stir in the flour and cinnamon. Lastly stir in the apples and nut.

Spread into a greased 13 inch by 9 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with the butterscotch chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool before cutting.

I was very privileged coming home this weekend because I was able to get all these good desserts and found something to write about. There are many great and easy things you can make out of apples that are fast and easy.

On the Go

Here at Purdue, we have this thing called On the Go. Here’s how it works:

I have a meal plan, so I get 12 meal swipes a week (they have different plans with a varying number of meal swipes). On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I don’t have time to eat lunch in the dining halls so I have to get On the Go lunches. When you get an On the Go lunch, you get one entree and four sides. Sounds fair right? Well it’s not.

For entrees, they have things like chicken sandwiches, cheeseburgers, turkey sandwiches, salads, etc. That’s fair. But for sides, they have things like fruit roll ups, Little Debbie Treats, and single serve chip bags like Doritos and Fritos. I really don’t feel like that is worth my money considering a meal, whether it’s in a dining hall or On the Go, costs about $10 (that’s for non-students, it’s a little less with a meal plan but I can’t find how much).

Don’t get me wrong, they also have soup and stuff like yogurt for sides, but I still don’t think it’s worth it. When you look at the bags of chips, it says in the corner of the bag 35 cents a bag or 3 for $1 (see above picture). Think about that. How much would a chicken sandwich cost at a fast food place. You can get one at McDonald’s for $1. Then say for your sides you get four bags of chips. That’s $1.35. Your whole meal, with tax, would cost less than $3. Does that seem fair?

Here’s what I would like to see done with the On the Go system:

Instead of getting prepackaged food, give us styrofoam take home containers like they do in restaurants and let us walk around the dining hall and fill them up. Then I would feel like I would be getting my money’s worth (kind of, but at least I’d be getting just as much as if I sat down to eat)!

Word of the Day: giblets

Soup

Today it was very cold outside. It was the first REALLY cold day of the season. And it wouldn’t have been so bad if the wind wasn’t so strong. Walking outside was like torture. Then I got to lunch. Grilled cheese and minestrone soup. It was perfect! I forgot how awesome soup is. I usually don’t eat it during the summer so it had been awhile since I’d last eaten it. Plus, minestrone is one of my favorite soups. I became addicted to it thanks to Olive Garden’s soup, salad, and breadsticks deal.

For those of you who don’t know, minestrone soup is made in a vegetable or chicken broth and contains some sort of small noodle, beans, and lots of vegetables. The tomatoes are what give the broth it’s red color.

One thing that I think is interesting is that the minestrone soup that I had today had chickpeas in it. Either I’ve never had minestrone soup with chickpeas in it before or I just haven’t noticed them. I hate chickpeas! But, they added a nice texture to this particular soup.

Last week I tried Subway’s soup for the first time. I had some sort of vegetable noodle soup (it pretty much tasted like minestrone) and I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was.

Another kind of soup that I like is chicken noodle soup. CLASSIC! I don’t care if it’s Campbells, it still tastes delicious. I also like cheesy potato or cheesy broccoli soup (O’Charleys’ cheesy potato soup is really good).

I’ve never made my own soup before, but I know it’s pretty easy. As far as I know, you just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot with some sort of broth/stock and a little seasoning or herbs. This winter I want get some stuff to make a big pot of soup in the kitchenette downstairs and invite all my friends to enjoy it with me.

If you have any good soup recipes or suggestions for a first time soup maker, send them my way.

Word of the Day: cannellini

congee--for your health care

Today I'd like to introduce another traditional Chinese food--congee. It is more than a food, also is treated as nourishment for health care. The simplest way to cook congee is boiling rice with water until viscous. Neither the materials nor the cooking method is complex for making congee.

I like it because of its nice aroma and the feel of soft fluid rice on the tongue. Since the rice would be cooked so soft and viscous, the congee is to be drunk rather than eaten. My grandma used to cook different types of congees for me. Every time she cooked congee. the entire house would be full of the aroma. So before my mouth tasted the congee, the nose had already enjoyed.

There are usually two ways to cook congee. One is cooking the rice with high fire until the water is boiling, then switch to slow fire to make the congee viscous. The second way is the same as the first one at the beginning. The difference is that you need to pour the boiling congee into a wooden barrel to stew in a sealed condition. Personally I prefer the second way because it can make the aroma stronger. But it would cost more time and effort. When cooking congee, sufficient water should be added all at one time, otherwise the congee won't be evenly viscous.

Commonly, people don't eat clear congee, instead they will put some ingredients to make the congee tastier. The ingredients such as medlar, shredded meat and sashimi would be put in the congee on slow fire after the clear congee has boiled. There are dozens of common congees due to different ingredients. Many Chinese medicinal plants are also included in those ingredients. Therefore, most congees have different functions of health care. For example. prevent constipation, lose weight and increase appetite.

Now do you want to have a bowl of delicious congee? Go and make it!

Banana's Foster

Banana's Foster is a great dessert that originated in New Orleans in the 1950's in an acted to promote the fruit that was being imported from Central and South America. Now Banana's Foster is an international favorite and is the most requested item on menus today. Thirty-five thousand pounds of bananas have been flamed at Brennan's restaurant in the preparation of its world famous dessert.


The first time I had this dessert was in New Orleans at the Palace Cafe. The way the waiters made the dessert was really cool. They brought out carts with an electric skillet and started to make the dessert right in front of us. It was really cool how they came out and made it right in front of us.

I hvae made this dessert twice and it is as fun to make it than it is watching it. The first time I made it it was for a group of friends so I know what I was doing for the next day where I was making it in front a group of people from my church. I was a little nervous because I had only made the dessert once and wasn't quite confident with what I was doing. When it came down to I did really good and everyone enjoyed the dessert and complemented on how good it was.

Here's the recipe for Banana's Foster:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1/4 cup of banana liqueur
  
• 4 bananas, cut in half lengthwise, then halved
• 1/4 cup of dark rum
• 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream

Directions:

• Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambe pan or skillet
• place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.
• Stir in the banana liqueur, then place the bananas in the pan.
• When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum.
• Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, then tip the pan slightly to light the rum.
• When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream.
  
• Generously spoon the warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.