My dad is always experimenting with his food whether it be adding some strange unheard of sauce to his dish or mixing drinks that put him over the edge. A few weekends back he decided to make deep fried eggplant parmesan and I honestly have to say it was amazing. I was never really open to vegetables and the different ways to cook them however this changed my point of view. Had this not happened I probably never would have even considered deep frying a vegetable or in most cases eating one.

Eggplant was always foreign to me and trying it deep fried for the first time was a great introduction to me, and since then I have even deep fried broccoli and got quite an interesting taste out of it. It kept its greeny taste but had a crisp to it which I found to be pretty appetizing. My dad taught me to never overlook veggies and the great sensation they bring to my taste buds, and hopefully to you to. -Christian M

Food. Everyone comes in contact with it every day in some form or another. Sometimes people eat just to eat, and in this society, I don't think that people actually sit down and enjoy quality food anymore. It's like that coffee commercial; a great cup of coffee can put you in a great mood. This is exactly what can happen with food as well. This class has taught me a lot about that, like a couple days ago for example. I was in an extremely sour mood but after the chopping of the tomatoes and the sizzling of the onions and the general rush of the kitchen, there was a beautiful plate of roasted peppers with tomatoes and orzo sitting in front of me, and I couldn't help but relax. Eating that dish brought me to a whole new level. There is a great deal of stress release that I get when cooking, and sometimes that's what people need! Not only do you get to forget all your petty problems for a while, you get a great meal out of it too! More people need to realize that, and I bet you that we'd be happier and meet happier people!

Gabby K.

Last weekend I went up to Boston and went to a restaurant called Giacomo's. When I went to this restaurant little did I know that it would soon become one of my favorite restaurants. This was the first time that I had ever been to this restaurant. When I arrived at the restaurant I was overwhelmed by the options that I had on the menu. After deliberating for what seemed like forever I decided to order butternut squash raviolis. I was unsure if this was a good decision or not because it was the first time that I had ever ordered butternut squash raviolis. I was not disappointed by my decision to order the raviolis. This later became one of my favorite dishes and I would order it again if I ever got the opportunity to go back.
Another one of my favorite places to eat is at Louis’ Lunch. I was able to go to Louis’s Lunch while I was at a soccer tournament. Louis’s Lunch is the birthplace of the hamburger. This was the best burger that I had ever had. When you go to Louis’ Lunch you have to have an original burger to truly appreciate the taste of the burger. One of the most important things to know about Louis’ is to know that you cannot ask for ketchup. Louis’ burger is served on two pieces of toast rather than a traditional hamburger roll. At first I did not know how it would taste on two pieces of toast but then I realized how great when I took my first bite of the burger. I hope you get an opportunity to visit both of these places as they are among my favorite restaurants.
-Matt B

I was in New Hampshire, starved from a day of snowboarding. We drove along side snowy tree tops and white tailed deer. Looking for somewhere to fill our stomachs, we came among a restaurant called Canoe. To our liking, we walked straight in and were seated. Maybe it wasn’t the most appealing restaurant, but when I ordered my Shrimp Alfredo, all but the food was out of sight. This dish was practically alive! The smooth pasta slithered through the plate as the fresh shrimp lay with its vibrant colors. The Portobello mushrooms hide in the soft bedding of the red peppers. When I took a bite, all of the colors light in my mouth. Clashing flavors between the shrimp and peppers threw me away. The sprinkled pepper on top gave just the extra kick it needed when my teeth sunk into the thick pasta. Just when that sounds like the whole plate, a nice chunk of garlic bread was added to the side. I drenched it in the cheesy Alfredo sauce and it melted away in my mouth. When the plate stood empty, I sat back in my chair with a full belly and satisfied needs. This was not just a plate of food; this dinner was a piece of art. Work crafted by the hands of the artist with nothing but the utensils in the kitchen. This restaurant is one to remember, and I wouldn’t think twice about passing this dish up!

Wyatt D.

Whoever thought of meatloaf is a genius. I mean really, its just some pork, beef, turkey (or virtually any type of ground meat) in a loaf pan. Throw in some spices and vegetables like carrots and celery and you have what some people would call dinner. Now I think meatloaf deserves a little more respect then people tend to give it, its highly underrated. A common thought is, its just meat in a loaf shape, that's really special. But the truth is that meatloaf is special. If you add an egg and some breadcrumbs you may find that your special meatloaf has transformed into something beautiful. And just like any other type of food you have to give it some loving and attention. You have to care and nurture what you eat, and if you do you will find that it will truly make you happy (while lying in your stomach).
Nachos on the other hand, those are already treated with some fine respect by society. Think of all of the variations that different people and cultures have come up with! The cheese on the crunchy chips alone is enough to send somebody over the edge. There’s chedder, montery jack, and according to Bridget whatever kind of cheese you want. Then on top of that there’s topping’s galore! Chili, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, tomatillo sauce, hot sauce, beans, chicken, rice even, and wayy too many more for me to try to list right now. Anyways nachos can go a long way, and the best thing about them is that they are so versatile. Someone could eat them every day for a week and never have the same ingredient twice (except for the chips of course). Nachos and meatloaf are just two special foods in this world we call Earth.
Hayley N

In culinary, we are now making foods using vegetables. We learned about the different categories such as fruit vegetables, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, etc. We took that knowledge that we learned and tried to apply it to vegetables. For example, my group chose carrots to prepare. We were given frozen, canned and fresh carrots and had to decide how to cook them. Unfortunately, my group did not choose the correct ways to cook the vegetables. We took the frozen carrots and sautéed them, the fresh carrots we roasted and the canned vegetables we boiled. After we made our mistakes we realized that the canned carrots should have been used for sautéing because they are already soggy from the can. The frozen carrots should have been used for boiling or steaming and the fresh carrots actually turned our pretty good because carrots have a lot of natural sugars and when we roasted them, the carrots caramelized.
As we continue working with vegetables, each group in the class had to pick a recipe using at least two vegetables. My group and I chose a recipe called Spinach and mushroom lasagna roll-ups in gorgonzola cream sauce. Today, 2/29/12, we started to make our mise en place. We decided who would prepare the different parts of the recipe. For example, Georgia made the pasta dough while Allie and I chopped up the vegetables. Along with spinach and mushrooms in the recipe, there was also onion and garlic. We also added zucchini and red peppers. After all of the vegetables were chopped, we sautéed everything together so now the next time we have class we just have to roll out the pasta dough and fill it with the sautéed mixture of vegetables. Hopefully it will be delicious!

–Jen B

The egg cookery was definitely interesting it was interesting to learn of how many kinds of eggs you can make, some are good, some are really good, and some are not so good, it was definitely hard to make the over easy eggs because you had to flip them and avoid it to be completely ruined, which I did several times but I eventually got the hand of it and it turned out better. I liked making omelets because you had to make it a certain way and when it’s usually perfect it’s yellow, you usually want to avoid a brownish color, that’s when you know it’s overcooked. But my omelets turned out the way it should have been and it was very good. Fried eggs were definitely interesting but to be honest it was kind of nasty in a way because the taste just didn’t seem right to me. Hard boiled were pretty cool but were not that good tasting, but interesting to make as well. Poached eggs were pretty good I didn’t mind the taste at all but it’s the kind of egg where you would usually dip toast into.\The quick breads were good as well, I definitely liked making the homemade biscuits which had buttermilk in it and it turned as really good biscuits. I liked making pancakes which are almost always good; I also liked making muffins, which were my favorite of the quick breads, the muffins were called grandma’s muffins and they were really tasty, they were definitely one of the best muffins I have ever had. Quick breads were great as well as egg cookery; I have learned new things about those certain foods.

Matt G.

Last class we had to pick a vegetable and prepare it two different ways. I chose artichokes. I had some background because my mom is a vegetarian and always makes vegetables for us and loves artichokes. So I was very familiar with the taste and prep for artichokes. However I have not made one myself, and my mom only used the microwave to make them. So, with the fresh artichoke’s my group decided to grill them and with the canned artichoke hearts, we decided to sauté them. I have never made or seen artichoke’s being made this way, so it was a new experience. We started out sautéing the hearts, and started out by melting butter, adding salt and pepper, garlic and onions. The problem was that we cooked them for too long and the butter became brown. It gave the artichokes a different flavor, which was delicious, but did not look very appetizing. The fresh artichoke’s we used the grill, but did not have much time to prepare them. So, we brushed them with canola oil to speed up the process and cook the artichoke faster. What we did not know was that we needed to cut it in half before we put it on the grill. So what ended up happening was the artichoke was hardly cooked on the inside, and fully cooked on the outside. We then decided to cut it in half so the inside cooked. I went home and asked if we could make artichokes for dinner so I could practice making them. I did not grill them, but I put them in the oven and they turned out really well. I decided to put them in a medium-large dish and cut the stem off and put a layer of butter under the artichokes, so they soaked in it. It was much more successful and now I know what works and what does not with artichokes.

Cam M.