Wrap Up

Alas, our month cooking together has just about ended.  Please write about...
Your favorite meal/dish to eat, and why you liked it so much
Your favorite dish that you cooked, and why it was fun to make
A food that you liked that surprised you, and why it was a shock
A cooking implement or technique that you learned how to use properly

I really loved the dips we made with Leahy's class (the guacamole and hummus); they were way tastier than store bought.  It was interesting to see who worked well together and who didn't, and who learned to work together by the end of the course.  Certainly, everyone knew everyone else's mistakes, but since we all made them and learned from them (shout out to Carristian's cookbook article), it's all good in the end.

All About Well-Sweep

We visited Well-Sweep Herb Farm in Warren County last week.  It is owned and operated by the Hyde family, who started buying property for the farm back in the 1960s.  Mr. Hyde is a renowned expert on herbs and has some pretty cool looking Japanese chickens too.  I always enjoy trips there because it's fun to taste plants, learn stories about parts they played in history, and find out how to use them as medicine.

Talk about your experience on the trip.  It could be about something interesting you learned, a plant that intrigued you, a story Mr. Hyde told that you liked, etc.

Overnight Hike 2015

We successfully cooked meals for 50+ people, two nights in a row, up at Munsee.  Some of the damage included 10 lb. of bacon, 15 lb. of ground beef for Alaska burgers, over 125 eggs, and way too many onions for our liking.  We cried.

What was the biggest challenge you experienced in our task to cook for so many?  Why do you think it might be difficult to make food in large quantities that pleases everyone?  How do you think we did?

Clumsy Clowns

Today I spent the day with the Downtown Clowns. My morning started at 8:30 in the morning and the first lesson of the day would be how to design a blazer to tell a story. The story that had to be told with the blazer was a homeless guy who has been living underneath a bridge near train tracks. First we started to frey the sleeves and the bottom of it. Next we started to create cigarette holes by cutting tiny circles. Last but not least Mr. Gallerani taught the class how to stich patches onto jackets. The patches represent the amount of time that the clown has been homeless. The less patches the less damage there was on the blazer. I also learned that having a lot of patches is good because in the show it will catch the eyes attention.

Food is Pain

We just finished reading the first part of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, in which one of the sections was entitled Food is Pain.  This is extremely true if you get food poisoning.  Check out the comments below for information on some different types of food poisoning and how to prevent them from happening to you.

Chipotle: A Messy Taste of Heaven

 In the downtown area of Newark, you can smell the scent of cigarettes, muslim incense, & different cultural foods. As you make your way down Market St. you'll find yourself at everyone's favorite mainstream Mexican fast food restaurant, & no, it is not Taco Bell. It's Chipotle. The Chipotle in Newark has a modern feel to it. The Chipotle was not too hard to find since everything else around it is torn down or abandoned.  I walked in there to find a short line. Which is a blessing since this chain of tasty Mexican pleasantries are a popular crave in this day and age. You may find people of different ages and backgrounds sitting down to eat at Chipotle. As I made my way up the line I ordered a chicken buttito with brown rice and some black beans. I have had a couple negative experiences at the same fast food restaurant, but this one has been the best so far. I got my burrito made in less than 5 minutes and the workers had been friendly. As I came back to school to unwrap the aluminum foil of my burrito, things changed for the worse. My perfectly wrapped burrito(or so I thought) had transformed into a tortilla filled disaster. After every bite a glop of sour cream would be left somewhere on my face. At first I thought, maybe it was just the way I was eating. I later found out that my chicken burrito had been left unwrapped at the bottom. I had to look for a different route to maneuver my way around this food dilemma. As I found a spoon to dig my way out of this burrito, I decided to take another bite. Once again..sour cream all over my face. Overall I enjoyed the trip to Chipotle. I'd give my experience a 3 out of 5.

My Chipotle Review

When I entered the dimly lit restaurant, I thought about the one word that could describe the energy in the room, exuberant. When I ordered my dish, the waiters were well mannered and kind; but they were talking faster than Speedy Gonzalez which made it difficult to understand what they were saying. But when I sat down and took the first spoon full of the dish, all of those gripes melted away like the cheese in my mouth.
    The food tasted amazing, almost as good as my mother's cooking. The flavors of the spices and vegetables mixed perfectly with the chicken meat, rice and cheese like a harmonizing chord in a Mozart concerto. As soon as I finished, instantly wanted more, which, in my opinion, is rare to find nowadays. Overall, despite the lack of color in the room,  the service was swift and orderly, the food well prepared and most importantly, it was absolutely delicious. I give Chipotle 4/5 stars.