Over
the weekend I worked with sugar to create a new way to ask a girl to prom.
Let’s just say that attempts 1 thru 6 did not go over so well. The sugar the
first time did not stay smooth like it should have, but it instead turned into
caramel color goop. The sugar began to crystallize again into clumps of sugar.
I had no idea what I did wrong, so I went back upstairs and looked on YouTube
how the people were getting their sugar to say liquid. It turns out that you
need Cream of Tartar to help prevent it from crystallizing back into sugar. So
I did this and attempt two turned out a lot better then the first, I had even
added some cinnamon and red food coloring, in some way I created my own brand
of red hot’s. Next time the sugar was going to be for real, so I do it all the
same way but I did not cook it long enough so there were still sugar granules
still in the liquid sugar. That had to get tossed. The fourth try came and I
just wanted to get it done and over with. I managed to get a nice dark caramel
color but I was to slow in adding it to the egg. This broke off and shattered
on the floor. Trial 5 was when I was losing patience, I had been through a 5
pound bag of sugar already and yet I had no finished product that I was proud
of. So, I changed what I was going for, I changed it from an egg, to an
ornament. I was just going to created a heavy ball of sugar and write prom on
it. Well turns out it was not as easy as it sounded. I burnt this batch of sugar
and it was a dark black mess. Finally on the sixth and final try I was able to
candy my sugar until it was a nice orange. Then I put the sugar into a mold and
it held the shape of the star when the mold was taken away. It was a very nice
piece of art when it was finished.
She said yes, if you were
wondering.

Gabriel R

Food Essay
One of my favorite restaurants near by is the Villa Pasta, about 5 minutes from my house. It is an Italian restaurant that serves amazing pastas and great salads. My favorite meal there is the Lobster Ravioli because it has great flavor from the way it is presented. I usually visit with my family on a special event because it is quit expensive, but it is well worth their pricing. The most important part is that they don’t take too long to serve the food and the chef always comes out and asks us if we enjoyed the food to show his appreciation of our family eating there. Also the restaurant has great serving sizes for their food meaning that almost none of us ever finish our meals because there is so much food. Another thing I appreciate is the fact that they have diversity in their restaurant and there are always specials of soups, entrees and more. What I mean by diversity is they serve foods from all categories from pasta with different sauces to hamburger and fries to filet mignon, to a variety of salads and chickens. Even though there are not many people there when we go, the Villa always does their best and all their workers there have great attitudes from the time we arrive, they seat us and immediately take our orders and from the time they leave they ask how it was and are very polite. Overall, this is one of my favorite restaurants because the employees put care into their work and do their best when serving their customers and from the selection of food. To me this would be a 5 star restaurant do it all the above.

On March 1, the French classes were having a Mardi Gras party. My french class had to do a project about different Francophone carnivals around the world. My friend and I did ours on the Bonhomme Carnaval in Québec. While we were researching, we found beavertails, fried dough shaped as tails covered in sugar and cinnamon. We decided to make it for the party on Thursday.

Beavertails are sold at every major celebration in Canada, and along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa during the winter. They come in several flavors. The most popular ones are sugar and cinnamon coated. There are also plain ones, and ones coated in maple syrup. Also, in 2008 when Obama came to visit Ottawa, there was the Obama-tail. It was a cinnamon and sugar beavertail with a large chocolate O on it.

I found the recipe online, and it proved to be quite easy to make. Simply take flour, sugar, salt, yeast, water, eggs, milk, and a bit of oil and combine them into dough. Then, you take pieces of that dough and shape them into flat tails. Then you fry them in oil and immediately cover them with sugar and cinnamon.

While I was gathering the mise en place I was needed a teaspoon. I asked my parents to help me find one, and they gave me a tablespoon. I immediately knew that it was way too big to be a teaspoon.

When it came time to form the tails, I needed my family's help, for there was a lot to make in very little time. My dad, sister and I formed the tails while my mom fried them and dipped them in sugar. Of course, we made the tails much smaller than what is served in Canada. A beavertail is about the size of a dinner plate. We made them so you could easily pick them up and eat them.

In total, my friend and I made about a hundred tails for the party, and yet they still ran out within two periods. This proves that beavertails are quite delicious, eh? You should try them. Just type "Beavertail recipe" into Google and click on the first website that comes up.

Beavertail Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water
5 tsp dry yeast
1 pinch sugar
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
4 1/4-5 cup all purpose flour
oil for frying
granulated sugar
Cinnamon

Large mixing bowl, stir together yeast, warm water and pinch of sugar

Stand for a couple minutes for yeast to rise

Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, oil, salt, vanilla, and most of flour to make dough

Knead for 5-8 minutes, adding flour as need, until smooth elastic dough

Put dough in bowl and in sealed bag

let rise for 3-4 minutes

gently deflate dough

Pinch out golfball size dough, shape into tail shapes and cover with wet towel till all pieces are made

Heat 3-4 inches of oil in fryer to 385 F

Add dough pieces 1-2 at a time

Fry until sides are deep brown

Drain tails on paper towels

Toss in sugar and cinnamon
Ayesha A

In my family, tradition is very important. I am part of a 100% Italian family and every Sunday I know what to expect… macaroni and gravy. My dad spends all day making his own sauce with the recipe he got from his mom. He changes his ingredients slightly every time based on what is available, but he always knows how to make it taste right. I enjoy every weekend having a really great meal. It doesn’t feel like a Sunday without macaroni and gravy and I hope one day I’ll learn the secret to this receipt!

-Jenna C

Photographer: Kara C.
Milk Artist: Nick R.

Today, in baking and pastry was our first day in the kitchen. Just as Mrs. Hoagland said it was a bit overwhelming. As soon as we walked into the kitchen the lessons we learned in the class went right out of our heads and we had to be reminded to follow our sanitation and safety guidelines. Our recipe was for pancakes and our group was happily surprised that our pancakes tasted really good. This experience was definitely a learning experience and I look forward to more labs in the kitchen this semester.
-Kara C

I’m sure almost every Italian does it. They gather up in a house that’s almost too small for the loud obnoxious noises and laughter of their one big happy family. Almost everyone in the immediate family shows up: cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, grandmother, grandfather, grandma’s best friend, grandchildren, etc. However, even with all of these close knit family members, there’s one dominant thing that brings us all together, food.
A traditional Italian meal would not be tradition at all if it weren’t held on Sundays. This is the one day in which the whole family gets to relax together and eat their hearts out. As you may know, we do not eat in small portion sizes. In fact, we do not eat just one main course either. There are always complimentary foods on the side. However, the most important dish is a classic pasta bowl filled with red sauce and meatballs.
It starts with a pot of boiling water and a couple of pounds of ziti. Then once the water is boiled, the pasta goes in and after a while it reaches a tender yet firm state which means it is ready to be topped with its best friend, sauce. Sometimes, my grandmother makes homemade sauce but when were all hungry and in a rush to eat, she uses regular store bought sauce. However, her special ingredients remain a mystery to me as of now. But all I know is it tastes yummy in my tummy!
Then, we all gather around the table and reach over each other’s arms, grab each other certain foods, and converse loudly with one another. Without my Sunday dinners with my Italian family, my tummy and my heart would be a lot less warm. There’s nothing like sharing a nice meal with the people that matter most to you in the entire world; your family.
Julia L.

Since the 1970’s my family has done maple sugaring in late February through March. It is quite a process and a fantastic experience. I have done sugaring seasonally since I was born with my brother, father and grandfather; always excited for “next year’s run.” From start to finish it is an exhausting process that is well worth it, and I enjoy every minute of it. Being part of the Decker’s Sugar Grove is a great learning experience and a tradition that I plan to forever continue.
To begin, around February 25th, we get the buckets, taps, and spigots (the little connecting tube from tree to bucket) and tap the Sugar Maples in our yard and three other properties close by. To start the tapping of each tree, I take a hand crank drill with a 7/16 inch bit and bore a 2 1/2 – 3 inch hole into the hardwood. Then, the spigot is hammered in, and bucket attached via a hook attached to the spigot. Soon, the rhythmic dripping of the sap on the metal bucket begins. This process is repeated over and over for the 50 or so taps we do annually. This is very small comparatively, as some people we know in Vermont have 5000+ taps.
Next, the collection begins. If the weather cooperates, which cold nights and warm days are ideal, then sap collection will be required in the morning and afternoon. With 5 gallon buckets, our family collects the sap into 125 gallon barrels, which we transport to the sugar shed with the Chevy truck. We put the barrels onto a platform, slightly above the sugar shed and use plastic tubing to siphon it into the evaporator.
The evaporator, in short is a huge wood fired boiler. The sap enters into a huge pan and is about 10 inches deep, filled about halfway. It is boiled here, and after a few hours, it can be transferred into a smaller pan that is split down the middle, but the sap here is less than 2 inches deep. It is here, where the water content reduces and the amber color begins to show. The thickest, most syrup like sap will flow to the further half of the split pan and once it comes to a frothy boil, it will be drained through a strainer and taken for finishing. To produce a gallon of syrup, it is anywhere between 40-70 gallons of sap. We need 500+ gallons to get at least 10 gallons of syrup, if we are lucky. The boiling process is a very long one, and keeping a hot burning fire is a demanding task. Many late nights are spent watching the evaporator. We find many ways to entertain ourselves, through dartboards or log splitting contests.
Once the syrup is taken off the evaporator, then it is brought inside where it is cooked over very low heat for hours. Once the hydrometer, the tool that measures for sugar content, measures in a specific zone, it is finally finished. Next, it is bottled in our containers and left to cool and be served over pancakes, waffles, or even fresh fruits. Maple sugaring is a time consuming but rewarding process which I look forward to each year.



This is the Dominion and Grimm evaporator we use, the rear
pan is where the sap enters and is boiled, and the front,
smaller pan is where it is finished. The wood box is
underneath.







Here is the spigot hammered into the tree with the bucket
attached to the hook on the spigot.

Bryce D.