I like many things, food is one of them, and another is science. But I usually think of them as completely separate things. So I was really surprised when I walked into my chemistry class one day and saw food ingredients. For as long as I’ve been in school, food has always been kept separate from science, we’d do labs in the classroom and then go to the cafeteria for food. The first rule of lab safety is “no food allowed” because of the possibility of accidentally ingesting harmful chemicals. So I was really confused when I looked up at the whiteboard and saw a recipe. The ingredients were pretty typical: milk, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla, but the process was ridiculous. We combined all of the ingredients in small ziplock plastic bags, then we took larger bags and filled them with ice and rock salt. This is where the chemistry comes in. The water from the ice and the salt combine to form a solution, and we took advantage of the colligative properties of solutions. The colligative property that we took advantage of is that as a solution increases in concentration, its freezing point decreases. So by adding a lot of salt to ice, we created a super cold solution that, according to Mr. Carley, would be cold enough to freeze the milk cream and sugar mixture into ice cream. I wasn’t convinced, so I skeptically followed the recipie. I combined the ingredients in a smaller bag, sealed it, put it into the larger bag with ice and rock salt, and then I shook it for a while. After about 10 minutes I saw the result, inside the smaller bag was a velvety, silky frozen treat. I took a spoonful and it was smooth and delicious. Chemistry had never tasted so good.

Vikram M

This weekend, our family had our grandparents over. We cooked a feast.  We ate a pork shoulder, that we marinated it in ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. We were in the mood for a big hunk of meat.

To accompany the pork, we made some corn muffins with cheddar and jalapeno. That was surprisingly easy, too. It was delicious, since we never eat southern food at all.

For a salad, we made an apple fennel slaw. We got the recipe from Paula Deen. My beautiful mother took charge of grating the apple and fennel, since i'm not really used to cooking all this type of food, and I was simply to lazy to go through all that work. After that, we made a vinaigrette of grainy mustard, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. This salad is so fresh and delicious, it makes the perfect accompaniment to a rich pulled pork dish. And the best part is that you can throw it together in less than ten minutes.... or at least my mom can.

There is really nothing better then  sharing food with the people you love. Plus if you mess up they understand, and won't judge you! I feel grateful that my grandparents love coming to my house and eating my ... and my mom's food. Food is a bonding unit in our family, and I am so happy because of that

  Hamburgers have always been one of my favorite foods and we have them almost weekly at my house. Whenever I go out to eat with anyone I can't help but get a hamburger no matter where we go. There have even been times when I've ordered burgers at steak house, an action that is heinous to many avid carnivores. However, I just don't think anything can beat a slice of ground meat on a fresh roll. As you can imagine, over my life of eating hamburgers religiously I have tried multiple different varieties of burgers. There's always the classic hamburger with nothing on it but ketchup, but I've always found that boring. I like my food to be full of flavor and that just didn't cut it for me. The cheeseburger isn't much better in this regard either. As you can tell, I'm a guy who doesn't really like change, but after a few years of these two rather boring variations I decided to try something new. The first really different variation of hamburger I ever tried was a mushroom and swiss burger and I absolutely loved it. It opened up my mind to all new toppings for burgers and I started to experiment with different variations even more. I tried everything from sliders to a cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches in place of buns, but I still felt the burger had more potential. Just a few months ago I found one hamburger that met all of my possible hamburger needs. It was in a small restaurant called Aroma in Wethersfield, MA. It was a hamburger topped with cheese, more assorted classical toppings, and then a fried egg on top. Given that the time of day was roughly between breakfast and lunch it was the ideal for me and I have never enjoyed a burger as thoroughly as I enjoyed that one. If ever you are passing through Wethersfield I would highly recommend you swing by Aroma and get this burger.

                                                              Pat R. 

            My long weekend consisted of a trip to Maryland for the Patomac Memorial Day Soccer Tournament. I left Friday after school, and from then on I encountered both good and bad food experiences. On Saturday night the entire team went to the Macaroni Grill. My dad reminded me of how we would always go there when I was very young. As well, he told me of all of how the waiters and waitresses all would sing. This time around, we didn’t see many singing servers. Instead, we had to twist one waitresses arm into singing. Most of the current waiters and waitresses are hired for their ability to work, not their singing ability, but a few still are able to keep a tune. Ordering was a mess as we had 16 kids ordering drinks and entrees as well as all of the parents and their coach. Altogether, we had a party of around 30 people, all snacking on their delicious bread and asking for refills on drinks. When we finally ordered all of our meals, I decided on getting the Ricotta Meatballs and Spaghetti Bolognese. It was a good meal, but nothing I would consider exceptional. I remember making a Bolognese sauce in the first semester that used the ricotta cheese and a few other meats like veal, beef, and I think bacon. The meal I made seemed to be better than what I ordered, but still I couldn’t complain with my trip to the Macaroni Grill. It was still a fun eating experience.

            The Monday I was set to head home I had breakfast at my cousins’ house. We had scrambled eggs with crescent rolls and sausage. What was interesting was how my cousins ate their eggs. On nearly everything they eat they add hot sauce. Their house is always stocked with a variety of flavors and heats of hot sauce. They never shy away from a chance to use the sauce and the same holds true for when they ate their eggs. They added ketchup and a variety of hot sauces and even persuaded me to try it. It was a new experience for me and I thought it tasted pretty good. It gave a different flavor to the eggs and had a nice spicy kick. I am sure I will try it again on my own. Before, I had never thought to add anything like hot sauce to scrambled eggs, but new food experiences like that can really expand my pallet and help me stay open to new ideas. Keeping an open mind can be very important when dealing with all new types of food.

~Wesley M.