Today

In our last day of making food in foods class 1 we are only making baggie ice cream. This is where you make ice cream from scratch in zip-lock baggies. It sounds really good and I know it will be because I have made some before in 3rd grade for memorizing my times tables. It was a lot of fun and even after that I looked up the recipe online to make it at home a couple of times. The other thing that we are going to do it eat our rocky road candy bars from yesterday. I hope they turned out good. :)

6/10/10

Yesterday, we made a lot of good stuff. The first thing we made is rocky road caramel bars. They were really really good and i would definitely recommend making them, especially fun for younger kids. They are very satisfying to your sweet tooth. Here is the recipe:
1
cup all-purpose flour
3/4
cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/2
cup sugar
1/2
cup LAND O LAKES® Margarine, softened
1/2
teaspoon baking soda
1/4
teaspoon salt
1/4
cup chopped salted peanuts
Topping Ingredients:
1/2
cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2
cup chopped salted peanuts
1 1/2
cups miniature marshmallows
1/2
(7-ounce) milk chocolate bar, cut into chunks*Heat oven to 350°F. Combine all crust ingredients except peanuts in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/4 cup peanuts. Reserve 3/4 cup crumb mixture.Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of well-greased 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.Meanwhile, place ice cream topping in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH until warm (about 1 minute).Drizzle topping over hot, partially baked crust. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup peanuts, marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes or until marshmallows are lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut into bars.*Substitute 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

The other thing we made was just a type of meat sauce with some pasta. We also made a salad but nobody ate it because it had a weird dressing that nobody liked. Yesterday was a very fun day.

Yesterday

So Thursday we made some really good chili and cornbread to go with it. For desert we made these chocolate marsh mellow candy bars but they were not finished before the end of class so we are going to eat them today. The chili was the perfect amount of spiciness and the cornbread didn't cook fast enough to eat with the chili so we had to take it home. I can't wait to eat the candy bar later.

Safety

When it comes to the kitchen, food safety is probably the most important thing. Cross-contamination is the transfer of harmful bacteria to food from other foods, cutting boards, utensils, etc., if they are not handled properly. This is especially true when handling raw meat, poultry, and seafood, so keep these foods and their juices away from already cooked or ready-to-eat foods and fresh produce.
Cutting Boards:
-Always use a clean cutting board.
-If possible, use one cutting board for fresh produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood.
-Once cutting boards become excessively worn or develop hard-to-clean grooves, you should replace them.
Preparation:
-Always wash hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before and after handling food.
-After cutting raw meats, wash cutting board, knife, and counter tops with hot, soapy water.
-Marinate meat and poultry in a covered dish in the refrigerator.

CSF Bake Sale Preparation

Because of this great foods class I was able to use three of the new recipes I have learned to make baked goods for a CSF Film Fest bake sale. CSF stands for California Scholarship Federation and we hold fundraisers to earn money for our seniors scholarships. I made 36 banana crumb muffins, 52 chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and 24 Asian Orange Cupcakes. Along with that I made an apple crisp for my family who wanted goodies as well, and all in only 2 days. This class has helped me to be faster at making quality food that looks beautiful at the same time.

Lazy

A lot of times, my group will be too lazy to do anything. So me and my friend, being the only two girls, will have to do most all the work. So like i said at the beginning, make sure you get a good group who will do everything and that you don't have to constantly nag. It got so bad, that we had to tell our teacher to MAKE them do some work. One of them one day even had to stay in at lunch to wash all the dishes we had that day because me and my friend were doing them everyday. So some advice, tell your teacher if your having problems, because yelling at your group mates to do stuff, just makes them want to do it even less just to make you more mad.

6/7/10

In foods class yesterday, we didn't actually do anything exciting. Our teacher was "sick", so we were all stuck with a sub and a video on how to fold napkins. Of course nobody actually payed attention to the video and we all basically just did our own thing. But when you have a sub in foods, of course your not going to cook, so it really sucks because by third period your starving and foods is the only class your actually looking forward to.

Dessert

For dessert in my at home project I cooked an apple crisp. It was wonderful with some home made whipped cream.

12 Servings

Ingredients

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled cored, and sliced

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.

3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Nutritional information.

Per serving: Calories 316, Total fat 8.4g, cholesterol 20 mg.

Chicken and Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo Recipe

The Chicken Alfredo was pretty good but for a suggestion, instead of using the cream of mushroom, either make the Alfredo sauce from scratch or substitute with cream of celery. The scratch method would taste the best.

Ingredients:9 ounces uncooked Fettuccine
1 1/2 cup fresh or thawed and drained Broccoli
3 tablespoons Butter1
1/2 pound skinless, boneless Chicken Breasts, cubed
1 1/2 (10-3/4 oz) can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
3/4 cup Milk
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
3/8 teaspoon ground White Pepper
3/4 teaspoon Salt, or to taste

Directions:Cook fettuccine noodles to desired doneness. Add broccoli the last 4 minutes. Drain well. In a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, heat butter. Add chicken and cook until brown and juices run clear. Stirring often. Add soup, milk, cheese, pepper and fettuccine mixture, cook through until smooth and hot. Stir constantly.

San Fran Trip!

On Friday, we went to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield and also all the way down to San Francisco, just as a fun field trip. We all had to be at the school by 6:15 and we left at around 6:45. We drove down to the Jelly Belly Factory and got a tour, from there we proceeded to San Francisco to eat lunch at a Dim Sum place in Chinatown. We then got a really long tour of Chinatown and learned about its history and everything. We then drove home at around 4:30 and the traffic was horrendous, but i would say the trip was well worth it.

At home project

Because the artichoke dip was so magnificent I have decided to post the recipe. Also, fro my home cooked entree I made a Chicken and Broccoli Fettuccine and that was also delicious.

HOT ARTICHOKE HEART DIP

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
2 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce
Round loaf of bread - Baguette is a good choice

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. stir until well mixed. Spoon into small oven-proof dish. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve in hollowed bread loaf, scooped on thin slices of baguette chips, or crackers.

At home appetizer

Yesterday we made the enchiladas, baked rice, and pineapple delight smoothie. I really enjoyed the enchiladas but just two was too much for me, they are very filling and delicious. I didn't care for the rice because of the chili's but into it, but many of the other people had two helpings of it so it must have been good to those who have a taste for it. For the pineapple smoothie we made half of them all pineapple and the other half all banana, we were supposed to mix them together but the boys liked the pineapple and the girls liked the banana. It seemed to taste better separated. After all that we were assigned a project to cook an appetizer at home. For my appetizer I made an artichoke heart dip, it was just scrumptious. A good way to eat it is with slim slices of baguette bread.

6/2/10

Yesterday was a fun day. We are currently doing our food project finals which is where every group has to come up with a 3 course recipe. One must come from a cookbook, one from the Internet, and one from a family recipe. It was our groups turn yesterday. Our meal was very random, but everyone seemed to like it a lot. It consisted of bacon grilled cheese, hot wings, and a buttermilk fudge chocolate cake. Everything was very easy to make; the only bad thing was that there was no buttermilk for the cake. We just used regular milk instead. Nobody has eaten the cake yet because we had to let it cool overnight but it looked insanely delicious. I will keep you posted on how it was after we eat it today.

Enchiladas!

Yesterday we made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and they were the best! It looked like the same recipe off of the raw oatmeal boxes you can buy in stores. We also prepped the chicken for the enchiladas that we are making today! Yum Yum. Along with the chicken and green chili enchiladas we are making baked rice and cheese, which sounds kinds weird but we will see, and ending with a pineapple delight smoothie. Hope it all turns out great, I have heard many great things about the enchiladas. Be back tomorrow.

Yesterdays Food

Because I do not yet know what we are making today I can't tell you. Yesterday we made minestrone soup, bruschetta, and banana crumb muffins. The soup looked a little weird but it was delicious. The bruschetta both looked bomb and tasted it. For the first time in this class we made really good muffins, they were so good I might make some at home. They are great to give as gifts and taste like heaven.

6/1/10

Yesterday, we made a very good pasta with red sauce. The sauce consisted of ground meat, spices, and tomato sauce. We also made chocolate hazelnut ravioli's. How you made those was you took a won ton wrapper, put about a teaspoon amount of Nutella inside, closed it, and then deep fried it until golden brown. You then dip it in powdered sugar and it is very good and i would highly recommend making it. It could be a nice, easy project to do with your kids; it may get a little messy but its definitely worth it.

New Week

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day. I have many family members that have served and my brother is in the army now. For foods I do not know what we are making yet today but that macaroni was pretty good for a casserole style and the carrot cake was pretty good for having pineapple in it. That's all for now.

Foods Class in General

In foods 1, it is just pretty much the basics. You don't get to use some of the tools that the upper class gets to use, for example, the big mixer. You only get to use the hand mixer. You start off by making simple cookies, and then gradually get into the more complex stuff. In the end, the stuff you make in foods 1 is a lot like the stuff you make in foods 2. Both of these classes are very fun and i highly suggest you try to take them. However, they are very popular classes, and may be hard to get into, so i suggest you sign up early. There is also the difficulty of choosing groups; the teacher lets you chose 1 or 2 people that you absolutely have to be with, and a couple others that you absolutely can not stand. Make sure you get into a good group, and if you have major issues with anybody in your group, to tell the teacher. Because trust me, it will end up not working out even if you think its no big deal.

5/27/10

In foods class yesterday, we made pasta and bread sticks. Although, my group ruined the homemade pasta that they were making the day before because they didn't spread it out, they left it all clumped together so we had to use regular store bought pasta. It was served with Alfredo sauce and was very good. The bread sticks were pretty good also. I homemade them, and they had oil, garlic, basil, and mozzarella on them. They could have maybe used some butter, but overall they were extremely good.

Beginning Foods 1

Welcome to the Truckee High School Foods blog. There is Foods 1, 2, 3, and other classes depending on the time of year and what teachers we are able to pay. I am taking Foods 1 at this time and decided that it is something I really enjoy, and since I have an assignment to blog I have chosen to blog about that. It is not the very beginning of the class so we are already "good" at the skills that are needed to cook. Today we are making macaroni and cheese from scratch, and icing the pineapple carrot cake that we prepared yesterday. It's going to be delicious! Tomorrow I will rate these recipes and if they are good enough I might even post it (if its okay with my teacher of course).