Ty

My Cooking Experiences

I’ve had a lot of experiences this quarter in cooking class. A basic one is that I was able to meet a lot of people. My first partner was Chloe; she was a good partner and we made a good apple pie, except for the fact that my fingernail might be in it somewhere. My second partner, Shelby, was a challenge to work with. Ms. Hoelscher said that we sounded like an old married couple. And whenever she started a disagreement over ingredients, I would take the blame. A lot of times we have a lot of really random conversations. For example like the fact that my future is going to be a rapper and cook named Cookie! The cooking crowd is a lot of fun and in the end of every day I usually leave with flour on my face.

Dillon

Chili Food Incident
The other day we ate chili that we made for other kids to eat with us. After eating the chili that we made, we discovered that corn bread was hard. Our stomachs were hurting and we felt like gas was going to come out of us. But we managed to try some of the corn bread. Then I ate a bite with no taste. That felt a little weird, like eating a piece of dirt from the ground. But after eating the food we made it feel better by digesting it. Then next time we will read the recipe carefully.
Dillon Garcia

Corn Bread Recipe from the Joy of Cooking
Make at your own risk!
¾ cup sifted all purpose flour
2-½ teaspoon double acting baking powder
1 to 2 tablespoon sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
Add
1 ¼ cups yellow or white stone ground corn meal
Beat in a separate bowl

Shannon's Apple Pie

Being in cooking class has been a great experience for me. Because of this class I can become more independent at home and not be such a burden in the kitchen. Maybe I won’t burn dinner, now. I can also help my mom cook and bake so she won’t have to set the house on fire with the Easy Bake Oven. One of the most memorable moments so far has been creating the apple pie. Since it was our first project, it was very interesting attempting to perfect it. Surprisingly our pie tasted better than it looked when we were making it. I got to work with Shelby, which made the process even more interesting! Working with her was a lot of fun, though. Making the apple pie was a lesson. Being our first “experiment,” we got to make mistakes and learn from them. I can’t wait to find out what other experiments Mrs. Hoelscher has in store for us.


Our Apple Pie Recipe adapted from the Joy of Cooking

Basic Pie Dough
•Sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour and one teaspoon of salt.
•Measure and combine 2/3 cups chilled leaf lard or shortening.
Cut half of the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, or work in lightly with the tips of your fingers until it has the grain of cornmeal. Cut the remaining half coarsely into the dough until it is pea size.
•Sprinkle the dough with 4 tablespoons of water.
Blend the water lightly into the dough. You may lift the ingredients with a fork, allowing the moisture to spread. If needed to hold the ingredients together, add 1 teaspoon to one tablespoon of water.
When you can gather the dough up into a tidy ball, stop handling it.


Apple Pie
•Line a 9-inch pie pan with a pie dough (Basic Pie Dough above).
•Pare, core, and thinly slice 5 to 6 cups of apples.
•Combine and sift over the apples: ½ to 2/3 cup white or brown sugar, 1/8 teaspoons of salt, 1 to 1½ tablespoons of cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg.
•Stir the apples gently until they are well coated.
•Place them in layers in the pie shell and dot with 1½ tablespoons of butter.


Tips from Shannon
•Add the extra water and possibly more to keep your pie dough together
•Roll it as much as possible so it hangs over the pan
•Use EXACT measurements

Oh Apple Pie

Oh Apple Pie By Chloe

“Ewwwww!” exclaimed Ty, “You’re bleeding! Sick!” Yes, I had just cut myself with a pointed knife I was using while I was cutting apples. My first cooking assignment and I was terrified that I would get an F for dripping blood in the pie! Everyone is always afraid to see me with a knife now. We also made, what we like to call Fat Free pie. The reason for that is that we forgot to add the other part of Crisco to our pie. Besides all the drama of cooking, I still enjoy it very much and I would also like to make guacamole!

INGREDIENTS:
3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic. Stir in cayenne pepper. Refrigerate 1 hour for best flavor, or serve immediately.

Ty and Rasperry Ice Cream by Carson

Sometimes I wonder if fate makes things funny. My friend Ty made me wonder this question. Food has a strange way of soaring to his shirt and streaking down into a multicolored stain of whatever we were making that day. I believe he probably has a closet full of tasty tie-dye tees at home. He’s spilled everything from raspberry ice cream to southern chili. If fate makes things funny it’s sure picking on Ty.

Raspberry Ice Cream

1¼ cups raspberries
¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice
1/3 cups sugar
3 egg yolks
1 ¼ cups cream whipped

Put the raspberries in a bowl with the confectioners’ sugar and lift the flavor with a squeeze of lemon.

In a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in ½ cup water. Boil to 234 degrees. You should have created syrup.

Beat the egg yolks in another bowl until thick. Beat in the boiling syrup. Fold in the raspberry mixture and the cream.

Stir in a frozen container. Freeze until firm.

Stirring Up a Good Recipe by Shelby

In cooking we learned how to make many things and we have had a lot of funny moments. When we made our apple pie Ty accidentally cut his nail into our pie, “it was a good thing that the people who ate them didn’t know that.” I had fun working with one of my best friends, Shannon. It’s too bad our pie looked so awful; it tasted delicious though. Then when we made our chili we invited a friend come and eat with us. Our cornbread tasted bitter; we obviously omitted some sugar in the bread. I’m so glad I had the chance to take this class and I can’t wait for our future recipes.

Our Chili Recipe adapted from the Joy of Cooking
In our recipe we used a large pan and first added and cooked all the onions and peppers. Next we added the meat and spices, some of the spices were red though so we had to improvise as to when the meat would be fully cooked. At the end we added additional flavors and the beans. We had to stir a lot to make the chili stay well mixed.

Allow 2 to 3 tablespoons butter to melt in a saucepan
Sautee in one medium onion and one clove of garlic
Add one chopped green or red pepper
Add the 1 lb. ground beef

Mix in 1 can diced tomatoes.
Stir in 1 or 2 cans of kidney beans, pinto beans or black beans.

Add the following spices to taste:
3 Tablespoons Chili Powder
3 Tablespoons Cumin
1 Bay Leave
1 Tablespoon Thyme
2 Tablespoons Oregano
Salt and Pepper

Serve with grated cheddar cheese, saltines and sour cream.


Tips from Shelby:
•Always use exact measurements.
•Make sure to always stir the food before you eat it so any flavoring can be mixed around.
•Don’t let Ty eat all of the food before serving to your guests.

Welcome to Colt Cooks

This is an 8th grade elective offered 7th period for students looking for a culinary adventure. Our experiments in the kitchen will be posted in student written blog entries on this page. So far I have learned that my students love cooking, sometimes measure exactly and rarely like washing dishes. We have learned to make apple pies, hand cranked vanilla ice cream, rasberry ice cream, old fashioned pretzels, chili, cornbread and frosted sugar cookies. We love sharing our delights with other staff and students at JHMS.