My Final Post

My Semior Seminar final project was making a cook book with Ryan Zapolski.  The final product is amazing and I cannot say how proud of it I am.  The best parts of this project was both the fact that I was able to do the project and have somethng to remember my senior year with one of my best friends, Ryan Zapolski, and the fact that for pretty much the whole time I was able to do something I loved, cook.  Every weekend I was able to experiment wit food.  I have always enjoyed experimenting with food since I started cooking with my mom. 

The most challenging and frustrationg part of this project was puting the actual cook book together.  It was dificult to format each and evey page the same and still have all the recipes fit on one page.  In a couple of occations Zapolski and I had to change the format a little because other wise the recipe would have taken two pages.   However, writing the description for each of the meals became more fun with each one I wrote.  At the beggining I tried to make them very structured.  by the end, I was having fun in descricribing each meal.   All in all I learned that it is a lot harder to make a good cook book than i thought it was. 

I was surprised at how well Zapolki and I worked together.  Normally, when Ryan and I work together, we end up arguing about some small detail that we both feel very strongly should be done a specific way.  However, this time, we did not have any arguments.  We both saw where this project should go and exactly how to do it the same way.  Although, we did have some troubles.  At the begging both of our orginizationa and time management skills lacked.  We would write down ideas on scrap peaces of paper and just say we will get it done.  By the end of the project, we had orginized files on our computers with everythoing in the corect format.  Futher more, we set specific goals for when everything would be compleated. 

I feel that I grew as a student because of this project.  The project really gave me a veiw of what college will be because I will controll my schedual and have to motovate myself to work.  In doing this project I really improved my orginization skills. 

For the last week in and out of class all of my efforts have been going to doing my write ups for my recipes.  Also, I finally got the recipe for monkey bread from Miss Mac two nights ago and I am really excited to make it.  I got some of the monkey bread at a bake sale here and imediatly thought "this has to go in the cookbook." 

I am almost done with the write ups. They will all be compleated by the end of the weekend and then I will be able to put the final product together with Zapolski.  The other night I hit a snag because i could not remeber the recipe for rub that went on the beer can chicken, so I made some some chicken quarters that night and recreated the rub.  I think it turned out even better than the origonal rub I put on the beer can chicken.  However, it was frustating to have to take the time to cook a meal because i couldnt remember how to make the rub. 

I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and it is feeling like a weight off of my shoulders.  I have been really stressed out the last week because all of my classes are giving me big final projects and it is hard to split my time between all of them, so that is why my blog has suffered this week.  I cannot wait to be able to relax after graduation. 

Wednesday in class I took the whole class to write two instructional sections.  This processes is very time consuming and makes me wish that I wrote down more of the specifics on how to make things.  Instead I wriote down the general information.  Looking back I would definatly document everything.  It would take more time while I was doing it but looking back and doing the write up section would take less time and be less frustrating.  Wednesday night I went home and did the same thing working on the instructional section,  with the same frustrations. 

Yesterday I did not do any work in class because I had the AP Environmental Science exam.  When I got home I sat down and finished my reading on cooking.  It took me about an hour to do but it was worth it.  I read on weather or not to flip certain meats and how often to do so.  So for example you only flip your red meat once because other wise it can dry it out and make it less flavorful.  At times wile I was reading I would find my mind drifting in and out of the text and I would have to go back.  Other times the pages seemed to fly by as I read.  I have found that my mind tends to really wonder as I become less interested in the text. 

Today when I woke up I was not motivated to cook what-so-ever.  I really wanted a lazy Sunday, but I cooked anyway.  Today's cooking cooking took HOURS.  What I made today was pulled pork sandwiches, grilled corn on the cob, and eggplant stackers.  All the recipes turned out to be great.  The pulled pork took from 11:20 until 8:00 O'clock to cook.  It was well worth the time.  The one complaint I have about this recipe is that I could not taste the maple syrup as much as I hoped I would be able to.  The other two recipes turned out how I expected them to.  Only the eggplant stackers took longer to make than I originality thought they would.

Wednesday in class, I worked on the skills sheet that Mr. Igoe handed out for the whole class.  When I got home I worked on completing the handout for about a half an hour.  It was a little more difficult to fill out certain parts than I thought it would be from first look.

Today, I spent about an hour doing the write ups for on how to cook buffalo wings and the angel food cupcakes with buttercream frosting.  This was not very difficult because I have looked at formats from other cook books.  However, it is a little time consuming to do.  I hope my wings get the approval of the self proclaimed wing connoisseur Igoe.  

Yesterday in class I got "distracted" from my project by looking at Whaley's blog on the Pats off season.  I still classify the day as productive work on the project because part of the project is interacting with other peoples projects.  I really enjoyed his write ups on the draft and breaking it down for me.  Whaley and I talked about his project for a little bit in class.  Last night when I got home I did a write up on one of the meals that I have cooked.  This part is more difficult than I thought it would be.  It is hart to pick the words that truely describe the food and not be cliche.  Also, it is hard to know when I have enought writen about the meal. 

Today I spent about half of the class time interviewing people on sides to go along with the pulled pork I plan to cook this weekend.  From the interviews I got the suggestions of coal slaw, corn on the cob, and baked beans.  I don't really know which one of these I want to do yet.  Tonight, when I got home I looked up some recipes for these for about a half an hour and tangled with the idea of having a summer salad for my appetizer.  A couple of people said that it would be nice to have in the cookbook.  However, I hesitate to do it because it almost seems too simple to have in a cook book.  Would it be better to have something else that has to be truly cooked and prepared rather than an assortment of ingredients that would be simply put in a bowl together with salad dressing on top of it?  Then again, I could try and make a dressing for the salad like a raspberry vinaigrette or    something along those lines.  I don't know what to do.

Yesterday I went over to Whaley's house with Zapolski and some other friends.  Zapo and I cooked appetizers and a dessert for the group.  We made home made buffalo wings from the original sauce recipe.  I loved these wings.  They had a great combination of spice and flavor to them.  We also made two family recipes from Zapolski.  The first was a crab cake like dish served on English muffins.  The second, was a layered family salad.  It took about two hours to prepare the appetizers last night.  Finally, we finished off the night with milkshakes.

Tomorrow, I will look up recipes for pulled pork sandwiches and interview people for a side dish to go along with it.  My goal for this week is to stay on top of my blog posts better

Today in class we did our midterm presentations.  Before I went I was really nervous, but once I got up there and people seemed like they liked the pictures of the food I prepared I got a lot less nervous.  I really enjoyed Whaley and Anabel's presentations.  I liked seeing what they were doing and hearing all about their favorite and  least favorite parts.  I am really exited to hear about other people's projects tomorrow in class.

When I got home today I spent about 30 minutes looking up recipes for maple pulled pork(thanks for the suggestion Mr. Igoe).  I'm really excited to hopefully try and cook this one because I love bbq and have actually wanted to try and cook this.  However I kinda forgot about this dish until Mr. Igoe suggested it to me.

Last night I spent about two hours making cup cakes for my presentation today.  I was dissapointed by the cup cakes because half of them turned out really poorly.  I am not really sure why they came out worse than the time before.  I think it was the batter.  It was more soupy at the end of the batter than the last batch.  Half of the cup cakes came out not cooked on the bottom even though I cooked them for two and a half times the recomended time.  I hope people like the cup cakes that came out okay. 

Monday in class I really solidified the questions I was going to be asking people in my interviews.  Some of the questions are "what are your favorite summer time dish?  What is your favorite ingredient to use?  What is your least favorite dish/ingredient?  and what is your favorite and least favorite thing about cooking?"  During my free block on Monday, I interviewed people and asked them these questions.

Today, I spend about 30 mins looking up different recipes for dishes I plan to cook from the interviews.

day two of cooking

Today I spend about three and half hours cooking.  I made a side dish that I got the Recipe from Mrs. Collins.  It was really good.  It was Potatoes and onions on the grill with seasoning.  Also, I made beer can chicken.  I was really exited to try out this recipe because its something that iv wanted to try out for about a year now.   Because of the way the chicken was cooked at a low temperature for several hours and, It was incredibly moist and practically falling off the bone.  Lastly, I made Angel food cup cakes from scratch with homemade frosting.

Yesterday, I spent the whole class going down to the Groton Public Library.  I was hoping to find a book on what flavors and spices mix well together.  I was able to do so only because the librarian at the library was so helpful.  Also, I found a book on grilling.  This book tells all about when to flip diffrent types of meats (if at all), what temperatures to cook them on, rest times and more.  I think that both of these will be really helpful.  Out of class, I spent about 40 minutes shopping for ingredients for this weekends cooking endeavor.  This weekends meal will take a while to cook.  Its estimated cooking time is about one our twenty-five minutes.  Today, when I got home, I was feeling ambitious, and a little hungry, so I made one of the sides for the weekend, Bean Salad.  It was really good and only took about 25 mins to make it.  Tonight, I will finish my proposal sheet.  Hopefully it will only take me about a half an hour or so.

Yesterday I spent the day interviewing more people about their favorite summer foods or ingredients.  Some of my interviews really helpful.  For example Mrs. Collins,  gave me a recipe that her dad gave to her for potatoes on the grill.  On the other hand, another of my interviewees, who I will not mention their name, was not very helpful.  The only thing they said was Hebrew National Hot dogs.  When I got home, I started to look up recipes for the food I am going to cook this weekend.  

First day of Cooking

Yesterday I cooked two steaks with a spicy dry rub on it (at the request of several people for a spicy steak).  I was not a huge fan of the first rub, but the second one turned out even better than I thought it would.  The second one, because of the preparation, kept the steak very juicy.  I also cooked bacon wrapped asparagus.  Besides looking up the cook time, I made up the recipe for this one.  I think I like the asparagus more than the steak last night because I was surprised at how much I liked it.

P.S.  If anyone has some favorite summer recipes or foods please feel free to comment letting me know what it is.

First Round of Interviews

Yesterday I spent the day interviewing people about summer recipes they enjoy.  I interviewed about 10 people and they gave me a page worth of possible dishes to make.

Yesterday I finalized what the layout of the cookbook will be with Zapolski.  Also, Zapolski and I changed our idea on how we are going to work on the recipes.  Instead of doing all the appetizers, entrees, sides, and desserts separate for about a week and a half each, we are going to cook a full meal once a week then spend the rest of the week doing the right ups for the dishes.  I still need to find a book to read on cooking.  If anyone has any summer foods they would like to see in the book please feel free to talk to Zapolski or me.

Cookbook Format

Today I looked threw several different cookbooks.  In class, the cook book that Mr. Igoe brought in made me really think of how I was going to lay out my book.  This is because I really did not like format of The Family Dinner.  I came up with a template I think I am going to do.  Tomorrow Zapolski an I will talk about the exact format of the book.

Appetizer Ideas

Today I spent almost the entire class looking up some cool ideas for appetizers to go in the cook book.  So far some things that have made it onto the possibilities list are sushi, wings, dips, and salt and pepper shrimp with Aioli.  Also, when I went onto the Yahoo homepage at school, I found a list of four ingredients that have good health benefits.  It could be cool to find recipes that incorporate these ingredients.

Proposal sheet

Last night the proposal sheet was more difficult than I thought it was going to be to fill out.  I stayed up until about 12:15 filling it out.