Monday, November 17, 2008

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies






   












  




I think I am going to put this post in both of my blogs, because it is educational and filled with yummy food.

I was wondering about how cookies originated, so I did some research.  

The first cookies were invented by accident - they were just cake batter used by bakers to test their oven temperature before baking the whole cake.

Tea cakes and English biscuits strongly resemble cookies as we know them today.

Chocolate chip cookies are the most popular kind in America and Canada. These were created by accident as well. In 1937, Ruth Wakefield invented them while working at the Toll House Inn.  She was baking for her guests, and she ran out of nuts.  She used a bar of semi-sweet chocolate given to her by Andrew Nestle.  She thought the chocolate would mix together with the dough and form an all chocolate cookie. It didn't, but they turned out good so she served them anyway.

Ruth made a deal with Nestle that they could print her recipe on the back of their bars of chocolate if she was given free bars to bake for her guests in her hotel.  They liked the idea so much that they even included a chocolate chopper in the package. 

The cookies became so popular, that in 1939, the chocolate chip was invented.


Sunday, November 16, 2008

Monday, November 10, 2008

Projects



On saturday at the coop I volunteer at, I got two bunches of free overripe bananas.  So I came home, broke out the cookbooks, and made banana muffins.  I used Dino's recipe for omni-sub free vegan banana bread, and I put it into muffin tins instead.  I doubled the recipe, so now I have a freezer full of muffins!  I used whole wheat pastry flour, hazelnuts, and oats.  If I had some chocolate chips, I would have thrown those in, but I sadly didn't.  There is nothing like the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts.  Nothing.  

These were quite the treat on a snowy afternoon with a BIG mug of chai tea.  I don't know why I am putting this in my unschooling blog, and not my food blog, but it just felt unschool-y to me.



This is a bizarre product of some stuff I found at ax man, some stuff I found in my brothers electronic junk box, and a really bad painting.  The pictures are all of carcasses, the painting is of a road in a snow storm.  There is a fork about to pierce one of the carcasses.   The computer thing has doll hands coming out of it, and in-between them are the red and white wires.  The red connects to the doll head and the white connects to an on/off switch. The dolls head is covered in a netting of tulle.  There is tiny googley eyes staring down on the doll from the sky.  They almost look like snow flakes.   

Maybe I will think of an explanation of what compelled me to do this.  I think it may have something to do with control and exploitation/disregard for animals.  Actually I know that is what it is about.  I should take a better picture when it is brighter out and upload it larger.

Ciao! 


Friday, November 7, 2008

First Post

It took a lot of creative thought for me to think of the witty title for this post, so appreciate it.  

So, I am a junior in high school who just decided to start unschooling. Basically unschooling is learning based on future goals, and learning naturally.

I am "deschooling" right now, so I am not doing things to seriously, though I do hope I will not get to stressed out.  That would be counterproductive.  I have been contacting people about internships, volunteering, and getting a job, for part of my learning.  My first project is going to be to write a cookbook.  It is going to be vegan versions of food from all around the world.  Just this one project will include geography, history, english, world studies, and Home Ec.  I am also going to be doing a lot of reading, and I am getting a math textbook because I cannot teach myself that.  

I go to school for 80 minutes a day for japanese class, because I can't teach myself that either.  I am going to also take photography at the school during the last term.  

As far as internships go, I am trying to get one at Cafe Agri or Ecopolitan in Minneapolis.  I am super excited to get started.  I want to open a vegan restaurant, cafe, or bakery someday, so I think it would be very good to have some experience. 

I am always asked if I am still going to go to college.  I am not really sure yet, but kind of leaning toward it.  I will go on to do some kind of schooling, whether it is a four year university or not I don't know yet.  Some schools I think I would like to go to are The Natural Gourmet Institute, Northern Arizona University, or maybe something in Vermont, California, or even abroad.  I may stay in state (or minnesota) too.  One thing I am set on is going to The Natural Gourmet Institute, as it is pretty much the only vegan cooking school.  The program is short (9 months or 4 months) and it is in New York City.  I think it would be a great experience to live in a big city like that, having spent my life in a small town in the midwest.  I want a little change!   

Well, hopefully this gets updated frequently.  I know my other blog doesn't.