Category: food

4 Easy Holiday Cookie Recipes

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Making Christmas cookies for a crowd, or hosting a holiday party? These easy, bigger-batch recipes mean more cookies and less work! If you are not huge on baking like me, you want to make some simple cookies that taste good and don’t require professional baking skills to make. Here are some of my favorite easy Christmas cookies that once-a-year bakers like me can make.

  1. The Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie: Only takes about 30 minutes total to make, these cookies are called the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies for a reason. And that reason is people eat them immediately after looking at them.

Ingredients: 1 cup of butter (softened), 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons hot water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup chopped walnuts

HOW TO MAKE IT

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

-Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.

-Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned

2. Peanut Blossoms: Takes around 40 minutes to make. It’s an easy cookie with the easiest “decoration” possible. Just remember, the chocolate goes on the fully-baked cookie. Not on the raw dough.

Ingredients: 1 cup shortening, 1 cup penut butter, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup white sugar for decoration, 2 (9 ounce) bags milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

HOW TO MAKE IT 

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

-In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and stir in the milk and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Shape tablespoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

-Bake for 10 to12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from oven, and immediately press a chocolate kiss into each cookie. Allow to cool completely; the kiss will harden as it cools.

3. Reindeer Cookies: Takes around 40 minutes to make. If you want a good cookie, and you’d want people to feel a little festive when they see them, these Reindeer Cookies are what you need!

Ingredients: 1 cup butter, (softened), 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup smooth peanut butter, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 72 small pretzel twists, or as needed, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, or as needed

HOW TO MAKE IT

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

-Beat butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Stir flour and baking soda into creamed butter mixture until well incorporated.

-Roll dough into 36 balls. Flatten each ball and shape into an upside-down triangle. Press two pretzels into the two top corners of each triangle for the antlers. Press two chocolate chips into the center of each triangle for the eyes, and one chocolate chip or M&M on the bottom of the triangle for the nose. Arrange cookies on baking sheets.

4. Melted Snowman Cookies: Takes around 2 hours to make but so worth it! These cookies are perfect for  dressing up ready-made sugar cookies or refrigerated dough from the grocery store.

Ingredients: ICING (4 egg whites, 8 cups confectioners’ sugar, or as needed, 1/4 cup lemon juice, or as needed) COOKIES (24 sugar cookies, 24 large marshmallows, 1 (.75 ounce) tube black decorating gel, 1 (.75 ounce) tube orange decorating gel) OPTIONALS (75 silver nonpareils, or as desired, 1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel, 1 (.75 ounce) tube green decorating gel)

HOW TO MAKE IT 

-Beat egg whites lightly in a large bowl using an electric mixer until frothy. Slowly beat enough confectioners’ sugar into egg whites to make icing that will hold shape; blend in lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.

-Arrange cookies about 1-inch apart on a large sheet of waxed paper. Spread icing onto each cookie, allowing icing to drip over edges to look like melting snow.

-Grease a microwave-safe plate. Place 1 marshmallow onto plate.

-Microwave marshmallow until it starts to puff up, 20 to 30 seconds. Immediately place marshmallow on the edge of 1 cookie while the icing is still wet to look like a melted snowman. Repeat with remaining marshmallows and iced cookies.

-Decorate ‘melted snowmen’ by piping ‘twig-like arms’ using black decorating gel on the icing. Make ‘coal eyes’ and a ‘mouth’ on the marshmallow using black decorating gel. Make a ‘carrot nose’ under the ‘coal eyes’ using orange decorating gel. Make ‘coat buttons’ by arranging silver nonpareils down the middle of the icing. Make ‘scarves’ or ‘bow-ties’ using red decorating gel or green decorating gel.

-Allow cookies to fully dry before removing from waxed paper, at least 1 hour.

So hopefully now if you struggle at baking like I do, these recipes can help you out in the holiday season!

4 Easy, Cheap and Healthy Hostel Meals

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Throughout my time abroad, I am always traveling. We all know that traveling is expensive, but there are many ways to save money, especially when it comes to food. A lot of people believe that staying in hostels is “sketchy” or “cheap”, but now days, there are many hostels that are nicer than many hotels. One of the best amenities when it comes to staying in a hostel is the guest kitchen. This means you can cook your own meals saving you a ton of money rather than eating out for every meal, which can really add up. Sometimes, thinking of something easy as well as healthy to make can be difficult. Especially when you are traveling, you don’t know what you are going to be able to find at the supermarket. With that being found, I have found a few recipes to make while staying in a hostel. All of them are made with easy to find ingredients that are healthy and are simple to make!

  1. GRILLED CHEESE, HAM, AND TOMATO SANDWICH: Sometimes hostels serve breakfast so if yours does, try and take some bread, ham, and cheese back to your fridge so you don’t have to go out and buy it yourself. If this is the case, all you would need to buy is some veggies like tomato. You can even take out the ham to make it vegetarian.

Kitchen tools needed: Frying pan and oil, sharp knife, spatula (or get creative with what you’ve got)
Ingredients:2 slices of bread, Ham and cheese slices,Tomato, sliced

HOW TO MAKE IT:

 -Make a sammie with all of the ingredients and throw it on the frying pan.
– Turn over once. Welcome to some gooey goodness, with a bit of protein and veggies.

2. PERSONAL PIZZAS: If you are with a group of people, have everyone contribute by buying one ingredient/topping for the pizza. Cooking the pizza could also be fun when cooking with a big group! Even if you are not with a group, see if other people in the hostel want to join!

Kitchen tools needed: Oven, toaster oven, grill, or if you have to, a frying pan and oil
Ingredients:Pitas, pre-made pizza crust, or bread slices from breakfast, Tomato sauce, Any cheese or other toppings you like on your pizza

HOW TO MAKE IT: 

-Lay out your “pizza crust” and spread with tomato sauce.
– Cook your crust in your kitchen tool of choice for 2-3 minutes. Watch to make sure it doesn’t burn!
-Take the crusts out and top them with whatever ingredients you want.

3. PENUT BUTTER BANANA SNADWICH: Perfect for quick and easy breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack! Instead of a basic peanut butter sandwich, add the banana for some protein and extra flavor.

Kitchen tools needed: Knife
Ingredients: Bread (from breakfast), Peanut Butter, Bananas, sliced (you can also use strawberries or blueberries)

HOW TO MAKE IT:

– Spread peanut butter on bread.
-Slice banana and put on top of the peanut butter.
-Assemble your sandwich.

4: VEGETABLE STIR FRY: Although this one may be a bit tricky to find the ingredients depending on where you are staying, it is defiantly the healthiest option of the recipes. You can also add chicken or beef for some added protein.

Kitchen tools needed: Frying pan and oil, Sharp knife if cutting your own vegetables, Stovetop burner or hot plate, pot to cook rice, Spatula or spoon to stir vegetables
Ingredients: Frozen bag of assorted vegetables (you can find this at most supermarkets around the world, but you can always pick the veggies yourself), Brown Rice, Teriyaki or Soy sauce

HOW TO MAKE IT:

-Cook rice according to directions on package.
-While the rice is cooking, add oil to frying pan and bring to medium high heat. Add veggies and cook according to package. If you’re using fresh vegetables, slice them and cook on frying pan for 6-7 minutes or until slightly brown, stirring frequently.
-Add vegetables and cooked rice together, and top with sauce.

Heres a video I found on quick & easy hostel meals

Hopefully with these recipes you can save money while traveling, as well as eat a yummy healthy meal!

Marketing

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There are many elements that go into marketing, and many of them have to do with journalism. First off, one of the main aspects learned through journalism and marketing has to do with the importance of reading and research. Going off of that, it is important to be a critical thinker. With that being said you should always be reading. An example of being a critical thinker would be saving webpages to your bookmarks can be an effective way to brainstorm and generate ideas for marketing content. Journalistic skills and best-practices are also critical for creating any sort of customer-facing communication. Interview skills aren’t just useful for journalism; they are even as useful for creating content in the world of marketing. However, reading is only part of being successful in marketing through journalism. Writing is all about monitoring social media for new headlines and reactions and then going off of those  to create editorial and marketing content, all in the hopes of chasing an existing audience or trend. When it comes to journalism or marketing, it is important to do your own research. Ultimately, the kind of content that creates true value for your audience is the kind that matches searcher intent and drives traffic.

That leads me to the topic of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. Different social media platforms all are used to provide information in different ways. For example, Twitter is a social site designed to let people share short messages or “updates” with others. Facebook, in contrast is a full-blown social networking site that allows for sharing updates, photos, joining events and a variety of other activities.

social media marketing is becoming more popular than e-marketing and digital marketing together. Most social media platforms have built-in data analytics tools, which enable companies to track the progress, success, and engagement of ad campaigns. There are two main  platforms used for this. Social networking websites allow individuals, businesses and other organizations to interact with one another and build relationships and communities online. When companies join these social channels, consumers can interact with them directly. These interactions hit on a personal level. Social networking sites act as word of mouth or more precisely, e-word of mouth. The Internet’s ability to reach billions across the globe has given online word of mouth a powerful voice and far reach. Social networking websites are based on building virtual communities that allow consumers to express their needs, wants and values, online. Social media marketing then connects these consumers and audiences to businesses that share the same needs, wants, and values. Everyone now days is always glued to their phone. Mobile phone usage is beneficial for social media marketing because mobile phones have social networking capabilities, allowing individuals immediate web browsing and access to social networking sites. For example, Many companies are now putting QR (Quick Response) codes along with products for individuals to access the company website or online services with their smart phones.

Social media marketing is something that can only benefit your food business. It is a source of instant feedback and a market research tool. It helps you bond with customers and potential customers. The main way to get the word out about your business is to simply start posting. Instagram and YouTube, in particular, are great for pictures and videos because their users love to “share” them with friends. With that being said, just creating an Instagram page for your business can help you gain customers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnDVbVMnjos/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Example of restaurant Instagram page.

 

 

Mobile Journalism (MOJO)

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This week in class we talked about Mobile Journalism otherwise known as MOJO. There are many trends within MOJO that we should be aware of. The first is how high the demand for video is. This is because everyone now days is glued to their phones. People are now staying up to date on news via phone rather than watching it on TV. Another trend is the growth of social media. If your audience is on social media, they you too need to be on social media in order to stay interacted with them. Having quick and easy access to stream and post video content through your mobile device is a huge plus of MOJO. With that being said, it is easy to create content on the same platform that it is being viewed. Before today, the way we would stream media was through TV, radio, and books. Now days, content is multi-media and the key ingredient is your smartphone. Your smartphone can take pictures, record audio and video as well as editing graphics. These are all examples of mixed media content all through one device being your smartphone. Another trend is live streaming. Live stream is a trend that you are able to do within multiple different social media platforms, like Facebook live.

A facebook live video streaming from an iPhone.

Even major broadcasters are using livestream from their mobile phones.

One of the first live broadcasts through a phone.

Overall, mobile journalism is cost-effective, powerful, and in tune with the trends. When it comes to cooking, mobile journalism an easy way to help others when it comes to cooking. For example, all over YouTube there are cooking videos that allow others to learn different recipes by simply watching a video.

Example of a YouTube cooking video

Watching a video is a much easier way to learn how to cook rather than reading the recipe out of a cook book.

Citizen Journalism

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This week in class we discussed citizen journalism. This is a very controversial term which many people don’t agree with. It refers to the reporting of news events by members of the public using the Internet to spread the information. It is easily spread through personal websites, blogs, microblogs, social media and so on.

Heres an awesome video that better explains citizen journalism.

An example of citizen journalism would be the use of food blogs. An article states that 79% of respondents consulted U.S. food blogs at least daily, if not multiple times a day, crediting their increased usage to a food bloggers candid writing style, diverse voice and range of topics, as well as their approachable personalities. Websites like yelp, trip advisor, and even google all review restaurants. Citizen journalism is used throughout these food critic websites because of how peopler posting their opinions on the restaurants, rather than it being actual credible facts. So why do we trust these websites?

 

 

 

 

 

Example of a Yelp review

 

 

De Greco Barcelona

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Over the past few months living in Barcelona, I have tried many different restaurants of all different types of cuisine. And out of them all I still return back to my favorite restaurant De Greco. It has some of the best Italian food I have ever experienced and is super affordable. Even when I had friends visiting from Florence, they commented on how good the pasta was! Not only does De Greco have amazing food, they have such a unique concept when it comes to eating there.

an overview of the atmosphere at De Greco

First off, they let you bring your own bottle of wine if you are a student. On top of that, whichever pasta plate you order, a separate plate of your meal is brought out to share with the table. That way you are able to try all the different pastas that everyone you are with orders! De Greco doesn’t just have pasta, they have a lot of other options including things like steak, burgers, salads, as well as yummy desserts. but in my opinion, you can’t go wrong with any of the pasta dishes. Some of my favorite dishes that I would recommend is the gnocchi, the white truffle ravioli, and the tortellini.

Gnocchi

Related imagewhite truffle ravioli

Image result for tortellinitortellini

In my opinion I think that De Greco’s concept of having an extra plate for sharing is what makes it unique and different, setting it apart from other restaurants that I have tried while in Barcelona. The atmosphere is fancy, but as I mentioned the price is very affordable so you may look like you are eating an expensive place when really you can get a meal for around 12 euro. Whenever I have someone visiting in town, or someone asks me for a good place to go out to eat, I always recommend De Greco because I have never had a bad experience when dining there. I love trying new restaurants, but This is the one place that I will make an exception for, I have already been 4 times!

The Authentic Greek Salad

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Greece. When it comes to food, the first thing that comes to my mind is of course the famous Greek Salad

 heres a picture of a traditional Greek salad

At home, I am always ordering Greek salads weather it’s for lunch, dinner, or sometimes I even make it into a wrap. Greek salads are a super easy and healthy meal to make at home, not just for when eating out.

here is an easy recipe to make an authentic Greek salad at home!

A Greek salad consists of a combination of tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green peppers, olives and feta cheese, dressed in olive oil and sprinkled with oregano. However, I hate olives so I always either eat around them or ask for the salad without it. After I had experienced eating an actual Greek salad, I noticed a few differences from the salads I had been getting in America. First off, the salad I got in Greece had little to no lettuce. Even some of the restaurants I ate at didn’t even put lettuce in the salad. When I order a Greek salad in America it always has romaine as the lettuce base, even when eating at Greek cuisine restaurants. It was strange to me that in Greece they did not incorporate lettuce, because to my understanding that is the main part of a salad. I realized that when I was in Athens, the Greek salad I got had a small amount of lettuce, compared to when I visited Santorini, those Greek salads had no lettuce at all. Looking at the history of the infamous Greek salad, which is referred to as ‘Horiatiki’, which means village or peasant salad in Greek. A Greek salad is primarily a summer dish, and since lettuce only grows in Greece during the winter months a traditional ‘Horiatiki’ salad does not include lettuce. One thing that I love eating with a Greek salad is pita. Surprisingly, in Greece pita never was served with a Greek salad, but it almost always is when I order it in America. Some of my favorite places what I ate at while in Greece with bomb Greek salads where Mani Mani in Athens, and Vannilia in Santorini. I don’t think I will ever experience a Greek salad like I did in Greece itself. The main ingredient that really made the salad stand out was for sure the feta cheese. I hope I will someday be able to go back to Greece and be able to eat an authentic Greek salad again.

 

Digital Tools for Journalists

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This week in class, we discussed digital tools for journalists. These tools are coming from Google, social media, social networks and more. When searching for places to eat, everyone turns to Google. Google then can lead you to different sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, even Google maps. Google grammar is something we can use to search better in order to better our search results. For example, word exclusion can be used when trying to find something specific. For example, if you are searching coffee shop but want to find coffee, you would exclude the word shop. Looking at literal search, you would just type in the exact thing you are trying to find, for example if you are trying to find a specific restaurant, you would type in something like “Brunch & Cake”. In my experience I normally use literal searching when using Google.

When it comes to using social media, there are many technical concepts that can help when searching. For example, a tag is a label attached to someone or something for the purpose of identification or to give other information. When using tags, it is ESSENTIAL to use them properly, or else it will not work. Tags can be used on many social media sites, making it easier to find things you are looking for. For example, when posting an Instagram, in the caption you can add different tags that have to do with your picture. If I posted a picture of the food I was eating I could use tags like where I was eating, what type of food it was, the kind of taste it has, etc. Another thing that can help when searching is search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine marketing (SEM).

Lastly, digital tools are used within social networks. When using twitter, you are able to use something called TweetDeck. TweetDeck is a social media dashboard application for management of Twitter accounts.

This way, you can manage all of your favorite twitter accounts. For example, you can add all your favorite restaurants to your TweetDeck to see new specials and announcements all in one place. Apart from these tools, there are many other useful tools that can be used when searching the web.

 

Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Post

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This week in class, we talked about virtual and augmented reality. Before this class I knew what virtual reality was, but never really had a clear idea of what augmented reality was. Both virtual and augmented reality are being used to impact the future of the food industry. Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated real-world environment, augmented reality (AR) remains in the real world and uses a variety of hardware devices and extensions to give users a layered or multidimensional view of an object.

The main areas that are affected by VR and AR in the food industry are designed to reduce the costs of training and to enhance the customer experience. When looking at reducing the cost of training, Simulating the training with VR creates an excellent simulated but noticeably unrealistic environment. When using this type of training the chefs can then visualize the process and the details looking at a single screen, requiring only one video to instruct any number of chefs. When using VR and AR on the marketing end for the food industry, in order to get customers to come to your restaurant, it requires creating a visual experience using VR and AR that is memorable and motivational to the consumer. Here are two examples of Coca Cola using VR and AR in their marketing campaigns.

We can see that VR is an experience, AR is an immersive experience and more interactive for the customer. AR has extended itself into connecting the physical world with the virtual world. This shows us a whole new world for marketing speaking in terms with connecting with the customer. In this example, companies are making video games available to customers on their cereal boxes.

Today and moving forward, technology is going to be enhancing our overall experience as a customer. For example, tequila manufacturer Patron has already taken this bold step. The company recently launched a 360-degree video showing the entire tequila manufacturing process, from harvesting the agave plant to bottling the drink. Sure, pictures and videos are fine when it comes to choosing where you want to eat, but AR is so much better.