senior retreat

This week was the senior retreat! From Sunday to Tuesday we were at the senior retreat.  It was a lot of fun and I had a great and amazing time. We did do an commercial type thing for our senior project to inform next years seniors. I also got to see my mom cook all the meals for the trip. I did not help her this time but I saw all she had to do and what it involved. She was very stressed and busy all the time. But the trip was a lot of fun and I had a great time with my friends and teachers. Also this week, I am redoing my thesis for my research paper. Mrs. Zion helped me a lot and helped me figure out a better and more specific angle to go by while still studying vegetarian diets.  My new thesis is :

Adopting a vegetarian diet, though initially more expensive, results in long term health benefits by reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and a number of other serious health concerns. I am thankful for her help and am so glad I can still study that subject.  We also are reading a new book called Exploring Faith and Discipleship by selected readings. Also this week was my last cooking class but I did not get to go because I had an English Paper and test the day after we got back from the retreat. So unfortunately I did not get to go but I can reschedule and do a make-up class with her. And I am going to visit Liberty tomorrow and spend the weekend up there so I will probably not get to try anymore recipes unfortunately. But next week I plan to start strong and get a lot done! 

Thesis Sentence failure and Cupcakes!

This week in senior project we turned in our thesis and four sources. I had changed my topic to rather vegetarian diets are healthier than other diets and found 5 good sources with the help of Mrs. Price.  I decided my view opinion was that vegetarian diets were healthier than other diets because of various things such as it lowers cardio vascular disease, different types of cancer, and lowers obesity and cholesterol.  And the other side was that vegetarians do not get enough protein from the meat and often vegetarians just eat junk food instead of a health meal with mean. But I got a C because my topic appeared to be broad and not arguable.  So I am back at square one tying to find another topic.

Also this week I had my third week of cake decorating class. We learned how to fill cupcakes and make different kinds of flower, designs, and leaves. It was a lot of fun again. We learned a lot. Then after the class, Mrs. Halla, my mentor and I went to her house and finished decorating all the cupcakes to give to the class for Natalie’s birthday. It took a lot of time but it was fun to use our creativity and try new and different designs on the cupcakes. It was fun to experiment and try everything we have been learning. I am already excited about next week. 

Proposal Week!

This week was our proposals for our project. It was one of the most nerve-racking experiences. I was so nervous and intimidated by it. I wanted to fix food for the board to convey my passion to them. So coming up with what to fix was first. I decided on caramel drizzled spoons to put in coffee, sweet potato bread with pineapple butter, iced coffee (cappuccino tasting), and crock pot cookies. Preparing this took my whole weekend but it was worth it in the end. Hopefully it paid off. Besides cooking, figuring out what to say and how to convey how passionate I was about my project was another task. So I made note cards and practice a lot saying my proposal to myself. But the proposal really was not that bad, it was not an intimidating atmosphere, and the board really was there to help! As hard as that was for us to believe, it was true. They gave me suggestions and were only there to encourage and help me, it was a pleasant surprise. So I feel like it went fairly well and am looking forward to any conversations to be had with the board members in the future. Also this week, I had my second cake decorating class and we decorated our cakes with all the tricks and rules with learned last week. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be but it was also a lot of fun. I made a cake with a fish on it! But now in senior project, I am focusing on the research paper and finding resources and writing my thesis. I changed my topic and decided to write about rather vegetarian diets are healthier. This has actually been a subject that has always fascinated me. I once tried to be a vegetarian for a week and it was difficult.  I have a lot of work to do for the paper and could use as much help as possible ;)

Hello!

 This week I had my first cake decorating class. It was so much fun and I learned so much! She taught us how to make the right icing and what kind of icing you need for what you are decorating. We had to buy a cake decorating kit and bake cookies for this class so we started using the tools and learned how to use certain tips to decorate with. Cake Decorating is going to be so much harder than I thought it was going to be and it will be the most time consuming type of cooking. I already have homework for this class; I have to bake a cake with pudding filling in the morning and ice the outside. For a beginner like me, this is going to take a while. Fortunately, I like cake decorating. I also learned that cake decorating is going to be expensive. There are so many tools and appliances involved with cake decorating. The class was fairly cheap but the beginning kit for the class was expensive. I am very excited about the rest of the classes. This week I also made cake-like brownies for an event Mrs. Price is having. I made a sample set for her and gave the rest of the brownies to the senior class. Everyone seemed to like them so I was happy about that. I actually just found the recipe on the internet. My proposal is next week and I am super nervous and I want to make food for the board, so I am still deciding what to fix 

2nd week of senior project

Hello! This week we have been working on our proposal alot. It has been a pretty difficult process getting all your idea condensed to one proposal. I did struggle with it a bit but it was easier and more clear after the help of teachers. I have also made a meal for one of the families in my mentor's church. Unfortunatly i was babysitting and couldnt personaly deliver it to them but i got to see a picture of the family enjoying the meal which was very satisfying. I have also made chocolate scones, these chocolatey bar type things, and an orange-cranberry  cake. I then put it in the senior lounge and let the seniors enjoy it. It has really helped with the diffrent comments and reactions towards it. I know what not to fix as much. The favorite of the class was the most unhealthy chocolatey bar type things. I have also taken one of my cooking classes at Fox Fire. It was the teen cooking class and we made homemade chicken fingers, homemade brownies, rosmarry potatoes, veggies, and mac and chesse. It was quite delicous and i learned alot. Also, the teacher offered if i would like to come assist her with the next class she has for kids. I could help her and be her assistant for diffrent classes for kids at Fox Fire which i defently plan on doing. Also i got good suggestions from Mrs.Twecksbery(sp?) about trying to cook healthy dishes like casaroles and maybe being able to sale them and give them to families. That is also something i would like to try to do. I do have several healthy cookbooks i am planning to try recipees from this weekend :)