Category Archives: Entertainment

Travel/Food

Dampfnudel recipe and review

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By: Nils Hilleson

Ingredients:

Dough:

  • 3 C flour
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 3 tsp dry yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 C warm milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 C butter, softened

Poaching liquid:

  • 3 tbs butter
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1 C milk

Steps:

  • Blend 3 C flour, 1/4 C sugar, yeast and salt in a stand mixer
  • Add warm milk, 2 eggs and 1/4 C softened butter into stand mixer and mix until dough forms a ball
  • Transfer to a bowl and let rise for 1 hour
  • Knead dough, cut into 8 pieces and allow 30 minutes to rise
  • Melt 3 tbs butter in a heavy pot over medium heat
  • Add 1/4 C of sugar until browned (about 5 minutes)
  • Add 1 C milk
  • Arrange dough into the pot
  • Cover and cook at low heat for 10-15 minutes
  • Add sauces of your choice

My dad makes Dampfnudel around December most years so I thought it’d be good to learn how to make it. I also made a vanilla and caramel sauce to add to the Dampfnudel but people add different things to it; I did see multiple other Dampfnudel recipes that use vanilla sauce though.

Dampfnudel isn’t always sweet and can be made savory but I’ve never had a savory Dampfnudel. I didn’t realize how much waiting is involved in making Dampfnudel. I really like Dampfnudel because of how sweet I make it and how soft it is.

I decided to do this since, to my knowledge, Dampfnudel seems relatively unknown and I really like it so I think more people should know about it.

This is a modified recipe from my parents recipe.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘White Chicks’ movie review

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By: Marina Yang

Version 1.0.0

‘White Chicks’ is a classic 2000’s (specifically 2004) comedy, best known for its iconic jokes and the well-known actors the Wayan brothers; Shawn, Marlon and Keenan Ivory. The movie was directed and produced by Keenan Ivory with Shawn and Marlon both being writers and star actors for the movie.

The main plot of ‘White Chicks’ is two FBI agents (Marcus Copeland and Kevin Copeland) are on the brink of losing their jobs because of their previous assignment where they messed up a drug bust and confused harmless ice cream sellers with drug dealers. They manage to get one last chance and get assigned to protect two sisters, Brittany and Tiffany Wilson, from kidnappers and safely escort them to a fashion event in the Hamptons.

Along the way though, they experience a minor car-crash causing the sisters to freak out, causing them to not want to attend the event. With their jobs on the line the FBI agents plan to go undercover as the two sisters, as two ‘white chicks’, squeezing between the two lives of a white girl and a black man. Ultimately, they discover the real kidnappers of the whole ordeal in the end and save their jobs and relationships.

This movie is very humorous for its iconic references and jokes, though it does contain some more mature content. The movie briefly covers the issues of miscommunication and lying as the two brothers often found themselves in a dilemma between balancing their life and their jobs. For example, Marcus is constantly putting his wife at distrust due to him being overworked and taking out his sleepiness on her, giving her a lack of attention and building up to her thinking he’s unfaithful. While Kevin tries to approach a news reporter, Denise Porter, though not as the real him but as someone else, Latrell Spencer, a famous basketball player. The real Spencer though, has a thing for ‘white chicks’, and has an attraction to Marcus undercover as the sister, before it was announced he was a black man. This fact gives a nice touch into reality rather than just this FBI agent mission because it shows that outside of jobs or cool things like this, they are people who hold their own values amongst other/different people/social life. Being more individual than their job titles in this case.

I really liked this movie because of its jokes and just overall likable characters throughout the movie, so I give it a 5/5. People really hyped up about this movie and they weren’t lying when they said it was good. Although at first, it didn’t look as promising, but once I got a few minutes into it I instantly started feeling engaged. Now, whenever I see the Wayan brothers it’s going to be funny in a way.

You can watch this movie via subscription on Netflix or rent or purchase it on other streaming platforms.

Travel/Food

Recipe for gingerbread cookies

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By: Karl Salkowski

Image created with Copilot

Gingerbread cookies have been synonymous with the holiday season for centuries, but somehow, they have always left something to be desired. Often too dry, hard, or flavorless, gingerbread has never been my favorite, until I found this recipe. These cookies are soft, addicting, and they melt in your mouth. This recipe from “Sally’s Baking Addiction” completely changed my perspective on this staple holiday treat.

Ingredient List:

  • 10 Tbsp butter, room temperature
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ⅔ cup unsulphured molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tsp vanilla
  • 3½ cups flour
  • 1 Tsp baking soda
  • ½ Tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 Tbsp cinnamon
  • ½ Tsp ground allspice
  • ½ Tsp ground cloves

Instructions:

  1. Beat butter until creamy, then add brown sugar and molasses.
  2. Once thoroughly mixed add egg and vanilla, beat on high for 2 minutes.
  3. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
  4. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
  5. Chill for at least 3 hours.
  6. Roll out with flour, ¼ Inches thick onto a baking sheet.
  7. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 350º Fahrenheit.

Make sure to bake until the edges are crispy but the cookie is still uniform in color. This prevents the cookies from hardening up, giving them their soft texture instead. The spice profile of these cookies is very specific as well, using a whole tablespoon of ground ginger elevates them to another level. All of these factors combined make these cookies my go to holiday treat.

This recipe is a family favorite, having become a tradition each holiday season. I very much recommend this recipe, as it is a different take on this winter staple. I definitely prefer the texture and relaxed flavor to other recipes, making this my personal favorite. If I were to give this recipe a rating out of ten, I would give it a 10. It is one of my favorite recipes of all time and a must-try for any cookie enthusiast.

Books/Art

Chapter 4 summary and review of ‘Twilight’

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By: Ivy Dahl

Summary:

In chapter four of ‘Twilight’, Bella begins to dream of Edward Cullen every night for almost a month.

The guy who almost hit her with his car follows her around giving endless apologies, and her brush with danger seemed to revive all the attention on her that had only just died down. Bella returns to her place next to Edward in biology, with him also now ignoring her again.

When Bella arrives at home, Jessica calls Bella and asks her if she would be upset if she asked Mike to a school dance, to which Bella says no, and that Jessica should definitely ask Mike.

The next day, once again, Edward ignores Bella throughout class, but this time he says her name once the bell rings and the classroom is empty. This grabs Bella’s attention and she listens keenly as he mutters an apology for ignoring her, but also insists that it’s better if they aren’t friends. This sparks Bella’s temper, saying that he should have figured that out before he saved her life, since he clearly regretted it. Now Edward, also angry at her response, tells her she doesn’t understand anything. Bella attempts to flee their argument but trips and her books spill out all over the floor. Edward picks them up for her courteously.

Bella continues her day, and after school she finds her classmate Eric leaning against her car awkwardly. He asks her to the school dance, which she evades by telling him she’ll be in Seattle that day. Later that day, she continues this cover up by asking her dad if she can actually go to Seattle, and he agrees.

The next morning, after Bella arrives at school she has a confusing interaction with Edward Cullen, who now has golden eyes, and is offering her a ride to Seattle. Bella reminds him that he told her that they shouldn’t be friends, to which he responds that he’s just tired of trying to stay away from her. Then bizarrely, before leaving, he warns Bella to stay away from him.

Review:

The fourth chapter of ‘Twilight’ has less drama and action then the previous ones, focusing more on fleshing out the building tensions between the characters. Because of this slower pace I’d give it a rating of 6/10. You can buy the book ‘Twilight’ on Amazon.

Movies/TV/Theaters

My review of ‘On My Block’

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By: Kendra Shanklin

*Warning: This review contains spoilers

‘On My Block’ is a show about a group of teens named Caeser, Monse, Jamal, and Ruby who have complicated lives, and who are trying to juggle between school and friendships while trying to find rollerworld money. This show was released March 16, 2018 and is rated TV-14 because it contains gangs, violence, and strong language.

*Recap

In the first season of ‘On My Block’ the group of teens were watching a high school party from over a brick wall. They were talking about how freshman year will be awesome, and they were also mentioning that they wanted to get their friend Caesar out of the Santos gang, but it was hard for them to help him because they had no money. So, in order to help Caesar all the teens came together to try and find the rollerworld money, which was money that was supposedly hidden by the Santos gang.

Monse and Ruby think that there’s no rollerworld money so they start losing hope until Jamal starts putting the pieces together. After that, Jamal ends up finding the money but keeps it a secret because the group was having a complicated time and he didn’t want to stress anyone. They had no idea how much the money would change their lives, but they all felt the pressure building. In the end, the whole group had to decide whether finding the cash was worth all the secrets and drama it brought with it.

*My review

‘On My Block’ is a binge-watch worthy show and I love watching it in my free time. I like how it shows the complicated loving relationship of growing up in Los Angeles as a teenager. I also love how there’s drama in the show as it shows the reality of what goes on in Los Angeles.

If you like drama and comedy I recommend you watch this show. Overall, I give this a 9.5/10.

Thank you for reading my review and I hope you’re willing to watch this show🤍.

You can watch ‘On My Block’ on Netflix.

Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

How social media can be negative & positive

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By: Seng Nhkum

Today many people use social media, and approximately 5.66 billion people globally use social media, representing about 68.7% of the world’s population. Some examples of social media are TikTok, Instagram, SnapChat, Facebook, and X. I think social media can be negative and positive and these are my reasons why.

First, a reason why I think social media can be negative is harassment and cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is when someone is repeatedly creating harmful behavior using technology to threaten, harass, embarrass, or target another person. This can be negative for social media because although it’s easy to just block them they can still continue making accounts to harass you. Also, cyberbullying and harassment can lead up to damaging the person’s mental health and well being.

Another reason why I think social media can be negative is stranger danger. There are tons of people on social media which means lots of people you don’t know. Strangers can try to take advantage of you and manipulate you especially if you are still young. Strangers can take advantage of you like if the stranger knows about what you’re struggling with they could try to take advantage of that and try to manipulate you into doing something. Like what happens a lot is when a minor runs away from home to secretly meet with the stranger, which leads to a negative outcome because they don’t even personally know the person but still chooses to meet up with a stranger.

Then a reason why I think social media can also be positive is communication and awareness. Social media can spread news quickly and this leads to faster communication making communication more efficient. Also, social media can spread a lot of awareness about many things, for example like any social issues that are happening in the world, and this is positive because it shows people what things are happening in the world changing their perspectives on anything.

Lastly, another reason why I think social media can be positive is you can make a career off it making lots of money. Like many people called influencers, who post videos on social media, have made a career out of social media and being really famous while making tons and tons of money.

Overall, social media is negative and positive because it can put you in dangerous situations, but could also provide for you, or help you. Always use social media safety and use it wisely.

Travel/Food

Shortbread cookie recipe and review

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By: Nils Hilleson

Ingredients:

  • Two sticks of butter
  • 207 grams sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 320 grams flour
  • 1 egg white
  • Decorative sugar

Steps:

– Add butter, sugar and salt Into a stand mixer

– Beat at low speed until the ingredients are incorporated and smooth, around 3 minutes

– Add egg yolk and mix until combined

– Add all the flour into the bowl and mix at low speed, after roughly 30 seconds the dough will be in large clumps

– Remove dough from bowl and form into two 9 inch logs (doesn’t need to be exact)

– Wrap the logs separately in parchment paper and twist the ends closed

– Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

– Heat oven to 350, line baking sheet with parchment paper

– Brush the surface of the logs with egg white and apply a lot of decorative sugar

– Slice the logs into 1/2 inch cookies

– Lay the cookies on the baking sheet and space them 1/2 inch apart

– Bake until the cookies are golden at the bottom edges, or 18 to 22 minutes, rotate the baking sheet halfway though baking

– Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely

Cookies last for up to 3 days

Making these cookies was pretty simple since it’s mostly butter and flour but they taste really good, they’re very buttery and sweet just over all delicious.

I made one set with red decorative sugar and one with green decorative sugar. Getting the decorative sprinkles on the dough was a little tedious. Cutting the dough into cookies was also a little tedious but also didn’t take the longest. I think the red ones may have come out a little undercooked since they were a little chewy but still delicious.

I was able to make a lot of cookies with this recipe. Making these cookies was pretty simple so I’d be interested in making more cookie some time. Once the cookies cooled down they were pretty crunchy and had a good texture for a cookie.

Me and my family all really like the cookies. I took these cookies to Thanksgiving and the rest of my family liked them quite a bit.

I might have to make these again sometime.

This is a rewritten New York Times recipe

Movies/TV/Theaters

Movie review: ‘The Black Phone’

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By: Marina Yang

*Warning: This review contains spoilers

The movie ‘The Black Phone’ was made on June 24, 2022. It was directed by Scott Derrickson and co-written with C. Robert Cargill, based on the short story of the same name by Joe Hill.

‘The Black Phone’ is a thriller and supernatural horror movie that revolves around our protagonist Finney Blake, Gwen Blake (sister of the main character), the antagonist/kidnapper being called the ‘Grabber’, the 5 other victims (Bruce Yamada, Billy Showalter, Robin Arellano, etc.), and others.

The movie starts off with missing posters of kids, indicating that the kidnappings have been going on for a while already. Our main characters’ family, as others are, are more wary and scared about this situation as the disappearances pile up with no lead. Then, one day, when Finney is walking back home after going separate paths from his sister (context: Finney’s sister sleeps over at her friend’s house every Friday night), he sees an odd black van with a man coming out of it. The man drops his groceries, and as most people who pass by in this kind of situation, Finney helps the man. Then the stranger pops up a question, “You wanna see a magic trick?” which Finney as a kid is easily fantasized by and answers, sure/yes. The strange man opens his door, revealing several black balloons, and then snatching him into his truck to his house. Finney then has to survive the next few days in an enclosed basement room as the mysterious, broken-like, black phone rings with advice from the past victims to help him escape. Meanwhile Gwen desperately is trying to find an answer from her dreams to draw a conclusion of where her brother may be located or a hint on the killer’s identity.

The story mentions the undetermined/unrevealed details of missing cases. Throughout the movie, we never really know what the killer’s true intentions were with these kids and why he hinted at creepy things. It greatly speaks about the terror and how scary it is being in the position of the kidnapped victims (children in this case), and the strategic thinking you need to plan an escape in a confinement-like area. This is heightened by switching the perspectives between the worried families trying to search for their lost family member(s) to the kidnapped person struggling to reach back home safely.

I’d rate it a 4/5 because I thought it was a pretty good storyline, even if it had been based off of something else, the plot is interesting. Though I’d by lying if I said that I wouldn’t feel some kind of emotion if the killer was never caught in the movie. Especially if Gwen never had this psychological dream-reading trait of hers because she was so helpful throughout the movie, helping the officers make leads and get a step closer to solving the case.

You can watch this movie through a subscription on Peacock or renting/buying it from other services (Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, etc.).