Category Archives: Travel/Food

Travel/Food

Reviewing a hot chocolate recipe from Instagram

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By: Norah Hoglund

One of the best parts of wintertime is drinking hot chocolate. I decided to review a recipe for French hot chocolate that I saw on Instagram. I got the recipe from cookingwithkian.

Here is the link to the video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGofH9MyoFp/?igsh=MWltaXhia3dzZXdwbQ==

Review

Process:

This recipe makes a more gourmet and rich hot chocolate, so it takes a little bit of extra effort to make. The 2 elements are the whipped cream and the hot chocolate, which are both pretty easy to make within themselves. Heating and mixing the milk and cream and sugar is quite easy, as long as you mix it. Making the whipped cream took a few minutes, because you have to use a hand mixer to make the heavy cream into whipped cream. The recipe makes enough to store in the fridge, which is good because it lasts a few days.

Taste:

This hot chocolate was so chocolatey and rich. It was a lot thicker than most hot chocolate because of the heavy cream. A few changes that I made to the recipe were adding a little bit of cocoa powder, because I didn’t have dark chocolate, and adding vanilla extract to the hot chocolate. Adding the vanilla adds extra flavor and adding the chocolate adds extra depth to the flavor. I also really enjoyed the whipped cream on top.

Overall:

Overall, I think this recipe is really fancy and tasty and a good treat to make in the winter. It is so rich that you can dilute it with milk and it still tastes very good. I rate the recipe a 9/10.

Recipe

Ingredients

Hot chocolate

  • 9oz 70% dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1½ cup whole milk
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1½ Tbsp granulated sugar
  • Very small pinch of salt

Vanilla Cream

  • 2 cups cream
  • 1-2 vanilla beans or 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Serve with croissants (optional)

For the Vanilla cream, in a Large bowl add, heavy cream, granulated sugar and vanilla. Mix with a hand mixer or whisk until stiff peaks form. Add to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and set aside.

For the hot chocolate, heat a medium pot over medium low heat, add whole milk, heavy cream and sugar. Whisk well, heat until steamy hot, turn off the heat, then add the chopped chocolate and salt. Whisk until the chocolate melts. Keep warm. In a small bowl pipe the whipped cream into a large mound.

Serve with the hot chocolate and croissants.

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.

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.

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

Travel/Food

Top five Thanksgiving foods

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By: Alayanna Bouwens

Thanksgiving has some very unique and delicious foods. Let’s rank them all from most well known to least and break down why they may be so popular.

  1. Roast Turkey

What would Thanksgiving be without its classic roast turkey? After all when you think of Thanksgiving you think of turkeys; whether it’s a cartoon turkey, a president pardoning a turkey, or a cooked and sliced turkey. They are an obvious choice as they are big enough to feed large amounts of people, turkeys are relatively common and easy to raise, and turkey also goes with countless other dishes making it a good universal Thanksgiving food.

2. Stuffing

Of course what would the turkey be without its stuffing. What’s in the stuffing varies house to house but it traditionally has breadcrumbs, herbs, and diced vegetables. It offers a variety of flavor and fiber as well as comfort. The stuffing goes great with the turkey making it an obvious choice.

3. Pumpkin pie

When we think fall we think Thanksgiving and when we think Thanksgiving we think pumpkin pie. What would a Thanksgiving dinner be without delicious pumpkin pie for dessert? The pie is usually topped with whipped cream and nuts. Pumpkin pie offers a unique sweet taste as well as texture.

4. Baked macaroni and cheese

What would Thanksgiving be without its comfort food baked mac and cheese? It’s a fan favorite with its bread crumbs and carbs. Thanksgiving mac and cheese is typically baked in an oven till the top layer is a little bit crispy. No matter how you make it, mac and cheese goes with any other food and serves as an excellent side dish.

5. Cranberry sauce

What would all of the other foods be without cranberry sauce, bitter or sweet cranberry sauce goes with any and all Thanksgiving foods, you can dip your turkey in it, side it with any other food, or just eat it plain; anyway you serve the cranberry sauce it remains delicious.

It is important to remember that although all of these foods are delicious the true beauty of Thanksgiving is in taking a moment to be thankful and show gratitude to the small and big things. A great thing to be grateful for is the delicious Thanksgiving food or just food in general. Take some time to reflect on all the beautiful things that you are grateful for and find a way to show your appreciation to those things.

Note: All images created with Adobe AI

Travel/Food

Starbucks holiday drinks review

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By: Norah Hoglund

Starbucks has recently come out with their holiday drink selections for the year! They have quite a few options, so I decided to test them in order to give insight on which ones you should try this year.

The drinks I tried were the Carmel Brûlée latte, the Peppermint Mocha, the iced Sugar Cookie latte, and the iced Gingerbread Chai.

Review

Caramel Brûlée latte:

This drink was, in a word, unremarkable. I liked the drink, but there was nothing that stood out about it. I didn’t really taste a lot of caramel in the drink, though I did like the caramel bits on top of it. It just tastes like a normal latte because the flavor is so mild. I would rate this one a 6.5/10.

Peppermint Mocha latte:

This drink was very flavorful. It tastes exactly like how you would think a Peppermint Mocha should taste. You can distinctly taste the peppermint and the chocolate, which are equally balanced. There is also a good balance of coffee flavor, though if some people like a stronger coffee flavor they might want to get an extra shot of espresso in this. Overall, it’s a great drink, and I rate it 8.5/10.

Iced Sugar Cookie latte:

This drink was not very sweet. The sugar cookie flavor is there, but it’s not a very good flavor. It doesn’t really remind me of a sugar cookie and it kind of just tastes bland. It definitely tastes like coffee, and the syrup isn’t sweet enough to balance out the bitterness of the coffee. I rate it a 4/10.

Iced Gingerbread chai:

This drink was probably my favorite one that I tried. It has a distinct gingerbread flavor, and it is nice and sweet. The gingerbread flavor is very reminiscent of Christmas. It comes with cold foam on top, which always takes the drink up a step. I rate this drink a 9.5/10.

Travel/Food

Fudge recipe review

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By: Norah Hoglund

In my opinion, fudge is one of the best treats to make during the holidays. Almost everyone loves fudge and it’s great to share with friends and family.

I reviewed a fudge recipe from allrecipes.com.

Review

The taste of this fudge is really great. I would compare it to really creamy milk chocolate with a touch of marshmallow flavor. It is perfectly sweet and has a great balance of flavors.

The texture of this fudge is perfect. It’s very smooth and creamy. It melts in your mouth; it’s soft enough that you can either bite it or lick it. It will even start to melt in your hand. It is not grainy, like fudge tends to be a lot of the time if you mess it up.

The process of making the fudge is really not very strenuous. All you really need is one pot to mix it in, and that’s the only thing you have to watch. The process is just melting a bunch of ingredients together in a pot, which makes your kitchen smell amazing, and pouring it into containers.

Overall, I think that this is a great fudge recipe. It will impress everyone that you share it with and everyone will want more (It’s very addicting). I rate this recipe a 10/10!

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
  • 2/3 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Gather all ingredients. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil; set aside.
  1. Combine sugar, marshmallow cream, evaporated milk, butter, and salt together in a large saucepan over medium heat; bring to a full boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
  1. Remove from heat and add milk chocolate chips and semisweet chocolate chips; stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla.
  1. Pour into prepared pan; chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.
Travel/Food

Pizza recipe and review

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By: Nils Hilleson

This recipe will make 4 full crusts.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp yeast
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1 tb sugar
  • 1 tb salt
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 830 grams bread flour

Steps for dough:

Add 1 tsp yeast, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup warm water into a bowl and let sit 5 mins for the yeast to bloom.

Then add 830 grams of bread flour, 1 tb sugar, 1 tb salt, 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 cups of warm water.

Knead in mixer until slightly sticky, add more flour if needed.

Dough is ready if it can be stretched to see light through.

Cut into 4 balls (they last for up to 7 days in the fridge).

When you are ready to use the dough, put them in olive oil coated bowls; let rise for at least an hour.

Steps for making pizza:

Preheat oven (for an hour) to its hottest temperature (550) with a pizza stone inside.

Take a dough and stretch it into a circle.

Put sparse amounts of flour on the surface you’re working on. This way the dough will slide onto the pizza stone.

You can add toppings like: tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, goat cheese, other cheeses, pepperoni, garlic sauce, and really anything that goes on pizza.

Review:

I thought the pizza turned out pretty good. I made a regular pizza with fake pepperoni and goat cheese, and a garlic cheese bread pizza. Both turned out pretty good but I preferred the garlic one since I’m not a big fan of the pepperoni or the goat cheese.

Getting the dough ready was the hardest part for me because I couldn’t really understand how to properly shape it. I think the crust was a little thick on the garlic one so I should’ve stretched the dough more while prepping the pizza.

It doesn’t taste as good as pizza from most actual pizza places but it’s still pretty good. The crust was thicker and the toppings weren’t distributed as well as I would have wanted. If you like Pizza Luce you may want to give this recipe a try. The garlic bread pizza was similar to one I get from there.

Travel/Food

Cranberry cheesecake bars recipe review

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By: Norah Hoglund

Image generated with AI

The weather is getting colder, and that means it’s time for fall treats! The recipe I reviewed was for cranberry cheesecake bars from Somuchfoodblog.

You can find the recipe here.

Review

To start, the process of making these bars.

There was 3 different components in these bars: the cheesecake filling, the cranberry topping, and the crust. Managing all of these mixtures and ingredients can be a little bit tricky, and you have to clean up as you go to make room for the next mixture. It is time consuming to cook the cranberry topping over the stove.

Another inconvenience is that you need quite a few appliances to make this recipe, like a food processor, hand mixer, and stovetop. There is also a lot of uncommon ingredients that people would not usually have in their house, like ginger snap cookies and orange liqueur/Grand Marnier. These bars are not something you make randomly, it has to be planned and the ingredients and appliances have to be on hand. On the bright side, the ingredient list isn’t too extensive.

Although it is more complex than a lot of recipes, if you like baking, it’s quite enjoyable and it’s fun to assemble all of your components once they are done.

Next, the taste.

These cheesecake bars tasted very good. I really love the tartness of the cranberry and I also like how the recipe used ginger snap cookies for the crust instead of graham crackers, like most bars use. These bars are very meticulously made and they taste very gourmet. I think that the measurements in this recipe were just right, because nothing is overpowering and it all blends well together.

Overall, I give this recipe an 8/10. The ingredients and baking process were a bit of a challenge, but the taste made it worth all the work.