Category Archives: Travel/Food

Travel/Food

Cranberry cheesecake bars recipe review

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By: Norah Hoglund

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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.

Getting To Know/History, Travel/Food

Root beer rankings and a brief history

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By: Nils Hileson

Bottles of root beer tried

Root beer was made in the 18th century by Charles Elmer Hires based of a tea that has similar ingredients. Root beer is commonly made with sassafras root, wintergreen, sarsaparilla and other natural ingredients. It also has a lot of sugar and caramel coloring in it commonly. Its name is derived from the root ingredients used to make it and beer was added to the name just to appeal to miners.

For a time root beer was sold as a syrup or powder to be added to sodas before it became a popular soda itself. I myself like root beer quite a bit so I decided to try six different root beers and rank them from worst to best.

Brownie caramel cream root beer: this one is the worst not because it is particularly terrible but because of how disappointing it was. I was expecting actual caramel flavor but it just tasted like watered down root beer. Very disappointing.

Henry Weinhard’s root beer: not very sweet nor did it have much spice. Didn’t have much flavor for a root beer, so it’s ranked low.

Old Red Eye root beer: had a nice amount of spice for a root beer but was lacking in everything else. Was very watery and kinda disappointing.

Root Naturals Apothecary craft soda: a little less sweet than a normal root beer but had good levels of spice. A fine choice for a root beer.

Drive-in style Dog n Suds root beer: had quite a bit of sweetness, and a little less spice than the others I’ve had. I prefer my root beer to be pretty sweet so this root beer was good.

Boylan Bottling Co: definitely the best root beer out of all of them. The spices they used were different from a normal root beer’s but it was a welcome change of taste. They also used cane sugar, which I’m not sure how much that changed the flavor, but I think it made it better. Didn’t taste watered down at all.

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Travel/Food

Best Trader Joe’s candies

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By: Siri David

Trader Joe’s is a grocery store that is located all over the USA. It is known to have fresh produce and healthier food options while being set at a lower price. Trader Joe’s is well known in the younger generation for the candy options. I personally have tried almost every type of fruity candy that Trader Joe’s offers.

I will be explaining and ranking all the types of candy I have tried.

Starting at the bottom, we have the Fruit Jelly’s. These are square shaped jelly candies that have 6 different flavors. There is orange, raspberry, lemon, blackberry, grape, and mandarin. I personally did not like this candy at all. I thought the flavors were just too artificial and I also found that the texture was too gelatinous.

The next on my list is the Strawberry Field Gummies. The main reason I don’t like these is because there is only one flavor and I find that kind of boring. I do like the color combo of them with the green and pink.

After that is the Sour Strawberry Candy Belts. I do like these a lot. They have a good amount of sour to them without overpowering the flavor, but again there just is only one flavor so they get kinda boring after a few.

Next is the Scandinavian Swimmers, they are a classic at Trader Joe’s and there are two different types. They have just an original gummy and then they have the sour version. I personally like the sour ones more than the original, but they both are delicious. These are in all year unlike a lot of Trader Joe’s candy that often only come out during certain times of the year. There are four different flavors, and they are all shaped as different sea animals.

The last, and my overall favorite, is the Sour Jelly Beans. These are my absolute favorites. They have many different flavors and are definitely sour and that’s what I love about them. They also come in a smaller bag so you don’t become stressed out over how many jelly beans you have.

At the end of the day I think Traders Joe’s sells the best candy and if you haven’t tried any of them you definitely should!

Travel/Food

Krumkake recipe and review

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By: Nils Hilleson

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 c sugar
  • 1 1/2 c flour
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 stick of butter melted
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon

Equipment:

  • Krumkake iron
  • Dowel

Steps:

  • Beat 4 eggs in a bowl
  • Add 1 cup sugar, mix
  • Add 1 1/2 c flour & 2 tbsp cornstarch, mix
  • Retrieve melted butter and add vanilla & cinnamon, mix
  • Add butter to bowl and whisk to combine.
  • Scoop out an acceptable amount of batter (about a teaspoon) and place on the iron
  • Wait for the iron light to turn off
  • Quickly retrieve the krumkake from the iron and roll it into a tube with the dowel
  • Let the krumkake cool until completely cool

This recipe makes around 30 krumkake

I really like krumkake, they taste sweet and vaguely cinnamon. My mom makes some every year around winter as a tradition. Krumkake is a Norwegian cookie.

Due to how many are made there plenty to give away to friends or family. They take awhile to make not because they’re hard to but just because of the fact you have to wait for them to cook for awhile, but it’s worth it since they’re so good.

Personally, I don’t normally do this, but since they’re tube shaped you can fill them with stuff like whipped cream. I find they can be a tad bit awkward to eat due to their shape.

Rolling the krumkake can be a little stressful since you have to do it quickly so they don’t harden before you can roll them properly.

This was based on my grandma’s recipe, but it really only had the ingredients, and directions on how to make the batter. I had to write out the rest of the steps.

Travel/Food

Crepe recipe and review

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By: Nils Hileson

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 3 tablespoons of melted butter

Steps:

  • Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk vigorously for 10-20 seconds until smooth.
  • Put the batter in a bowl with a lid and place in the fridge for 1-2 hours
  • Put a pan on a burner at low-medium heat and add butter
  • Add 1/3 cup of batter in pan
  • Swirl pan until the surface is coated with a thin layer of batter
  • Let sit until the edges start to peel off the pan then flip the crepe
  • Wait until it’s only a little crispy and then put on a plate

You can add toppings like;

  • Butter & sugar
  • Jam & whipped cream
  • Nutella & banana
  • Butter, sugar & cinnamon
  • Scrambled egg

The crepes were really good, I made three; one with Nutella and banana, one with cinnamon and sugar and one with scrambled egg. Crepes are really good due to how many different things you can put on them. While most crepes are made sweet you could make one more savory.

They are also pretty easy to make but it’s easy to accidentally cut them due to how thin they are.

The crepes tasted really good the egg one might’ve been my favorite as the cheese I put in the egg and the crepe itself worked really well together. The other crepes also tasted really good though, both being sweet in different ways.

Due to how much batter I had we ended up with a lot of extra crepes since the crepe doesn’t take much batter to make due to being so thin. When making crepes the first one will almost always come out really bad as the pan isn’t quite ready yet so the first one will look bad.

Overall crepes are really good and pretty easy to make.

This recipe was a modified version of my dad’s.

Travel/Food

Brownie recipe review

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By: Norah Hoglund

Brownies are one of my favorite desserts. I love chocolate pastries and a good brownie is one of my favorite things ever. I have made many different recipes and today I am reviewing a recipe from Baker by Nature.

Link to the recipe: here

Review

This recipe made really good brownies all around. The top was crackly, just like it was advertised. They were very fudgy in the middle, but not undercooked. The edges were very crispy, which is good for the edge piece kind of people. I really enjoyed the chocolate chips that were mixed into the batter. They added a very nice texture to contrast the pastry texture. The chocolate flavor was strong, but it was still very sweet. As the brownies cooled, the edges got a bit more crispy. I personally prefer softer edges, but some people like them crispier. These brownies were really great overall and would go great with vanilla ice cream. I would rate them a 9/10 overall.

Recipe

  • 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (43g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional (don’t use if you don’t like coffee)
  • 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter
  • 2 Tablespoons (28ml) oil canola, vegetable, or coconut will work
  • 1 and 1/3 cups (265g) granulated sugar divided
  • 2 large large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract optional, but recommended
  • 3/4 cup (128 grams) chocolate chips

instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) (175 degreed C). Line an 9×9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Spray lightly with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Set aside until needed.
  3. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, oil, and 1/3 cup of the sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring frequently, until butter is completely melted. Remove from heat.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolk, vanilla (if using) and remaining sugar. Whisk until well combined, about 30 seconds.
  5. Slowly, pour the warm butter mixture into the egg mixture, adding it very gradually (a little bit at a time) and whisking constantly until completely combined.
  6. Add in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips and, using a rubber spatula, slowly stir until just combined.
    • *Do not over mix! Stop stirring when you see the last trace of dry ingredients. Over mixing will give you cakey brownies.
  7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  8. Bake for 28 (to 30 minutes) or until the edges are firm and the top is shiny and slightly cracked.
  9. Place pan on a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.