Tag Archives: Review

Travel/Food

Double chocolate cookies

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By: Norah Hoglund & Max Cahoon

Image created with Ai Generator

Are you looking for a delicious treat to bake? Check out this recipe for double chocolate chip cookies:

https://www.ihearteating.com/easy-chocolate-chocolate-chip-cookies/. These cookies are soft, chewy, and extremely chocolatey. But this recipe is not only delicious, it’s extremely easy to make. It only takes about 23 minutes to make!

You could make this for a family gathering, friend hangout, or just for a little treat for yourself when you’re feeling snacky. So next time you are craving a sweet treat, check out this recipe and enjoy!

Review:

Taste

Starting off with the taste of the cookies, the first thing to note is that they were very rich. They are basically like a brownie in cookie form. When they bake, they puff up and the top becomes crispy like a brownie. They were just the right amount of sweetness, and the chocolate chips added a change in texture that was very good. The melted chocolate chips in the middle was like a gooey mess but the crispy top added so much good texture that made every bite delicious.

Ease of baking

These cookies were relatively easy and quick to make compared to cookie recipes that have very specific and detailed instructions that can take longer. This recipe only took about 23 minutes, including baking time. It is a pretty standard recipe for cookies. One thing that was different was the recipe used melted butter instead of softened butter, which is sometimes more convenient because it’s hard to remember to leave butter out to soften. So, if you decide you are going to bake some cookies and don’t have much time, choose this recipe, it will save you loads of time!

What we would change

If we were to make this recipe of cookies again we would probably cook them for a little longer as we don’t like super super gooey cookies, but that’s just preference of course! If you like them to be a little bit extra crispy we would say bake them for 25 minutes instead of 23. Another thing we would change is adding ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt instead of ½ because these cookies were a little bit salty for our liking and if you like your cookies more sweet rather than salty you could do the same!

Overall rating

Our overall rating of these cookies would be a 9/10. The creator of this recipe did a great job with the measurements and the estimated times in the instructions are extremely helpful. We would 100% make these again and we also recommend that you try making them!

Recipe:

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter
  • ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
  2. Microwave the butter in a large, microwave safe bowl for about 40 seconds. Butter should be about 90% melted.
  3. Whisk the butter until it is completely melted
  4. Add both the sugars; mix until well combined.
  5. Stir in vanilla and egg until incorporated.
  6. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  7. Mix dough until just combined. Dough should be soft and a little sticky but not overly sticky.
  8. Stir in chocolate chips.
  9. Scoop out 1.5 tablespoons of dough (medium cookie scoop) and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
  10. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are set. They will be puffy and still look a little underbaked in the middle.
Travel/Food

Pumpkin Spice lattes: Which ones are worth it and which ones aren’t?

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By: Norah Hogland & Lily Sheldon

Fall is here; you know what that means! Leaves changing color, Halloween, fall treats, and best of all: Coffee shops have released their fall menus, and we’re here to test them out. We went to three different chain coffee shops to try out the most popular fall drink: the Pumpkin Spice latte.

Starbucks is the most well known stop for the iconic fall drink, selling approximately 20 million Pumpkin Spice lattes every year. But as the drink’s popularity has grown, more coffee shops have started adding the drink to their seasonal menu. People wait all year for this drink, as its popularity has skyrocketed over the last few years. Other coffee shops have started releasing their version of this fall staple, and we are here to see which one is the best.

First, we tried a Starbucks Iced Pumpkin Spice latte. Some things to note about the Starbucks latte: the pumpkin flavor was not very strong, but still noticeable. It also had a strong coffee flavor, which appeals to some people depending on their taste. It came with whipped cream and spices on the top. The cost of this drink was $6.25, and it was the smallest amount of the 3, though we ordered the same size from each place. Even so, it was a good drink. Overall, we rate this drink a 7.8/10.

Then, we tried an Iced Pumpkin latte from Caribou. This drink had a larger cup than Starbucks, and the cost was only $5.89. Unfortunately, there was no whipped cream or spices on top of this drink, it was just the coffee itself. There was a larger amount of ice compared to the other drinks as well. The latte from Caribou had a stronger pumpkin flavor, and less of a coffee flavor. Another thing to note was that it also had a bit of a fake, artificial flavor to it, which was not exactly pleasant. Overall rating of this drink was 4.66/10.

Lastly, we tried the Dunkin’ Pumpkin Spice latte. This drink had the largest cup for a small sized drink. Dunkin’s drink cost $5.89, the same as Caribou. This drink came with the most whipped cream, and it included caramel drizzle, and a dusting of cinnamon sugar. This drink was the sweetest tasting of the three, tasted more like pumpkin than Starbucks, but not more than Caribou and was more milky than the other 2. This drink is very sugary and sweet, which some prefer and some don’t. Overall, we rate this drink a 6.8/10.

If you are still wondering which drink you would like most, here are our thoughts:

  • If you like to stick to the classics, and if you prefer a stronger coffee flavor and a less sweet drink, we would recommend the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte. It is a tasty, solid option for coffee lovers to be in spirit during the fall season.
  • If you are looking for a more simple, and less expensive option, with no add ons, we would recommend the Caribou latte. The only problem with this one is the strange flavor to it, but some people don’t mind this. Caribou is a good option for pumpkin lovers, as it has the strongest pumpkin flavor out of the 3.
  • Lastly, the latte from Dunkin’. It’s a sweet, milky drink topped with lots of whipped cream and spices. This latte was more of a treat, so if you don’t love the taste of coffee but love pumpkin and sweetness, then Dunkin’ is the one for you.

If you don’t know your preferences? Try Starbucks, as it is the most neutral and, in our opinion, best tasting out of the three. Or, to get the full experience, try them all!

Movies/TV/Theaters

End of year movie reviews

By Gigi LeFebvre

Reviews of two of the latest big releases, The Fault in our Stars and X-Men: Days of Future Past


The Fault in Our Stars

Whether you follow the hype of young adult novels/series becoming movies, you can’t deny how well they’re doing for the box-office. Movie franchises that started off as book series like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter have been the kind of investments that make money because of its large base, and The Fault in Our Stars is no different.

Hazel Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) has a terminal lung cancer that should’ve killed her years ago but still lives thanks to a lot of medication and an air tank. She meets Gus Waters (Ansel Elgort) after a cancer support group and the two strike up a bond unlike any other romance movie. Based on the best selling novel by John Green, the story is one for the ages, even if it is not a happy one.

A good movie formula is this: Good Writer + Fantastic Cast – Long Running Franchise=Oscar Worthy, this movie has everything it needs and more. Sure, this movie might be taken for granted because of all the young actors and it being based on a young adult novel, but it shouldn’t.

This moving film is filled with life lessons that even the healthiest of people should learn from; life is not a wish granting factory, and making an impact on one person is more important that making an impact on the whole world. Though this movie is hard to get through because of the reality of death and cancer, it is surprisingly heartwarming.

Five Stars and Two Tissue Boxes

You can read about the girl that inspired the book and the organization “This Star Won’t Go Out” here—>http://tswgo.org/our-mission.html

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Marvel Studios is famous for its Summer Blockbusters. This summer, they’re already making millions with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. So it was a bit shocking to find that X-Men: Days of Future Past wasn’t as good as expected.

Set in a apocalyptic future where Mutants are being hunted into extinction by Sentinels, robots created by humans that can detect Mutant DNA even in the most normal looking disguise. The only way to stop them is by going back into the past and stopping Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from causing this dark future. Which sounded like a good idea in the comics when Shadowcat (Ellen Page) goes into the future, but in the movie they had to change a few things in order to work with the story line of the movies. So much to nobody’s surprise, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back.

As a person who loves the X-Men, I had some expectations that this movie would make me forget that The Last Stand ever happened, which it did. However, this movie was very hard to follow. With the conflicting storyline between what happens in the comics and what happened in the movies, there was no way to properly execute what could happen next for the X-Men. Bryan Singer, the director of Days of Future Past, tried to connect what he had done in First Class to the older movies in order to make a brighter future for the franchise, which seems nearly impossible.

Despite all the great actors and great story, this movie was boring and confusing. Not to mention I couldn’t even count how many times Wolverine said, “By the way, I’m for the future”.

Marvel has been beating the dead horse known as the X-Men franchise for too long, making two solo Wolverine movies and First Class. Frankly, if they want to make things right, a reboot with a new cast is what’s going to do it. It’s very hard to fix a vase that’s been thrown out an airplane.

Three Stars because Quicksilver was the only thing I really enjoyed.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Movie review – ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’

By Gigi LeFebvre

Whether you’re a fan or not, it’s hard to ignore the hype that’s been radiating from the second movie installment of The Hunger Games franchise: Catching Fire. The trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins, has made itself at home at the top of the New York Times Bestseller list since the first book was published. Now, its movies are setting up shop at the top of the box office. On opening night, the domestic box office totaled approximately $25 million, and the weekend of release brought it up to $136.1 million.

Many people complained and were put off by the first movie: from shaky camera shots to Liam Hemsworth’s brooding looks, or the grisly fact that twenty four kids were forced to fight to the death for entertainment as people watched. However, many may rest assured knowing that with a new director and a bigger budget that Catching Fire is a film you should not miss.

The movie takes place a few months after the events of the first movie. Katniss Everdeen, played by Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, returns home after winning the 74th Hunger Games with her fellow tribute and fake lover Peeta Mallark (Josh Hutcherson). The two of them then have to embark on the Capitol’s victory tour, where they visit all twelve districts. Katniss and Peeta won the games by attempting to eat poisonous berries. Many people in the Capitol saw this as just an act of love, while people in the districts saw the underlining meaning of defiance. This is what ignites the revolts and rebellions within the districts that Katniss visits during the tour. Katniss and Peeta then find themselves being forced to participate in the Quarter Quell, a special Hunger Games that takes place every 25 years. This time they are up against past winners of the Hunger Games from the other districts.

As a fan of the books, I saw The Hunger Games last year at the ungodly hour of 3:15 AM on the day it came out. So naturally, I then saw Catching Fire at 11:30 PM on the night before its release. Nevertheless, I was not disappointed, even though a scene I was anxious to see was cut out. Despite reading these books many times, I still found myself sitting at the edge of my seat thinking, “Run! Run! Run! Run! Run!”. Half of the movie is intense drama that leads up to thrilling action and suspense that doesn’t stop until the credits roll.

Fans of the books will enjoy not only the new actors like Sam Claflin (cast as Finnick Odair of District 4) and Jena Malone (cast as Johanna Mason from District 7), but the use of direct quotes from the books. I found that to be the most exciting thing. Even if you’re not a super involved fan or you haven’t read the books, you can still enjoy the story. The aesthetically pleasing scenery and graphics make this dystopian world all the more believable and real. The performances given by these talented actors and actresses are moving and powerful. Relatively obscure actors and actresses like Clafin will leave lasting impressions. I was exceptionally moved by Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of PTSD, which her character developed from being in the last games.

However, this movie is obviously not for everyone. There’s less blood and gore compared to the last movie, but there are scenes with loud explosions and noises that might give you a jolt. Unless you disapprove of violence and death, you shouldn’t have much to worry about with this movie. I recommend that you see it.