Is It Over Already?

Hey all!
This is my final blog post assignment for my class, and I have decided to use it to talk about this entire experience. What independent learning was like, and how it has affected me.

To start off I want to point out, I had my doubts. I was excited to begin, but I also didn't see much happening. I figured I would 'work' towards my goal and only learn small things along the way that would help make the final product happen. No. I have studied and learnt WAY more than I planned. Did I cook a lot? No, I didn't do much in the kitchen. But I have gained serious confidence in the kitchen and knowledge of how to become better. I have spent a lot of time on the computer researching recipes and watching tutorials. I have googled different types of pasta and different baking instruments. When I started this project I expected the only way I could improve was through making meals every week. And while I still see validity in that statement, I also see how research can improve your meal making. Overall I have learned how to use Google to make kitchen work and meals seem a lot less scary and even fun.

This whole experience has been like nothing I've ever done before. I'm one of those students that likes tests because they know their facts (decently..). This class and this method of teaching has challenged other parts of my education in ways that a test never did, or ever could. It taught me how to take a problem into my own hands, solve it, and make it into something worthwhile. It has taught me to not fear the unknown. I don't just plop the information into my head the night before, I now spend time understanding and learning about the topic. Independent projects are a must-have in the highschool world in my mind. It helped develop my individuality as well as enhancing other talents/interests.

So as a total score on this semester and this project, I give it a 10/10 for going above and beyond, and helping me see that I can go above and beyond.

Thanks Mr. Hazeu for this opportunity.

Peace out!
Melina

Tripping At The Finish Line

It's that time of year. Everyone is counting down the days until school is over, and trying to pretend that exams will just disappear. I look back on this past week and I can honestly say, I don't remember it. I feel like so much is going on all at once, that my brain is spinning! Not only am I stressing out about my classes and making sure I have everything in place to graduate, but I'm kind of freaking out about how to finish off my independent project. I want it to be really good, but I don't have anything to measure it by since I'm the only one doing it. So I have been trying to brain storm some ideas and these are the two i've thought of as a final for my project:

1. Create 1 more meal and 1 more dessert. Then create a powerpoint of my trials and what I've learnt from each. With this presentation, serve either an medium sized appetizer platter (with three options) or a dessert platter (with 1-3 options).

OR

2. Create 2 more meals and 2 more desserts. Then create a powerpoint of my trials and what I've learnt from each (No food served).

I think personally, I prefer option one. Mainly because I like sharing the food I make and getting my classes feedback (no pun intended!).

So what should I serve my class with my powerpoint? Desserts? Or Appetizers? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

Good Morning!

This week I tried something new. Breakfast. To be honest, I love breakfast. But when it comes to getting up early enough to make and eat it, I chose sleep instead. This weekend however was my sister's and my cousin's birthday weekend and I thought I would treat them with a breakfast surprise. I was inspired by the restaurant Chez Coras (A family favourite!) and its menu of deliciousness! So I googled away and found some recipes right off the Cora website. After that I made a little menu for my cousins and siblings to chose from and went grocery shopping.

The night before my parents and I began setting up the living to make it look more like a restaurant. With some curtains and a little bit a waitress/restaurant knowledge, the room looked ready to go! I got up at 8:30am and began doing some prep work before waking up the kids. My step-mom helped me with this whole excursion and I owe her a LOT of gratitude! So we chopped up fruit, made the crepe batter, and got the other foods ready to go. Then we woke those sleepy teens up and sat them at their table. They were all pretty impressed. When it came to ordering their meals, they didn't chose much variety so I only got to try a few of the items off the menu.

It was a lot of fun, I have to admit. The kitchen was crazy busy and there was a lot to do, but we worked well together and served some tasty looking breakfast. Everyone enjoyed the food and I received many praises. I have to say that breakfast is one of the nicer meals to make since the recipes are (usually) not too complicated, but can be made unique and your own. One of the fun recipes I tried out (that wasn't from the Cora menu) was a Nutella French Toast. I will definitely be making that one again!

 Hope you enjoy and maybe feel inspired to do this for someone else on their birthdays!

Till next time,
Melina

Who Were They?

This was the big question this past week as we all worked on writing graduation biographies. Since I am on the yearbook committee (again) I know the importance a good bio is to the whole yearbook experience. Nobody likes reading an emotionally empty biography! So for the bio I have been writing, I have been going for a light hearted but sweet feel.
Something I learned this week while working on these bios was the 6 techniques to effective writing.
these are as follows:
1. Idea (What is the topic?)
2. Organization (How is it laid out?)
3. Word Choice (Specific nouns and action verbs?)
4. Sentence Style (Variety?)
5. Voice (What personally and tone?)
6. Conventions and Corrections (Effort and time put in)

I found these techniques helpful in tidying up my writing. Little fixes here and there.
Writing these bios have kind of been freaking me out! I can't believe how close we are to the end of this chapter! Sometimes it feels like I'm still in elementary counting down the years. Now i'm counting down the days and I can't decide whether I want them to speed up or slow down!

Another part of our week was reflection. My classmates and I would help each other out in writing the grad bios. We would all look back over the years at specific people and events and try to capture them in our writing.

It has been an amazing high school experience (minus all the drama and homework). I have been so blessed with the amazing classmates and close friends I have made. I couldn't have asked for a better grade to graduate with.

What's Cooking?

Well! Do I ever have a story for you! This past week I attempted..wait for it...AN ENTIRE MEAL! I have to admit, I was a little terrified. I was trying out a new recipe and I wanted my family to like it. So for this week's learning log, I am going to tell you about Trial #2 in the kitchen!

I got the recipe for a BBQ Beef off of All Recipe's 'Recipes in Motion' video. It was a pretty laid back meal to make. I made the BBQ sauce the night before and set out the meat to thaw. Then in the morning before I left for school, I simply put the meat into the slow cooker and the covered it with the sauce. When I got home from school I took the meat out of the cooker, cut it up, and then put it back in for another hour. We ate our BBQ with toasted buns. I found that spreading some mayo onto the bun REALLY enhanced the flavour. Overall my test tasters (my family) and I gave this meal 9/10. The only reason we deducted marks was because we felt that adding onions and some swiss cheese would make it better.


While the meat was simmering for that extra hour, I started on the salad. This salad is one of our family favourites. Simply adding spinach, dried cranberries, and candied sunflower seeds into the bowl, then preparing the dressing. The dressing I made was from the same recipe and it included poppy seeds, sugar, paprika, apple cider vinegar, vegetable oil, and 2 teaspoons of minced onion. My family and I enjoyed this salad but it seemed like something was a bit off (maybe gone bad?).
If something tastes off, how do you figure out what it is?


Last but CERTAINLY not least! I made a dessert. Aw yes, this was the part I was most excited for. I found this awesome recipe from the Baked Perfection's web
site. They are called 'S'more Cookies'. Mmmm...

I usually don't like making changes to new recipes (get a feel for it first, then adjust), but this recipe I felt had WAY too much sugar in it. Not only did it have 1 1/2 cups of sugar (brown and white combined) but it also had graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chunks, little marshmallows, AND chocolate chips. So I didn't add chocolate chips, but it was still quite sweet. So these cookies I would say would have scored better for me personally if they weren't so overly sweet. But they do look fantastic and taste good (with a glass of milk!)





Overall a great experience. I am finding myself more and more comfortable being in the kitchen, and that was the biggest component to this project, so hurray!

Shalom!

Melina

A Confusing 451°F Week

Can you guess what this post is going to be about? Maybe a little Bradbury? Yep. As a class we have started discussing the book Fahrenheit 451. Not all of us are finished yet..And I am thinking of rereading parts of it again because I am quite confused..

The questions brought up in class (ex. What societal problems does Bradbury see in his time and exaggerate?) are really good questions that I have no clue on how to answer.
I found the book quite confusing as well as dull. I appreciated Bradbury's skill at creating emotion simply by writing things in a way that cause irritation, confusion, etc. But I found his repetition of  this technique kind of annoying (maybe that was the point?) and boring. This book for me was a book I had a hard time focusing on. I would zone out a lot and then have to re-read the whole paragraph!

Another part of the book I had a hard time swallowing was Mildred character. She drove me nuts! The entire time I read about her, I envisioned her as this zombie staring at the screen and selfishly whining over everything Montag would say. Urgh! Why is her character so hard to love? As the reader, I wanted Montag to have a supportive wife, but Mildred just crumpled up that dream! Another question brought up in class was: "How did Mildred and Montag's marriage end up like we see it?". And yet again, I feel like I have no good answer. I assumed that they just kind of got married out of practicality with no real love to begin with and then other time, even more distance grew between them.

So my conclusion from this past week was one of disappointment. I may have 'read' the book, but I didn't READ the book. Maybe due to the fact that I would zone out so much, but now I have to re-read this book just to feel like I've got a grasp of the meaning.

Suiting Up Your Recipe Options!

This past week was hectic. With report cards around the corner, everyone rushed to get in the late assignments we'd pretended never existed! Project-wise, I have been trying to find recipes and websites, and I found some good ones! Here is a list of the MUST know recipe sites:

1. Youtube:
Probably weren't expecting that, but Youtube seems to have everything! Simply typing in 'How to cook' will bring up a list of options for you to choose from. My favourite thing about using Youtube for cooking/baking is that then I get to watch them MAKE the food, not just a list of 'To Dos' (That's good to have as well!). I use the Allrecipes 'Recipes in Motion' a lot. Great recipe options and usually pretty simple.
http://www.youtube.com/user/allrecipes?feature=watch

2. Baking Addictions:
This blog I came across just recently. The blogger, Jamie posts creative recipes that are both beautiful to the eyes AND the mouth! One of the recipes on my 'Have to Bake' list is her Twix Brownie recipe! My sister loves Twix and I like the fact that its nut free so I know I don't have to change the recipe around (Since I have people in my household who are allergic).
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/twix-brownies/

3. Baked Perfection:
This is another really awesome blog I found written by a women named Risa. She has SO many recipes to choose from and I enjoy how unique each one is. I will definitely be using this website for a dessert of some kind!
http://www.bakedperfection.com

4. Munchkin Munchies:
I found this last blog just the other day. It isn't fully finished yet (a lot of things say under construction), but the blog has all these cute little treats! As you can probably tell from my last (only) baking trial, I enjoy cute food. So this website was an exciting find! I am looking forward to seeing how it is updated and to find more cute recipes to make.
http://www.munchkinmunchies.com

5. All Recipes:
Well known, I know. But handy none the less. If you haven't used All Recipes before, It is a handy cookbook-like website where people can upload recipes and rate/review them. I use this website mainly for supper dishes and reading suggestions from reviews.
http://allrecipes.com

So there you have it! A list of great websites for baking (and cooking). I hope you find this helpful in your own kitchen endeavours. In the next week or so, I plan on posting a NEW TRIAL! Hurray! I'll keep ya posted! (...Pun intended.)

Cheerio!
Melina

A Poetic Week!

This week was a lot of fun! We had the project of finding a poem we really like and then analyzing it. This project brought back childhood memories because I chose to do a poem from Shel Silverstein's 'Where The Sidewalk Ends' book. When I was younger, my aunt would read my cousins and I the goofy poems from that book and it has become a beloved memory of mine. Anyways, for the project I chose the poem called 'Sick' by Shel Silverstein. I really liked this poem because it is about a kid who is trying to get out of going to school because she's too 'sick'. It is a really cute and funny poem, but I also found it pretty easy to relate to. 

In my Lit class this week, we have also been looking at poems, but more importantly, how to write them. My teacher showed us a really neat tactic of writing a poem. He had us pick an emotion, then an event you'd experience this emotion, and then write a paragraph about it. Once you had written a paragraph, you cut out unnecessary words and made it into the structure of poem. I chose the emotion 'Excitement' and the situation 'Amusement Park'. 
This is what I had done:

I walk through the gates of the amusement park, taking in the smells of buttery popcorn and tasty snacks. The rays of the sun beat down on my back, warming my body as a move through the crowed space. Entering the line for the roller coaster, I hear distant screams of the riders before me. Anticipation runs through me like a trickling brook, flooding every nerve and thought. I pass the old tired ticket man my crumpled ticket, and step onto the coaster. Making that slow vertical climb to the top, a smile creeps up my face as I enjoy looking down and watching the people down below turn into ants, scurrying around. My stomach flips as we fly down the tracks. A scream of excitement escapes my lips , but is lost in the bellowing 'whoosh' of the wind. 

And then I converted it (as best I could) into a poem:

Walking through the gate,

I take in the smells of buttery popcorn and tasty snacks.

The rays of sun on my back

warming me as I move through the crowed.

In line, I hear distant screams.

Anticipation runs through me like a trickling brook,

flooding my every nerve and thought. 

I pass the ticket taker my crumpled slip.

Making that slow vertical climb to the top,

a smile creeps up my face. 

Looking down, watching the people below turn into ants

scurrying around.

My stomach flips as we fly down. 

A scream of excitement escapes my lips

but is lost in the bellowing whoosh of the wind.

So this was my week! I learnt a lot about poetry and am really excited to learn more!

Until next time! (with hopefully another tasty trial to share!)
Melina

Let's Pop Into It!

This week I had my first cooking/baking attempt of my independent project! I was looking for something fun and seemingly simple, and I came across the idea of doing Cake Pops. I referenced a lot of different recipes and Youtube videos before beginning. I have to admit, I was super excited to start this baking project since the end result seemed so cute! A lot of websites threw out great ideas for decorating that I was so stoked to try! Here are the ingredients I used:


-Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix
-Betty Crocker chocolate frosting
-Cadbury Milk Chocolate
-White Chocolate Bunny (Easter leftovers!)
-Sprinkles (and other decorations)
-Food Colouring
and then of course, the tricky to find lollipop sticks!

The steps needed to complete this recipe were not tricky, however I did hit a few bumps in the road...


My first big mistake was not letting the cake cool down enough. Before you can form the cake pop balls, you have to bake the cake and let it cool. I only waited about 40min before I started making the balls, causing them to be too moist and quite crumbly. Something important I learned about cake pops from this trial was that; how far you push the lollipop sticks in will affect its outcome. Too far in (more than 2/3) and it will just break in half. Not far enough in, and the cake pop will just slide off the stick when you're dipping.  My next little 'oopsie' was not buying enough chocolate! I only bought 1 bar of the milk chocolate, so I was only able to coat half of the cake balls I had formed. The dunking went pretty well (only two cake balls broke during round 1!). The trick to not losing the cake pop in the chocolate (it falling off the stick) is not twist it, but just simply dunk straight in and then straight out.


I had a lot of fun with this recipe! Decorating was a lot of fun, and seeing the outcome was really cool for me. However! It was a LOT of work and can cause a lot of frustration at times. I would not suggest this recipe if you're short for time or if your house is infested with teenagers (if it is- all your hard work will disappear in one gulp!).



I will share some pictures of my experiment, and if you want to try some cake pops as well, I will add a couple links at the bottom for video tutorials I found helpful.

But first! Strange, but interesting facts I learnt during this experiment!

1. Adding water to your melted chocolate will NOT making it more running, it will throw off some sort of a chemical balance cause it to clump into a paste (and waste $5 worth of chocolate)

2. Do not attempt to flush melted chocolate down the toilet as an easy fix to get rid of it. Just..no.



Hope you found this funny and helpful! Feel free to post your thoughts in the comment box below, and if you try Cake Pops, please send me a picture of your tasty snacks and share your trials with me! :)

Divas Can Cook- Cake Pops
Bakerella- Cake Pops

That Awkward Moment When...

Have you ever experienced a point in your life where you were so excited to do something, but then when it actually came time to doing it, you didn't know what to do or how to start? That is how I have been feeling this past week! If you have been keeping up with my blog, you'd know that I have decided to do cooking as my independent project. However, deciding what to cook first? Yeah, that has not been easy. Not only has deciding what to make been frustrating, but choosing when to make it has been a battle as well! It seemed like any night I would offer to make supper, something would get in the way. So how do you move forward in these situations? I really started not liking my project at this point because it felt like it wouldn't work and that I wouldn't be good at it.

 However, I sought guidance from my teacher and my peers, and they helped me regain my confidence in this project. So mainly the week (back in March..This one is a TAD late!) was filled with research and learning about each other's projects. Some of the project topics my peers are doing include, psychology, building design, oil sands, and many more fascinating things! My research mainly consisted of searching for cooking/baking blogs and recipe tutorials on YouTube.

I learnt a lot about different things this week, but probably most important thing I learnt was that even if you lose your confidence or interest, you need to get back up and persevere. When you do this, the tainted glasses you were looking through before -distorting your talents and interests- fly off your head and you regain that love and interest you had to begin with.

So hopefully this down week will not be followed by another!
Until next time, friends!

Melina

Food For Thought

Another week as flown by without much of a trace, other than the homework that seems to have appeared in my lap...
Our focus this week has mainly been on the topic of well, topics! We have been brainstorming ideas and trying to decide what we want to study and learn about during the next few months for our independent projects. I have to admit, it's a hard call to make! There may be things that I am passionate about at the moment, but might despise the next. What if I choose the wrong topic? What if it gets boring? So many questions and concerns seem to tangle themselves into an ugly rat's nest of frustration!

Luckily I have great support groups (both online and in person! - Thank you to all who commented on my last post!) who have helped me review my options and pick the best one for me. So I have decided (Cue drum roll...) to do Cooking! My plan is to attempt a new meal every wednesday and post either a video-update or pictures about my independent project each week.

So we have done more poem reading and I've got to give me classmates a hand for all the insightful views and opinions on the poems. We have learned a lot more terms such as ; Simile, foreshadowing, and stream of consciousness. I have always had a hard time deciphering the difference between simile and a metaphor, but now I know to look for a 'like' or 'as'. If one of the two is present, it is more than likely a simile.

I have really been enjoying reading 451 Fahrenheit! I am constantly curious as to what the author as planned next. What feeling is he wanting us to feel at this moment? What is hidden behind that ventilator grille? What's going to happen next? I like this book a lot for the different writing style, but I also enjoy it because the author is trying to warn us about how our society is like now, and how it might be years down the road.

Well I believe it is time that I stop typing and instead begin laying outlines for my independent project! If you have any suggestions to improve my project, please let me know! I would love to hear them.

Good night!

Melina

Teaching An Old Student New Tricks?

I have been in school for over 12 years now, and I have to say this year has been the most unexpected! Grade 12 English...What could be different or surprising about reading and writing? WELL! Let me explain.

Our second semester English class consists of six students. Thats right. Six. Since the class is so small, our teacher decided it was time to attempt a new way of running this class. Like I mentioned in last week's post, we begin each class by reading a poem and analyzing it, and then we talk about 451 Fahrenheit or continue reading.
However, after being inspired by a video of students teaching themselves school material, we have been looking into doing our own independent projects.

"What are the projects on?"-you might ask. The topic and the project is completely up to us to decide. If we are interested in how to make a good documentary or how to play an instrument, teaching ourselves and researching that topic can be our project.

This new way of learning is very peculiar to me, but also very intriguing. For so long I have been told what to know and taught how to know it, but never once did I really felt in control of my learning. It felt like the knowledge went into my brain, stayed their until after my exams, and then was thrown away like a smooth stone into a lake, out of my reach forever.
But when you are passionate about something and can learn it the way that YOUR brain understands it, it seems the knowledge takes root.

So I am very excited about this project and the unpredictable ending it holds. Questions like "Will it work?" and "Will we learn everything we need to for the exam?" have whirled around in my brain, but i'm deciding to stay optimistic! So far, these are some of the ideas I have on what I should do for my project:

a) Create a Music Video:
    - Write an original song and record the music on an application (ex. Garage Band), then create a music video outline, video tape it, and edit.

b) Teach myself ASL:
    - Take a more in depth look at American Sign Language and spend a certain amount of time a day studying it. As a final report, I would present my experience and some of what I learnt to the class using both speech and sign language.

c) Learn How to Cook:
    - Once a week I would find a recipe and attempt to make food. Through March-June, I would keep a record of my experiences (what mistakes I made, what worked well, suggestions, what I learnt, etc) , as well as taking pictures of each end result. At the end of the semester I would make presentation with my findings and talk about the experience. (as well as a video of me teaching viewers how to make a specific dish?)


Please share your thoughts on my ideas and tell me which one you prefer. Or, if you have a good suggestion, feel free to share!



Cheers!
Melina

Learning Log #1

Well, first real week of the second semester! I have been enjoying my classes and the new material we've started to cover. Only problem for me? I am a chipmunk. Yes, since I just had my wisdom teeth removed, my face has been quite swollen. Anyways! Lets review what happened in class this past week!

Each class we usually begin with a poem from this website that Mr. Hazeu found. Everyday a new poem is featured, and together as a class we read and analyze the poems. I very much enjoy this part of class because it gives us a chance to exchange our personal interpretations of the poems, as well as helping each other better understand what the author was trying to create. My favourite poem so far was a sonnet (109, I believe) by Shakespeare. We didn't really understand all of what Shakespeare was trying to say, but the rhyming pattern flowed so smoothly and the words about love fit with the valentines day theme.

In preparation for the Bradbury novel 451 Fahrenheit, we have been learning a bit about what dystopian literature is. Dystopian literature is a genre that uses futuristic, worst case scenario societies to identify an issue that is rising from a current trend or political system. Some examples of dystopian literature would be books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Host by Stephanie Meyer.

So far, we've only just started reading 451 Fahrenheit, and its already kind of confusing... I like how the author uses words in a way to create emotion in the reader. The only thing I don't enjoy about his style is that I am finding it difficult to decipher what is actually happening and what the author is trying to make us feel (Clarify, I have a hard time understanding what information is relevant to the story and what is not).

That is a rough sum up of this past week. Till next time!
Happy (Belated) Valentines Day!

Melina