Swordsmanship

This session in literature, we are tasked to think and write about "What subject would like to learn in school that isn't offered at HHS [our school]?"; the subject that I would like to learn about is 'Swordsmanship'.  I long have been interested in this form of 'fighting'; it started some years ago when I used to do martial arts, Taekwondo, Judo, Jujitsu and Arnis. Many might not know what 'Arnis', it is the national martial arts of my beloved country that is the Philippines. It is a form of martial arts, based fighting using knives, wooden sticks, bladed weapons and several various improvise weapons per se. That sparked my love for fighting as such, that has not been the only reason for my love of sword fighting; movies and animes that I have watched have inspired me and it made me interested in this art form. I would love to learn more and have a possible future for teaching and achieving mastery at being a martial artist, swordsman and a sharpshooter too. I have wanted to be a lot of think and be able to achieve many goals that I had and that I still have. 

Cookies

Today in our 'Food Technology' class we made cookies. Basic cookies, meant to be like a base where different combinations and flavours can be added. the start of making these cookies was creaming the butter and the sugar, adding the vanilla essence, condensed milk, then the baking powder, flour and the chocolate chips.  After making the cookie dough it is then divided into 12 equal parts; placed 4 in 3 rows in a parchment paper lined baking tray, separated reasonably a part from each other as they will expand quite an amount. Then after that step, the tray is then paced inside a pre heated 180 degree celsius oven on “bake” or on 170 degree celsius oven on “fan bake”.  They should bake up until around 10-15 mins or until golden brown, after they have baked they should be cooled on a cooling rack and cooled for about 3 mins.
The end of the process is the evaluation; the taste, texture, colour and the flavour of the cookie. We evaluated the cookie, the amount of rest of cooling the cookie had was perfection, it was crunchy on the outside and soft in the inside, the flavour the cookie had was more than exceptional, it was just the right amount of flavour not too overpowering and not lacking. The colour that the cookie had varied in few places, however, it did not affect too much on how cooked it was on places.
I enjoyed the cookies and would love to make them again, with a few additional method and ingredients.

Holiday, where?

Today we started looking at where we want to go on a holiday to, if possible.  One of my choices is Italy, I have always admired Italian food and Italian culture. Many of my favourite dishes originate from Italy and example of this is Carbonara, it is one of my go-to food to cook and to eat. Cheese is also a reason why I would like to go to Italy, I would like to try 'The World's Deadliest Cheese' which does not really speak its name, hearing about people eating it makes me hesitate to view it as dangerous. The cheese that I am talking about is 'Casu Marzu', a soft cheese containing maggots. Not only the food that I enjoy but as well as songs originating from Italy, opera; I enjoy listening to opera, especially to the 'Three Tenors'. It is an amazing country full of culture; another reason why I would like to go to Italy is to be able to have a chance to see 'Sea Silk' as the last weaver of this magnificent, secretive treasure of the ocean lives in Italy.

Food Tech: Whole Pizza

The 'Food Tech' session, after we had made the pizza slices, we then were tasked to create an entire pizza, family-sized. More or less the method had been the same, before any assembling and cooking, ingredients are to be prepped. Similar ingredients were presented and given to us cheese, black olives, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, salami, ham, capsicum and pineapple; as well as a pizza sauce, salt, pepper and herbs [oregano].

Method:

1. Pizza sauce is spread, using a circular motion from the middle where the sauce is laid, work it up near the crust of the pizza, and inch before the edges.
2. The prepped ingredients are to be scattered around the pizza evenly.
3. Ingredients such as tomatoes are to be placed second to last, just before putting the layer of cheese on.
4. Cheese is used to cover most if not all of the ingredients.
5. Place the pizza on an oven tray or even better a preheated pizza stone. 
6. In a preheated oven of around 180 oC degrees place the pizza in.
7. Approx 20 mins or until a gold layer of cheese has formed the pizza is ready to be taken out and rest for a substantial amount of minutes and "viola" Pizzaria, a whole pizza to be enjoyed the whole family.

There have been a few times that I have made my own pizza, from scratch as I might add. For me, the assembly and the dough/base of a pizza are what brings it together, without a good base the pizza will fall apart, not having the right texture would have a similar effect as well. Of course the most important of all, the taste, the taste is the biggest factor into tasting these splendid dishes, without the right amount of flavour, however good the main ingredient is, it would never succeed into a better-flavoured opponent.

Food Tech: Pizza

In this session of Food Technology, we made pizza slices; what we used was premade pizza base and some other toppings that we have put on top. Toppings such as cheese, black olives, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, salami, ham, capsicum and pineapple...  It was straight forward; spread the sauce, add the cheese [I prefer putting a layer of cheese 'preferably soft cheese like mozzarella' before putting in the sauce, as well as not spreading the sauce but dabbing some amount around the pizza. In my opinion, the cheese creates a barrier, as when spreading the sauce first result in a more likely soggy middle]. After the process of adding the cheese, there we added our ingredients as mentioned (add another layer of cheese on top again) and cooked it in a preheated oven over 180 oC degrees. It should take around 10-15 mins, it depends on the oven, however, it is to be taken out when the cheese had melted and it forms a great golden 'dome'.  Let the pizza slice cool for some minutes and 'voila'  pizza slice ready to serve.