Saturday, November 5, 2011

Portfolio # 11

What a journey this has been. I can not believe that we are about to complete our eleventh portfolio item. I swear it feels like just yesterday it was August. Where does the time go?

Baking bread is an ancient art. Every culture has a specific type of bread based food, on which its people have survived for thousands of years. Bread comes from the "Germanic root, and originally meant a piece or bit of a loaf, with loaf meaning the leavened, baked substance itself. Over time, loaf came to mean the intact baked mass, and bread took over loaf's original meaning" (McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004).


New developments in bread making have come with advances in science and technology. It is now easier and more acceptable for people from all kinds of life to take part in the art of bread baking. Today, about 85% of bread in the United States is made by 28,000 commercial bakers (source).

Changes in the recipes and the ingredients used in breads has become a common evolution. One of the most significant transformations regarding the white bread has been the addition of milk solids. Milk nutrients are added to the bread either through liquid milk, condensed milk, or powdered milk. The use of milk in bread has many advantages. The nutrients and chemical composition of milk improves "the color, texture, symmetry, and quality of the loaf, without appreciably affecting the cost per pound" (source). Additionally, the added milk in bread provides vital proteins for nutrition. In fact "bread made with milk has about ten percent protein, which contains all the amino acids now recognized as indispensable to life" (source).

Homemade Poptarts: Pastry Lesson Continued

Homemade Pop tarts
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Crust:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 sticks of cold butter, softened a bit
8 Tbsp cold water

Cinnamon sugar filling:
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1.5 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp all purpose flour

Additional fillings:
Nutella
Grape Jam

Ready to get to work?

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease two cookie sheets.

In a medium sized bowl mix flour and salt. Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture. Use your fingers to break down and distribute the butter throughout the flour mixture. Add one tablespoon of cold water to the dough at a time, mixing after adding. A soft dough should form.

If you live in a warmer climate or in the swamp (like I do) then chill the dough for about 20-30 minutes. This will help prevent the butter from melting and not give you a panic attack when you realize that the dough won't stop sticking to everything and that you are not going to be able to give your lovely sister a birthday present. Trust me, too much of a head ache.

After dough has been chilled, lightly spread flour on a smooth surface. Cut dough in half and roll out to 1/8th inch thick square or rectangle. Repeat with additional dough.

Cut rough edges off around the rectangle and cut your pop tarts. I got 10 out of this recipe (so you will need at least 20 squares, it all depends on the size of the pop tarts).

Spread your desired filling on one square. Top with a semi matching dough square and press edges together with your fingers. Crimp the sides with a fork to ensure that the pastry is fully closed.

Bake for 7-8 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

I melted some white chocolate chips in a small bowl with about a teaspoon of shortening to spread on top and added some sprinkles for the nutella pop tarts. I also drizzled just a tad on the grape jam ones. For the cinnamon sugar filling I melted about a tablespoon of butter and added some brown sugar and cinnamon and brushed it on top. The rest I left plain, for the purists.


Nutella filled with white chocolate spread and sprinkles!


Grape jam filled pop tarts with a tad of white chocolate drizzled


Cinnamon sugar filled!


Petit Pain Au Chocolat

Baking is always an adventure. I love trying new things. I especially love when whatever I am trying comes out just lovely. I made chocolate croissants for the first time not too long ago. A lengthy process for a delicious treat that you can easily demolish in thirty seconds or less. For some reason I forgot to save the recipe that I used for the croissants that I baked. But I did find another recipe that is similar to the one I used!

Petit Pain Au Chocolat

Here are some pictures of the croissant making process:

1. Get yourself some chocolate.

2. Roll out your dough.


3. Cut your dough into strips. Hint: Chocolate croissants are traditionally not formed in the crescent shape.


4. Starting at one edge of the dough, take a piece of chocolate and tightly roll it in the dough.


5. Time to bake! 


6. Time to eat!


You can see that the croissant has a ton of flaky layers and the fluffy bread in between the layers. They really are bread-pastry hybrids!




Lesson 7: Pastries

Pastries. They are everywhere. Haunting the foodie souls in coffee shops and tantalizing the hungry with their glistening, flaky layers unveiling a seductive filling. Now I am a big fan of pastries, I love how airy and crispy the layers are. It's kind of like eating mostly air. Which is why I can eat five of them and not gain an ounce. Right?

Pastries and bread are very very different from each other. A slice of sandwich bread and a danish pastry look nothing alike. They do not taste similar either. Why the difference? The main difference between bread and pastries is not the ingredients, but the amount of ingredients. Each recipe will call for water, but the amount of water used will have a large impact on the resulting baked good. Pastry dough uses significantly less water than bread dough. The water is used just to hold all the ingredients together, not to activate the gluten like in other types of bread dough.

Pastry dough also uses more fats than regular bread dough. It is the use of fat that further keeps the dough from falling apart. When a pastry is baking most of the water in the dough is evaporated. This leaves the finished product dry and crumbly. The pastry, however, will not be bland because of the extensive use of fat. When biting into a pastry the outer, flaky shell protects a more delicate and buttery inside.

What are common pastries? Most of the time a true pastry is not eaten by itself. Instead, pastries usually take the form of a container for a variety of fillings. For instance pastry dough can be used as a crust for quiche, meat pies, fruit pies and tartes, and custards. The commonly assumed pastries like croissants and Danish pastries are really a bread-pastry hybrid (McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004).

There are several different types of pastries, each serving a particular purpose.
  1. Crumbly pastries: The "short pastry" usually tear apart into irregualr pieces
  2. Flaky pastries: These tear apart into irregular, thin flakes. For example, the American pie crusts.
  3. Laminated pastries: Constructed of very thin layers that shatter in the mouth, like phyllo sheets, streudel, and puff pastry.
  4. Laminated breads: A hybrid of the thin layers of the laminated pastries with the soft texture of bread, like the croissant.
* Source: McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004.

Portfolio # 10

As a tutor, I have seen the impacts of the education system. It is unsettling to work with so many college students who have trouble with basic reading comprehension, phonics, spelling, and grammar. I am not an expert in the English language, by far, but I take great pride in my ability to read and write well. A difference between me and some of my students is how we were taught to read. I was taught by my Mother since I was homeschooled for Kindergarten, most other students learned to read in school. The methods that my Mother used and the curriculum of some teachers differed greatly. I see a great need for the development of a reading curriculum that teaches students how to read so that when they do enter college, they have been practicing and perfecting their skills. Reforming the approach we take to teaching students how to read is one of our first steps.
1.       Goals:
a.       Curriculum should be fun and engaging
b.      There should be good use of all the student’s senses when learning
                                                               i.      Sound, touch, visual, etc
c.       Creativity
d.      Teachers should engage and evaluate students on a one on one basis to ensure that every student is reaching their full capacity.
2.       Evidence
a.       Article on the use of working memory, motivation, and teacher-initiated learning
b.      Working memory: thinking while learning
c.       Teachers should be used as tools for encouraging and inspiring students
d.      Teachers should work so that the students are using their working memory
3.       Relating to the Final Project
For my project, teaching is somewhat important. Essentially, I am trying to teach or provide the means for an individual to learn and understand just what processes are occurring when one bakes. Also, through video postings of demonstrations I can demonstrate the processes that I have written about. That way my audience has both a visual aid from the video and a logical description from my writings.


Portfolio # 9

I love food. It's wonderful. Am I a problem child in grocery stores? Most definitely. Everything looks good and I am probably always hungry. That being said, my go to snack is (drum roll please) yogurt. That answered seemed somewhat anticlimactic. Here is the girl that spent two and a half days making croissants and her favorite snack is yogurt. Foodie love is weird like that. Yogurt has quickly become one of my favorite things to eat. I love the creaminess, the wholesome nutrition, and the vast variety of flavors. Just mix a little trail mix and a chopped banana with yogurt and try it out. I promise you will fall in love with it.

10 Reasons Yogurt is a Top Health Food

Yogurt is not only scrumptious, it is also very good for you (hooray for tasty healthy foods!). According to the article "10 Reasons Yogurt is a Top Health Food", there are many reasons one should eat yogurt. I'm sure that there are nearly 1,000 reasons, but for times sake we will go over ten.

1. Yogurt is easier to digest than milk. This is important for me because slowly but surely I am becoming lactose-intolerant. Now the simplest milkshake puts my stomach in knots. Sometimes life is unfair. Anyways, yogurt can be eaten by individuals who are lactose intolerant because of the culturing process. The live active cultures in yogurt create lactase, which is the enzyme that lactose-intolerant individuals lack.

2. Yogurt contributes to colon health. Yogurt has these nifty active cultures in them. These active cultures are basically bacteria and that bacteria helps your colon stay happy and healthy.

3. Yogurt helps absorb other nutrients. The lactic acid in yogurt is useful in the breaking down of the milk calcium, which makes it easier for our bodies to absorb.

4. Yogurt can boost immunity. People with high levels of yogurt intake produce higher levels of immunity boosting interferon.

5. Yogurt helps heal the body after infections in the intestines. When the intestines are infected, the enzymes that help break down lactose are affected. Yogurt contains less lactose and more lactase, making it easier to digest

6. Yogurt can decrease yeast infections. Eating yogurt daily reduces the amount of yeast colonies in the vagina.

7. Yogurt is a rich source of calcium. Eight ounces of yogurt contains 450mg of calcium, this is 30-40% of the recommended daily amount of yogurt for an adult.

8. Yogurt is an excellent source of protein. Plain yogurt contains around ten to fourteen grams of protein per eight ounces, which amounts to twenty percent of the daily protein requirement for most persons.

9. Yogurt can lower cholesterol. This may be due to the active cultures in yogurt and yogurt binds to bile acids which have been shown to lower cholesterol.

10. Yogurt is a "grow food". Yogurt is vital for growing children because of the easier digestibility of the proteins and because lactic acid increases the absorption of minerals.


Naan Bread Recipe



Naan Bread

1 cup warm water
1 package (.25 oz) of active yeast
3 Tbsp milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
4.5 cups bread flour

2 cloves garlic
4 Tbsp butter, melted

To kick it off, take 1 cup warm water and add 1 package of yeast to the water. Stir a little and let sit for 10 minutes. The yeast should get frothy, like this:


After 10 minutes, pour the yeast/water mixture into a large bowl. Add in sugar, milk, salt, and egg (beaten), give the mixture a quick stir. Add in one cup of the flour at a time until a soft dough has been formed. 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 6 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl, add dough into the bowl and turn to cover all sides. Cover and let rise one hour.

After one hour, punch dough down. Add in 2 cloves of garlic, well chopped or with the help of a garlic press. Knead until garlic has been well distributed. 

Separate dough into 12 balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, cover, and let rise for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat grill to medium high heat and grease.  Melt 4 Tbsp of butter. 

After dough has finished the final rising, spread into flat discs. Place dough on heated grill, spread a little melted butter on top, and cook for about 4 minutes, when the dough bubbles (like a pancake) it is ready to flip. Repeat with other pieces of dough. Place in a bread basket to keep warm, serve immediately.


Voila! Delicious, garlicky, and did I say delicious already?

Lesson 6: Kneading Bread Dough

Working with your hands is fun. Working with dough is fun. It's like play-doh, but you get to eat it later. For most yeast recipes you will have to knead the dough either by hand or with the use of a machine. So what's the deal with kneading? Well it's basically just the time when a baker mushes the dough for his or her own pleasure. Just kidding. It is actually a very important step. Why? Thanks for asking. Kneading the dough is what helps our friend gluten (remember him from a while ago?).

When dough undergoes the process of kneading it activates the gluten. Kneading the dough is a process in which the gluten is repeatedly stretched and elongated (McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004).


Another purpose of kneading the dough is to aerate (or make air bubbles) in the bread. The process of stretching and folding captures air bubbles in the dough and creates "pockets". The more pockets that a dough has, the finer the texture will be.

Fun fact: the word knead comes from an Indo-European root meaning "to compress into a ball".

Here is a video that will demonstrate how to knead bread dough, enjoy!



* Source: McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004.

Portfolio # 8

Through the field of Psychology, we are taught that we influence the environment and that the environment influences us. The environment has an effect on us in its restorative value. According to the article "A Place Just Right: Effects of Place Attachment on Preference for Restorative Environment", restorative environments supply "the process of recovery that follows stress or fatigue, involving an enhancement of mood, a renewed capacity for directed attention, and possible self-reflection" (source).

In this particular study, researchers examined whether natural environments were useful for the restoration process of all individuals, no matter what living background they have been accustomed to. There are key defining elements in determining whether or not an environment is restorative and are as followed "A peaceful fascination (natural curiosity or interest without the necessity of suppressing distracting stimuli) that allows for personal reflection; a sense of being away (from one's normal setting, routine activities, and unwanted distractions); extent/ coherence (large enough scope to have a range of elements for the mind to explore and that exist as part of a larger whole that one can make sense of in terms of organization and structure); and compatibility (opportunities to meet and individual's preferences and purposes." (source)

The results of this study found that participants rated rural images the highest across all conditions, meaning that individuals with different backgrounds and living arrangements found environments with the most nature to be the most restorative. Researchers who conducted the study also took into effect the fact that some individuals just have a preference for more nature when it comes to a restorative environment.

Nevertheless, human beings have a drive to be a part of nature. We have a drive to be outdoors and soak up the fresh air and sunshine. It is healthy for human beings to take the time to enjoy the natural settings around us.








Portfolio # 7

Teaching has become one of my greatest passions. I love the feeling when you explain a concept to a student and that light bulb in their head finally goes off. The shear look of pride and competence on their face is worth more than the eight dollars an hour I get for the tutoring session. I honestly would do the job regardless if I were paid or not. Through countless hours of tutoring training, I have learned one key aspect to tutoring and essentially, to teaching and that is laughter. I believe that laughter is key to a successful tutoring session and that it overall aides the student's learning.

According to the article "How Laughing Leads to Learning" from the American Psychological Association, "a growing body of research suggests that, when used effectively, classroom comedy can improve student performance by reducing anxiety, boosting participation and increasing students' motivation to focus on the material" (source). Laughing, essentially is a great means to ameliorate the anxiety that some students have regarding subjects that they feel they are not as strong in. Also, interjecting lectures with jokes makes a lecture one in which students can relate to and thus recall easily.

There is an implication, however, when it comes to using laughter in the classroom. Jokes that are inappropriate and are interjected too often distract students from the actual message and may have a detrimental effect on the student's learning process. Experts state that the best way to combat this issue is to put learning first and add contextual jokes later instead of the opposite way.

I firmly believe that laughter is key to the success of a student. Laughing is healthy. It releases the "feel good" hormones, which can have dramatic effects on the mood of an individual. A student who has a positive outlook on a course may not have the debilitating anxiety other students may have, and thus do better in the course.

How Laughing Leads to Learning


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

C is For Cookie, That's Good Enough For Me


Kitchen Sink Cookies
(because they have everything but the kitchen sink!)


Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup vanilla baking chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats, chocolate chips, vanilla chips, butterscotch chips and chopped pecans. Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Cookies should be at least 2 inches apart.

3. Bake for 8-10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lesson 5: Cookie Monster

Cookies. We all know them. Those delicious, delicate, finger-lickin' good morsels. In French they are referred to as "petits fours" which means "little oven goods". (McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004).




Cookies are usually very sweet and rich. They are also very moist and soft, due to new techniques in baking that help prevent the formation of gluten (remember my spiel on gluten?). Cookies can be soft, chewy, crunchy, flaky, with slight changes of ingredients and changes in the method that the ingredients are combined.




Let's learn a little more about cookies...

1. Flour

  • For best results, use pastry or all-purpose flour
  • High proportion of flour-water makes shortbread and pastry dough cookies (this means they are dry)
  • High proportion of water-flour makes batter based cookies (can be soft or crunchy)
2. Sugar (yum)
  • When sugar is creamed with the fat (like butter or an egg) it creates air bubbles which makes the cookie light and airy. 
  • Sugar raises the starch gelation temperature, which makes the cookie crispy
  • A good proportion of sugar dissolves when mixed with liquid and then again during the baking process
3. Eggs

  • Provide the bulk of water in a cookie mix
  • Provides the protein that is necessary to bind the flour particles together
  • The more eggs or egg yolk in a cookie recipe, the more "cake like" your cookies will turn out (this is because the fat in eggs make baked goods moist)
4. Fat
  • Fat, like butter, margarine, or shortening, provides the moistness and suppleness 
  • When the fat melts, it assists the spreading out of the cookie by lubricating flour particles, hence you have a flat disk shaped cookie instead of a ball of dough
  • Butter melts at a lower temperature, so it gives more time for the protein and starch to set in
5. Leavening
  • Leavening agents are used to tenderize cookies and make them "puff" when carbon dioxide is released
  • Some cookies only undergo the leavening process when the sugar is creamed with butter
  • Other cookie recipes use alkaline baking soda, especially when the dough has an acidic content due to honey, brown sugar, and cake flour

* Source: McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004.

Portfolio # 6

Corporate social responsibility, to me, is when a corporation acknowledges the power that they have and use that power to better the world in a fashion that is relevant to what they stand for. A corporation that I truly value is "Kashi". "Kashi" is an organic food company that is dedicated to educating people to make the right choices in food so that their body can meet its full potential. "Kashi" is also dedicated to the green movement and is a big proprietor for conserving energy and resources with programs that promote recycling, etc.





I recently read an article about how children who are exposed to media sources regarding unhealthy food choices tend to be overweight. The battle of childhood obesity seems to get harder and harder to fight with each passing year. While I do not have a particular company in mind, because there are so many out there that are guilty of such crimes, I do believe that there should be some sort of regulation. One of the most despicable food items that are just oh so popular are Lunchables, produced by Kraft Foods.


Foods like "Lunchables" are not nutritious, are calorie dense, and are loaded with unhealthy fats. Yet, parents still purchase these lunches for their child. One popular type of "Lunchables" is the Nachos variety.

 Here are the nutrition facts on these Nachos:


Extremely high fat content and even higher sodium content. The media should have some sort of regulation when it comes to foods that are so unhealthy to be idolized and valued by the children in our society.




Portfolio # 5

By now I am sure that you have guessed that one of my favorite activities is baking. I know, it is a total shocker. Nevertheless, I am a baker. Baking is one of my favorite past times and will be the focus for this assignment. Now the goal of this assignment is to research a law or a regulation that pertains to a certain recreational activity that we are interested in. Once again, I have found another article with some great information...on baking laws.

The Cottage Food legislation was signed into law in 2011 in the state of Florida. This law allows for commonly baked goods (breads, pies, cakes, cookies, etc) to be sold without having a food license from the Federal Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The manufacturer of cottage foods is limited to the gross product of $15,000 per year and is prohibited from using the internet, mail orders, consignment, or wholesale as a means to selling their goods.

The foods that are approved to be sold in this fashion are claimed to be less hazardous. Such foods include:





I think that this law that has been set is very fair and reasonable. It allows for small scale bakers to still make some form of income off of their  baked goods, while ensuring the public's safety.  A good deal of science is necessary for this law to be put into effect because of health effects that it can have. There is a need for science to understand the basic principles of contamination and examining which foods that have more potential to become contaminated and possibly hurt an individual.




Monday, October 31, 2011

Baking Powder vs Baking Soda Videos




Best Zucchini Bread Recipe


This recipe is really great because you can mix and match ingredients so that any combination is a crowd pleasing one. I made a whole wheat zucchini bread in my bread machine a while ago, so I thought that I would sort of replicate it with this new recipe.







Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

Step 1

Choose from an apple, pear, zucchini, carrot, shredded. Or a banana mashed. Whichever item that you choose make sure that it equals one cup.

I used zucchini because it is delicious!

Step 2

Choose from: Walnuts, pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, dried cherries, dried cranberries, dried currants, raisins, dried figs, dried apricots, pitted dried dates, rolled oats, chocolate chips, and/or sweetened shredded coconut. Whatever you choose should equal 1.75 cups. Any nut combination should not exceed 3/4 cup.

I used 1 cup rolled oats and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts.

Step 3

Grease pan. You can either use 1 9x5 inch pan or 3 6x3 inch pans.

Step 4

Time to make the batter! In a large mixing bowl, combine:
1.25 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Add in your chosen ingredients from step 2 to the batter mixture.



In a small bowl combine:
2 eggs
1/2 cup cooled, melted butter or vegetable oil (I used vegetable oil)
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (Sour cream was the choice for me)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp citrus zest (optional) (I did not opt for the zest)



Whisk all wet ingredients together until well combined. Then add in the choice of your fruit or vegetable to the wet ingredients.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until well combined.



Step 5

Bake! Pour batter into greased pan(s) and bake at 350F for 55 minutes for large loaves or 35-40 minutes for small loaves.

 Cool in pan for 30 minutes on a wire rack, then transfer out of pan and on to wire rack to cool completely.


Voila! A scrumptious bread from a wonderful recipe that just keeps on giving.