The Post About Tuition

We can all agree that college tuition these days costs an arm and a leg, along with a kidney, right? Even with scholarships, paying for college is almost impossible without graduating with some debt.

Here’s my post to the rescue! There are several websites out there designed for college students seeking donations to help them pay for college tuition and supplies. One of them that I am using is http://www.youcaring.com. At this website, not only is it just for tuition, but also for other fundraiser categories such as Adoptions, Medical Expenses, Mission Trips, and much more!

Just set up your fundraiser page (it takes just a few minutes) and you’re set!

Give it a try and raise money for your cause!

Always, Hannah ❤

P.S. Click HERE to view my fundraiser page

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The Post About Creativity

The awesome thing about cooking is that there is already a standard recipe for everything. Given that recipe, you can use your own creativity to create your own take on that dish.

The other night I made baked chicken breasts and green beans for dinner. But instead of just seasoning the chicken with poultry seasoning or making it BBQ style, I tried something different. I slit the chicken breasts to make a pocket in the center and I stuffed it with some lovely brie cheese. I buttered the outside of the chicken (because everything is better with butter), and seasoned it with some bay leaves, rosemary, and a savory seasoning. I then added a pinch of black pepper and sea salt to enhance the flavor. I baked it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for….my estimate is 35 minutes, give or take a few minutes. Really, I just checked on it regularly and measured the internal temperature of the chicken (the proper internal cooking temperature for chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit by the way).

As for the green beans, well, I heated them up in a sauce pan with some minced garlic, a pinch of sea salt and pepper, and threw in a sprig of fresh thyme.

The end result was perfect, and I will definitely be making it again.

Yeah, it’s obvious I’m not much on measuring things out, which will come back to bite me when I enter culinary school, but I feel that the best dishes are those where you eyeballed the seasonings as you added  them, because that shows you have a good knowledge of the flavor profiles for different herbs and spices. Now some ingredients, such as your bases like flour, etc., are a completely different story.

I had 2 main points in this post:

1: to provide you with a beautiful chicken recipe and some form of instructions in the hopes that you might try it at home one day,

2: to point out that creativity brings out the best in all of us. If we didn’t have creativity in the world, life would be just “blah.”

Happy New Year everyone, and may it be filled with creativity!

Always, Hannah ❤

The Post on New Year’s Eve

2014 sure has flown by, and on the eve of a new year, many of us probably reflect on the events of the past year.
This year was full of ups and downs for me. More downs than ups to be quite honest. However, despite all the downs that have been thrown my way, the few ups I did have this year made it all better. For example, I got accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, the college of my dreams. I was given the privilege to graduate from high school a semester early and spend the spring semester taking culinary classes at a community college with all tuition paid by a scholarship program offered in my home state. These weren’t the only ups, though. I have many more but I won’t waste your time with them. What I want to say is that no matter how bad a day, a week, a month, or even a year has been, don’t focus on the negatives only. Reflect on all of the positive things that happened, all the things that made you smile or laugh or feel alive.
We’re all human. And a part of our human experience is how we handled the negatives and rejoiced in the positives, if that makes any sense. Those moments in life shape us into who we are today and who we might be tomorrow and in the days to come.
Here’s to a new year. I hope 2015 is just absolutely fabulous for all of you 🙂

Always, Hannah ❤

The Post About TV

I have a confession to make: I’m a struggling addict. My drug of choice? Television. Yes, television. First it started with Friends, then my best friend got me hooked on the BBC’s Doctor Who, then somewhere down the line I began watching every sci-fi/drama/documentary the BBC has to offer. Doctor Who, Sherlock (God bless Benedict Cumberbatch and his glorious cheekbones), Intruders, Broadchurch (which I haven’t caught up with yet, so no spoilers!), Torchwood: Children of Earth, and Merlin. And let’s not forget the amazingness that is the FoodNetwork. A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Supernatural. And it was then that I officially said goodbye to my social life. Somehow I can get wrapped up into even the most ridiculous/pitiful/god-awful tv shows out there, such as Sex and the City (my guilty pleasure) and this wonderful French soap opera Plus Belle La Vie (I speak French, btw).

You must be wondering: how in the world does she balance this, college, and cooking????

My answer: I don’t. College and cooking always take priority. My Friday/Saturday nights are strictly reserved for quality time between me and my DVR.

So where was I going with this post about my tv obsession? I don’t remember, honestly. My train of thought derailed a few paragraphs back. Oh well. Take it as a nice list of tv show suggestions for you to look up one day.

So what’s your favorite tv show? Leave a suggestion in the comments for yet another show I can lose myself in 🙂

Always,

Hannah ❤

The Post About Holidays

Because we’re in the midst of the holiday season (which for me means cooking, baking, and watching unhealthy amounts of TV), I won’t be posting until closer to the New Year.
So I’d like to say to you: Happy holidays! Spend quality time with your family and loved ones, eat magnificent food, and enjoy yourselves 🙂

Always, Hannah ❤

The Post With The First #FlashBackFriday Thing

I’m a teenager yet I’ve never done one of these types of posts on any social media thing because I never really found the point in doing them. So this is a first, but #flashbackfriday to the day (whenever that was) that I made chocolate soufflés for the first time. They deflated the minute I took them out of the oven, but at the time I didn’t care because these were the first soufflés I ever made!

Don’t worry, they’ve definitely improved and now stay risen longer 🙂

Have a fabulous weekend!

Always, Hannah ❤

The Post About Value

Yesterday in my English IV Honors class, I listened to a fellow student give a presentation about value. At first, I and probably the rest of the class had no idea where he was going with all that he was talking about. But within the 10 minute time limit, he opened the eyes of all of us to what value really is.

Value: it’s not just the worth we see in someone or something. We don’t normally look at it this way but value is a power we all possess. We are born with it, and we can never get rid of it. What we value is what affects our decisions in life, and consequently affects the lives of others as we are all connected.

Think of the world as one big spider web. Each strand so very intricate, and though it may not seem like it all of the strands are connected to hold the web together. Like the individual strands in a spider web, we are all separate, unique individuals who are all connected even though we may not know everyone on the face of the Earth.

The things we see as important affect our lives and the lives of others in so many ways. Think of it as the butterfly effect. By me writing this post, I found value in writing about the presentation I listened to yesterday that you are now reading about because you found value in reading what my post had to say, which may or may not increase the amount of people reading or following this blog. And this post has the potential to affect you and how you look at things which will in turn affect other people whether you know it or not.

Some people will stop at nothing when it comes to achieving the things they value. An example that the student provided in the presentation yesterday was a person that most of the world thinks of as evil: Adolf Hitler. Yes, he may have done some very wrong things, but if you look at the bigger picture he achieved what he valued (bringing Germany out of their economic troubles) and was a good leader, even though meanwhile he did things that were wrong. Had he went about achieving the things he valued differently, thousands of lives probably wouldn’t have been lost. But either way, the things he valued led him to change the world.

You were born with the power to change the world. How are you going to go about it?

Always, Hannah ❤

*Final note: thank you to the student in my English IV Honors class (who shall remain anonymous) for giving me the inspiration to publish this post.*

The Post About The Third Plate

Everyone has read at least one book in their life that they have put up on a pedestal, right? I’ve read tons, from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to Looking for Alaska by John Green and Life of Pi by Yann Martel (which will have it’s own post sometime in the near future).

But the one book I have put on a pedestal above all other pieces of literature so far is a book about agriculture, sustainable farming, the true meaning of “Farm to Table”, and the future of the food industry. And this book is titled The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber. Why do I hold this book above all else? My high school English IV Honors senior exit project was a series of papers and a final presentation on a subject of our choice. Being the foodie that I am, I chose to write about how the foods we eat affect our physical and mental health, and how we can change the future of the food industry for a healthier future for the human race. I had to read three books (I really only thoroughly read one though…the other two I just read random sections), and The Third Plate was the one book that I could have completed the entire semester project with. It had absolutely everything I ever needed, and the author, Dan Barber, is brilliant and knew what he was writing about. I highly recommend it to everyone who is looking for informational text on agriculture, enjoys food writing, or just needs a good book to read.

Here’s one quote from The Third Plate that I’d like to share with you:

“If you’re working on a problem that you can solve in your own lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough. ”

-Klass Martens interviewed for The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food by Dan Barber.

(Spoiler Alert: The above quote will be the inspiration for another post at a later date)

I hope you consider checking this book out. You won’t regret it.

Always, Hannah ❤

The Post About Pursuing Passion

People always ask me when I first realized that I wanted to pursue a career in the Restaurant Industry. Honestly, I don’t even remember. Maybe it was when I got my mom’s kitchen pots out and played in the floor with them when I was just two years old, or maybe it was when I got my first Easy Bake Oven (which I only used once because my dad accidentally broke it. Thanks, dad.) Or maybe it was when I took my first cake decorating class during my freshman year of high school. All I know for sure is that I’ve always loved cooking and baking and learning new things. Cooking is one thing where there is ALWAYS something new to learn. There are always new products, new variations to recipes, and new techniques. Therefore, there is always a surplus of things to be learned.

And then there’s the Negative Nancys out there that always ask me what will happen if I don’t become a big famous chef. Will I care? No. I won’t care, because fame isn’t what matters. What matters is whether or not what you did with your life made you happy. And cooking is what makes me happy.

My advice to you is to find something that you are incredibly passionate about and find a way to incorporate it into your daily life.

Always, Hannah ❤