Made All from Scratch

Think about this: What is one thing lots of parties all have? You see them a lot at graduation parties usually at the end of the top with lots of colors and lots of little kids trying to sneak one. That’s right there cupcakes! It’s not a party without some sort cupcakes or cake there to help celebrate.

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               One of my favorite cupcake places is called Scratch Cupcakes.  It’s more of an Iowa thing, so you probably won’t find it anyway else but Iowa. The two locations that I’ve heard of are in Cedar Falls, Iowa and Iowa City, Iowa. But there could be more and I just don’t know about them.

               Scratch Cupcakes are this deliciously made massive cupcakes with some of the best toppings and/or frosting. Everything in their store is made from Scratch; hence the name Scratch Cupcakes. Other stores will get their cupcakes shipped them while Scratch employees make theirs right in the back of their cute little store. As soon as you open their door to walk in, you can just smell the perfect bakery smell and the freshly made cupcakes that are on display.



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               Just like any old cake these cupcakes come in different flavors, but with A LOT more variety of flavors to choose from. From chocolate, to cookie dough, to monster cookie, to red velvet, to salted caramel, to even Bacon flavored; you name it they have it. They actually do this thing where every day they sell different flavors. Like every Mondays they sell Wedding Cake, Chocolate Turtle, and Brownie Batter. While on Fridays they sell Caramel Apple, Toffee, and German Chocolate. Let’s just say they have hundreds of different recipes to make the cake.

               The frosting is the unique part of the whole cupcake. The frosting itself all depends on the flavor of the cake you got. If you get a cookie dough kind of batter, then your “frosting” will be all cookie dough. If you have a Brownie Batter one, the top is going to look something like regular frosting with brownie crumbs sprinkled on top of it. So if you want one with a top that looks so tasty, you better hope you like the cake batter.

               Iowa is pretty well known for their Scratch cupcakes. I think it’s just the sweetness that is added to those. If you ever get offered a Scratch cupcake, DO NOT turn it down because you never know when the next time you’ll get offered a cupcake filled with deliciousness!

Touchdown at BWW

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             What is your favorite day of the week? Friday, Saturday, and Sundays are tons of Americans favorite part of the week. Not because they have no school or they don’t have to work; it’s because of FOOTBALL! Friday night is usually high school football. You usually wake up on Saturday to tailgating for some college football. And finally, ending the weekend with the Pros. With high school and soon college football, their seasons are coming to an end. The Pros go all the way until the Super Ball which is always towards the beginning of a new year.

               Some of us who don’t really care for football may be wondering where everybody goes to watch the game when the weather starts to get colder. Obviously they won’t want to sit out in the snow, or drive to the indoor stadium with bad weather conditions, but what’s the most common place for sports watching? The answer to that would probably have to be Buffalo Wild Wings; the place that serves the hottest wings known to the nation. Usually they don’t draw in a lot for the high school games, but they sure do when it comes to college and the professional.

                One thing I love about Buffalo Wild Wings is of course their wings! They serve some of the juiciest, messiest, and spiciest wings that you could ever think of; hence the name Buffalo Wild WINGS. I can say I’ve never had the spiciest sauce, but it was up there. I think it was like 3^rd or 4^th from the hottest. In some towns, there are different challenges dealing with the hottest sauce that customers could attempt including cash for the awards. One challenge that I’ve heard of includes eating as many wings as you can within a certain amount of time. If you can get to a certain number of wings, then you win the prize. Another challenge that I’ve heard of that is a little easier than the previous one is that you eat two whole wings (a leg and a wing), and if you succeed then you get your picture taken and they post it in their store plus some cha-ching. You just got to know which stores do the contests because that’s where you can really impress the ladies.

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               Usually when I go get myself some wings, I get something that isn’t too hot but isn’t too mild. I get right in the middle of the spectrum. I think it’s like Honey Barbeque. There are so many different sauces that range from completely mild to “oh my gosh! My tongue is on fire!” Some people have a stronger thing of taste buds that the spiciest things don’t bother them. But then there’s others who have very sensitive taste buds that can’t even go a bite with a medium level of sauce. It all just depends on what your own taste buds can take.

               Buffalo Wild Wings is such an amazing restaurant to go to when you have a game to watch, or just when you’re in the mood to try some of their wings. In honor of my high school football team playing in the state championship first time ever tomorrow night, go check out my recipe that’s called “Chicken Wing Dip”.  My family calls it the Football Dip, because we always serve it in a football crockpot as well as we always have it while tailgating for football games!

Freshly Baked Bagels and More

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           One of the best bagel places known to mankind is Panera’s. As soon as you walk into their store, you waft in this amazing delicious sense of smell; you get chills running down your spine as you take your first step through the doors. They have lots of other delicious foods, but no company could ever come into compare when it comes to their freshly served bagels.

               Panera’s has so many different types of bagels that you just wish you could get your hands on. From Cinnamon Toast Crunch, to chocolate chip, to strawberry, to even asiago cheese are just some of my favorite kinds of bagels to get from there. There’s also many other kinds like banana nut, during the holidays they serve a pumpkin pie flavor, whole grain, sesame, cranberry, French toast, and the kind that all started it all which is plain. Is it just me, or whenever you’re next to order you still don’t know what kind of bagel you want because you want a little taste of them all? I’m so undeceive  when it comes to knowing what kind of bagel I want to take with me; I always think I found one that I want, but then I glance over and see another flavor that sounds so tasty that I now want to buy.

               One thing I love about Panera’s bagels is how big they come. The bagels itself are gigantic compared to other stores. Even the plain ones are bigger than the average size. I feel like they really fill you up with the amount that is served. Depending on the flavor you ordered, the sizes actually vary; some flavors are larger than others. Here’s a tip (or maybe just common sense to others): if you’re extremely hungry (like you could eat a whole cow kind of feeling) choose a flavor that looks bigger so you can get filled up easier. But, if you’re just looking for a snack or an appetizer, go for a kind that appeals to be smaller. Sometimes the best way to go is to share your other half with a friend.

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               Like I mentioned before even though Panera is known for their bagels, but they do also serve other meals just as good. Whenever I’m out with my friends and I’m in a salad kind of mood, I usually get the BBQ Chicken salad or a salad with all this fruit mixed with it. But, another meal that I absolutely love getting is the Mac and Cheese but in a breaded bowl; you can eat everything that was given to you but the fork. Panera’s has so many different categories to choose from which makes it 10 times harder to decide what you want. From all these different kinds of salads, to pasta, to soups, to even smoothies, they have it all!

               Next time you go to Panera, don’t forget to take in a big whiff of their freshly baked bagels and maybe even of all their other foods that are being made!

Sweetness in one Berry

              What’s one of your favorite fruits? Bananas, kiwi, apples, watermelon, pears, oranges, to pineapple, and hundreds more; there are so many different kinds of fruits to choose from ranging from the most common to the most rare. But one of the most common ones that everybody loves are the strawberries. That juicy, filled with seeds, fruit is one of the most loved fruits in America!

               Strawberries are such a delicious food that so many eat on a daily basis. There’s no wrong season when it comes to eating strawberries. They can be eaten at anytime and anywhere. Usually you see strawberries at holiday parties and such because they are just so tasty and everybody loves them. Even without a holiday or party, my mom will wash and cut up some strawberries to put out on the table just cause.

               One thing I love about strawberries is how they go great with any meal. One of the most common meals that they take part in are pancakes. A stack of pancakes with whipped cream drizzled with chocolate syrup topped with strawberries is such a great celebration to have for a breakfast. Another nutrition breakfast that you could have that includes strawberries is either a shake or a smoothie. Just add some strawberries, milk, and ice into a blended. Poof! You have yourself a delicious strawberry smoothie that you can take on the go. Or, you could blend some other frozen fruit within in to make yourself an even fruitier smoothie. YUM!!

               Strawberries don’t just mix well with food. They also mix well with drinks as well. At restaurants you see drinks on the menu that include the title of strawberries in it like Strawberry Lemonade, or Strawberry Margarita or Bloody Mary. For the lemonade, the strawberry takes some of the sourness out of lemon juice and gives it more of the sweetness.

               Strawberries set the mood for everything! Giving it a little extra sweetness never hurts!

Munchy, Crunchy Pickles

           “I have two pickles. I have two pickles. I have two pickles today, Hey Hey!” Several of you may know where that line is from; but the newer generations I highly doubt that you know what movie that is from. It’s from one of my favorite older movies “The Little Rascals”. It’s when the two littlest ones are riding in this car and the African American little boy sings about his excitement of the two pickles he has. Someone must really love those pickles to be able to start a song on it.

               That little boy shares the same excitement towards pickles just like others do, but in the real world; some people really love there pickles. I know for a fact that I could eat pickles all day. They are one of my favorite foods that are also easy to take while on the go. Pickles come in all shapes sizes. You could get the jumbo kind, or you could get the little bitty baby pickles that you can eat in two bites.

               Another thing that is awesome about pickles is how they also come in different flavors. There’s horseradish, sweet, sour, and the most popular one of all dill. I remember back in the day, I would only eat dill pickles; I couldn’t eat ANYTHING but dill. Now, I could eat any flavor of pickle there is out there, but I still prefer the dill.

               People think pickles are gross because they are all green and bumpy, but actually they are on the healthier side of the spectrum. Pickles are very similar to cucumbers. The only difference is the texture of them. Think of it like they are cousins to each other. That’s how similar and related they truly are. I would say pickles are one of my favorite vegetables out there.

               When going to a fair or an amusement park and we want something to snack on, I sometimes get a pickle on a stick. Yes, those do actually exist. For those of you who have never heard or seen this, it’s a jumbo pickle that is just on a stick; pretty self-explanatory. It can be one of the juiciest things that the fair sells. As soon as the first bite is taken, pickle juice goes flying everywhere sometimes even in people’s faces and eyes. A pickle on a stick is not just fun to eat, but it also fills you up quite quickly. So you don’t have to keep shoving your face filled with fair food.

               You can get all pickles all over your town with all different kinds of flavors. Pickles are a common vegetable that tons of people love to munch on. There’s never a dull moment where munching on those crunchy pickles are not okay.

The Veggie Monster

              When you hear the words “vegetables”, what do you automatically think of? Typically people get this unpleasant taste in their month just when they hear the word vegetable; maybe even chills down their spines. Vegetables are usually are not people’s first choice when it comes to a meal or a snack.  Their first choice is typically snacky foods or even fruit; but never vegetables.

               People usually think of vegetables as disgusting and nasty, but to be honest there are so many delicious vegetables. Yes, that’s right I just said that SOME vegetables are actually pretty good. And, I’m someone who hated eating my veggies as a little kid; I couldn’t even look at them because I hated them so much. But, I can now say that there’s a handful that I don’t mind having on my plate. The taste of peppers really caught on to me, and now I have sweet mini peppers practically every day.

               One vegetable that is one of the commons ones is the carrots. No, not the diamond ring, but the long, orange and pointy carrot. Carrots are used for a lot of recipes and snacks. One common one is chicken noodle soup. Small chopped up carrots are thrown in to make the soup even tastier. I personally think cooked carrots on the stove are more pleasing to the stomach than just the raw ones. I think it may have something to do with the fact how the raw ones are very hard and crunchy while the cooked ones are soft and melts in your month. Not only can carrots be used in soup, but they are commonly used for the nose of a snowman. It’s not a snowman without the carrot nose!

               Like I mentioned before, I used to hate all types of vegetables. But, I got used to them and now eat them more often than I ever had. I’ve been willing to try new ones to expand my range of the ones I like. I’m finding myself eating more of the salads and soups that include veggies.

               Did you know that the more veggies you have, the more full you get meaning the less chances of over eating? All sorts of veggies contain the right amount of nutrients to get your stomach to become fuller and not eat as much. So the more veggies you eat, the higher the chances of being healthy and being able to maintain a healthy weight.

               I know for a fact that hundreds of people dislike veggies, but if you just go out of your comfort zone and try new things, you’d be surprised when it comes to new things that you might actually like them.

Wanna Buy Some Cookies?

             Girl Scouts knocking from door to door, putting on their cute little faces and trying to get people to buy their cookies is always such a delight to see. Their cute, little incident smiles’ makes it hard to say no to them. My little cousin who is Girl Scout just has something about her that causes people to buy even more boxes from her. What can I say; cuteness probably runs in the family!

               One kind that my family always has to get is the Thin Mints and the Peanut Butter Cookies. We usually get other boxes, but those two are the main ones that we get. The Thin Mints go perfect with a nice, cold glass of milk. I like to think of them kind of like an Oreo where you dip them into the milk giving them that sweet and soft taste. Any kind of the Girl Scout cookies taste better when they were in the freezer. Freezing them not only gives them a longer time to enjoy their deliciousness, but it also gives it that chill taste that cookies get when they are cooled. Another kind of cookie that is my favorite would have to the Lemon sugar cookies. I love anything lemon, mint, or peanut butter.

               No matter what time of year it is, Girl Scout Cookies are always the place to go whenever you need a little refreshment. Oh come on, how can you turn down that sweet smile with the puppy dog eyes.

Teenager's Most Common Addiction

              After two to three years of being in high school, you finally understand why coffee and energy drinks are so important to us. They keep us awake with the hours of homework and jobs that are placed within our lives. The busier we become, the more caffeine our bodies need to keep us awake and process for the day.

               It wasn’t until this past summer where I found my addiction for coffee. I found myself having AT LEAST three cups a day. (Most of it was mainly creamer, but still had some coffee in it) Because I worked at as a camp counselor over the summer, I would have to get up pretty early for a summer day and typically go to bed at a pretty late time. Within two weeks of just working there, I found my new best friend named coffee. I remember I would always start my morning with a cup of coffee with a mug that had frogs designed on it, and end my day with another cup of coffee. For some reason coffee at night actually relaxed my body, made me less hyper, and more ready for bed. But, in the morning, it gave me the energy to get through the day.

               Once I came back, I found myself still in the habit of drinking some sort of coffee every single day more than once. Just like any of addiction or habit, it’s very hard to break once you’ve been doing it for at least a month. I finally break my habit of drinking 3 cups of coffee a day, but now it’s more like 3 expresso drinks a week.

                I could imagine how many other people out there are a coffee-holic just like how I was. Especially teenagers, we become so addicted with having enough energy that coffee is now a MUST within our lives. So many high school students, me included, feel the need to have coffee within our system at all times which can cause several problems. One problem would be the amount of caffeine that is within our bodies; our body has nowhere to put all the sugar and caffeine so our stomachs are being held together by even more sugar which isn’t healthy at all. Another problem it causes is the money point of view. It may not be that expensive if you only buy one drink, but drink after drink, the cost surely adds up.

               Speaking of cost, one Café that drains a hole in your wallet is Starbucks. Whatever you get there, the lowest price is like what, $3. And, usually we don’t get the smallest size but instead either a medium or a large which costs up to $5. You know how expensive that is just for one drink. I’m not saying to stop drinking Starbucks because I’m such a fan all there drinks; I’m just saying how it surely can add up if you have a Starbucks drink every day of the week. For me, I usually have only one every other week. There is an exception, and that is only during Showchoir season. From January to March, it’s always a tradition to get Frappuccino bright and early in the morning before a competition.

               One of my favorite types of creamer would have to be peppermint or Girl Scout Cookies Thin Mints. The peppermint just really sets the mood for the holidays. As for the thin mints, you can never get enough of Girl Scout cookie flavors. There are hundreds of different types of creamer to add to a cup of coffee. From French Vanilla, to Hazelnut, to Cinnamon, to even Original, I bet half the coffee that’s been drunk contains some amount of a creamer. I personally like to sometimes mix creamers together that give it an even better taste.  You know what they say, “Would you like a dash of coffee in your cup of creamer?”

             One tip for future high school or college students is that you’re going to become very familiar and close with coffee as you become busier and busier. You might just find a new best friend with the amount of time you spend drinking them!

You Just Got ROASTED

The season of fall isn’t just about leaves changing colors, carving pumpkins, and wearing more comfy colors. It’s also about those late nights sitting around a warm and cozy fire with the people you love the most. Bonfires are the perfect hangout place with some friends for a starry Friday night. At my house, my sisters and I have had several bonfires before on a dark and clear night. Because we live on a dead end, we drag out our portable fire pit and place it in the middle of the street. We bring out all the lawn chairs and blankets and just enjoy a great night under the stars. But what’s a bonfire without the making of some gooey delicious S’mores!

               The butterflies start to show up within your stomach once you see all the S’more ingredients lying out and ready to be touched. Make sure you guard the marshmallows and chocolate because there is always that one person that tries to snitch some when no one is looking. Sometimes it’s fine to take just the chocolate, but it’s not the same when you don’t eat them all together and roasted.

               When roasting S’mores, one thing that I learned is that everybody likes the warmness and the color a special way. I know some people will just stick the marshmallow in the middle of the fire so it’s as black the night sky. Others will barely keep it over the fire so it’s still the original white color. But, then there are some people who like their marshmallow a nice, golden brown color. I personally fall into the category of the golden brown. The golden brown is filled with a little crunchiness on the outside but extremely gooey on the inside. The marshmallow is perfectly roasted and fits the best with the chocolate and the graham cracker. My dad on the other hand falls into the category of catching it completely on fire and eating it that way.

               One thing I love about S’mores is how they can be made in so many different ways. What I mean by that is how they can be made several different kinds of graham crackers, marshmallows, and kinds of chocolate. One of my favorite kinds of S’mores would have to be using the original graham cracker and marshmallow as well as either a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or a Peppermint York. What’s better than a S’more with the taste of peanut butter or spearmint?

               Sometimes within the winter, if it’s too cold to get out fire pit, my family will just microwave the marshmallow in our own kitchen. I know what you’re thinking: that ruins the fun of roasting S’mores. Yeah, it actually does but hey, there’s never a dull moment where you can’t have a S’more no matter what time of season it may be.

There's a Monster under the Bed

“It was a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.” The one way to get into the Halloween spirit is by singing lots of Halloween songs including the People Eater song or the Monster Mash! Monsters are all about the Halloween season. So many scary movies are showed especially during this time of year and which they all include monsters. Some of them are actually pretty scary but others are quite funny with how scary they were supposed to be. I personally think horror movies are scary at first, but then ends up being hilarious instead.

                While going out or even handing out candy on a Halloween night is always fun to see all the unique costumes out there especially all the different versions of monsters out there. It reminds me of all the costumes that I once wore for Halloween was I was a kid. I loved dressing up for the holiday as well as the different kinds of treats that were handed out dealing with the holidays. One of my favorite kinds of treats would have to be Monster cookies (not monster cookies with all this candy in them; I’m talking about cookies shaped like monsters). They are a regular sugar cookie but with so much frosting piled on top with little chocolate chips as the eyes. You can get the store bought anywhere, but you can only get the freshly homemade cookies from your own home. My mom bakes the best monster cookies ever! She always adds her own little taste to them by sprinkling on some extra sprinkles or even some unique designs.

                Not only can monsters be formed within cookies, but also in other Halloween treats including my mom’s famous ghost cookies (peanut butter crackers with melted white chocolate whip drizzled over them) or her mummy pretzels (same thing but instead of crackers, she uses the longer stick pretzels). There are so many different treats you can make for the holidays incorporating the Halloween spirit into it! Ghosts, mummies, and monsters are everywhere so beware!!

Trick or Treat?

                  Trick or Treat! Give me something good to eat. If you don’t, I don’t care. I’ll pull down my underwear! This was a famous saying that was used back in the day when kids would go trick or treating on a dark and scary Halloween night. One of the best things (for everybody but dentists) about Halloween is all the chocolatey candy that’s handed out. Lots of kids return back home with bags or even pillow cases filled with candy. Kids would usually start right before it got dark (so around 5:45ish) and stay out until 11ish. That’s close to six hours out on the streets gathering candy with their friends. Crazy right?!?

               It’s always a delight when we see the neighbors giving out either our favorite type of candy, when we get to choose our own pieces, or especially when they give out the king size candy bars. Typically you see the “fun” size (which in my opinion there is nothing fun about that size), but you hit it especially hard when get the option to choose your favorite King Size candy bar. You can also tell which neighborhoods are a tad richer or not just by the size of candy bars and the amount of candy they give you. If they give you a whole handful or two of candy, you most likely are in a neighborhood filled with lawyers, doctors, or engineers. Sometimes people may even give out a whole zip-lock baggie of goodies including lots of candy, some trail mix, and maybe even some puppy chow.  Some people really care about what and how much the children get.

               Some of my favorite kinds of chocolate candy bars would have to be Butterfingers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or Crunch Bars. But, some of my all-time favorite candies out there would have to Junior Mints, Yorks, War Heads, and Bottle Caps. I remember there was a period in my life where all I wanted for Christmas and my birthday was a big box of Bottle Caps. They soon became less popular and not going out as quickly throughout the stores causing them not to be sold in stores as much. That’s exactly what happened with the War Heads as well. It’s sad to see some of the best candy out there become less and less popular leading them to rarely be put out in stores anymore.

               One of the best things about the Halloween candy though is that it can last for such a long time. You can have Halloween candy all the way up to Christmas! Next time you see candy at either Christmas or even Valentine’s Day, double check to make sure when they got it, because odds are you might be eating left over Halloween candy!

Pumpkin Day

               The clock strikes midnight and all the magic has to disappear and everything has to turn back into the regular world. The horses turn back into the mice, the beautiful dress and tiara are traded with her raggedy, old, torn clothes, and her prince was nowhere to be found. The stunning, white carriage also had some magic involved in it because it turned back into a big fat orange pumpkin and didn’t just stay a beautiful carriage.

               Carriages aren’t the only thing you can turn pumpkins into. This time of year you see lots of pumpkins on doorsteps, but the ones to mostly enjoy are the ones with the designs and faces carved into them. It’s always a delight to see all the unique faces and designs on these giant orange pumpkins. I remember back in the day when I was younger, it was always a tradition for my family and I to crave pumpkins the weekend before Halloween. Our pumpkins were not the typical ones you buy at the store; our pumpkins were grown in our own garden in my background. My sisters and I would always hand pick our own; choosing the best looking one out of like 15 pumpkins. We would bring them back into our house and become to dig. We would turn an original, standard pumpkin into a creative little thing that shows our true imagination. Sometimes they would be designs like a Hawkeye or a Cougar, but other times it would be just a regular old Jack-o-lantern.

 

               One of the best things that I love about carving pumpkins is separating the seeds from the guts, putting them on a pan, and roasting them in the oven. It’s such a great snack to have on a cold and windy day.  The best is when you add lots of seasonings for a topping. The seeds are so easy to take on the go as well as a healthier snack than fruit snacks. Yeah, you could just buy the seeds at the store, but that’s not the same with actually digging them out, spreading them out on a pan, and cooking them all yourself; the homemade kind is the best kind out there.

               While you’re cooking the seeds, you can put the freshly carved pumpkin out on your step with a candle lite inside of it. The true Halloween spirit is when there is a line of pumpkins waiting for the trick-or-treaters to approach, and having them be only light that’s one!