Through the first four months of advanced, I would say that my skillset in the kitchen has improved as much as it did through a full year of culinary one and two. The workload is greater, and the tasks that must be done are more demanding than what I faced last year. The biggest thing I have learned so far is how to cook for others. In culinary one and two 90% of the time you are only cooking for yourself. The big change in advanced is that 90% of the time what you cook is going to somebody else. Cooking for others has made me more careful, and caused me to pay more attention to quality. I’ve learned how to make dishes appear better in presentation. Cooking for others has brought me a whole new set of skills. Be it the snack shack, paladar, feed the need, banquets, or staff events, I am constantly getting good experience making food for others. So far in advanced by technique has improved greatly as well. I know how to use new equipment in the kitchen, and have improved my skills with equipment I already knew of coming into the year. My work ethic has been improved because of advanced. I’ve learned how to persevere and grind through tasks that may be seem dull and unenjoyable, such as dicing onions or peeling potatoes. I’ve learned how to power through and complete tasks that may be difficult, such as butchering whole chickens or roasting peppers. Through this class I have learned how to focus and get things done even when it isn’t easy. Another important skill I have learned in advanced so far is how to work under stress and pressure. Especially in the snack shack, there are often times when tension is high and food needs to be produced under enormous amounts of pressure. I’ve learned how to settle the nerves and simply do what needs to be done. This ability to deliver under pressure is something that can translate and help me outside of the kitchen as well. It’s been a great start to the year for advanced and I look forward to the rest of the year.

- John Carlson

So far during culinary, I have learned to be a short order cook by working in the snack shack. Working the grill and fryer was a lot of fun and I wish there were more football and soccer games so I could work some more. By doing feeding the need, I have learned to put all different foods together and sauces on the spot. One thing I wish we did in advanced culinary was learn to make more foods. I know that we do paladar but sometimes the food is prepared from the day before. My fellow classmates and I were talking the other day and we feel that we should just be cooking more foods so we could learn some more. Michael Parker

Working the snack shack is often the same thing every time working either the grill or fryer. Whenever I am in there most of the kids have their hands in their pockets or they are on their phone, often they mistake the orders, or shout them out multiple times. Or even tell the people on the fryer about the sandwich that is needed for fat sandwiches.

Whenever I work the snack shack the kids that are there often don’t understand what to do and only a few kids do know what to do. Whenever I turn around the kids are often just standing around and eating all the food.

Jimmy Widmann Mrs. Hoagland 9/10/13 Snack Shack Blog Snack Shack Blog The snack shack was quite successful for this soccer game as there were no major errors and the game was decently busy. The only errors that were made were forgetting the bacon and hot chocolate in the kitchen before the game. Besides that everyone was working together and making sure that it was a successful night. I was working the register during the game and it was a very nice experience that I enjoyed a lot. I work as a cashier so I was good with the money and totaling peoples orders. I also enjoyed the aspect of seeing all the people at the game. One of my jobs as a cashier was to get the food for the customers once they had ordered and the rest of the people working did an excellent of keeping up with orders and at no time did we run out of anything. All in all it was a successful night and the only thing that we need to work on is our mise en place.

Jimmy Widmann Class 1 Culinary blogs: October October Snack Shack Blogs During my October snack shack workings I worked as a cashier. Each night everything went pretty smoothly. One of the nights was exceptionally busy as it was boys soccer senior night, and I noticed something that could make the snack shack run better. The fat sandwich station tends to get behind on orders and I believe it would be beneficial to train the people working that station before the games so that they know how to make each sandwich. At the boys soccer game on multiple occasions the person who was grilling had to go over to help the fat sandwich person, which simply slowed production. Another suggestion would be to assign everyone their position at the beginning of the week or something along those lines and have one day where those people train for the job that they have so that everyone can work more efficiently. Another suggestion is that we could keep a tally of which fat sandwich’s we sell the most of and then prepare one or two of the most popular sandwiches. This would be a good way to improve efficiency in the snack shack and make the customers happy.

Regarding the overall structure and flow of the snack shack enterprise, through my experiences working hotbox, fry station and cashier, I have found that everyone works relatively well together especially considering the amount of people in such a small area. Yes it is loud, and yes it is chaotic, but somehow, we all manage to get our work done with little to no problem. I think we are successful in making food that everyone enjoys, and I believe that we give the best service that anyone can ask from a team of high school students. That being said, I will now break it down to specific experiences that I have had during snack shack. 10/4-Working the fry station with Sam was an absolutely delightful experience. we got everything done quickly and had time to simply have fun. whenever something was needed, we would whip it up and get it into the hotbox or directly to the customer.The flow of the work station was perfect that night, however that was a very slow night. If that sort of relaxed mentality was brought into a football game rather than girls soccer or field hockey or whatever it may have been, we would have been blown out of the water, in way over our heads. Essentially, I believe that we must make sure that we are getting are work done first, and then worry about having fun or relaxing. This is not to say that we do not put the pedal to the metal in times of need, i just want to make sure that in the future, we continue to do the same things we are doing to ensure that we are successful in our efforts to raise money and turn a good profit. Work first, then play. 10/15-Working cashier is fun. The end. In all seriousness though, it is the second easiest job behind working beverages at the fridge. though it is important, after working cashier, i believe that there is way too much down time in comparison to the other jobs. I think that in the future, we should all look into finding more responsibilities for the cashier to complete while everyone else is working and the cashier seems to be sitting around. perhaps if we are not in the middle of a raging rush, the cashier may be able to sweep up or wipe down tables, to keep the "clean as we go" mentality alive. This would put a lot less stress on everyone at the end of the night, and would make the snack shack a lot more presentable to not only a health inspector if he indeed shows up at one of the events, but also to our paying, valued customers. 10/22- Fat Sandwiches can be stressful at times, due to the fact that you have a lot that you are responsible for, but i liked the pressure when i worked the fat sandwich station. that station above all others makes you feel like you are actually doing something culinary-related. It is also the only one where you can see the satisfaction on the customers face, or the uncertainty if you didn't do too well. regardless, I think that the fat sandwich station was my favorite out of all of the stations. Communication can be difficult, but once that is squared away it is smooth sailing for the seemingly quick night as you make fat sandwiches. We should, however, keep more of the low-fat sandwich ingredients in stock. we misse4d out on a lot of those this year. 10/25- While working the french fries/ hot dog/ hamburger/ cheeseburger hotbox, I found it to be extremely stressful. the communication of orders is ridiculous, as the quantity of items is always unclear. i found myself getting two or even three orders of fries when all that was needed was one order. It turned out alright that night due to the fact that there were 7 trillion french fry orders, but if that was a slow night, and not as many were ordered, we could've been in a bind with a large excess of french fries sitting around at the end of the night. If we could find a process that would highly beneficial for whomever it is working the front hotbox, but if the system we have is the only one in the cards then I guess we will just have to play it by year and hope for the best. K Thnx Bye

Ryan Rosenberger 11/1/13 The first time I worked snack shack, it was a lot of the new advanced culinary students first time as well. It was a very disorganized day, not many people understood how the snack shack ran. That’s when people with experience of the snack shack like Enea and I helped take control. It was a field hockey game, so it wasn’t too busy. And after a while, people finally got the hang of it and there was a groove yet again established. The amount of people that were running the snack shack was a good amount and every station had a worker. It was a semi-smooth run snack shack, but people just needed to get used to it and what it’s like. During this snack shack it was a soccer game so there was a decent amount of business going on. People had finally gotten their groove together and it was run smoothly. I did wrapping that time, and it was a busy night. Even though it was busy, we still got everything completed at a quick rate, and good-quality. We had a good supply on the dogs/burgers. But besides that, not much happened out of the ordinary; we cleaned up and got out in an orderly time. During this snack shack it was a soccer game so there was a decent amount of business going on. I did register that time, and it wasn’t much of a busy night. It wasn’t too busy so were there wasn’t much to do. But I do remember the fries being frozen over that day and they came out not too presentable. It could be a problem because we could potentionally loose future customers for having bad products. This was the first football game I worked and it was extremely busy. We sold everything we had and yet still ran smooth. Everyone was put into their jobs and it seemed to work out simply. I worked cashier and it was okay, I also was stationed next to the fries, which seemed to be extremely busy. For a football game it was good but, made a little too much food near the end. Besides that we also got out on time and it was clean and trouble-free. This football game we were extremely unprepared. We were down people and sadly it was due to Enea and I. That night I worked register with Nicole and Jackson. It was a busy night and most things were sold. I remember selling a lot of hot chocolate and a problem was we couldn’t find the rest of the cups. We sent Tate to go find them when in reality they were right under the middle counter. That was just a waste of time especially when we were down people. However, we all got out on time and it was a pleasent run.

Enea Musaka Class 1 October 31, 2013 The last snack shack I worked was a football night. I was wrapper again. We were well prepared and on top of things. The hotbox was always full and there were plenty of hamburgers and cheeseburgers waiting to be ordered. I think by this point, almost everyone working that night had worked at least 3 previous times. Once somebody got a station they stood there and ran it. The one suggestion I gave to the people taking the customers’ orders was to keep the line moving. At points people couldn’t order because others were blocking the window. We shutdown at a good time and didn’t really spend time cleaning. We gave it a quick wipe down, but some people stayed after to clean. Enea Musaka Class 1 October 31, 2013 This was my first football game since advanced culinary last year. If it was anything like last year, I expected to be in for a long night, but it went surprisingly smooth. Everybody did their job and this meant customers were getting their food faster, in turn, moving the line faster. I was working hot box this night and it went really good. We prepped well so the hotbox was full the entire night. For the most part we were only dropping fries. I strayed from my station at times because it got so slow. The one thing we forgot to do was fill the cups with the different sauces. Cleaning went well. Everybody helped and we managed to clean and be out of there in under 10 minutes. Enea Musaka Class 1 October 31, 2013 The first time I worked snack shack, for most of the people there, it was their first time. It was a field hockey game so right off the start we knew it wasn’t going to be hard. I was wrapper and I feel I did a good job staying at my station and doing my work. I was criticized for working too slow, but I did my job. I really hated putting the gloves on. Once your hands got wet, they were near impossible to put on. The thing we regretted the next day was we didn’t clean. When we went up to the next day, it was in bad shape. The hot chocolate had gone bad and everything that was spilled on the counter had caked on overnight and was very difficult to remove. One suggestion that was made was to put marinara sauce in the small sauce cups and leave a bunch in the hotbox. Enea Musaka Class 1 October 31, 2013 The second snack shack I worked was for boys’ soccer. It must have been a big game, probably a rival team, because as soon as half-time hit we got bombarded. It was a struggle to keep up with the crowd. The location of the menus really needs to be changed. I’ve noticed that fat sandwiches aren’t selling quite like they used to. I was wrapper again and had a hard time keeping up with what was being put in front of me. At one point a second person hopped in and started to help me wrap. Cleaning went a lot better this time. Everyone had something to clean and everyone did it. We were able to get out of there a lot quicker thanks to this. Enea Musaka Class 1 October 31, 2013 The second boys soccer game I worked didn’t go quite as suspected. Apparently, they weren’t doing so well. This really affected the size of the crowd which affected the snack shack. I was working hotbox again and this time, I think we over prepped. We made like 2 bags of mac and cheese bites, had 2 full trays of chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, and onion rings. By the end of the night there was a lot of stuff left over. We closed a bit early because there weren’t a lot of customers. Everyone did a nice job cleaning. We should really do a specialty burger like the Monster Burger more often, especially if we know it’s going to be a big game.

This snack shack was a Friday. One of those nights were everyone has to hustle to feed the masses. One thing that was good was the atmosphere and communication. Everyone in the shack was happy and did their parts willingly. However I did notice a lot of station jumping. The guy on hot box would one second be there and the next be outside or near the fries. The main thing I learned from that one instance was that each station is vital for the shack to run. For example, while the hotbox was unattended orders were coming in for chicken finger, etc. Other than that the night was smooth and clean-up was quick.

This night was a really organized and flowing session of snack shack. I worked the grill and everything was smooth. All of the other stations were well kept through-out the night. Given that it was a slow night, it wasn’t hard to keep it clean but it was a large improvement from the snack shack run on the first night. At closing everyone helped and we were out of the shack in fashionable manor. I contribute that to us dumping the dishes into the sink and leaving. It was an effective way to get out but the clean up the next day was not fun.

This was my last snack shack and it happened to land on a football game, we knew it was going to be crazy witch it was. When I arrived I immidetly had to start making burgers! Laying the meat out into the deep hotel pans, each box of meat had 80 burgers in it according to nuemyer. I made 4 boxes! That’s 320 burgers! When we started making them we never stopped! There was always at least a burger or a hot dog on the grill. When I was on grill I was also helping Luke, he was my partner on grill duty that night. We probably made $5,000 and we made almost every burger and a whole bag of hot dogs! It was broadcasted again by cptv and it was a blast. Overall it was a good ending to a season in the Snack Shack!Michael B.

It was a Tuesday night and I knew I had snack shack again, it was a field hockey game so we weren’t expecting anyone to show up. I was on grill for the 4th time in a row, as you could tell by now I like to be on grill duty, but anyway the grill was easy as usual and sometimes slow but I still had a good time overall. We probably made about $50 and sold about 1 dozen burgers and 2 hotdogs, when we closed at half time more people had arrived and wanted food but we sadly had to close for the night. Michael b.

This was the second time it was a soccer Game, soccer games are usually slow but this one was a decently busy one. It’s started off really slow but then towards half time it sped up a little bit and towards the end it got busy but we had to really have to close when it got busy. I covered grill again because since it was my third time under the hood I was use to the basics and what to do to make things run as smoothly as possible. Next time I work I hope I can get grill again because I think it’s fun and its easy and not confusing at all. It’s very straight forward too. Over all it was a smooth fun time in the snack shack on my second girl’s soccer game. Michael b.

Snack shack #2 It was a nice Friday the 11th and I knew I had another snack shack coming up and the day beforehand was my first so I already knew what it would be like. Wrong! I forgot it was a football game so there was going to be a good expected crowd there that night. First thing I did when I got there was making the hot chocolate with Connor. We went down to the classroom and boiled up some water and emptied it into the cambro along with some hot chocolate mix. We only made one batch because we weren’t expecting a million people to buy hot chocolate. When we got back to the snack shack we started some prep and then we hung out for about 20 minutes then we were on the grind! It started with a slow but consistent crowed then it slowly got heavier and heavier by the minute. I was on grille again so there was not one minute that I wasn’t either checking the hot box for burgers or making some. John and Albert had the hot box so most of the time they would tell me if we needed more burgers. The fry station was a little chaotic because people FORGOT they are not supposed to take the fry basket to the sheet pan. The sheet pan should go to them. But overall it was a very fast paced night. We successfully made at least $3,000 and served at least 2,000 happy customers.Michaelb.

Snack shack#1 On Thursday the 10th it was my first time in the snack shack this year and forever as a matter a fact. When I was ready to come down to school I was a bit nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. When I got to school I entered the snack shack and I was greeted by Connor Murphy. As soon as we were all settled we were down and ready to go. We went back to the culinary room to grab supplies and then we put it inside of Jimmy’s mess of a car. I took the job of grille, I knew this would be fine for me because I’m not worried about cooking burgers and hot dogs I could do it in my sleep! It was only girl’s soccer so there was no crowd at all. In total about 30 people ordered food so I thought it was an excellent night to slowly get my feet wet and get a taste for the snack shack and how it works. Overall I thought it was a first fun and great experience with some friends in the snack shack! Michaelb.

Nicole O Football Game Snack Shack After only having worked the snack shack at a girl’s soccer game and field hockey game, working a football game was extremely different. From the minute that we opened at 6:30 sharp, there were constantly people ordering food. We had three people doing money, which was very helpful because that made the line move faster. By this point in time everyone is pretty comfortable with the snack shack so it ran very smoothly. The only thing that we should have done before we opened was prepare the sauces (such as honey mustard) instead of doing that after we opened when we were trying to serve people. Also, we should have advertised the pop-up more because many people did not know that we had that until after they bought their food and they wished that they had known it before. Overall the night went exceptionally well other than the fact that it was freezing out and I couldn’t feel my hands by the end of the night. There is really not much we have to improve on, and I can’t wait to work my next snack shack.

This snack shack experience was decent but definatly not the best. We had improved from the last time snackshack was run, but there were still some flaws. First off everyone was way to chatty and the orders could not be heard. Second, the orders came up short a couple times and everyone was asking questions to each other. Third, there, for some reason, was people arriving at 4-8:30 and the people that arrived from 5:30 basically left at 8 which just didn't seem fair and/or professional for advanced culinary students. If we can improve these minor flaws, I personally beleive that the snack shack will run much more smoothly and things can be done much better. Also as a compliment both teachers did a great job running the snack shack and doing just as much work as the students.

-David B.

This was yet again another great snack shack experience. Unfortunately there was not many customers the night we did the pop-up tent, but through it we were able to gain some further experience. This event gave us the ability to run the snack shack in an environment not yet done by us yet, even though it was just merely a couple feet away. The idea to cook mac n' cheese and pulled pork was a great idea. I personally believe that it should be served on the regular, we just happened to not have such a great night. The teamwork was great, everyone worked well together, jobs were taken care of professionally and everybody put in there effort to make this experience as easy and professional as possible. The only critique I have is that when an order is placed, the station making that order needs to report that back, not doing so may result in further problems. I am glad that I had attended this snack shack event to gain further experience and because it was much more coordinated than the last.

-David B.

Football!!! I guess i showed up late (??) but i thought i was second shift so who knows. Anyways, i was put on wrapping, and at first i was SO against it because i thought it wouldn't like it at all. Strangley enough, it wasn't that bad. Now don't get me wrong, i like cashier better, but this was pretty fun. It was a pretty busy night, but we had a lot of people helping out so it was ok. I distinctly remember liking wrapping because while everyone else was stressed out and yelling orders at each other, my main job was to wrap hamburgers and hot dogs. It was pretty fun because i would try to like race myself to see how fast i could go. Despite some glove rips, it was a really fun night, and i think wrapping is now my second favorite job in the snack shack.

Bailey Smith

Not gonna lie at first i was genuinely confused as to what snack shack was on 10/3 but don't worry its coming back to me. It was another boys soccer, and man those are my favorite. Traffic is normally on the light to moderate which is awesome because, that really gives you more of a chance to focus on what the job at hand is and to have fun with it. I believe i was also working as the cashier, grabbing candy, drinks, or hot chocolate where it was needed. I had another opportunity to work on my math skills and i must say, they're getting better. There where a couple moments where i honestly didn't know the change, but when that happened i would just look at someone else working, asked, and it was no big deal. I have to say, working boys soccer is the best, because unlike field hockey, your not bored out of your mind (or so I've heard) , but you're also not super overwhelmed like football. Overall, it was a good night

Bailey Smith

How could i forget about that beautiful September night full of snack shackin fun? It was boys soccer, and man wasn't that fun. I really got into my math skills that night. I'm not too great at that quick math skills, and business was a little slow so it was my prime time to practice. After a while i got the hang of it and i wasn't doing too bad. I think nothing will ever be funnier though than when this kid payed for a hot dog with a  ten dollar bill and never returned for change?! I sent someone after him though because he was only like 8 and i felt bad. Someone also payed with a hundred dollar bill and that was terrifying, but its okay i got through it. I even got to eat some fries at the end so basically it was a pretty solid night. I think i also have that menu memorized.

Bailey

On Tuesday night I worked the snack shack for the field hockey game. Even though it was senior night, business was still pretty slow. I spent the night working fries, the burger/hot dog box, hot chocolate, and coffee. To eliminate waste we decided to make the hot chocolates to order, filling up the cups with poweder and then adding water. We were able to manage, but had difficulty at times. Hot chocolate is probably the most frequently ordered item off the menu. I found that filling each individual cup with powder was a little too time consuming, and not something I would recommend doing again. My only other suggestion is that when somebody places an order for coffee, the cashier immediatley asks if they would like milk added. They then pass the order on to whoever is taking care of coffee. I feel that is just a little thing that would simplify the process. Other than that, everything went smoothly. It was an enjoyable night. - John Carlson

I worked yet another game last night and again I worked fat sandwiches. Tonight a lot of people bought fat sandwiches and 2 people orders the Carol which I thought was really cool and I put almost everything on it. Later that night the 2 people came up to me and said the Carol sandwiches were really good and that was a good compliment to hear. We were again low workers so Declan from intro had to come and work and again he was a big help. He was taking orders and he was doing a good job. One fat sandwich that someone orders was crazy. He created his own an it was 2 cheeseburgers, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, mac n cheese bites, onion rings and fries and BBQ sauce. It was a crazy sandwich and I have no idea how that kid ate it. One thing I'm a bit worried about in the Snack Shack is the fridge. The drinks weren't cold and when I opened up the fridge, it didn't feel cold in there. I'm not saying there's a problem but maybe we should check it out to see if something is wrong. Overall another great and fun night and I can't wait to work 2 more games next week and one of them is a football game so I'm pretty excited. Michael P.

I worked at the Snack shack on Tuesday for girls soccer senior night. It was a slow night but it was still fun. I worked fat sandwiches and it is really fun making them. It was also really cool because CPTV was there and they came into the snack shack and they filmed me making a fat sandwich. One thing that went well was that I think we were well prepared and we didn't really make people wait for a long time when they ordered. Ryan an enea were working too and there a bit crazy. They wonder off all the time but there both funny and fun to work with. Overall another good night in the Snack Shack. Michael P.

Working the football game was once again a lot of fun. There's so much energy and liveliness to it. And, once again, I was working the tall hot box. I was also helping with the fat sandwiches every once in a while. I've gotten really comfortable dishing out orders coming in quickly, which means I need to do something else. I have one thing down and can move on to a new skill. I know I mentioned it before, that in moving to something else I get the feeling that whoever took over my job I can be doing it better, but whatever. Live and learn and growth, and stuff. I think I'd like to work the counter next. I like the people (and this should cure me of it in no time). It's my last scheduled snack shack shift, actually, and if I had to pick one that would be it. I really have enjoyed everything we've done, and that fact that with each job we've gotten better at our jobs and overall more cohesive. Anything we need to improve on, still? Who knows. From my perspective it's a little annoying to hear someone call for three chicken strips, turn around and not notice when I'm right behind them shouting, "Chicken strips!... Chicken Strips!!!......WHO ASKED ME FOR CHICKEN STRIPS!?". It's not their fault, I understand. You have to keep taking orders and calculate totals of orders over the noise and din of an open kitchen, and do it all quickly to keep the line from backing up too far. I'm sure I'll have my own problems working window for the very first time. I sincerely hope it isn't a football game :S I can't wait for the next game, whatever it is. I don't know how long I can last without another ranch-bbq-onionring-chickenstrip-macbite-cheeseburger. With fries. -Drew

Nicole O Field Hockey Snack Shack The field hockey play for a cure game went great! Overall the team rose over $1000 from selling baked goods and raffle tickets! The snack shack wasn’t too busy because not many people go to field hockey games, especially on Friday nights. Since everyone who worked the snack shack had experience working, almost everything went smooth. Everyone stayed in their assigned spots and there was definitely more people than were needed on the shift. The only problem from that night was calling back orders to the fryers and them not hearing what they need. There was a couple times when we were semi busy during half time when orders of chicken tenders were called back but the person working the fryers did not here. This resulted in the costumer having to wait a long time for their food. People just need to be more aware and alert when an order gets called back. The person taking the order needs to make sure that the people in the back heard them and the people in the back need to make sure they are making everything they are supposed to. Other than that the night was great and we finished and cleaned fairly early!

On Friday night I was one of many students working in the snack shack for the football game against New Milford. It was not as busy as the first football game had been, and I arrived late because of my soccer game, but I still believe I got the full football game experience. Throughout the night I filled in wherever people needed by, but the majority of the time I was moving things in and out of the grill box, pouring hot chocolate and coffee, and moving raw hamburger patties from boxes to hotel pans. I felt under pressure, and in a comfortable way. I felt the intensity a football game brings, but did not feel overwhelmed. Our group worked very well, there were no major problems and we never found ourselves terribly low on anything. There was lots of good chemistry in the group working, and Neumeyer facilitated everything well. I enjoyed the evening. It was basically what I expected, working during football games is not as daunting as other students made it out to be. - John Carlson

On Friday night I was one of six culinary students working in the snack shack for the field hockey game. This was the first time for me working, and also the first and probably only field hockey game of the season with an open snack shack. I found the night extremely easygoing and well done. I felt no stress, apart from the first 15 minutes after I arrived. During this time I was still getting used to how the snack shack functioned and wasn’t really sure how much work to expect. However after this initial tension I felt extremely at ease for the rest of the night. The majority of the time was spent simply cleaning or just standing around, as business was very slow. It was not as much work as I had expected it to be. I understand that this same atmosphere will not be present at any other games this season. The only time I somewhat felt like we were a little behind was at halftime. We received the most customers during halftime and were basically cooking everything to order. For hot box items such as chicken tenders and onion rings I understand that it would not have been economically smart to cook more in anticipation of halftime, as we did not know what kind of orders to expect. But I definitely think that we should have had more fries on hand, as those are always a popular order and the first thing eaten by workers if they are left over at the end of the night. It was just a touch chaotic at halftime and I feel as though just a little bit more preparation would have eased the tension slightly. All in all though this was an extremely easy shift, and despite the lack of urgency necessary I still feel it prepared me well for future games spent in the snack shack. - John Carlson

Nicole O September 25, 2013 Snack Shack Blog Last night the Newtown High School girl’s varsity soccer played a spectacular game. Since it was a Tuesday night and a girls soccer game, there were not many spectators which means not many people bought food from the snack shack and it wasn’t very crazy. At some points there were a lot of people, but for most of the night the snack shack was pretty slow. It ran smoothly with only a few minor flaws. One thing that should be changed is people need to stay at their assigned places. People did this for the most of the night, but there were few instances when someone who was supposed to be working the fries was at the register taking orders. When this happened there was no one to make the fries when someone ordered them. Also, we should find a way to make more coffee at one time because people had to wait up to five minutes for their coffee and were not too happy about it. We should figure out a way to make a large volume at once and put it in a container to keep it hot just like we do for the hot chocolate. One last thing that needs to be improved is the person who is making the fires should make sure there is always enough fries under the heat lamp so that they can quickly be sold and given to the costumer so they don’t have to wait a long time for them. Overall the snack shack went over very well and I can’t wait to work another one!

This was an interesting night in the snack shack. First everyone gets there and Bryce tells Hoagland that he has to leave at 6:15 so now were down a person. Then Luke tells Hoagland that he has to leave at 7:15 for 20 minutes. I was on fryer for the first part of the night and it was very fun. Frying is definitely my favorite job when working the snack shack and I have a blast every time I work it. This was definitely a crowded night and we were busy all night. Thank god we had Declan (a kid from intro culinary) to help us. If we didn't have him then it would of been a mess. He wrapped up all the burgers and dogs and that helped us a lot. Then Luke had to leave for a little bit so I had to take over grill and Declan had to take over fryer. This was definitely different because Declan had no clue what to do so I had to help him through it. Once he got the hang of it, it worked out pretty well. It was still a little hectic but we got through it and when Luke came back, he took over grill and I went back to fryer. Overall we had a good night but there is still room for improvement. Maybe next time we should defrost one veggie burger for the SAME GIRL who always buys one because we had a little veggie burger problem last time. It was another fun night in the snack shack. Michael P.

Jackson Cryder Blog My first football game in the snack shack was probably my greatest out of school event I’ve done in a while. We ran out of just about everything, all we had left for drinks was Lipton iced tea. We had run out of fries as well as a lot of the candy. I think we should stock up on more sodas, and have different kinds. All we had was Mountain dew and Pepsi/Diet Pepsi. They both have caffeine, and I think we should have some non-caffeinated drinks besides water and Gatorade. The price for chicken tenders is 4.00$ and the price for mozzarella sticks is 3.50$. I think we should keep consistent serving sizes, because we ended up giving some servings of fries that ad a lot less fries because we were running out and we were trying to cut back. Also, we should add combo meals, like getting a better deal if your order a cheeseburger/burger/hot dog with fries and a drink for maybe 10 dollars. It’s a full meal, and people won’t need to come back for things that they still want and spend more money than they need.

Alright. Soccerfest. The boys soccer team finally had they spotlight, and fans to cheer them on. As much as this blog is a chance for a dig and the soccer team but mostly Baldino, I came in first shift, and got to prep and lot of stuff as I had to leave early. Hoagy gave us 30 mins until she came back and expected us to be ready, naturally we missed a couple minor details but overall we got it all set, me and Parker dropped the various assorted fried goods, (and the bad Mac and cheese bites, really gotta get the triangle ones back) but I liked prepping, it was like the calm before the storm, and once that rush for the crowd came we were all in our stations and took them on, and even though we might have been slightly understaffed we did a good job and completed the task. I really have started to get the hang of this. I think you guys should offer varsity letters for each station, like I mean I should almost have one for fry cook by now... Bryce

Coming off of the most hectic snack shack in NHS history, is was actually looking forward to the next one if you can actually believe that. Well this time it was a boys soccer game and since they had been having a rough streak the attendance wasnt something to write home about. I kept anticipating more and more things to be fried as that is my official and never changing job, but the demand jut wasnt there. It was kinda nice being able to hear myself think. As I even got a go at being a cashier before the night ended, and with the leftovers had Parker make me the best fat sandwich he could. Anyway, it was nice working a snack shack with a certain organization to it, not where food is just flying everywhere. My sole suggestion as the starting fry cook would be to devise a system to get that fourth fryer under code and get it operating underneath that vent. It would be a game changer. I also feel the Mac and cheese bites that were triangular were 100x better than the new ones we have, just my two cents. Looking forward to the next one. Bryce

The first football game of the year. Even with all our prep work I think it's safe to say we were overwhelmed. Working both the fry station and the hotbox could get crazy. It's not that the hotbox was that hard. When I had four orders for french fries stack up and then I get asked for three cheeseburgers and a hot dog was when it got tricky. Sometimes I couldn't pay attention to what was running low on the hotbox because of all those fry orders. Separating paper boats from one another is a lot harder than it looks! It's a good thing giving what's asked is so simple a job, even when orders would sometimes overlap and I'd hand out more than was asked. The operation beyond that from my limited viewpoint seemed pretty flawless. As hectic as it got the system itself was sound. It was the pure unexpected numbers of people asking for what we were making after we told them no, we are out of Pepsi, and no, checking again will not help, that got to us. I personally burned through three pairs of plastic gloves grabbing the fries that were dumped into the hotel pans right out of the fryer, and I got off easy. I thought the evening, barring a few popped nerves, was a great success.
-Drew

On Thursday I worked the Snack Shack for the boys soccer game. I worked 2 games before this one but this was personally my favorite one so far. My job was to make fat sandwiches and to get the chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks and onion rings out of the hot box. I made about 30 fat sandwiches on Thursday and it was a great experience for me. At the beginning I was a little slow because I've never done it before but as the night went out, I got a lot better. On Thursday the game was kind of crowded but obviously nothing like a football game. At halftime it was very crowded though. We were running out of some food like fries and it was pretty crazy. We also made hot chocolate and only like 5 people ordered it. Overall it was another really fun night in the snack shack and I can't wait for my next game to work. Michael P.

This Friday was the first snack shack for football. It was very hectic. No one could hear any one, so different people would yell the same order. This caused multiple of the same order to be made, which wasted time when we could be making other orders. Also, once an order was made and we had to give it to the cashier when you went to give it to them no one knew whom it went to, so we had to stand there and yell to the crowd whose order it was. Sometimes when no one would answer we would think that it was an extra and put it away, then the cashier would be waiting for it to come and it wouldn’t.

Jillian

After working in the snack shack for the first football game I feel there are definitely aspects in which we could improve. The communication in the snack shack did not go as well as in previous events/years. People were yelling out of pure excitement of being in the snack shack which made communication of orders difficult. At times it was even difficult to communicate with the person standing next to me. One of the aspects that we did well though was being prepared with the utensils that we needed. Unlike last year when we were constantly running back to the culinary department to get materials this year we had everything that we needed. The only supplies we ran out of was food. Which is never a complaint when you sell everything you have. I think that we were definitely caught off guard with the amount of people that showed up. I was definitely hard for us to communicate with each other inside the snack shack. There were times when people were ordering hot dogs and i had to grill them from start because I didn’t know that there were none in the hot box. Bryce was standing right next to me and I could barely hear him let alone the orders that I needed to hear from the front on the house. The falafels were annoying to fry because we rarely got an order for them and when we did we already had stuff in the fryer which made it difficult. In addition we had an order get sent back because the chicken was not warm, in the future we should probably grill it and keep some in the hot box. Also we got an order of chicken tenders back. We needed to remember FIFO, first in first out. We were putting new chicken tenders on top of the old so when we got to the bottom they were cold. One lesson that it learned from the experience was that we can never fry off to many fries before the night begins.

-Matt B

On Thursday the 10^th I worked my first snack shack. It got crazy when everybody kept trying to jump in to the job that you were doing. The people on money weren’t shouting out the orders they would just say them when nobody can hear them on the back by the fryers or by the grill. The people on the hot box would tell us when we need food the minute we need it, they didn’t tell us when we were low on food.

 kyle wallin

Tate Schwab

            On Friday I worked the snack shack for football. I was a cashier. It sucked. I don’t want to do that job ever again. Doing the math in my head quickly was really difficult. One lady threw me a dirty look and was trying to give me crap for taking too long. She was annoying. I kept getting asked for French fries after we ran out. I feel like if someone is going to be the cashier they should be told a few days ahead of time and study the menu so that they already know everything when they get to the snack shack. Also, they should have calculators in the snack shack for bigger orders. The long orders confused the hell out of me. People should know what they want to order when they get there. Also, people shouldn’t crowd the ramp if they’re not ordering food. Patience is key in the snack shack. Especially when annoying ladies say their chicken tenders are cold. If people were just generally less annoying and more patient the snack shack would be perfect. 

            Okay, so, last Friday was my first time ever working the snack shack. If I were to sum it up, I’d say it was insane. I don’t think I ever actually heard a full sentence from Matt, but he was maybe 12 inches away. I have also developed a mild phobia of fried food, after being immersed in deep fryers for about 5 hours straight, and I think my skin absorbed a good 12 oz of the oil over the course of the night.

            Now, as I found out it was the busiest snack shack of all time, I feel a little better, I mean what better of a breaking-in game for my first time!! Sarcasm aside, in the moment it was very stressful, but also kinda fun, but still waaaayyy crazy. But yeah, as I became one with the deep frying station, I noticed a couple things. For starters, we should devise a better transfer system, having to cross over to the middle station with a searing hot fryer, or an insanely hot hotel pan, could be improved up, side mount attached perpendicular to fridge? Also, when we ran out of prepped fries, Luke and gang got rather impatient, (and LOUD) so if another game like that ever arises, a good 30 hotels of fries could have been prepped.

            Besides that, once we got into the swing of things, it turned to chaos, it was impossible to keep up with the size of the kitchen we have, and the amount of orders coming in. Luckily, this will probably be the busiest game I will ever work, and of course it figures it would be my first.

            I will definitely be interested to see what this Thursday brings, when the snack shack isn’t at about ten times its maximum capacity! Before I finish, I think that if possible we could devise the ventilation system to incorporate the fourth fryer, it would be a game changer. By having three dedicated to fries, and one for the occasional falafel, which screws everything up, or maybe some chicken tenders, it would be a lot easier, than having to juggle three fryers for about a million orders. What an expierince. I think it took me all weekend to get the smell of the food out of my pores.

-Bryce D

nothing is more daunting then looking into the fridge and seeing two waters left, no Pepsi, and no Gatorade. All we had left was Starbucks iced coffee, and that sure wasn't a hot item  (until that was the only option left). But of course, i kept getting asked for red Gatorade, and a mountain dew. I don't know hoe many times im said "we're out" but it was defiantly a record amount. And some people where really rude. For some reason i started taking orders while still getting drinks, and i was trying to get change for this little boy, but im not too good at math under pressure. The order was $2.50 and he gave me a $5 bill. Obviously i had to give him $2.50 back but i had no idea at the time, so around 2 minutes later all he says is  "Are you even in high school  Do you even know how to do math?" And at that point i was so over the snack shack. Im not into people being rude for me and im sure as hell not into doing math under pressure. So hopefully, i never have to work a snack shack as hectic as that. But to make it better just in case i do, we should place the menus in a better location so people don't waste time at the counter figuring out what they wanna do.Maybe we should have little notepads so when they're are long orders, and calculators because that a lot of math for 4 hot dogs, 4 mountain dew, 4 french fries, and two fat sandwiches  And please if your yelling t the drink person, say what you want to drink, stop throwing up some letters with your hands and just say it because the whole hand thing took em wayyy more time. and at the end of the night we should have a little break (5 minutes at most) just to get some fresh air because it was so hot and i just needed some fresh air.

- bailey s

This last Friday on 9/20/13, I experienced the snack shack for the first time. In this exposure, I was given the Fat Sandwiches station and had a blast in regards to that, other than that, things were hectic and literally like hell. I noticed that when an order was said 4-5 people would repeat that order, and in turn would end up causing several orders to be over made. Another thing that was an issue was the noise. The noise itself even if their were no customers could have made it an awful time. The last thing I noticed was an issue was that marinara sauce was wanted with almost every mozzarella stick order, but it was never packaged. I think if we pre-package marinara sauce and store it in the hotbox that would be a much better idea. The other issues can be solved if everyone limits the chatter and the noise. Overall, the snack shack experience was great training although it wasn't completely fun. -David B

Drew Szarka

Snack Shack Day 1: Intimidation. Mild as it was, I had no idea what the experience was going to be like. Would there be a ton of people for this soccer game? What job would I be given? As soon as we got there, I was allotted with a shrug the Fat Sandwich station, and given the task of getting out the sandwich stuff. I had no idea what this meant. Great, I thought, this was a sink or swim type deal. Fortunately enough Hayden stepped in and told me what was actually supposed to happen for a successful Fat Sandwich station. We went through station upkeep, organization, sandwich composition and keeping tabs on how much of everything I had left. After the confusion was over, it took some time to get comfortable with the orders coming in. There weren’t too many orders for Fat Sandwiches this game and I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I thought it was a blast. And given it was a first time for the majority of the people there I think it was pretty successful. I think it was really necessary for most of us to get in this trial run before things really start to get crazy during football season.  Rotating stations will be fun, but I’m sensing I’m going to have to hold myself back. I always want to jump in when I think I could do something better (a reason I don’t like group projects in school). Doing it right is doing it my way. I will abstain and stick to my station. That’s not to say I won’t lend a hand if I can; I’ll just do my best not to kick the person out of their own station. I’m sure they can handle Fat Sandwiches at their own pace.

  This should be a good year. 

I worked my first day in the snack shack on Tuesday and it was very fun. I didn’t think it was going to as fun as it was. Everyone worked together as a team and that was the key to success. Nobody was being selfish and that it the main reason we did a good job. At some points we had a few big crowds and I think we did a good job by getting them the food as quickly as possible. The things that we can improve on is the candy by separating the candy into 3 or 4 different baskets because we had one huge basket the other night and it was very hard to find some stuff. The other thing we could improve on is cleaning as we go even though it’s kind of hard to do that it would help us out a little bit. Another thing that we did well was cleaning up after we were done. It didn’t take that long because everyone helped out. Overall I think we did a very good job considering it was almost all of our first time working in the snack shack. The next time we work we will definitely be better because we will have experience.  Michael P.

This past weekend I went to two Italian restaurants one called riccardo's and
one called ruzzutos. The riccardo's was in Boston in the north end. The place
was great it was only my family in it because we were early. We were served for
appetizers meatballs stuffed with three diffrent types of cheeses. It was so
good and they were very big aqaqzzmeat balls to so I was already starting to get
full even after appetizers. For my entree I had linguine alla clams, it was the
most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I've never been to a more Italian place
then this one, If I was to ever own a restaraunt this would be my dream one. The
other place ruzzutos is Danbury was also very good. It was extremely similar and
because I wanted to compare the two places I ordered the exact same thing. The
linguine I had in Boston tasted a lot better but the clams I had at ruzzutos
were absolutely delicious. If I had to chose the best out of the two I'd pick
riccardo's in Boston it was great and if I ever come back I will definitely go
again.

This Easter was a food extravaganza! My family and I went to my grandmas house on Long Island to meet with my cousins, and we got delicious chicken and ribs from a local restaurant. I've never eaten so much food in my life. It was covered in the most tasty BBQ sauce that was very addicting. Side dishes included corn, mashed potatoes, and salad. The ribs were fall off the bone, and they were extremely tender. I had about 10 of them! The chicken was moist and flavorful and made for a great holiday meal with my extended family. This had definitely inspired me to want to make my own BBQ sauce on day to try and top this one. I wish every day could be a holiday with the great food that holidays bring along with them!

As Pinterest has now integrated into the culinary experience, I found myself spending a lot of time discovering other people’s posted recipes. During the course of Lent, during which I could not indulge in any sweets, I found myself re-pinning an alarming amount of cookies, cheese cakes, and other unique types of desserts. But I did manage to find some great recipes to possibly create in class. While finding the recipes was one thing, I wanted to take advantage of the resource and create some of the things that I discovered instead of just marveling over them. So, after weeks of talking about it, I finally prepared to create the “Banana Bread Granola Bars”; a healthy snack I could enjoy after school, or in the morning. Boy was that a mistake. I had all of my ingredients at the ready, everything organized and measured out. Out came the two cups of rolled oats, chia and flax seeds, mixed with the liquid portion of: honey, egg whites, vanilla extract, a banana, and a few other things. The combined product went into an 8x8 pan and baked for a little over a half hour. When they came out the smell was great and I anticipated something similar to the Nature Valley bars I have had. After letting them cool for a significant amount of time, I finally got to try my home-made concoction. I must say, I was pretty disappointed with myself. The product came out with a taste of pure oats, very dry and coarse, and the texture of the bar was not something to be desired. From the experience, I learned that the recipes posted on Pinterest are often not great recipes. Some are legitimate sources, but other are simply posted by the average person who wants to share something that they make at home. In the future, I will continue to use Pinterest, but mainly for the ideas. Once I discover a great idea on the website, I will look for a recipe from a better food source like foodnetwork.com or epicurious.com. Hopefully then I will have more success with my home creations. Wesley M.

The past few weeks in culinary have been designated to providing food for the homeless. Between receiving, organizing, and preparing the food given to us by the Connecticut Food Bank, we've been pretty busy win class everyday. We diced pounds and pounds of bread, chicken, and pork and passed off whatever work went uncompleted to the proceeding classes. Another neat part of the process is when we have to plan what meals to make. We are required to use our creativity to think of a healthy, yet good tasting meal to present to the food shelter. It has been a constant effort by all classes that has got the job done. What motivates us to continue these efforts is the fact that we're truly helping out those in need. The people we are assisting are lucky if they get one meal a day. It makes us feel good to know that we are supplying these people with high calorie, substantial foods that also taste great. Overall I hope we continue to work on this project within class. It's for a good cause! Matt M.

Ever since I was a little kid I hated cheesecake. The thought of cheesecake would make me gag. I tried everything from regular cheesecake to oreo cheesecake and nothing would change my taste buds minds. This weekend though I was at my Aunts house for easter. I had a fat dinner that consisted of ham, eggs with sausage and mashed potatoes. Now, you know cant have a dinner and not have dessert. So I was looking for the dessert table but found out that the only dessert they had was cheesecake! I was a little upset to say the least. Then I saw it. The last piece of cheesecake that would change my mind forever. I took a small bight thinking I would regret it but no. The apple and caramel hit my taste buds like a huge punch to the face. I can now say I have tasted and liked cheescake.Daddy. Brandon Marks

Food addiction has been becoming a somewhat serious issue here in the United States, over the past few years. For many people, when we eat foods that have salt, sugar and fat in them, our brain’s pleasure centers are activated, simulating some sort of reward for these bad foods. These kind of rewards can stimulate an addictive behavior, because our body is tricked into thinking that this activity is good for the sole reason that we are getting some sort of reward at the end. This is the same sort of process that occurs when a person partakes in using an addictive drug (ie cocaine and heroin). As a result of this, people continue to eat although they are not hungry. People with food addiction usually will start to develop anxiety and agitation. Now, although food can be harmful, and cause all of these bad things through its addiction, it can also cure you from your addiction. Eating well, and being smart about how you eat can counteract many of these negative parts of food addiction. So it seems that food is a double edged sword, and it can either help you or hurt you. Ralph

One of the things I saw/tasted recently was a whole Tilapia fish that my aunt had ordered, this was strange to me because for one thing, I am not a big fan of fish, and two, it had its head and everything still on! This fish however didn't taste very fishy like other fish would, so I didn't mind it but it still isn't the same to me as eating chicken or beef, it was kind of flaky and could pull apart easily. When I brought it home, my mom freaked out. I thought it was funny though, my brother and my mom’s boyfriend enjoyed it a lot though. I showed my brother how to open it, take out the bones, and eat it. My mom kept saying how the poor little fishy kept looking at her and how it didn't want to die. So I proceeded to make the Jaws theme and wiggle the fish towards her. Again, this wasn't the brightest idea because she flipped, but everyone else thought it was funny. Jason Sherwood

During the month of February, I went with my aunt to a food show in New York at the Javits Center. We saw lots of different things there and got to try a good amount of the food there as well. They had everything from Corned beef sandwiches to fresh squeezed orange juice from juicers. The food there was quite amazing and smelled very good. The only thing that I found unappetizing were these little appetizer cups that were made with shortening and left a film on the inside of my mouth that tasted and felt nasty. One thing that didn't surprise me by just seeing it there, but in fact the taste, was all the organic foods. They had lots of stuff like wheat-grass drinks, fresh fruit juices, and even special kinds of water with charts showing you how their water was improved in taste and quality than those of other brands such as Poland Spring. Jason Sherwood

For my Easter dinner we had roasted ham and turkey it was delicious. I love 

Easter because it's basically a second thanksgiving we always have a huge feast 

with the family. This year we stayed over my aunts house who is in Newburyport, 

Massachusetts. We come up here every year for thanksgiving and Easter, and I 

always leave a few pounds heavier. I helped prepare the meal also by helping 

with the mashed potatoes and and cooking green beans. I also helped make the 
gravy and helped bake some of the desert treats for after. For our dessert we 
took out our colored eggs, had brownies with nuts, and had homemade cup cakes 
with frosting in the shape of bunnies, and eggs.

Patrick Ri

Brandon M

Blog

Since I never get fed by Ed or Tammy I had to take myself out for a nice dinner with my brother steve so we decided to go to Wendys. Most people would have chosen the regular Mcdonalds or Burger King, but no. Me and Steve wanted to go to wendys. If you ask me it was a bold decision. But it turned out to be the best decision of my life. It was like eating at figs with a lot smaller price.I got a juicy double cheeseburger with a medium frie and a diet soda. It was the best burger I have ever had in my life. It was way more satisfying then beating Chris in a game of Fifa. When I got home I also decided to make myself a bowl of cereal. Now it wasn’t any boring cereal. I had cookie crisp. If you don’t know what cookie crisp is then your weak sauce. This is a cereal that is supposed to be like mini cookies in milk and was a great way to top off a wendys meal.

The past weekend I went to New York City and experienced a variety of smells and aromas. I traveled the city with my friends and tried multiple food carts. Nuts for nuts was one of my favorites and of course I had a soft pretzel or two. But the real treat of the trip was wandering around until we came upon a small burger shop called "burger heaven" from the street location you wouldn't expect anything fancy however upon walking in you wouldn't be disappointed the least bit. It was like a old classic drive in diner and had a bar and stools and stainless steel everywhere. It was a nice little place and of course my first instinct upon looking at the menu was to go right for the burger section of it. I decided to get a bacon cheeseburger with French fries and a coke, a pretty classic meal. By the time the food came out my mouth was watering and the looks of the burger sure did not disappoint, it was cooked to perfection an my fries were amazing I would highly recommend it . The service was also great we got a young kid around my age who was nice and friendly. A random day in the city turned out to be a great one and I found a great restaurant I'm sure ill be eating at again. It just goes to show you never know what you might find in the streets of New York. Also I have the business card and address for next time!

My favorite color is red.

Some red foods:  Apples

                               Tomato

                               Sauce

                               Cranberry Juice

                               Lollipops

My favorite foods are: Bacon and Pasta

My favorite vegetable: Celery (really)

At Breakfast I like to eat:  Eggs, bacon and a muffin

Lunch: Pizza and salad with milk
Dinner: Pasta!
Snack: Cheese
Dessert: Donuts and ice cream bars

 I help set the table at home.

 

Cassie S.

    As I cook by myself more and more often, I have come to see that the easiest and most versatile food to create is pasta. The act of making the pasta is very easy (assuming you buy pre cut pasta) which is very nice, but then the fact that you can put any sort of sauce on top, and change the entire dish is really amazing. You can go from a very healthy pasta dish, with a pesto sauce, and then you can go in the complete opposite direction and make a creamy alfredo sauce and pile on the cream.
    The bad thing about making pasta though, is that I am limited to ingredients that are in my house. Normally that would be fine, but I have found that I end up doing the same sauce every time. Currently I have been making an oil sauce with just onions, garlic and mushrooms. It’s really simple, and I really need to branch out and try new things.
    I think the next kind of pasta dish I would like to make would be some sort of creamy spinach sauce. I remember when I visited my Uncle, he made me something similar to that with pignoli nuts. It was in all honesty one of the best things I had ever tasted, and I would really like to try and recreate it. Maybe I can mimic what he did, and possibly make it better.

My lunch at Maggie McFly’s I had lunch at Maggie McFly’s with my family. The restaurant was in Southbury. I had cheeseburger sliders and French fries. There were 4 sliders with ketchup, bacon and American cheese. The French fries were steak fries. I ordered a special Spongebob drink. It was a banana flavored milkshake. The burgers were just right, the fries were a little soggy and the milkshake was awesome. The milkshake was served in a sundae glass. It had a seedless maraschino cherry on top and a caramel drizzle. My lunch was very good and I would order it again. Jamie B.

                December is quite possibly the best month of the year for a kid like me. Christmas of

course, a week and a half long break, and all my siblings coming home from college so my

parents make fresh home cooked meals every night thinking they were just starving for months.

Then when we don’t get a home cooked meal, we get to go out, it’s great. One of the more

memorable meals that I had was the one at this new steak house in Danbury. It is called

Barbarie’s Black Angus Grill. I got a 20 oz. rib steak on the bone with sides of breaded mac n’

cheese, and mashed potatoes. The steak was perfectly seasoned with a delicious taste of pepper.

It was extremely succulent and not gamey at all. Everyone says the entire flavor is in the fat, but

personally I don’t see it. The entire steak was out of this world. Besides, the fat takes me about

10 minutes to chew and swallow, it’s too much work for me. By the time I finished the steak it

was hard for me to finish my sides, but I couldn’t stop eating. The mac n’ cheese was extremely

gooey (in a good way) and cheese stringed from piece to piece as I scooped it from its bowl. The

mashed potatoes were also good, but nothing special. I would’ve thrown a little extra salt on

them (which I did) but they were good. For dessert, they brought out a platter of every single

dessert they had. When I saw it, my jaw literally dropped, but there was just not enough room in

my stomach for more food, so I sadly had to pass. I’ll certainly make sure to leave some room

next time… that is if I can control myself.


Eric F.

             November was a month of nothing but food. Given the fact that it was the month with

thanksgiving, a holiday that everyone looks forward to. You get to see family and friends and eat

all of the delicious food you could want. Of course the days leading up to it are treacherous

because I starve myself in order to make as much room for food as possible. But when that day

finally arrives, there’s nothing but smiles on my face. Most people when they think of the

Thanksgiving feast, they think turkey. But I feel as if the turkey is always dry. I look forward

most to the stuffing and mashed potatoes. I still to this day never really know what the stuffing is

made of but I just go with it anyway because of how delicious it is. The mashed potatoes are so

fluffy and just feel like they melt in my mouth. Topped off with shredded cheese, butter and

gravy, it makes for a highly unhealthy but delicious pile of potato. After a few hours of bathroom

runs and football games, out comes the dessert. My moms apple crumble pie that flakes apart

with every bight is so decadent, it’s something you would dream about. It comes to no surprise

that I probably gain ten pounds after November. But hey, good food is worth the sacrifice.



Eric F.