gourmet-from a microwave

Recipe: Emergency Brownies
Source: Salad-in-a-jar.com http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/faster-than-a-mix-emergency-brownies-and-a-skinny-secret

How are we, students, supposed to cook with no pan? Oven? Or stove?
Do not fret boarders, because the microwave is here to stay. Paula Rhodes, creator of these "emergency brownies," states on her website that these brownies are time - efficient. With only a couple ingredients, students can make home-made brownies to suit their cravings for late-night snacks.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cocoa
Topping: ¼ cup of chocolate chips
¼ cup chopped nuts
A pinch of cinnamon

Instructions:
1. Blend eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla by hand (or mixer) until light for about 1 minute.
2. Next, add melted butter and beat.
3. Mix in flour and cocoa until the flour disappears.
4. Put batter into an 8” glass dish
5. Microwave on high for 51/2-7 minutes
Make sure the batter doesn’t become chewy, or else its been cooked for too long

Recipe: Potato Chips
Source: Fat free Vegan Kitchen
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/08/healthy-crunchy-three-guilt-free-snacks.html
These really simple potato chips are a fun experiment to make in the dorms with friends. This recipe uses less time and ingredients than the microwave brownies. Food blogger, Susan V of Fat Free Vegan Kitchen claims these as “guilt-free snacks.”
Ingredients:
1 medium russet potato
parchment paper
salt/ or optional additional seasonings
Instructions:
1. Cut the potato in the thinnest slices as possible (use a mandolin or v-slicer)
2. Line the pieces, without overlapping, onto a parchment paper, and place in the microwave
3. Sprinkle salt and seasoning
4. Microwave for about 4-6 minutes, until brown spots appear, turn off for 1 minute, and then microwave until they are golden brown
Remove from microwave and let cool

Recipe: Lasagna
Source: Adapted from Real Simple magazine
Want a real home-made dinner? This meal has vegetables, protein, and dairy. Magazine-Real Simple offers easy recipes, do-able in the dorms.
Ingredients:
total time: 40 minutes
1 15 ounce container ricotta
4 cups of baby spinach, chopped
2 cups grated mozzarella ( 8 oz)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
Salt and Pepper
1 24 oz jar marinara sauce
6 oz no- boil lasagna noodles

Instructions:
1. In a bowl, combine rocitta, spinach, 1 ½ cups of mozzarella, ¼ cup of parmesan, and ¼ tsp of salt and pepper
2. On the bottom of a n 8” glass dish, spread ½ cup of sauce. Top with 2 noodles, ½ cup of sauce, and half the ricotta;repeat. Put tbsp. of grated parmesan on top.
3. Cover with oarchment paper and then place a plate on top.
4. Microwave on high until noodles are tender- about 10 to 20 minutes
Let cool

Powder Puff- All in good fun?

As past students revisited Webb over Alumni weekend, the now traditional Powder Puff game played out- but it has people wondering, what exactly is the point of this game?

There are two sides to every argument. Those who oppose Powder Puff claim that allowing a crowd to cheer on as two teams, completely composed of young women, tackle each other is sexist and should not be allowed. Other disagree- saying that the game is all in good fun.

This year the two teams, (one made up of Seniors and Sophomores, and the other Freshman and Juniors) were coached by alumni before and during the game, while male cheerleaders encouraged from the sidelines. While the yellow-clad Senior -Sophomore team seemed spirited, cheering and jumping around, the blue clad Junior-Freshman team seemed ready to get the game over with. The minutes ticked by quickly, and the spirited team defeated the Junior-Freshman team with ease.

The short game involved good sportsmanship, smiles and support from the stands. However, I overheard alumni questioning the point of the game and its rules-if any at all. So the question remains, is Powder Puff really a necessary addition to Alumni weekend or should critics relax and allow girls to enjoy a harmless game of football?

It's finally here...Theme week.

Theme Week (Nov. 8-12): Viva Las Vegas

Theme by Day-

Monday: E.T. Phone Hollywood (Junior Class)

Tuesday: Treasure Island (Senior Class)

Wednesday: Rock On (Sophomore Class)

Thursday: Circus Circus

Friday: "Friday Knights" (Freshman class)

Saturday: Blue Man Group

This year's theme week unveiling once again included dance moves by ASB, funny skits and students guessing the theme throughout the assembly. Theme Week count down starts now- only a few weeks to go. So grab your costumes and prepare for one of the most exciting weeks of the school year.

Yelp>Michelin Guide

The much-coveted Michelin three star status has lost much credibility as critics from the guide become more and more infatuated with molecular gastronomy or progressive cuisine, leaving wary foodies like myself to seek guidance from a more cordial source, yelp.com.

For the last century and one decade, the Michelin Guide has helped traveling diners weed out the extraordinary from the ordinary. In the fine dining culture, the accumulation of any stars means that the restaurant is near or all perfect in the execution and presentation of their product.

On the other side of the ring is Yelp, founded in 2004. It is a well-known social networking website that has provided diners with reviews reflecting how the masses, not some snobby old critic, have received a restaurant.

Ferran Adria of El Bulli restaurant in Spain is a lead innovator in progressive cuisine. The Willy Wonka of the culinary world, Adria has blurred the lines between food and science. With all respect to chefs like Adria, progressive cuisine is much like a live performance; it plays with your senses and provides different perspectives on old concepts, but is an experience you need try only once or maybe twice in your life. The creativity and presentations of these dishes also do not necessarily correlate with taste.

My ill-serviced dinner at the Michelin-approved restaurant, Fifth Floor in San Francisco, confirmed my beliefs. The delectability of my order, masked by many affectations, was nothing out of the ordinary. In the ensuing day, my sister insisted that I give Yelp a go and I did. We ate at Bottega, which has no Michelin stars, in Napa Valley and every dish on the table had a superior execution and taste –I was practically licking the green pea sauce from my plate of gnocchi.

Yelp caters to those who have a simple philosophy on food and want to eat something well cooked and delicious and not the work of some fancy chef who can make soil palatable. Yelp, with no question, is one of the most reliable and accurate guides to dining out. With time and a growing user base, I believe a restaurant with a perfect five star rating on Yelp may hold as much prestige as one with the famed Michelin three star ranking.

Of the Michelin three star culinary minds, there are a few exceptions like Thomas Keller of French Laundry in Napa Valley. Keeping the integrity and roots of a dish in mind, Keller executes his dishes impeccably and plates it in manner that ensures maximum enjoyment and intellectual delight.

But I still stay strong to my convictions that if one has tried one three-star, you’ve tried them all.

Deadly Drones Becoming No. 1

Move over fighter jet, the unmanned drone has surpassed you as the weapon of choice for U.S. military airstrikes.

Nearly every day now unmanned drones fly into lawless tribal areas of northern Pakistan and kill Taliban militants and their allies. Just today, a drone strike killed 18 Al Qaeda militants, one of the largest death tolls of any single drone strike. Drone strikes are the single most important key to implementing the U.S. military's strategy in combatting the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan, and they have yielded frightening results.

In the month of September alone, a staggering 145 suspected militants were killed by drone strikes as part of the largest drone campaign since the invasion of Afghanistan begun in 2001. The campaign is targeting members of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani terrorism network, and has severely crippled the network's strength in northern Pakistan. Among the dead is Saifullah Haqqani, cousin to the network's leader, as well as Sheikh Fateh Al Misri, Al Qaeda's now former third-in-command.

Only drones could have such an impact in this hazardly mountainous region. Ground troops would be devastated by concealed guerrilla fighters shooting from the rocky cliffs, resulting in heavy casualties with very little results, and expensive helicopters run the risk of being taken down with an RPG from a hidden shooter. Drones are relatively low-cost, unmanned, and easy to operate, making them a tailor-made weapon for this environment.

We are seeing the beginning of the drone era in military tactics. At the rate of increase we have seen in drone usage since 2004, it would be safe to say that in ten years, drones will have surpassed fighter jets in military usage, and with a few upgrades to weapons and maneuvering ability, they have the capacity to make the once-formidable fighter jet completely obsolete.