Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin! Got your attention didn’t I? So did all the many new and different pumpkin foods and drinks that I’ve come upon this fall season. From the Lattes to the muffins, pumpkin is everywhere. Everyone is competing to have the best pumpkin spice fall products and I’m here to try to find who’s is the best. In the latte/tea/ coffee section I must say Panera Bread won me over with there Pumpkin spice latte although they were neck to neck with Dunkin Donut’s Pumpkin spice iced coffee. In third place would be star bucks Pumpkin spiced Latte. In the granola/bread/muffin Category I couldn’t choose between Kashi Go Lean;’s pumpkin spice Granola bars or Ego’s Pumpkin spice frozen waffles. Next on the list would be Limited edition pumpkin flavored English muffins. Although most would favor one of the big brand company’s, I would choose Big Y’s pumpkin muffins over Starbuck’s or Dunkin’s any day. It’s moist, rich favor won me over on the first bite. Mmmm, All these were so yummy and different and I enjoyed tasting and trying each and every one of these. Although I’ve tried so many pumpkin flavored products this fall already, I still have many more on my list. For example, Pumpkin Spice ice cream and Frozen yogurt. I hear Peach Wave has a pumpkin spice frozen yogurt which I’m dying to try. Also, I would loveee to try or even make some moist pumpkin pancakes bread. The thing I love most about pumpkin is that you can make so many different kinds of food with it! You can make drinks, breakfast, lunch and dinner foods. You can even make desserts! With such a variety, why not have fun with the vegetable and try everything the fall season has to offer! Written By: Kalianna F

Ever wonder what it would be like to make drinks and prepare pastries for a living? I did. Every time I went to Starbucks, Dunkin donuts or any other store like that I always found it so fascinating. Thinking about all the different drinks, and food they have to make and remember always caught my attention. I thought it would be the best job, sitting in a coffee shop all day, surrounded by the aroma of Lattés, coffees and toasted bagels. I guess this is why I was so excited when I was offered a job in the Café of my job. At first, I was beyond overwhelmed by trying to remember all the different drinks, and all their different steps and processes. After getting frothing and measuring down, it became a whole lot easier. It took me a little while to remember the difference between a cappuccino and a latte. A cappuccino has a lot of foam and a latte has very little to none at all. I find it so cool how you make millions of different flavored lattes. Every season there is a new group. With Christmas so close, it’s almost time to bust out the eggnog, peppermint and gingerbread flavors. Nothing is better than kicking off a long stressful winter day with a nice latte and warm muffin or slice of cake. Even better, a fruit smoothie or iced tea after a day at the beach or outside enjoying the summer day in the sun. No matter what, I love my job as a barista. Sitting in my café, preparing my customers treats and making their day a little better is such a satisfying job, in my opinion anyways. Written By: Kalianna F

Matt Villamana 11/19/12 Culinary blog The title of my blog would be Fun Times Cooking at Newtown Ambulance. The event took place at Newtown Ambulance Garage on Thursday the fifteenth of November. My fellow EMT partner and I got sick of eating at pizza palace, so we decided to spice things up a bit. We both have very little cooking experience so we had to do something that was quick and easy. We both decided that we would make quesadillas. But this was no ordinary quesadilla night, we kind of made a buffet thing to save some time. The toppings you could have were chicken, onion, tomato, sour cream, and lettuce. The part I am most proud of about the dish would be the chicken. We cut the chicken into tiny strips from the raw chicken and sautéed them with some oil, salt, pepper, and we even threw some minced garlic cloves. After making the chicken we diced the onion and sliced the tomato. We put out all the ingredients on the table including the lettuce. Next we heated up some tortillas in the oven and put those on the table. Finally for anyone who wanted cheese, after we put on whatever toppings they wanted, we put their tortillas back in the oven to melt the cheese. Over all the entire dish was a success, but this wasn’t the best part. The best part was the guacamole; I didn’t make it so I can’t reveal the ingredients but it was killer. It was a little bit spicy but it had a hint of lemon, so it was the perfect match up of success. To sum up my entire dish was a success having little to no cooking experience, the only experience being in culinary. I thought we did a great job overall because not only because we used great team work, but because we had all of our Mise En Place, all of our equipment was well organized utilizing the Mise En Place.

Culinary Blog Two With football season coming to an end, Thanksgiving is slowly arriving. Thanksgiving is always and has always been a big deal in my family for holidays. We always make more food then we can eat and have our entire family over to spend time with us. But my favorite part of the entire holiday is the good food. It’s our tradition (much like everyone else’s) to make a turkey for thanksgiving. But we also add in a bunch of other dishes to make us feel more at “home” at a Brazilian climate. We make delicious Brazilian dishes to be served along with the turkey and we even have my mom best, Brazilian-styled turkey stuffing. My mom’s turkey stuffing is what keeps everyone together. Her turkey stuffing is so delicious that people mainly come for that. But my mom isn’t just famous for her turkey stuffing; she also has other dishes that she makes too. Also the final tradition we have in a thanksgiving for a Brazilian family it every part of the family makes 2 or 3 dishes and brings them to the thanksgiving party for eating. By the end of our large family reunion, most of the food that was made is consumed and many people are over-stuffed with great food. I love this time of the year because holidays start coming in and families come together for them every time. But the true reason that I enjoy holidays, is because food is always made better when it’s for a holiday party or gathering. If food like this was prepared every day, then I would eat like a pig every day and weight a LOT more then I should. That’s why food is the biggest and most important part of our Brazilian holiday. Gustavo P.

Unlike most, I don't enjoy the regular turkey, gravy, and stuffing. It's just never been my thing. But, I do love all the appetizers! I love walking into my aunts house and seeing a table full of food that i don't have to sit down to eat. She has everything from vegetable and fruit platters, to pigs in a blanket. And, it is so casual! You just walk up to the table grab a little plate and a napkin, fill up, and go sit on the couch! Everything is just so much relax and there is such variety from your regular thanksgiving. Recently I have loved the sea foam salad. I've never been sure whats in it but it tastes good! And, you can never go wrong with cheese and crackers, i love a nice sea salt cracker with a slice of pepperoni and Jarlsberg. Another must have on my plate are those pigs in a blanket. They are just so flaky and delicious. Normally by the time its dinner im stuffed! But thats okay, because like i said I've never been a fan of the traditional turkey and gravy. Although, my aunt makes this awesome meat lasagna with 4 different cheese, I could live off of it! The only other thing i like around dinner are the rolls. Nothin better than a golden, buttery, , round, roll. Or crescent rolls, the way they melt in your mouth is sinful. Now, its my favorite part of my meal: dessert. Everything about is amazing. The aroma of all those sweets linger in the air, you wait in anticipation, finally dessert is out and ready, and you plate up. Now, you can't just grab one, you have to grab one of each. Everything is so delicate and beautiful, they deserve to be praised. No dessert shall be ignored. In our kitchen we have the traditional pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple tarts, and the occasional peach pie, chocolate-dipped marshmallows, festive cookies, brownies, and hot chocolate. Everything is stacked high on your plate and you don't know where to start! You decided to start with the traditional pies, they are screaming thanksgiving. You slice on in and are instantly in heaven. You know you have to save room for other desserts, but you just don't want to. Now you take a sip of your milk and start onto the next. You go for the brownie and marshmallow. They are little so you can eat more. Even though these aren't tradition they still taste awesome. One more swig of milk and your in the home stretch. You saved the cookies for last so you could dip them in your milk. With a couple dips, your done. Your stuck in a wonderful food coma with no regrets. Now its just time to wait for Christmas! -Bailey S

This past weekend was my 16th birthday.  As always, I went out to dinner.  My family and I went to the Cookhouse in New Milford, CT.  There is a bar part and a retaurant part.  Not only is the service good, but the food is delicious.  You get your food quick and it is quite tasty.  I had a Meatloaf and Cheddar Flattboy.  It is meatloaf with cheddar cheese melted on it. This is in a panini roll.  It is delicious.  My mom told the waitress that it was my birthday.  It came with a candle but I had taken it off by now.  What is in the birthday is a brownie sundae with warm hot fudge.  I was completely caught off gaurd when I got the desert.  I do not look to happy in this picture.  It is because this was taken by surprise.  I was smiling the entire time except for this.  I do not know why.  The dinner and dessert topped off for a terriffic birthday.

-Harrison D

November Food Blog Tonight, my mom made tacos for dinner. I was very happy because my mom makes the best tacos, and I always get excited when she makes them. To make them she cooks ground beef in a frying pan over low heat until it's browned. Then, she adds chili powder and red pepper flakes. After that, she stirs in a flavor mix powder and finishes cooking the meat. Once the meat has finished cooking it is put onto a soft tortilla roll or hard shell, depending on your preference. The tacos are then served with grated cheese, sour cream, and salsa. I prefer my taco in a hard shell, but tonight we only had the soft tortilla wraps, so I had to settle. I took my tacos to the dinner table, folded them up, and took a bite. Regardless of the type of tortilla that first bite was amazing. I was so hungry by the time we ate dinner and that first bite of taco made me incredibly happy. The first thing I could taste was the spicy meat, it was so spicy that it made my gums tingle a little bit. Some people don't like their food that spicy but I enjoy spicy food a lot. One the taste of the meat hit me I started to taste the cheese on top of it which helped balance out the spiciness a little bit. After that I noticed the salsa. The salsa was mild, so it didn't affect the spiciness of the tacos; it was just there to add more flavor. The salsa helped add to the complexity of the flavor and give it another layer. After the salsa I really started to notice the sour cream. The cool sour cream helped in cooling down the spicy meat of the taco, and added a rich creamy flavor to it. Once I had finished my food the after taste was mostly of the spicy meat, that's the flavor that was most pronounced and hung around in my mouth for the longest amount of time. So, I would say that dinner tonight was a success considering it was one of my favorite foods that my mom makes, and I was so hungry once we started eating dinner that the tacos were just like a gift from God. Tate S.