A Formal Goodbye to the Foodies Blogs

Dear Foodies.

I write this post on Christmas Eve (in Singapore) to formally wish you all a fond farewell and to announce the ending of our foodie blogs. These blogs won't be taken offline; rather, I'll keep them online for the sake of memory and archive purposes, at least for another year or two. But let me explain my reasons for officially ending the blogs here:

There's nothing sadder than a blog that purports to still be alive and kicking, but in actuality is dead. I don't want the same fate to befall our blogs--to have people post very, very occasionally and to have nobody comment or no other posts follow.

Think of this as a metaphorical "pulling the plug" on a comatose blog, and then preserving the blog in a bottle full of formaldehyde. But without the same problematic ethical issues which would arise if the blog were a human being.

I've enjoyed being part of this blog very much, and have enjoyed reading all the posts and comments you've all contributed to this online community!

Without further ado, I bid you all farewell and Happy Christmas!

Sincerely,

Dr. Tiff

Abscences make-up; Anyone Can Cook

For my slideshow, "Anyone can Cook", i chose to include a bunch of college students as the target of the picture. For one, this was a lot easier on me as i know many more college students than any other demographic and as a visual essay designer, in my opinion, it is best to present what you know. However, i also wanted to use college students because not only is my target audience composed of mainly college students but they are also generally regarded as busy, lazy, and inexperienced at cooking. So if they can cook, who can't? I wanted nothing but unique meals to show that there was a variety of things that anyone could cook. Each of the captions gave the University and first name of the person starring in the picture. Yellow Jacket was subbed out for Georgia Tech because, frankly, it sounds cooler and everyone in the target audience would know what it meant.

For the sake of appearance i added video clips to my slideshow. The Clip from Ratatouille was used primarily to introduce my theme and close my show out. I added Julia Child because i love her work, and she burned all of the dishes she designed. Though she did this intentionally, it added a new dynamic to the visual essay. Even if you mess up a few times, don't think you can't cook. Even Julia Child burns the occasional dish.

NOTE: Video Segment will be added to this blog once blogger's compatibility issues are fixed.

Wendys Rap

This is the Wendys Rap, we actually tried it on my local Wendy's...they laughed.  I think this was a pretty cool interpretation of what food can be used for.  Not only is it just to fill us but we can make movies with it, rap songs with it, and even some crazy art.  The idea of rapping at drive thru's caught on and eventually one of the fast food chains made a commercial using the rap as a gimmick for getting people to eat at their establishments.

- Giovanni Mannella

Food Fight!

This was a really cool video i found while searching on youtube for the term "food fight".  It seemes to be created by a bunch of still pictures instead of any digital animation.  The hamburger is my favorite, seems like its one of the most ruthless of the foodies!

- Giovanni Mannella

Missing Mom's Meals

Although I feel blessed to be born into a rich culture with a tradition of exotic foods, I have always preferred American foods over Indian. Maybe because my mom always cooked Indian food at home, and eating good American food was a rare treat. My parents always teased me, saying that once I left home, I would really miss my mom's home cooking. I resisted this claim, insisting that I would love college life, dining halls, and eating burgers every day.

Boy was I wrong! Although eating burgers and fries every day was appealing for a few weeks, it got old fast. I found myself missing my mom's Indian cooking. I love coming home now to get a taste of her cooking again. Whenever I come home, she always packs lots of food for me to take back to Tech.

I've decided that I'm going to learn a few Indian recipes and make them at Tech in the Spring!

Soan Papdi

Yesterday my friends and me had ordered some pizzas from Papa John's. As we relished upon those pizzas, all of us suddenly had a craving t o have something sweet. And that point struck me about those Soan papdi I had been preserving since I had come from India. So quickly this wonderful delicacy was brought and we had a great time eating them.

I have always been a great fan of this particular sweet known as Sona Papdi. It is made up of gram, sugar flour, flour, ghee (clarified butter), milk and cardamom. It’s an Indian delicacy. It generally has a square shape and has a crisp and flaky texture. I don't really know what to say about it more. But I would like to point out a website where I got a very simple and detailed way of explaining this delicacy.

Make Traditional Soan Papdi:

1. Step1

   Heat ghee in heavy saucepan.

2. Step2

   Combine all purpose flour and gram flour and add to saucepan.

3. Step3

   Stir on low heat until golden brown.

4. Step4

   Remove from heat and let cool, continuing to stir occasionally.

5. Step5

   Combine sugar and water in smaller saucepan and bring to a boil. Then add the milk.

6. Step6

   Strain the mixture when a skin forms on the surface.

7. Step7

   Continue to boil until thick and stringy. The mixture should form two and a half separate threads when pinched.

8. Step8

   Pour the sugar syrup into the flour mixture.

9. Step9

   Beat well until the mixture begins to form flakes.

10. Step10

    Pour onto greased cookie sheet and roll with rolling pin to 1 inch thickness.

11. Step11

    Sprinkle with charmagaz and press down lightly with palm.

12. Step12

    Cut into 1-inch squares.

13. Step13

    Store in an airtight container. This will make enough for four to eight people.

    
    

    Citations: http://www.ehow.com/how_2061654_make-soan-papdi-diwali.html

Home Coming :)

Its been almost 4 months that all the International students have not got to taste their home food. But no more of it, as the exams approach they also bring with them that its almost time for everyone to get back home. Everyone would be having their own countdown calendars as to how many days are left for them to get back home. I also have one. But more importantly everyone is waiting to eat home cooked food specially cooked by their mother. I bet no one would say a "NO" for it. So lets look forward to the end of this semester with a big smile. As end of semester approaches, it gets even bigger with all great food to eat and live with near and dear ones.