African American Foods

In fifth grade our teacher made us write down our dream occupation and decorate the letters on a piece of paper. My piece of paper had said "chef" on it. She then proceeded to take pictures of each and every one of us and posted them on her personal blog for us to see. I wanted to continue my cooking passion and create my own blog post to see how much I can grow and learn about the fine culinary arts.

The before photo.

 
I picked out an African-American Heritage Cooking book called The Welcome Table by Jessica B. Harris.
I chose a simple tomato, cucumber, and onion salad. I chose this because it was fairly similar to what my mom creates at home and I wanted to see how the African-American version of this salad was similar and/or different to our Russian version!







The after photo. Cut and peeled. Aesthetics, right?










"Several years later my admiration for Mrs. Lippman grew and when I found out that she and I shared a fondness for leftover salad eaten the next morning at breakfast."(B. Harris page 68-69)


Like any human, you begin to like them more and connect when you realize you have things in common with that person. Jessica began to admire Mrs. Lippman when she realized that they both had the same mindset. Nothing should go to waste. Simple salad for breakfast.



"If there's any left over, refrigerate it overnight and serve it the following morning as a breakfast salad. The vegetables will have marinated in the dressing and be even more intensely flavored" (B. Harris page 69).


This quote talks about how if you want more intense flavors in a salad or any food, leave it to marinate over night and eat and/or prepare it the next day.


This reminded me that nothing should go to waste. I cut the tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, scraping up each little bit. Not only was this a side to my dinner that night but also breakfast the next morning. The next morning I got up and tried the African-American culture by eating it in the morning. The juices from all of the vegetable released making it more flavorful than the night before.


Even if this was a fairly simple salad I learned that intensifying flavors isn't terribly hard. Just needs a little bit of time!


Question for you:
What are some dull foods you have tried that you could marinate over night to create more enjoyable flavors?


Thank you for reading(:

Dance Foundations

Age 8

Dancing became a part of my life when I turned 7 years old. I took a dance camp at my school in 1^st grade and I stayed in it just because we got jelly beans at the end of each class. Soon I decided to go to a studio we went to Allegro Performing Arts Academy when I was 8 and I have been there ever since. Dance allows me to express all my emotions and how I am feeling. Everything is relaxing and I can let go and feel like I’m at home when I’m at the dance studio.

 In the book Life in Motion Misty Copeland talks about her childhood and experience and how she became the world’s first and best African American female principal at the American Ballet Theatre. Misty explains why building a strong base and foundation is important and necessary if you want to strive in the dance world, you always need the basic technique in the long run. “My bar warmup this morning is slow structured yet fragmentary perfectly designed to bring me to center where I can dance freely without the barre, each motion a broken down version of what tonight's solos will be. (Copeland 2).” I used to think that dance was all about the big stuff and like ooh that’s a cool move I want to try it or ooh that’s fun I want to do that.

 When I was younger I never really seemed to focus on the little stuff that could build my base stronger faster so I could do the harder things. “I start with plie’s increasingly deeper bends of the knee which warm up my legs while still allowing them the support that they need I transition to larger movements of the leg, circling them in my ronds de jambe, and bending them in fondus, gradually stretching my hips and knees. I finish with a port de bras, stretching my torso forward and from side to side (Copeland 2).” I don’t nearly think this deeply about a basic simple movement, but now I try to think carefully about every little movement I do and where its base comes from and the correct and proper technique throughout the whole movement. We do basic technique in all our classes daily so while we do this I now apply the little things Misty talks about in her book so I can get the full effect of the exercise and not just doing it for fun.  

My question for you is do you work as hard as you possibly can to improve yourself and the basic's of the activity, or do you slack off time and time again?

Copeland, Misty, and Charisse Jones. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina. New York: Touchstone, Published by Simon and Schuster, 2014. Print.

Guitar for Dummies: Special Articulation

All of us have a passion, from playing a sport, to reading a book. However, for me once I first got into music starting from trashy punk rock to the smooth sound of the blues, I wanted to play guitar. I got my first guitar in the fifth grade, and took lessons up to when I started teaching myself in the seventh grade. Sure, I improved since then and I have been playing guitar for five years now, but there are things that I taught myself that I'm not the sharpest at, so here I am learning from the book. This doesn't just apply with guitar, it applies with anyone's craft. Sometimes the best thing to do is go back and analyze the basics until you have fully mastered it.

The song I played here is the intro to "Castles Made of Sand" by Jimi Hendrix which includes techniques I learned from the book. Hendrix is who really got me into playing tougher pieces of guitar. To compare with me, what musician most influenced you into playing music, and if you don't play an instrument what instrument do you wish you could play and why? 

The book is broken up into sections based on techniques, styles, tips, etc. For this instance, I was looking to see how I can make my notes flow better by sliding the guitar. By doing this I can make my playing sound smoother as I try playing music like in the video. I learned little details from the book that made big differences. For example, on page 137 in the section 'Playing slides', "A glissando is an effect where all notes between the two principal notes can be heard"(Chappell 137). With this knowledge, I know varying the speed of my slide from one note to another can effect the overall tone of my playing.

What a slide looks like

Within this song, I had to do a "hammer on" which is when you finger a string without plucking the note but still being able to produce sound (Chappell 137). Traditionally, you do this after you pluck one note and just press on the next note of that same string to the energy from the first time you plucked resonates. During the song I would have trouble in certain scenarios because plucking a note on another string was too fast, but from the book I learned you can hammer on a string without plucking that string previously. All I had to do was just put more force into my finger when I struck the string and it enabled me to play the whole line in a smooth manner.

What a hammer on looks like

As you may tell, the things I'm fixing are just little things that make a difference and that was the point of me learning from this book. Most likely I won't learn the biggest fundamentals of playing guitar, but it can help me tune in on my little mistakes. This applies to anything people do. Professional basketball players are the best there are at playing basketball, but I guarantee you they don't simply stop practicing the small details in perfecting the best shot for a three pointer. No matter how good we are at something, there will always be room for improvement.

Phillips, Mark, and Jon Chappell. Guitar for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2006. Print.

Soccer: Throw- In

                                                                 

Soccer has been a very big source of happiness in my life for over 12 years now. Its been one of my biggest passions to be a very good player of soccer and to get better at the game every single day. A quote from one of the legends of soccer, Pele, is "Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, sacrifice and most of all, love for what you are doing or learning to do." I heard that quote years ago and I still have it locked in my brain and it drives me to get better each day that I train. So, I decided to pick a soccer book called "Soccer Strategies: The Top 100 Best Ways To Improve Your Soccer Game," by Ace McCloud, for the 2nd Quarter IRP Project to get better and gain more knowledge for the game that I have so much desire to get better at. For this blog, I chose to focus on throw-ins because I feel like that's a part of soccer that gets overlooked even though it is a crucial portion of the game. In the book on page 18 it says "Throwing in the ball can sometimes be just as important as any of the other steps," (McCloud 18). This shows how even though throw-ins don't seem important they are very important and you need to be able to perfect them without any errors 10 out of 10 times. 

In the book on page 21 it says "Always keep your feet on the ground when making the throw, use both hands, and throw with the arms going forward from the back of the head," (McCloud 21).

Here, I'm doing a couple things that are incorrect for a valid throw in and would result in a turnover to the other team. First, I lifted my foot while throwing the ball in which is definitely not allowed. Second, I didn't even come close to putting the ball behind my head and I was just throwing it from the top of my head which would also lead to a turnover.

This is the proper way to throw the ball in with no mistakes and wouldn't lead to a turnover because my feet were on the ground and I took the ball all the way behind my neck and then came forward and threw it in. By reading this book I was clearly shown all the necessities needed for a proper throw-in by Ace McCloud, and I was able to do it all, so I won't turn the ball over for a false throw-in ever. Again, I chose to focus on throw-ins for this blog because of the importance they hold, even though they seem easy to do, many players get lazy while performing this act. As a experienced soccer player I definitely know that this will lead you straight to the bench if you continue to do improper throw-ins. This book has really impacted my way of approaching throw-ins positively because all of those steps are locked in my brain now for a valid throw-in and each time I go in to take a throw-in I will have it down without making a mistake. 

QUESTIONS: WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS A RULE THAT YOU HAVE TO BRING THE BALL ALL THE WAY BEHIND YOUR HEAD BEFORE YOU THROW IT IN?

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE YOUR FEET TOUCH OR CROSS THE SIDELINES WHEN YOU ARE THROWING THE BALL IN?

McCloud, Ace. Soccer: Soccer Strategies- The Top 100 Best Ways To Improve Your Soccer Game (Soccer Strategies, Soccer Skills, Soccer Nutrition, Soccer Drills). N.p.: n.p., 2015. Print.

Caloric Overload

TBH cheesecakes are delicious, which is why I chose to do my quarter 2 IRP on making cheesecakes. When I told my mom I was going to be making 5 cheesecakes before the end of January, she told me I couldn't because that just isn't healthy to be eating 5 cheesecakes in a bit more than 2 months. So, we went on amazon and bought a 6 inch spring form pan instead of the regular 9 inch pan, so that I would make a total of 5, half sized cheesecakes. For making cheesecakes, there are many things that go into it, other than just the ingredients.

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My quarter 2 IRP book: The Eli's Cheesecake cookbook
    By: Maureen Schulman


Quote #1:

"When she experienced that first cheesecake, she was surprised at how beautiful it was, with it's golden brown caramelized top. 'It had structure, and yet, it was a quivering custard inside,' said Jolene" (Schulman 67). 

Paraphrase: Basically this quote is saying how although tasty, a big factor of what makes cheesecakes so wonderful is their physical beauty (kinda like Dylan O'Brien).

Impact: This made me try to not focus only on the flavor and texture of my cheesecake, but also how it looks when it's done... Which didn't work too well for me oops.



Quote #2:

"The first few years of her work were characterized by trial and error. as Jolene switched from fifty-cake batches to a few hundred at a time, new issues occasionally arose: some of the cakes cracked, collapsed, or exhibited other imperfections" (Schulman 68). 

Paraphrase: This quote shows how although it is important for the cheesecake to look good (shown by the previous evidence piece), it's near impossible to get the perfect cheesecake on your first try.

Impact: This made me want to try harder to make it perfect (that didn't happen lol) to show that you actually can get a perfect cheesecake on your first try.

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Original Plain Cheesecake

Recipe:

Why type up the recipe when you can just take a picture?

So I followed the recipe through all the funky baking instructions andddddddddd this is how it turned out:

It might look like I put the cheesecake on the table,
but I didn't, it still has the bottom of the spring form
pan on the bottom.

This time I actually did put the cheesecake on the table
but I made sure it was clean, unlike your mom's
browser history.

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Pros:

• Cheesecake
• Tasted good
• Golden brown
• Aesthetic in natural lighting

Cons:

• A bit overcooked which made it not as creamy as usual cheesecake
• My chunky oven mitt made a fat indent in the top of the cheesecake
• Cracked around the edges
• The crust tasted like BARF- gross af shortbread

Scroll down for scenery in my back yard!:

Question:

What's your opinion on cheesecake and what's your favorite flavor?

I 11/10 definitely want to hear from you so comment please 

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Schulman, Maureen, Tara Lane, Diana Moles, and Jolene Worthington. The Eli's Cheesecake Cookbook. N.p.: Eli's Cheesecake, 2015. Print.

Post by Kierra Long

Photography - close ups on flowers

Photography was always something that fascinated me; with all the different aspects, like lighting, angles, exposure, and background, just to create the perfect picture. In this first blog post, I will focus on some techniques with taking close up pictures on flowers.

This picture was taken on my trip to Spain over the summer, when I was at La Alhambra in Granada. I took a close up picture on this pink rose with the landscape of part of La Alhambra in the background. The background is blurred, which enhances the flower and shows that the flower is the central focus of the picture. However, according to Robert Sheppard in The Magic of Digital Nature Photography, "Where a flower lives can be an important thing to include in a photograph. A close-up of a delphinium flower, for example, could be done in a garden or at its native sight in the mountains. While both shots could be great, the close-up won't define the location." From this, I can learn to not use the close-up setting so that I can show the location of the flower. However, this will take away the focus on the flower in the photograph. When wanting to isolate a flower, doing a sharpness contrast can help, which is making the subject sharp and the background unsharp (blurred). Using the close-up or program feature may make the camera choose an f/stop that "creates too much depth of field, resulting in a lack of sharpness contrast." (Sheppard, 124). The best way to use a sharpness contrast is using the widest aperture to create a fast shutter speed that then maintains proper exposure.

The picture was taken at eye level, which helps elevate images. According to Sheppard, "An effective way of photographing a person is to put your camera right at their eye level. The same thing is true about flowers. The most common angle of flower photography is from above looking down, which can make it dull. While that is the way we see flowers, it is not the most effective view of them. Getting down low to blossom level will often elevate your images." (Sheppard, 121). This tells us that flower photographing flowers is somewhat similar to photographing people because of some of the angles at which you photograph the subject.

Lastly, the background setting is important for the photograph. As I said before, this picture was taken at La Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The flower was located on a ledge in the garden in La Alhambra. Having a part of the tourist attraction helps give context of where it is located. From the photograph, you may infer that the flower is on a ledge because of the landscape behind it and its relation to the flower. Some other plants are seen in the landscape, as well as the other parts of this famous historical tourist attraction. In addition, the photograph tells us that it is outdoors and that the flower could be near some buildings.

To finish this off, did blurring the background affect what you think the location was? Was blurring the background through the close-up feature a good artistic decision or should I have not used the close-up feature at all? What suggestions may you have for showing the location and using sharpness contrast?

Citation: Sheppard, Rob. The Magic of Digital Nature Photography. Second ed. New York: Lark, 2007. Print.

Making Glazed Hazelnut Cookies