Yellow Cake.

Playing the role of a culinary designer I chose to make a "Yellow Cake" for my project. I chose the yellow cake because, it reminds me of the holidays or special occasions. My mother and I would always make it for either a graduation, birthday, Christmas, or other holidays.

The yellow cake is well known and you can get the box from your local grocery. Baking this cake is easy and takes about 30 minutes to heat properly. When it is done it will be a sort of golden. tone. Before putting the chocolate icing on the cake make sure it cools for 10 minutes.

Ingredients
Cake mix
1/2 Vegetable oil
1 cup of water
3 eggs
Chocolate frosting

*Additional Ingredients* (not necessary)
Butter and flour for the pan
Mittens to take out the cake
A timer to keep time of how long the cake is in the oven

First I gathered up all my ingredients. I put some butter and flour on my pan so that my cake wouldn't stick. I then dumped the cake mix into the pan, thus preheating the oven to 350 degrees. After that I put in the cup of water, 1/2 of the vegetable oil and cracked three eggs into the pan. I then took my whisk and stirred the mix for about two minutes, making it thinner and yellow looking. After this I put the mix back into the original pan and placed it in the oven. I waited for about 35 minutes before taking it out, I waited an additional 10 minutes before placing the frosting on.

You can make this cake for any event! It's quick convenient, and tastes amazing!

Project #4: Culinary Design Blog (Stuffed Shells Recipe)

4 Cheese Stuffed Shells

Making a pasta dish has a comfort food quality. It's easy to make, doesn't take long to cook, and it's delicious. I made a variation of this dish based on a recipe by Rachael Ray, the queen of 30 minute meals. I'm not really a person who cooks everyday, so when I do decide to make something I want it to last a few days throughout the week. This recipe is for a group of 4-5 people. 

Ingredients:

• 20 pieces of jumbo pasta shells
• 32 oz container of part skim ricotta cheese
• 1 pound of shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup of pecorino-romano cheese
• 1 cup of shredded asiago cheese
• 1/3 cup of chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Shred the mozzarella, pecorino-romano, and asiago cheeses.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta. Cook shells for 12-15 minutes. They should be soft but still undercooked in the middle. Drain pasta and cool.
4. In a big bowl, combine ricotta, 1/2 of the shredded mozzarella, pecorino-romano, and asiago. Add the chopped parsley to the cheeses and stir.
5. Heat a large skillet, add one tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Pour a little sauce into the bottom of a 9x12 sized casserole dish. Fill the shells with the cheese mixture and place them in the dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the shells and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese on top. Place in the dish in the oven for about 7-10 minutes to melt the cheese on top. 
7. Serve a few shells onto a plate and enjoy!

sauce on bottom of the dish. arrange the shells with cheese inside

pour sauce over

add mozzarella on top and put in the oven

let it cool slightly

place onto a plate, neatly

Project #4: Culinary Design Blog

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

For this assignment, I chose to make my favorite Strawberry banana smoothie of all time. My mother introduce me to the smoothie, and her mother introducer her to this smoothie, and continued to be passed on by generations. This smoothie is indulging and healthy!

Ingredients:

- 1 Banana

- 8 Strawberry

- 1 cup of milk (either: 2% milk, 1% milk, whole milk, or evaporated milk)

- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-  5 cubes of ice

- Granulated sugar (according to taste)

- Optional: Whip cream

Steps:

1. Wash strawberries thoroughly  

    2. Cut and peel the strawberries and banana

    3. Gather all ingredients in a blender 

    4. Blend until smoothie and creamy

    5. Pure into a cup

    6. Garnish with whip cream and a strawberry on the side.

    7. Enjoy!