Chefs. We may not realize it, but they’re everywhere. In the kitchens at our favorite restaurants, passing by us while driving on the highway, Shopping for groceries in the same store as us, or even walking past us during passing period in school.
When the Foods course came to be at Grant, not only did students become better cooks, but they developed a passion for the art of cooking. Miss Pipikios, a Foods teacher at Grant, frequently sees students fall in love with cooking. “Students get pretty shocked sometimes that they could make certain thing from scratch,” she says. “They become proud of their work.”
After taking the foods course, several students find themselves cooking on a regular basis at home, regardless of if their Foods course has ended or not. This is exactly what happened to students Jesica Arguelles and Joseph Smith. After taking the Foods course, they began to turn cooking into a personal hobby. Both students have recipes whether they made themselves or are closely related to their family, and they want to share their recipes with the world.

JESICA’S STORY

Jesica Arguelles is a senior here at Grant, and cooking inhabits a huge part in her heart. Ever since she was young, cooking has been something she enjoyed. Her passion began by observing her family. “My family would host parties in which they would cook a lot,” she says. “I would always be in the kitchen with my mom and my aunt when they cook (for the party). They inspired me.” Jesica would also find herself scrolling through the foods channel at a young age, finding interest in every show she scrolled past.
Jesica’s family was her inspiration to begin cooking, so it only makes sense she would have special family recipes. Apple Cream Cheese Rose Tarts are small rose shaped pastries that have been in Jesica’s family for years. To Jesica, the rose pastries are more than just simple treats. “Me and my family have made this for several different events,” she says. “It brings back a lot of good memories of us together.”

JOSEPH’S STORY

Cooking becomes a natural interest to many chefs when their family consistently cooks throughout childhood. This is exactly what happened to Joseph Smith, a senior here at Grant. Since a young age, Joseph has been interested in cooking. Family was a major inspiration for Joseph to begin his passion for cooking. “ I think the biggest thing that inspired me was that my entire family all likes baking,” he says. “We all have a sweet tooth.” Joseph not only found inspiration from family, but also through simple advertisements on the tv. Joseph recalls a time when he saw a Cordon Bleu commercial air on the tv, and he remembers the rush of realization for his cooking passion he received after watching the advertisement.
Joseph typically enjoys cooking meats, such as chicken, but he also really enjoys cooking his favorite baked treat, cookies. Since he has a passion for baking cookies, it only makes sense he would have cookie recipes. Joseph decided to take all of his favorite components of other cookie recipes and combine them into one unique cookie recipe.

JESICA’S RECIPE

APPLE ROSE TARTS

Ingredients:

1 Apple
1 tbsp of sugar
Dough sheets
Cream cheese
3 tbsp of water
Cinnamon

1. Cut the apple in half and throw away the core. Cut both of the apple halves into thin slices
2. Take a bowl and add in the lemon juice, water, and apple slices. Mix them together and microwave for 3 minutes
3. Lay out the dough sheets and cut them into thin strips
4. Spread a layer of cream cheese on top of each strip of dough.
5. Sprinkle sugar over the cream cheese
6. Dry the apples out from step 1
7. Place the dried apples horizontally on each strip of dough, and sprinkle Cinnamon over them
8. Roll each dough strip to form the shape of a rose,
9. Grease a muffin tin and place the roses in the tin.
10. Bake the roses at 375* for 40 minutes
11. Wait until cool, and top with your favorite choice of topping

(Recipe credit to Tastemade.com)

JOSEPH’S RECIPE

CINNAMON CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 cup of unsalted butter
½ cup of white sugar
1 ½ cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
11 ½ Ounces of flour
1 Tbsp of Kosher Salt
½ tsp of baking soda
¾ tsp of cinnamon
Chocolate chips
Flaked sea salt

1. Brown 2 sticks of unsalted butter. After browned, put the melted butter into a measuring cup and put in the fridge till the butter is solid again
2. In a bowl, add the butter along with the sugar and brown sugar. Mix them together with an electronic mixer
3. Add the eggs to the mixture and mix together
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon
5. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture from earlier, mix thoroughly
6. Add chocolate chips to the mixture, and mix together. Put the mixture in the fridge for an hour at the smallest or 2 days at the longest.
7. Roll your cookie dough into balls. Break each ball in half to give them a rustic look, and place them on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake them at 350* for 12-17 minutes or until brown. Top with sea salt.
9. Cool and enjoy!

(Recipe made by Joseph Smith)