I made some spicy Korean rice cakes (tteokbokki). It looked really good and also tasted way better than expected. I remember making this meal a few months ago and it didn’t turn out that good. So I didn’t have any high expectations making this. This isn’t really a tradition but it is a Korean traditional food that people tend to like. My mom told me that she would eat tteokbokki with her friends after school, so that’s why I decided to make it. The best part about this meal is that it’s very simple to make. Simple yet filling. One challenge that I had was probably thickening the paste/sauce. I was scared that the rice cakes were going to stick to the pan so it was hard to make the water disappear. I ended up putting it in the microwave for a minute to thicken the sauce, and it worked. My greatest success would be making the sauce. The paste/sauce was the part that worried me the most because I didn’t want to make it too spicy. Luckily, it wasn’t too spicy or too bland. It tasted really good, I’m really proud of the paste. If the paste ends up ruined, then the whole meal will be bad.

I made some tomato soup for this weeks soup lesson. It smelled like a mixture of tomatoes and chicken. I think it was because I put chicken broth in it. It also looked very appealing, I decided I wanted the chunky tomatoes and carrots in it because it looked better that way. So I didn’t end up putting it in the blender. I tried it right after, and it tasted it better than I thought it would be. It definitely tasted like tomato soup, but it was a little salty for my taste. I’ll put a little less salt next time or put in more water. I used several youtube videos and tutorials so I don’t mess up. If I were to make this dish again I would definitely fix the saltiness. Maybe I can boil it again and put some more water in the soup. Some challenges were waiting for the soup to thicken. It did end up thickening but it took a lot of patience that I didn’t have. I decided to search up how long it takes to thicken soup, and put a timer on. I waited with a lid on for a long time. I also put the heat up a little.

My greatest success and what I was proud of was probably my knife skills. I felt more at ease cutting and chopping up veggies. I remember it was hard to chop things without my hand wiggling, but this time, I chopped through things smoothly.

I’ve decided to make banana bread with some leftover banana. These bananas were getting mushy so I decided to use them before they go all brown. The batter smelled so good and when put in the oven, it smelled better. The finished product looked golden brown and smelled just exactly like banana bread. It also tasted like what I imagined it to be like. It was very fluffy in the inside and thick on the outside. I did use a recipe, here’s the video: https://youtu.be/vPUuY-bEK2w. If I were to make this bread again, I would add some almonds or chocolate chips. I think I’m going to try making it again but with some almonds or walnuts. It would taste better with a good addition of texture. Some challenges I had were greasing the pan but otherwise, everything else was fine. Greasing the pan was confusing because I didn’t know if I had any missing spots. I was scared that the batter might get stuck if I didn’t grease it properly. So I decided to use a foil loaf pan. Next time, I’ll try doing it again but with more knowledge.

I’m proud of and was successful in baking it to the perfect consistency. The banana bread didn’t look golden enough so put it in the oven for about 10 more minutes. Surprisingly, I didn’t burn anything and everything was baked well. Hopefully, I could make more with some nuts in it, because it sounds really good.

Making this buddha bowl was pretty fun and interesting. I ran out of brown rice so I couldn’t put that in my bowl but otherwise, the tofu was nicely cooked and all the leafy greens together tasted good. I would just have lettuce in my salads or at least spinach, but having arugula and other veggies were different for me. My successes were probably cooking the tofu. I thought I would ruin the tofu because I would always mush it. Luckily, the tofus came out in one piece and it wasn’t even too salty. It was crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. My challenges were cutting the avocado. The avocado was hard to cut because I don’t think it was ripe enough. Next time, I’ll microwave it for at least 30 seconds to soften it. Since the avocado was hard, I was scared that I was going to cut my finger off. I ended up cutting the avocado and placed it on my bowl.

The buddha bowl tasted fresh and healthy. After I ate this I felt so happy and upbeat. Maybe it’s because I didn’t put in any junk in my body. I will definitely try this more. It also smelled like a mixture of grass (leafy greens) and some lemon. Since I squeezed some lemon in, making the tofu smell not so greasy. In conclusion, it smelled and tasted like I was in the meadows or a neverending field of grass.

I made some yakisoba for my family. It smelled like a mix of soy sauce and vinegar with some sweetness in it. It tasted really good, you could taste the sweetness and the little bit savoriness. It was a good combination and because of the sauce, eating the veggies was easy. I did use a recipe for the sauce but I added different veggies. Here’s the recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/yakisoba/

I would definitely make this dish again but maybe make more sauce. It was good but I just kind of wished if there was more savoriness to it. Maybe next time I can add more spices. The one challenge I had was the cutting part. I forgot how to cut peppers so I had some help from my mom. I did know also how to handle bean sprouts. I had to ask my mom if I should cut them or just leave them. My success was probably mixing everything in. I remembered to put the onions in first since they cook longer. Because of that, all the veggies were cooked to the right softness and hardness. I’m proud of making all the measurements right, because of this we had enough yakisoba for everyone, we didn’t waste any or we didn’t need more.

I made some fried rice for dinner, using the recipe that the teacher has provided us with. I was looking through to see any leftovers and I found some rice. I searched up some recipes that I could use with leftover rice, and fried rice showed up. So I decided to use the teacher’s recipe. The fried rice smelled like vinegar at first but started to smell more like soy sauce and green onions. It tasted really good with the spice kick at the end. There were a lot of sizzles when I poured the sauce in. I wouldn’t change anything with the dish because it tasted good. Maybe I could add more vegetables. I thought making fried rice would be hard, but it was very easy. Easier than I thought it would be. I will definitely make this dish again because it very filling too.

I’ve always wanted to try to make a chocolate cake, so I decided to make some with the help of my sisters. Since it was earth day, we made it earth themed. It turned more into a bread/cake texture than one of those sponge cakes. It also looks more like bread than a cake. I used a recipe, here’s the link: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17481/simple-white-cake/. I used this recipe and added some cocoa powder to the cake. I don’t have any advice but one thing I learned was that gluten-free flour can change the texture. It was gooey like a brownie instead of fluffy. Maybe I did something wrong, but I’ll keep on trying next time. Since this was my first time making a cake all by myself, I sort of panicked. I remember running around the kitchen, trying to clean things at the same time. My greatest success was probably the baking time because I pulled it out at the perfect time. I was scared I was going to pull it when the batter was still watery. Surprisingly, it wasn’t.

I’m proud of not failing this recipe. I’m not that good at baking, so I was scared that the cake would taste really bad. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

For my lab, I made some grilled cheese today mainly because I haven’t had one for a long time. It smelled really good while I was making it and felt buttery. I had to put the heat down because you could hear the sizzles getting louder and louder. After it cooled down, it was a little less greasy. I used a recipe because I didn’t want to mess it up. Here is the link: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23891/grilled-cheese-sandwich/

Next time I make this dish, I want to add something to it like chives, bacon, or tomatoes. Maybe instead of using butter, I could use mayo. I haven’t tried it but it sounds good.

I overcame this by finishing the lab smoothly. Nothing was burning, nothing broke. Surprisingly, by the time I have finished my lab, my surrounding was clean. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the mess this time. Everything was in place and easy to organize. My greatest thing about this dish was probably putting the perfect amount of butter. Last time I made this dish it was very salty. This time it was the right amount of salt.

I’m proud of not having to smell the butter burning and making it golden brown. I usually flip it too early or too late, so I feel very accomplished getting the timing right.

Doing this lab was super fun, because it felt cool to follow a recipe that I wrote. I almost felt like a teacher. I also tend to enjoy my food especially when I make it by myself or I feel very warm inside when I make my family a meal.  

I think the results were better than I expected them to be. It was very hard to get certain ingredients due to covid-19, but we managed to replace some items. I expected to burn something or make something very salty, but according to my mom, everything was good. She might just be saying that to not hurt my feelings, so I made one for myself, and it wasn’t that bad. It was also filling, and I felt full and healthy.  

Things I would improve is probably not panicking. I felt rushed for no reason and felt crazy. I guess I didn’t want to burn anything or I’m bad at multitasking. Multitasking stresses me out because what if something burns while the other thing burns too. I’m going to start multitasking to practice not panicking and maybe calm down more. Hopefully we can do more labs like this in the future so I get used to doing things on my own. 

This lab was successful because of the communication and the teamwork. It tasted really good and looked very appetizing. One of the successes included teamwork. Me and my partner communicated on how the dough shouldn’t be overmixed and so on. By doing that we achieved the flaky top and the layers. We didn’t have that many challenges but there were some minor. To me everything seemed out of place and was kind of messy. We rushed things making our work area very confusing.

If we don’t wash our work area and out tools carefully, it could lead to bacteria and the flu. I’m pretty sure no one wants to get sick. This lab required the counters to be clean. If it was really messy then I think it would lead us to being sick but not that much. Me and my partner ensured to wash our hands every time we touched something dirty etc. We also cleaned up our process so then we don’t have like pieces of eggs on the counter or the sink. We made sure to use oven mitts when taking out the baked goods and opening the oven door fully. We also became extra careful when taking out the scones from the hot oven.

These things are important because being clean and safe will prevent people from being sick and injured. We all have to be extra careful when handling food or keeping your workplace clean.