Final Project Part 1

This food porn GIF is a perfect example of Henry Jenkins work about spreadability.  Jenkins, a scholar in communication and what makes things spread quickly on the Internet, writes that in order for something to be successful online it must be sticky.  These smores are both sticky in real life and on the Internet, as they spread quickly and easily with one click of the button.  It is appealing to an audience, making people want to share it.  Not only that, it follows recent trends of food porn and GIFs.  In line with Jenkins, with one click, people can share this; thus making it spreadable. 

Final Project Part 2

The photos are from a Buzz Feed article: “50 Best Food BlogPhotos of 2012.”  Howard Reingold, a communication theorist, writes about viral communities, that people can find and form support systems online, sometimes even better communities than in real life.  Through Buzz Feed, reddit, and other similar sites, people have the opportunity to meet others who agree with their thoughts and interests.  Not only that, but people collaborate and pull together similar blogs, photos, or ideas and have the ability to post them in a collaborative fashion on Buzz Feed.  Reingold would agree that as people follow the rules of Buzz Feed, policed by users, several internal communities are built.   This Buzz Feed article is a collaboration of many food bloggers, some of the best photographs.  It allows bloggers, people with a mutual aspect of their relationship, a forum to collaborate. 

Final Project Part 3

Yochi Benkler, a communication academic, finds that through social media and digital communication in general, the world has flattened out.  However, with that ease of access the type of conversation has decreased in importance.  Essentially, people have a platform to blabber all they want, but they are talking about nothing.  While I understand where he comes from,  my Storify proves he is not necessarily true.  This is a Storify entry, a place where tweets, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, etc. can all be combined to make a story.  Mine particularly pertains to food blogs because, as I’ve been blogging about food all semester, I’ve created a Storify hosting different recipes from a variety of food blogs.  Benkler is incorrect in this case, because these are important, high levels of communication.  Though the development of the digital world, recipes have merely shifted from books to websites.  However, in my opinion this is not at the price of quality. 

Kosher for Passover Pizza

In the spirit of Passover and my spur of the moment choice to keep kosher for Passover (which became a failure as soon as I saw the doughnuts at work), I decided to make a kosher for Passover Pizza.

After my pizza roll-ups two weeks ago, I had some extra ingredients still around.  

I also wanted to make something kosher for Passover, so my friend, Katie, would come over and eat dinner with me.  Despite the fact that she is not Jewish, she loves Jewish things, and I had not seen her in a while.  Well, my plan worked.  I got to try this new recipe and eat dinner with an old friend!

While this tasted delicious, I would not exactly call it pizza.  It was pretty easy and fun.  However, if I were to do it again, I would put the zucchini in a food processor to cut it, instead of doing it by hand.  It took me a really long time to do it by hand.  

Ingredients:
3 zucchinis, shredded
1 cup of Matzoh Meal
3 eggs
Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Whatever other toppings you want

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
Cut up zucchinis (I would use a food processor).  Then, mix Matzoh Meal, eggs, and zucchini in a bowl.  Lay flat on a pizza stone or a greased pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until browned on top.

Dress the pizza how you would like, and bake for another 10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Pickling

A few weeks ago, I went to this amazing dinner at Seasonal Pantry.  It was the coolest restaurant in DC.  One of the cool things about it is that you sit communally.  Not only do you get to know the people you came with, but also you share a meal with people you just met! I was sitting next to this woman who loved pickling.  I explained to her how I once tried pickling, and it did not go so well.

This week in my farm box, I got the most gorgeous watermelon radishes.  They are so beautiful.  I couldn't just eat them right off the bat, so I decided to try pickling again.

The one tip the woman gave me was to cut whatever I was pickling into small, thin pieces, so the vinegar could infuse more easily.  She also said that with pickling there is a lot of freedom with types of vinegar and spices, so feel free to diverge from my ingredients/directions.

Ingredients:
Radishes, sliced thinly
Vinegar to fill the jar
5 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of brown sugar

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a jar and refrigerate.

Pizza Rolls

One thing my mom used to make when I was little was pizza rolls.  It was so fun, because my siblings and I would get to help her without messing anything up.  

Today, when I was walking around the DuPont Farmer's Market looking for inspiration for a blog post, my eyes fell on the pizza booth they have there.  Literally, they will cook you a pizza right then and there.  Lucky for me, they had some extra dough, so I could make my own pizza at home!

It is really easy and fun to make, and you can put any toppings you want.  I decided to use just pepperoni today. I also used my favorite, Mario Balotelli sauce.  I highly suggest this as a jarred sauce; it's the best!

Good luck!

Ingredients:
Pizza dough
Cheese
Sauce
Toppings
Egg

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
Roll out your dough similar to if you were a making a regular pizza.  Assemble your sauce and toppings.  At the last moment, roll your pizza like you would a piece of paper. 
Whisk an egg in a bowl, and glaze your pizza rolls with it. This creates a nice shiny, browned finish.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes and serve.

Italian Spices

For spring break, my lucky roommate decided to go to Rome to visit her boyfriend.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to Europe over my spring break, but I did feel like I was there, because of the gift she brought back for me!

She got me Italian spices! Aka she is the best roommate ever!

This is one of my go-to, quick meals, a simple rice dish.  You can put different spins on this dish depending on how you are feeling by mixing up the spices.  I sometimes make it with curry and cumin or even basic salt and paper.

I loved using the Italian spices.  They were really flavorful, delicious, and even a little spicy!

Feel free to try my recipe or mix it up!

Ingredients:
1 cup Rice
2 big handfuls Greens (these can be spinach, kale, or anything else, I had this Asia green from my farm box that I used)
1 handful Mushrooms

Directions:
Cook the rice according to the directions.  

Add mushrooms and greens to a saucepan with some olive oil.  Add whatever spices after about 30 seconds, to allow the greens to cook slightly.  Cook until the greens have become a vibrant color.  Serve over rice.