#sweetbugg

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday for many reasons. It combines food, family, and friends in a special way that only happens once a year. And I’m sure many of you are familiar with Friendsgiving as well, which is usually a potluck type of gathering with friends before the official family Thanksgiving meal. I think Friendsgiving is the cutest occurrence of the year. There’s no pressure to make the full meal by yourself, and you’ll get a nice variety of dishes in different styles since they’re not all coming from the same household.

It’s my young adult goal to host a Friendsgiving, which my roommate, Eva, did over the past weekend. Eva is in the kitchen the most out of any of my roommates, or probably out of every college student I know. She doesn’t just make basic pasta dishes and breakfast food, which I am guilty of, it’s always a well thought out and elaborate dish. One day I even caught her making her own apple cider.

I must say it’s pretty nice living with a roommate who likes to chef it up quite often. Whenever she’s experimenting or has some extra food, she never hesitates to share. For the Friendsgiving that she hosted, she volunteered for a lot more dishes than I think most people would have, but of course they all came out great. I figure if I’m the host, I shouldn’t even have to make a dish, but that doesn’t fly with Eva. She made the turkey, stuffing, and a very impressive pecan pie.

You’d never know it from the looks of it, but this was Eva’s first time baking a pecan pie! She even included a lattice crust, which she did admit was the most challenging step and also took the longest amount of time. I’m not sure I’d be able to perfect this pie on my first attempt, but Eva did inspire me to have my own Friendsgiving. Possibly next year. I’ll try my best to top her pecan pie, but for now, I’ll continue to enjoy the remaining slices of that pie.

Try out this recipe from Williams-Sonoma to make the perfect pecan pie and impress your friends with a lattice crust.

For anybody visiting Philadelphia, Old City is a great place to start. Home to the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the Betsy Ross House to name a few. Not to mention the gorgeous Delaware River views and the year-activities happening at Penn’s Landing. The various food options in the area definitely won’t disappoint either.

Old City is dearly known as the Birthplace of America by many. Also where William Penn first settled, if you’re in to that. It’s a very historic neighborhood. 

If you’re looking for a place to get a fulfilling meal and a delicious treat afterwards, Fezziwig’s Sweet Shoppe is your one-stop shop. Conveniently located in the heart of Old City, and just steps from the historical Christ Church, this can easily fit into your day full of activities. If you happen to be using public transportation, it’s just a couple blocks from the 2nd street subway station. There’s no good reason not to go here!

I didn’t have much of an appetite when I visited, so I stuck to a small Black Raspberry shake, and was glad I got it. While I was there I saw someone with the banana split and I have to admit it looked much more impressive than my shake. The good thing is, you can’t go wrong with homemade ice cream. They have the classic flavors like Vanilla Bean, Strawberry, and Chocolate, and they also have fun and exciting ones such as Cookie Monster, Cupcake, and Death by Chocolate.

My Dad’s go-to snack is always Popcorn, homemade of course. It’s a quick and easy snack and leaves the family wanting more. During this time of year, I like to add a little seasonal flare to the standard and make caramel corn! Even though we all go to my Dad for popcorn, I think with this special twist to his classic version, I might be his rival for the family title of best popcorn maker.  

Ingredients:

Uncooked Kernels

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup Kings syrup

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

I chose to pop the kernels myself, but of course you can use microwaved popcorn as well. I personally prefer the homemade taste, but to each their own! 

1. Cover the bottom of a large pot with vegetable oil and add a layer of kernels. Cover with a lid and wait for popping to stop. Put popcorn in a baking dish.

2. Melt butter on stove, then add Kings Syrup, brown sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil while stirring. Then let boil for 5 minutes with lid on. Then add baking soda and vanilla extract.

3. Pour caramel melt over popcorn in baking dish and mix thoroughly.

Be sure to pour the melt over the popcorn immediately! I noticed it started to thicken up pretty quickly.  If you’d like, you can enjoy the popcorn right after pouring and mixing it into the popcorn. I chose to put the popcorn in the oven at 225° for 1 hour and it made such a difference! The extra time allowed for the caramel to loosen up and coat the popcorn properly With mixing the popcorn every 15 minutes or so, each piece came out of the oven with a nice caramel coat.

Here’s a pro tip my mom told me beforehand: be sure to put the popcorn on parchment paper because the sauce makes for a tough cleanup. The parchment paper sure did save me a lot of time!

Fun fact: I’d never heard of Kings Syrup before making this recipe. When looking at recipes it looks like corn syrup can be used in its place. 

Photo Credit 1: Le Bernardin

Photo Credit 2: Shelly Zhang

At just 19 years old, Shelly Zhang became a pastry cook at a world-renowned restaurant. Le Bernardin, located in Midtown, Manhattan, New York is a 4-star restaurant, as consistently rated by The New York Times. As explained by Shelly, her title is pastry cook and not pastry chef because the pastry chef is the lead and those who work for him are titles pastry cooks. 

I remember growing up in grade school with Zhang and she would always bring in intricate treats for birthdays, holidays, and sometimes just because she wanted to. The whole school knew she had a natural talent that would take her very far, but who knew it would be this far this fast?

After graduating culinary school from Johnson & Wales University, ranked one of the best culinary schools in the nation, Zhang started an internship at Le Bernardin. Soon after, she was hired at that same restaurant. “I’ve started at the bottom and have made my way all the way to the head production station all within a year and a half,” said Zhang.

Even though being a pastry cook is a very taxing and demanding job, physically, emotionally, and mentally, Zhang is happy to be in the position that she’s in.

Q: What inspired you to become a pasty cook?

A: That the art of food can bring out a different sense of creativity from within.

Q: What's your proudest moment as a pastry cook?

A: Getting a job at one of the world’s best restaurants, rated 3 Michelin star and non-dropping New York Times highest rating 4-star restaurant at the age of 19 and to now have learned all the stations in about a year and a half.

Q: Where do you hope your career goes from here?

A: I hope to experience at different places in the world before I settle down to eventually open up my own shop or boutique in NYC all within the next 5 years.

Q: What does a typical day look like for you?

A: I wake up around 6:30-7am and commute about 30 min. to work by train. During slower seasons, I work about 10 hours a day and for busier seasons, it can range from 11-15 hours a day and 6 days a week. I make a wide spectrum of desserts. From spinning ice creams to building mousses as my main work and all while doing small productions that revolve around those on the side. I also make macarons on a weekly basis.

Q: What's the hardest part about your job?

A: The hardest part is taking care of your own mental, physical and emotional health. It’s very easy to get all caught up in work especially when you spend over half your days there 6 days out of the 7. You become a lifeless body with every ounce of energy sucked out of you. It’s taken a huge toll on my body physically. I have really bad carpal tunnel that is worsening by the day. I’ve had scoliosis since I was young, but it is now becoming more of an issue due to all the heavy lifting and long hours of being on my feet.

Q: What do you find most enjoyable about your occupation?

A: That there is an endless amount of culinary and pastry arts to learn.