I was born and raised in a suburban area in central New Jersey called Freehold. In Freehold, there is an incredible place called Terrace Bagels. This was the place that everyone went to before school in the morning and also the morning after a late night out. When you walk into Terrace, you cannot expect to see no one you know, because everyone is always there from my town.

My favorite thing to get at Terrace is a pork roll, egg, and cheese on a bagel. Pork roll is a foreign term to most people besides native New Jerseyan’s. Some people call it “Taylor Ham” but in the Trenton area, it’s called Pork Roll and no one knows about it. New Jersey is known for more than just “The Jersey Shore”. Jersey has originated an incredible pork-based meat. North Jersey people refer to it as “Taylor Ham”, south Jersey uses the term “Pork Roll” and Central Jersey generally uses both depending on the area you live in.

Pork Roll is very easily made. All you have to do is slice 4 cuts on the circular piece of meat (so it cooks flat) and place it on top of the stove to cook on each side for about 2 minutes each.

Pork Roll should be distributed all around the country so that everyone knows how good it is- not just the state of New Jersey. Actually, part of Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland are becoming aware of pork roll and distributing it throughout supermarkets, diners and deli’s.

This past weekend my friends and I ventured into Crown Heights Brooklyn for a school project. When we first got assigned our neighborhood we first were a little intimidated. None of us knew this area besides what we have read online. Thus, we did some research and looked for interesting places to go eat or visit. We read about this called place called Elsie’s Doughnuts and saw some mouthwatering pictures of pastries. I immediately wanted the doughnut that was covered in chocolate and coconut shavings. We knew Elsie’s was a place we had to go visit upon our visit. When we got to Crown Heights, we walked around and explored this unfamiliar place. It was obvious that this neighborhood was one that was indeed changing. The visual difference from one block to the next was drastic. On one side there would be run down homes and on the next there would be brand new condominiums. Even the differences in businesses ranged from bodegas to trendy hipster restaurants. We walked around Crown Heights for a couple of hours and to finish up our trip we stopped at Elsie’s Doughnuts. With our luck, our GPS took us to Elsie’s Doughnuts on Bergen St which turned out to be an abandoned doughnut shop that was closed down. We wandered about thinking, “what do we do now?” Luckily, there was another Elsie’s but it was called Elsie’s Parlor just a few minutes away. When we finally found it, we encountered a cute place that was small and empty. The doughnuts offered at this Elsie’s were not as extravagant as the one we initially wanted to go to. Thus, instead of my chocolate covered doughnut with coconut shavings I settled for a glazed doughnut and my friend got a black and white doughnut. The prices for each doughnut was $2.50 which (to me at least) is a little pricey however, it was a pretty big doughnut and it was delicious. My experience at Crown Heights was a positive one that made me excited to go back and find other delicious places to eat and explore.

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Every Monday, I take a trip to Port Richmond High School to mentor a sophomore student and his name is Joe. Joe is interested in becoming a chef eventually and that is why he came to Port Richmond to get a head start on his career. Joe plays baseball for the school and likes playing video games. His favorite thing to do is cook. Whether it’s cooking dinner for his family or putting together a quick snack for himself, he always enjoys making new things. Joe is taking a culinary class at Port Richmond that will help him learn everything he needs to know about being a chef. The class teaches the students all different kinds of utensils they need and how to use them all. Joe explained to me all the meals his class has put together and all the ingredients he used in them. The class makes a variety of soups and stews mainly and Joe explained how the beef stew dish was his favorite so far.

On Mondays, the class receives a recipe that they must look over and think about how they are going to go about the task. On Tuesdays, they prepare to cook by getting all the utensils and ingredients they need. Wednesdays the class begins to cook and Thursdays they will continue cooking. Finally on Fridays, the class eats the delicious meal they have put together. Joe feels the meals he cooks in class aren’t as good as the ones he makes at home because they don’t add any spices or herbs. Joe told me he has learned a lot so far in this culinary class and he really looks forward to it during school considering he has it last period. It seems that Joe is extremely interested in the culinary program and wants to continue learning more about it so one day he could have his dream job as a chef.

My mother lives in Eritrea a country that broke off from Ethiopia in the 1900s due to political issues and a few cultural differences. But although the two countries are no longer together they still share the same kinds of foods one of which is a dish called Injera, a large flat sourdough made from fermented teff flour, its around 20 inches in length and it is in a round shape. There are different types of sauces and vegetables on can add to it to give the dough a better taste such as cubed meat with a sweet kind of curry sauce or spicy thick meat sauce with egg. I personally love to eat the spicy sauce and meat whenever i go to see her and that is exactly what I went looking for in the streets of Manhattan. So, this weekend I spent sometime with a family member trying to find a good Ethiopian restaurant and we did, it is called Zoma, located on Fredrick Douglas blvd, a warm intimate restaurant that serves delicious injera. What i loved about this restaurant is that they used the same ingredients from home with very little genetically modified ingredients. And the services were quick and the people spent very little time on one table when they served. And comparing the services in America to the services I received in Eritrea was quite interesting. I noticed that, because Eritrea is a laid back country with people who appreciate taking their time, waiting for a dish will take up to 30 to 45 mins. Where as in Manhattan, where things happen at a fast pace the serves, although they are native Eritreans or Ethiopian, they brought in their dishes within 15 mins or less. So i noticed the cultural change just from the way i was being served. However, no matter how fast or how slow the food was coming I admired how the chef still stuck to his roots while making the dish, if i tasted both dishes, from Eritrea or Ethiopia and Manhattan I would not be able to tell the difference, the people themselves may change but the dish still remains the same.

For my Oral Tradition and Readers Theatre class I wrote a speech about being a college student-athlete. In this speech I touched upon the things I eat throughout my extremely busy days when I have class (Monday- Thursday). Usually in between classes I grab a bar to replace a meal and hold me over. I usually switch from different brands of bars every once in a while just to switch it up a little bit and not get sick of the same thing everyday. This past week I have been eating “KIND Healthy Grains” bars. These are small 35g bars that are supposed to replace my appetite and “hold me over” until I can eat a meal. Little did I know, the bars have too much saturated fat in order for them to be considered “healthy”. The bars reportedly have 1.5g (8%) Saturated Fat. I thought I was eating “healthy” foods that were low in fat the whole time, meanwhile, I was wrong. This can go along with the topic of the “Freshmen 15” and how it is also false and mislabeled similar to KIND bars.

Today, October 1st, my soccer team all agreed to have a team dinner at the soccer house. We have our first game of the NEC tournament tomorrow at home against Robert Morris. Having a team dinner would give us time to bond with each other and talk about the game. I enjoy being around my teammates because when we are around each other all we do is laugh and have fun. Having a team dinner would help us prepare for the game physically and mentally. As we walked down to the soccer house from harbor view building, we were all hungry and ready to eat.

We walked in and saw trays of pasta, salad, and bread. We ordered from Denino’s on the island which is one of my favorite places. I grabbed a plate and quickly piled food onto it. First I started with a nice house salad that contained tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, lettuce and caesar dressing. Next I had penne vodka with bread on the side. Pasta before a game is good for you because pasta has carbohydrates in it which releases energy. Along with that I ate chicken parmigiana and fettuccine alfredo. Finally, we had munchkins from dunking donuts for dessert. There was chocolate, jelly, glazed and powdered munchkins. I drank water with my meal so I could stay hydrated. The food tasted so delicious, I went back to my room with a full stomach and ready to play in the game the next day.

According to The New York Times website, there is an article that talks about carbohydrates and how it provides energy for the body, especially the brain and the nervous system. Carbohydrates before a game is one of the best sources for the body to take in before running around the soccer field. I remember my four years of high school, my team would have pasta parties before every game so we could get carbohydrates in along with a team meeting.

http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/nutrition/carbohydrates/overview.html

When reading the Callahan article on weight stigmas, it really left me thinking about people and their everyday lives. This article opened my eyes up to see how obesity is very prevalent in America. People need to start realizing this and changing the way they live. They need to understand that being overweight is not okay and isn’t the norm in America. By looking at all the problems Callahan showed in his article, I feel it is necessary and important that doctors, parents, and teachers educate children on what obesity is, how it can affect their lives and ways they can avoid becoming obese.

People should be aware of the physical effects that obesity can have on ones body. Callahan said that 65% of people who lose weight don’t keep it off. When these people lose the weight, they should he motivated to keep it off. Exercising and working out should be a main part of their day. These people should want to become healthy, not only for themselves, but for their family and friends. They should want to be able to to go out and do things and not be ashamed of what they look like.