Feature

The Bread Battle of Detroit

When the bland taste of Wonder bread doesn’t cut it anymore and you’re just realizing that bread doesn’t come pre cut with twist ties, the fresh taste of artisan bread will flip your world upside down. When looking for this fresh, homemade, twist tie-less bread, look no farther than Detroit Road. While many believe that Heinen's is as fresh as it gets, driving the extra half mile over the bridge to Lakewood can bring many delicious surprises, starting with the first stop, Blackbird Bakery.

Blackbird specializes in artisan breads, like extremely photogenic french bread, but in pastries as well. Their bread is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, following the traditional french crust.

Along with their bread, they also have a wide selection of pastries. Their most renowned being their chocolate chip cookie. These cookies are by far the best cookies I have ever eaten.

Continuing with the french crust style, their cookies start off with a hard crunch and end with a soft chew. To make the cookies even more unique, they have a strong salty taste that exhumes the chocolate flavor and leaves you wanting more.

While their bread and pastries are the main focus of the shop, Blackbird is also a coffee shop, offering tables and chairs perfect for studying. Even better yet, the bakery offers half off all items left within the last hour prior closing at 6pm. While many hot items like chocolate chip cookies and croissants will not be available, artisan french bread and Italian rolls are available and make great side dishes.

Just down the street is the small rival bakery that in my opinion exceeds Blackbird, Breadsmith. Breadsmith is known by the locals and bread connoisseurs, but remains hidden to the public. Not only do they have tons of options bread wise, but they also offer some of the best scones in town. Breadsmith has a much larger bread selection than those of its rival Blackbird as well as a much cheaper price.

Breadsmith bread offers a much different taste than that of Blackbird. Breadsmith bread is the melt-in-your-mouth kind of bread that is soft and delicious all around. As for their pastries, it is a must to go in and try their scones. Not only will they fill you up, but the flavor and soft texture of the scone will put Starbuck’s scones to shame. As for their monkey bread, another popular pastry item, eating the whole portion might make you sick but will be well worth it.

I implore you, ditch the twist ties and elevate to your local artisan bread.

To the right just some of the many bread selections offered at both Breadsmith and Blackbird. The chocolate chip cookie and croissant are from Blackbird, while the rolls and scone are from Breadsmith. Photo courtesy of Makayla Sheehan.

BY MAKAYLA SHEEHAN


How to Make Homemade Marshmallow Fondant

There are many great and easy ways to decorate any sort of desserts. Whether it be cookies, cupcakes or even cakes, the best way to decorate is with fondant. Fondant is used to cover cakes and add decorations the decorator wants. Making fondant from scratch often tastes better than the store bought kind.

Even though fondant is a great way to decorate, one of the downsides is that some people don’t like the store bought taste. Another downside to store bought is that it is expensive, and when you make a cake, you usually use a lot. Store bought fondant can range anywhere from $4-$15/ lb of plain white fondant.


To make marshmallow fondant you need:

  • 16 oz. mini marshmallows
  • 8 c. sifted powdered sugar
  • 2-5 Tbsp. water
  • 1/2 c. vegetable shortening
  • Food coloring (optional)
  • Choice of flavoring extract (optional)


How to make fondant:

  1. First, add marshmallows into a large microwaveable bowl.
  2. Next, add two tablespoons of water into the bowl with the marshmallows. Additional water may be necessary at the end if the consistency of the fondant needs to be thinner.
  3. Now, microwave the bowl with marshmallows and water in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one until the marshmallows are very sticky and lumps and whole marshmallows are no longer visible.
  4. Working quickly, add roughly 3/4 of the powdered sugar into the bowl of marshmallows.
  5. Carefully fold the powdered sugar into the marshmallows, being careful handling the hot bowl. If you want flavored fondant, add in flavoring extract at this point.
  6. Once most of the powdered sugar is worked into the marshmallows, put a good amount of vegetable shortening onto the table and dump the fondant onto that area.
  7. Next, knead the fondant together to work the rest of the powdered sugar into a more doughy consistency. To keep the fondant from sticking to you, take more shortening and rub it on your hands.
  8. To make the fondant softer, add a little more water and knead it again. To make the fondant thicker, add more powdered sugar and knead it.
  9. Once the fondant starts to feel dry, you know that it is almost ready. If after about 10 minutes of kneading the fondant still isn’t dry, add more powdered sugar.
  10. While kneading, the fondant should start to show the folds and hold its own shape. This is how you know it is almost done.
  11. The fondant is done once you take a little piece, pull it and it stretches about two to three inches before breaking. If when you pull the fondant it is less than two inches, add more water. If when you pull the fondant and it is more than three inches, add more powdered sugar.


To store fondant:

  1. First, wipe off any excess powdered sugar.
  2. Next, take vegetable shortening and rub it all over the fondant on all sides so that there is still a little moisture while it's being stored.
  3. Wrap both sides of the fondant in plastic wrap, ensuring no air can get in.
  4. Lastly, take the wrapped fondant and keep in in a press and seal bag, making sure that there is no air in the bag.

*Fondant will last up to two weeks in a room temperature area and up to one month in the refrigerator

To learn how to color fondant click here:

To the right photo courtesy of youtube.com

BY JACQUELYN PAPPADAKES

School Organization: Cliché Clutter Prevention?

Once you begin to refrain from staying organized during school, your mind becomes cluttered. When your mind becomes cluttered, your grades dwindle. When your grades dwindle, you eventually go insane to a point where there is no longer hope. What does this all tie back to? This strictly draws back to organization skills and processes. Why is this so important?

Having a clear mind leads to greater results in anything you pursue. When referring to school, a clear mind will guide you to clean thoughts, which will therefore steer you to earning a higher grade.

First, rid yourself of the useless clutter. Constantly being surrounded by messes can easily start messing with your entire life. Make a point to throw old, crumpled papers from two years ago in the garbage and start fresh. Starting anew really helps to clear your mind.

A great way to kick off your great and organized school year is to plan a trip to the store to stock up on folders, notebooks and binders. Remember when buying your supplies that color coordination is a key factor to organization. When you put your materials in your locker, it is a great idea to place the supplies for each class together. If each class has its own color, you won’t be struggling to find your books right before class starts, which furthermore prevents tardiness. In addition to color coordination, keeping different colors of highlighters in your pencil case at all times is a wise choice because labeling your class notes with different colors helps you easily remember information. Another key factor to memorization skills during school is to use index cards and keep them within reach at all times.

Why is this such a great idea? Well, when you use index cards and periodically flash through them, you memorize information much more easily, especially when you use different colored highlighters. This allows the material to stick in your head easier.

Keeping note of your daily or weekly tasks is also a great idea because it will then be harder for you to forget things. For example, keeping a planner or writing your tasks on post-its is a smart idea. Last but not least, taking home all materials for your homework is wise because you can use your notes for whatever you need. All in all, keeping your materials organized helps your grades improve and clears your mind.

To the left photo courtesy of Payton Szymczak

BY PAYTON SZYMCZAK

Stand Out from the Crowd this Halloween

As Halloween approaches, everyone is scrambling for costume ideas that will set them apart from the crowd. Here’s how you and your friends can stand out with these easy DIY group costumes!

Childhood is one of the best sources of inspiration for costumes, and what could be a better representation of childhood than Scooby Doo and his gang? With only basic clothes that can likely be found at thrift stores, such as solid-colored T-shirts and sweaters, you and your friends can be Velma, Shaggy, Daphne and Fred.

While you may not have 101 friends to go trick-or-treating with, you can still be the lovable family of dalmatians from Disney’s classic film. All you need are plain white clothes and some black adhesive felt cut into circles to make yourselves into some adorable dogs. Optional red felt could make cute collars if cut into one inch wide strips. If you want to take it to the next level, you could add in Cruella DeVil with a fur coat and her trademark crazy hairstyle.

Continuing with the Disney theme, another good source of inspiration for group costumes is Peter Pan. This lovable fairy tale could be taken in many unique directions. To be the Neverland fairies, you’d need dresses, fairy wings, and accessories to represent each fairy’s talent. Dressing as the rowdy Lost Boys requires cute animal onesies and a nature-loving attitude. Pirate hats, eye patches and fake swords would give you the nefarious look of the pirates led by Captain Hook himself. Or, your group could go as a combination of these three to portray the story as a whole.

Finally, costumes from The Wizard of Oz would lend your group a whimsical look straight off the yellow brick road. While it may be hard to come across a suit made of tin, burlap or lion’s fur, it’s not difficult to find shiny silver clothes, plaid flannels and faux fur jackets, especially with Halloween right around the corner. You could even try experimenting with face paint to make your group’s look more realistic. Dorothy’s costume is a bit more difficult, but red shoes and pigtails will get your point across even if you don’t have an exact copy of her distinctive gingham dress.

With these creative group costumes, you and your friends will be hailed as the most creative and stylish this Halloween.

To the right photo courtesy https://pixabay.com/en/peter-pan-fairy-tales-886132/

BY JAMIE SPALLINO


Puppy Chow - Small.mov

Puppy Chow Your Dog Can’t Eat

With fall comes sweaters, pumpkins, and three of the best holidays out of the year: Halloween, Christmas, and Thanksgiving. While family and celebration is great during the holidays, we all know the best part is the food. So if you want to contribute to the food festivities, here is a recipe that is great no matter the occasion. With the fall colors of the candies and the peanut butter flavor, this puppy chow is a crowd favorite.

Peanut Butter Puppy Chow

  • Ingredients
    • 1 box of Chocolate flavored Chex Mix cereal
    • 2 c. powdered sugar
    • 1 bag of chocolate chips
    • 1 c. of Reese’s peanut butter chips
    • 1 bag of mini Reese’s Pieces
    • 20 mini Reese’s cups (miniature version); cut in half
  • First, put the Chex Mix cereal in a large bowl.
  • Next, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
  • Melt ¼ a bag of chocolate chips and ½ bag of peanut butter chips, and mix it with the Chex Mix cereal, using a large spoon.
  • Stir in the halved Reese’s cups, and set mixture aside.
  • Take gallon bags, and fill them each with a heavy cup of powdered sugar.
  • Take one bag and fill it with half the mixture and the other bag with the other half of the mixture.
  • Seal both the bags tightly, and shake them up until all the Chex cereal is covered with powder sugar.
  • Finally, add the mini Reese’s Pieces and any other candy you want.

To the left a video of the recipe being made. Recipe courtesy of Mom on Timeout

BY MAKAYLA SHEEHAN