May 18, 2020

This week, we will highlight the diverse voices of university students from Baylor University and Salem State University whose lives were suddenly upended by COVID-19. Along with their teachers, students made the move to emergency online/remote teaching, pivoting over the course of a few days to ensure that they could complete their courses. Many were also forced to pack up their belongings and move out of residences with little notice, either returning home to quarantine with family members or finding alternative living arrangements on short notice. Others have continued to work, often full time, as essential workers in nursing homes, restaraunts, and grocery stores. Today’s posts are from Baylor students, one appears here this morning and another will be posted this afternoon. These stories and recipes speak to two themes: family food memories that connect the authors to home; and food strategies for enduring quarantine/shelter in place directives. Throughout the rest of the week, students from Margo Shea’s Intro to Public History course, herself a co-editor of Historians Cooking the Past, will share their reflections on similar issues: family memories and connecting to cuisine from the corners of the world they and their families call home.

I made this recipe the first summer my boyfriend and I lived in Waco, Texas. Although I am usually too busy to cook, I came up with this recipe when I wanted to us my zoodler for the first time. It was so fun being able to try something I had never done before, during a time when everything seemed so new to me. I am now making this dish for my family while we quarantine together and it still brings me the same joy as it did when I first made it. During these unprecedented times, this recipe puts me at ease.

Ingredients:
2 medium zucchinis
½ lemon
1 tbsp minced garlic
5-10 cherry tomatos
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 pound of shrimp

Directions:

1. Spiral the zucchini and lay flat on a paper towel. Dab them off and leave covered with another paper towel for 30 minutes

2. Cook the shrimp with a little bit of olive oil, and salt and pepper.

3. Put the olive oil and minced garlic in a sauce pan and let that sit for a minute before adding the zucchini noodles and more salt and pepper.

4. Continue to constantly flip the zoodles while squeezing the lemon on them.

5. Add the shrimp once they're cooked and keep flipping for a minute or two.

6. Put in a bowl and add halved cherry tomatoes.

Gia Gulino is a Baylor University student.

One of my dad’s famous recipes, which also happens to be my favourites, is his potato soup. In my family, we eat a lot cheese, especially parmesan cheese. Every time there are pieces left over, my dad keeps them and stores them separately in the fridge until he has collected enough of them to make soup. Then he starts to prepare his ingredients for the potato soup. His recipe requires cooking at different times so that the soup is composed of different textures, which sets it apart from other recipes.

Ingredients:
½ Yellow Onion
Parmesan cheese
12 Mid-Size Potatoes
4 ounces Butter
0,125 gallons of Milk
2 midsize sweet corns
Milk cream
Salt

Directions:

1. Boil water to cook the sweet corn. Keep the water aside.

2. In another pan, cut the yellow onion into very small pieces and sauté them together with the corn and butter, until the onions is transparent. Then, add the water left from the corn. In the meantime, cut the potatoes in “medium” sizes and keep them separately.

3. Here is the tricky part! You need to add the portions of potatoes at different times; also read step 5. You must add some, then wait 5-10 minutes. Keep doing this until all the potatoes have been added. Do not lower the heat. It needs to stay really hot.

4. Add the parmesan pieces when you start adding the potatoes portions. Parmesan cheese is hard so it needs time to become smooth.

5. The soup needs to have a thick texture. The potatoes that were first added should become the soup, and the potatoes that were last added should provide visual detail for the soup.

6. When you are close to finished adding the potatoes to the soup, add the milk.

7. Once you think the soup is almost done, add salt and milk cream in order to give it a better taste and texture.

8. Feel free to add other ingredients if you believe it is necessary. Add some mozzarella cheese if you want, and enjoy!!!

Anika Veintemilla is a Baylor University student.

I made this chicken salad for the first time about two months ago. It was the beginning of quarantine and I needed something quick and easy because I was a little stressed out, to say the least. I ultimately decided to make this recipe because I had all the ingredients.

Earlier in the year, one of my professors gave a lecture detailing what the "New World" looked like prior to colonization, detailing what Native Americans ate and how they lived off the land. As an environmental science major focused on sustainability, this lecture inspired me to go out and buy gardening supplies, so that I could try my hand at living off the land, at least from the perspective of a broke college student. Since that time, I have grown fresh dill, parsley, mint, rosemary, thyme, and garlic chives. Had I not attended that lecture and begun gardening I never would have had the two key ingredients, fresh parsley and dill, especially under quarantine.

This dish also represents the first time that I enjoyed cooking but also took pride in the fact that I was able to grow my own ingredients. Aside from the occasional trip to one of my favorite local restaurants, for the purpose of stimulating the local economy, I have prepared all of my own meals and this recipe was the catalyst for that.

Ingredients:
4 lbs chicken parts (bone-in, skin-on thighs and breasts work well) (You'll need about 4 cups)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup seedless grapes, halved (red and green varieties are great)
1 cup almonds, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Kosher salt (start with 1/2 teaspoon, then add more, to taste)
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

2. Rub the olive oil all over the chicken pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until internal temp reaches 165°F using an instant-read thermometer. Remove the chicken from the oven and let cool. Remove the skin then pull the meat from the bones and roughly chop.

3. In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, grapes, almonds, celery, scallions, dill, and parsley.

4. In a small-medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, lemon, mustard, salt and pepper.

5. Add the mayo/mustard mixture to the chicken mixture and gently stir until well mixed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

6. Serve on a bed of greens with sliced tomatoes and avocado. Or, serve on bread with green leaf lettuce. Add more toppings to your taste!

Griffin Drum is originally from Connecticut, but currently lives in Waco, TX where he is pursuing a degree in Environmental Science from Baylor University.

During this unprecedented time, my mom has been searching the web to find different recipes to make the days more fun. From trying new casseroles to more intense recipes we haven't tried in a long time, my mom came across this chocolate molten cake recipe on Pinterest. We just recently got an air fryer, and this seemed like a fun activity for the family. It was a hit!

Ingredients:
180 g Brown Sugar or 12 tablespoons
109 g all purpose flour or 7 tablespoons
60 g unsweetened cocoa powder or 4 tablespoons
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water (add in some instant coffee powder)

Directions:

Preheat the Air Fryer at 180°C for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients (sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt).

Add in the egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract to the dry mixture. Gently stir the mixture to mix it evenly.

Lastly, add the hot water (you can use plain hot water). Again, gently stir it to make sure the mixture are mix evenly.

Pour the mixture into the baking pan and cover the baking with foil and randomly pokes holes on it.

Adjust the temperature to 160°C and AirBake it for 35 minutes.

Remove foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.

Alyssa Staner is a student at Baylor University. She is spending quarantine at home with her family in Frisco, Texas.