Baked Fall 2018 Issue

baked the ultimate food high fall 2018 | issue 11

baked Fall 2018 Lee Musho

editor-in-chief

Laura Angle

creative director

Editorial managing editor Elizabeth Salter senior editors Katie Bisbee,

Frankie Sailer, Haley Robertson asst. editors Grace Curran,

Emily Cerrito, Michael Sessa

Digital

Prince Dudley photo director

Design designers John Doscas, Talia Trackim illustrators Amy Lewis

Photo assistant photo director Jordan Schnitzer photographers Sophia Hautala, Kai Nguyen,

Siena Pennington

digital editor Sari Kamp social media director Alicia Licari social media editor Ilana Shire

Business & Communications pr director Monica Nowicki faculty advisor Melissa Chessher

Baked is Syracuse University’s student-run food magazine. Founded in 2011, Baked aims to widen food options for SU students by introducing kitchen amateurs to cooking, highlighting local businesses and eateries, and connecting readers to the greater Syracuse food community. Baked publishes one issue each semester. bakedmagazine.com @bakedmagazine @bakedmagazine facebook.com/bakedmagazine

contents contents baked 101

recipages

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28

You're on Your Own. Now What? The essential

You're welcome.

tools for your first kitchen.

08

Plates of the Caribbean

Cheesy Classics

34 Food is Medicine It's like magic.

Two SU students bring their cuisine to campus.

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10

Grab a seat!

Thanksgiving

Yes We Cannabis How to use CBD oil to legally de-stress.

12 Baked's Bar Crawl It's time to go out into the real world, kids.

one more bite 44 Holy Mother We dare you to finish.

features 14 Anything But Beer For you gluten-free folks.

20 Eating Disorders in the Food Industry It's complicated.

24 XO Taco Two words: Don't go.

46 Who is She? A bad**s b***h, that's who.

48 The Community Garden Give them some more funding already!

52 Your Cravings You crazy.

53 Anti-Plastic We're making you a better person.

54 Pregame Punch Don't even think about drinking this alone.

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After a few weeks of eating tacos in Mexico City, I dragged my friend Arturo to an American themed restaurant, Wings Army, with Toy Story-style plastic soldiers standing guard at the door. He watched with disturbed curiosity as I ripped through buffalo wings with blue cheese and curly fries, pausing only to lick my fingers and giggle.

I felt, for a moment, like I was home.

What we eat reflects where we’re from and where we’ve been. What we’re missing. It’s a part of us; a spot-on litmus test for how we’re feeling. So this issue, we’re focusing on our relationship with food.

Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Which makes things complicated.

We talked to a former Bon Appétit editor about working in the food industry with an eating disorder (20) and visited a garden that supplies fresh produce to a community smack dab in the middle of a food desert—but only as long as funding lasts (48).

We go to great lengths for the food that reminds us of home.

When studying abroad in Madrid, I ate, on average, a cheeseburger (32) a week. When even that wouldn’t suffice, I became a regular at a parking-garage dumpling spot for my dim sum fix. At ‘Cuse, when two students couldn’t fulfill their need for Caribbean cuisine, they became business partners and brought jerk chicken to campus (8). The right food can heal (34), giving into our cravings can comfort (52), and a few drops of CBD oil can chill us out—legally this time (10).

We’re gonna eat three times a day for the rest of our lives. Let’s enjoy it.

Stay hungry,

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you’re on your own,

now what?

15 gadgets you need to stock your first grown-up kitchen.

BY ELIZABETH SALTER | ILLUSTRATION BY AMY LEWIS

1. herbs

turn your kitchen into a garden and you can flavor your dishes for free!

2. spatula

let it do all your dirty work.

3. rubber spatula to help you scrape that bowl of raw brownie batter.

4. can opener

unless your signature party trick is opening metal cans with your teeth...

5. tongs

to pick things up with.

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6. colander

that pasta water has to go somewhere!

7. liquid measuring cup think about the meniscus!

8. dry measuring cups / measuring spoons for when you want to bake cookies at 4 a.m.

9. blender to blend things.

10. whisk

it’s all in the wrist!

11. oven mitts you can’t grab things from the oven with your bare hands.

12. pans saucepan, large pan and sauté pan. buying any more pans is a waste of money.

13. chef knife slicing. chopping. cutting. mincing. etc. etc.

14. mixing bowls for when you just need to toss a bunch of stuff into something.

15. cutting board so you don’t scrape up the counters and forgo your security deposit.

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PLATES

OF THE

CARIBBEAN How a pair of SU students is using Instagram to bring Caribbean cuisine to campus through @_itsfortheculture_

BY MICHAEL SESSA ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN DOSCAS AND LEE MUSHO

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J

udah Carter receives a direct message on Instagram. It’s an order of jerk alfredo. With deliveries slated for the end of the week, he gets to work at the stove. He thinks back to the countless nights he spent in the doorway of his Brooklyn kitchen watching his mom cook as a kid.

His mother, who owns her own catering company, wouldn’t let him inside. “I love to eat,” Carter says. “But my mom wouldn't let me come in the kitchen. All I could do was watch.”

Ten years later, Carter and business partner, Andrea Heeraman, juniors studying sociology and child development respectively, operate what has become one of the most popular up-and-coming food delivery services at Syracuse.

Born out of a mutual passion for Caribbean cooking and a contempt for dining hall monotony, Carter and Heeraman decided to diversify the campus palette. Armed with an Instagram account and a South Campus apartment, the pair created For The Culture, the school’s first student-owned and operated source of Caribbean food.

“The dining hall food was terrible,” Carter says. “We were spending a lot of money on outside food. We were gaining weight.

We thought we could provide something for the campus.”

With YouTube cooking tutorials and years of mental notes from those nights watching Carter’s mother at their disposal, Carter and Heeraman created an Instagram exclusive culinary business model. For The Culture posts a weekly flyer featuring upcoming meals and prices, and customers direct message the team to set up orders, payment and pick-up. Carter and Heeraman hand-deliver the food on foot or by bus.

“This food is an experience,” Carter says.

“Minority populations are very diverse on this campus, but they’re sometimes overshadowed by the school’s size,” Heeraman says. Spreading the culture, the cooks say, is the project’s ultimate goal.

The home-grown restaurateurs start their week off by shopping for ingredients.

Heeraman takes the lead. “She’s definitely the more organized one,” Carter says. To keep For The Culture affordable for college students, much of the cooking hinges on cost-effectiveness. Carter and Heeraman

use inexpensive store-bought basics to create their own spice blends, and they are always looking for fresh, in-season produce to incorporate into their recipes.

Aside from just offering students variety, part of For The Culture’s allure seems to be the element of surprise. “I don’t think people expect food like this to come from a college apartment,” Carter says. “To know we’re putting out good food is cool.”

Although they note that it's hard to call one dish ‘the best,’ both Carter and Heeraman have their favorites. Heeraman’s go-to options include jerk alfredo—shrimp or chicken seasoned with a blend of ingredients such as chiles, thyme, cinnamon, garlic and nutmeg topped with a creamy sauce—and stew chicken. Carter is all about oxtails and macaroni pie—a sweet macand-cheese-esque casserole.

And while authentic Caribbean cooking is at the core of their mission, Carter and Heeraman aren’t afraid to push boundaries. Inspired by other chefs and recipes they’ve seen online, they’ve created Caribbean twists on dishes like the spring roll and are experimenting with an entirely new menu for spring 2019.

Running a takeout business isn’t always easy, though. There are some weeks where the stress of schoolwork and studying mean putting For The Culture on the backburner. And there are times where Heeraman’s parents aren’t so sure about their daughter’s ability to balance her own brand with her education. The founders of this college-town twist on Caribbean cooking acknowledge that,despite occasional criticism, they’ve built something any parent would be immensely proud of.

“If I’m working hard, they’re ‘gonna be proud of me no matter what,” Heeraman says.

“Just taste the food,” Carter adds smiling.

“That’s it.”

"

I don't think people expect food like this to come from a college apartment.

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CANNABIS It’s about time Baked lives up to its name.

BY GRACE CURRAN AND ELIZABETH SALTER

You can’t remember the last time you picked up and your beloved grinder is sitting untouched in your underwear drawer. Are these signs of a stoner gone sober?

Well...not exactly. You may not be rolling anymore joints, but you won’t be taking a drug test anytime soon.

CBD, or Cannabidiol, is one of the two major compounds in marijuana, alongside THC. While these compounds have practically identical

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molecular structures, they have completely different functions. CBD doesn’t make you high. It’s scientifically proven to repress your nervous system, which curbs feelings of anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.

It's legal in several states, including New York. So, the next time you’re feeling a little anxious, try out a few drops of CBD. You won’t have to worry about the state of your eyes or danking up your dorm.

MARGARITAS Put 2 oz. lime juice, 4 oz. tequila, 2 oz. triple sec, ½ cup ice, and 2 drops of CBD oil into a blender and puree until smooth. Serve in salt rimmed glasses and enjoy.

HOT CHOCOLATE Whisk 2 tbsp. cocoa powder, 1 tbsp. sugar, ¼ tsp. vanilla extract, 1 cup milk, and 2 drops of CBD oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Pour into a mug to sip.

COOKIE BARS Preheat oven to 325ºF. Coat an 11x7-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk together ¼ cup melted butter and 2 tbsp.

CBD oil in a small bowl. Add 2 cups graham cracker crumbles.

Press the crumbled mixture on the bottom of the pan. Pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk over the crumb mixture. Add 1 cup chocolate chips. Top with 1 cup chopped walnuts, ½ cup caramel chips, and 1 cup coconut flakes. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Cut into bite-size bars.

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BAKED’S ULTIMATE

BAR CRAWL

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Consider this your intervention. The time for Harry’s and DJ’s is over. Step outside Marshall Street and into the real world.

BY FRANKIE SAILER ILLUSTRATION BY AMY LEWIS

1. BENJAMIN’S 314 S Franklin Street, Syracuse NY

2. SUGAR AND CO. 121 W Fayette St, Syracuse NY

3. WOLFF'S BIERGARTEN 106 Montgomery St, Syracuse NY

4. CLINTON STREET PUB 127 W Fayette St, Syracuse NY

5. MULROONEY'S 239 W Fayette St, Syracuse NY

6. SALTINE WARRIOR 214 W Water St, Syracuse NY

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hoppiness PURSUIT OF

How Anything But Beer is helping gluten-free people get their beer fix.

BY CASEY RUSSEL

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A

nything But Beer’s It’s Pink, a strawberry-lime variety, foams lightly and pours a muted grapefruit color. It’s sweet with a sour aftertaste, like a reverse Sour Patch Kid. The menu at Stout Beard Brewing calls it a “fruit ale,” but it’s not a beer made with fruit. Anything But Beer exists outside of defined categories.

It’s totally one-of-a-kind.

Craft beer has exploded at the same time that 30 percent of the U.S. population has decided to limit or eliminate gluten and grains from their diet. In 2006, there were just 1,409 craft breweries in the United States. Last year, there were almost 6,300.

Two Syracuse University alums, Logan Bonney and Brittany Berry, started Anything But Beer in March 2017 to combat that problem. “We provide a service for gluten and grain-free people that’s connecting them with their friends and connecting them with the community

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in a way that they previously couldn’t,” Berry says.

Since introducing their first few products, The Root Less Traveled made with spiced sweet potato, Midnight Hike with blueberry and blackcurrant, Apricotto made with apricot, and Fired Up! made with spiced apple and served hot, the pair has now created a total of 11 flavors.

To create this unique drink, Bonney and Berry relied on Bonney's previous knowledge of brewing. Bonney learned ancient wine and mead recipes from Renaissance fairs, and he and Berry decided to translate his brewing knowledge into a product that would fit in with the craft beer scene, but be available to nonbeer drinkers.

Anything But Beer’s locally-sourced, fruit-based, six to seven percent ABV drinks are now sold in 17 Syracuse breweries and restaurants. They plan to add three new concoctions to their product line by the end of fall, and they’ve recently expanded their distribution to Cortland and Watertown.

“Our local following has grown and has been extremely supportive. What they want is a taproom, so we’re going to give it to them,” Berry says of the taproom they’re opening in Hanover Square in April 2019.

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How do you recover from an eating disorder when your livelihood revolves around food?

BY LEE MUSHO

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Y

ou wake up and make yourself some coffee, scrambled eggs and toast. Then you head into work and try out a toffee brown butter chocolate chunk cookie recipe your coworker’s been testing. You interview someone who is an expert on the ketogenic diet, and it makes you wonder during lunch if you should be eating that bread with your soup. You’re called into a meeting to discuss pizza.

You have an event after work, a six course dinner hosted by a James Beard Award winner. You’re full by the second course but you don’t want to be rude and not eat the rest. You make yourself sick in the bathroom. You go to sleep, wake up, and do it all over again.

Even without a diagnosed eating disorder, a career in food inherently means that your relationship with food won’t be normal. There is food available at all times, and there is always ways to eat more. As a food writer or magazine editor, there are an unlimited number of multiple-course dinners and festivals to attend, and you need to stay on top of diet trends, no matter how unhealthy.

Rochelle Bilow, a former editor at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light quit her “dream job” as a food writer in New York City to live a quiet, private life upstate and focus on her recovery from her eating disorder. She is relaxed and laughs easily. Her mouth is in a perpetual smirk. Her curly brown hair, wet from a shower, rests on her worn-in, slightly large grey crewneck sweater. She tells me she’s focusing on building up the muscle mass she’s lost over many years of “bulimic behaviors.”

Through high school and college, Bilow would binge eat, or eat a large amount of food, and then make herself sick, also known as purging. She chose to lean into her disor22 | baked

der, channeling her abnormal relationship with food into a career.

“What a brilliant trick.” She laughs at herself. “It was this thing that was so harmful to me and I thought, now I'm going to make this creative amazing life out of it.”

After attending the French Culinary Institute in New York, Bilow began working at Bon Appétit. In the beginning, she would eat anything that was offered to her without hesitation. “I was really engaged and wide-eyed and excited about everything,” she says.

At work Bilow had to cover fads like the ketogenic diet, which she says normalize restrictive eating. “All I wanted to do was forget and not be tempted by food. I was writing about food, I was staring at food, staring at pictures of food all day… you walk by the office and someone shoves something in your mouth.”

She remembers the moment when she realized the job she always wanted was triggering her disorder, when one unplanned bite ruined everything. For the next few minutes, she binged at her desk, and then purged in the bathroom.

“I’m doing this at work now,” she thought.

“I felt like I should be fine with going and eating and trying every single thing and not feeling weird or uncomfortable about it,” Bilow says. For Bilow, working in a stressful media environment aggravated her disorder. Much like bartenders and alcoholism, some may have a healthy relationship with alcohol and others may take it too far. But unlike drugs or alcohol, you can’t quit eating.

“I believe truly that you can be a food writer and not have dealt with an eating disorder or be actively dealing with disordered eating, but I think that there is a pretty high likelihood that the majority of food writers are on the food weirdness spectrum.” Food

Common Misconceptions About Weight Loss and Health

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“I have control over what my body looks like.”

A great deal of what your body looks like is genetic, and can’t be changed in a healthy way. Forget about hourglasses versus pears and apples. You’re at your healthiest with the body type you were born with.

“Veganism is healthy.”

Normalized diets like keto or veganism are forms of restrictive eating. Sometimes they’re used as an excuse for people to keep up unhealthy habits.

“Losing weight equals a healthier body.”

Weight doesn’t equate to health. People who have an overweight BMI live longer than people who are underweight.

weirdness, Bilow explains, is having an abnormal or uncomfortable relationship with food.

According to the NEDA, or National Eating Disorder Association, over 30 million people in the United States suffer from an eating disorder, while millions more struggle with their body image. Bilow isn’t alone. Many others working in the food industry have come out about their relationships with food. Frank Bruni, a former New York Times restaurant critic, released a memoir called “Born Round,” in which he talks about his struggles with bulimia. He told the New Yorker, “the truth of the matter is, one’s love of food can get out of hand.”

Since quitting her food media job, Bilow has moved back to her hometown of Syracuse, New York and is now the head baker at Café at 407. All of the profits and gratuities from the café go toward funding Ophelia’s Place, a center for eating disorder education and support. Although baked goods are typically seen as “foods to fear” as opposed to a safe food like a salad, Bilow says working at

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“This diet will work.”

The long term failure of weight loss programs is as high as 95%. The only way to eat in a truly healthy way is to listen to your body and what it’s craving.

“Dieting isn't bad for my body.”

Significantly reducing your caloric intake increases your risk for cardiovascular disease.

“Certain foods are bad.”

Over time, different foods have been labeled as bad or good, unhealthy or healthy. However, many studies are biased. Cholesterol isn’t necessarily bad for you. Neither are fatty foods. Challenge *Courtesy of Ophelia's Place

Café at 407 has aided her recovery.

She says that although she is still surrounded by food, the workplace culture is completely different. The manager of Café at 407, Jen Caruana, sees her employees as family. “I want everybody to feel safe and tell me everything that’s going on,” she says.

Bilow says having a cafe attached to an eating disorder recovery and support center is the most natural thing in the world. “We don’t shy away from the fact that food has to be a part of the equation,” she says. “We choose to nourish ourselves with our food and honor our cravings.”

Bilow says baking is her new dream job, replacing her dream of food writing. “I get to help people treat themselves and eat something because it looks good or they want it, and that’s a good enough reason to eat anything.”

Bilow says she has learned to give herself grace, as everyone is a work in progress in regards to healing. “I think we're always in recovery from something,” she says. fall 2018 | 23

TACO

Slapping lipstick on bad tacos since September 2018.

BY LEE MUSHO

T

ake the formula for a good Instagram photo and let it go a little haywire until it borders on kitsch. Next, slap some lipstick on a bad taco. Now you have XO Taco.

XO Taco is surrounded by an empty lot, a parking lot, a newly constructed apartment building, and the oldest African American church in Syracuse, which has been boarded up due to lack of funding for more than a decade.

Inside, glowing pink neon lips hang against a wall of plastic greenery, matching the “hey, hot stuff” sign written in script across the restaurant. Plastic vines and wind-up rattling teeth hang from the joists.

There are approximately 272 lipsticks encased in glass by the hostess station and the screen behind the bar streams Rick and Morty off a Hulu account once service starts.

The owner, Chris Bily, has opened arguably the “trendiest” spots in Syracuse. He’s jumped from Modern Malt, a twist on American diner food with items like Barney Rubble French Toast, to Original Grain, known for its poke bowls and matcha drinks to XO, a taco spot.

He could be mistaken for a college student. His Dodgers baseball cap is on backwards, and his floral shirt is buttoned to his neck, the sleeves rolled.

He’s wearing no socks with his orange Nikes.

“When people think of you, Chris Bily, what do you want Owner them to think of?”

I ask, trying to find a correlation between his eateries. He leans forward.

“Um that I'm just like a worldly and global thinker, I have no specific like target or concept when I go to do the next restaurant, I wait for the signs… I didn’t know I

I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS GOING TO DO A F*****G TACO BAR

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was going to do a f*****g taco bar, you know, but like I asked people and they were like, yeah tacos would be awesome.” He goes on to explain that he thought of the brand first. He thought XO would be sexy. The tacos came after.

“Then why tacos?” I ask.

“Chef Steve [Samuels] who’s been my chef since OG [Original Grain]. He has a background in Mexican, he has a background in Asian, he’s done everything.”

So I ask Chef Steve, “Chris said you have a background in Mexican—“ “No, no, no, no, no, I just actually, um, I worked for some uh wonderful people in this area that do Mexican. Yeah, so. But you know what, I just love the fun of tacos.” He responded.

So two white men without a substantial background in Mexican cuisine opened up a taco spot. The question of appropriation is bound to be asked—but as long as there aren’t sombreros hanging from the ceiling (there aren’t) then where is the line?

“Meet ‘the Mexican” is written in curly white chalk on a board by the bar. When I ask Chris about the obviously problematic sign, he laughs and explains that The Mexican is their version of a Manhattan. Instead of calling it The Mexico City, it’s called The Mexican. Pretty important restaurant rule: don’t put people on the menu, especially not the people whose cuisine you’re ripping off.

When I ask if authenticity matters, they say XO is their spin on the tacos “we grew up on.” Their ten dollar platter of french fries with queso on the side is meant to make fun of Taco Bell’s “Nacho Fries.”

So if it’s a spin off another spin, is the food far enough removed that cultural appropriation isn’t a problem? I hoped it would be. I was promised a “really f******g

good taco” that would “honor” the great tacos that came before it, and I was let down.

The tacos, $3.50 to $5.50 per three-bite taco, are served family-style on metal serving trays. The entire menu, except the dessert and kids menus, is gluten free, and there are enough vegan options for anyone, no matter their dietary restrictions, to be able to eat a full meal. Which is commendable.

But the tortillas, which they make each day in-house, are stiff, a little dry, and undercooked. Each taco is made up of only one, not the traditional two layers of tortilla, which means after one bite, it breaks in two.

No limes are included with my table’s tacos, or the tables around me, and the fillings, both meat and vegetable, are crying out for salt and acid.

The churros are greasy, dense, and not cooked through. The guacamole is noticeably chilled, like the kind you find next to the pre-packaged salads in the produce aisle.

Megan Choate, a Syracuse student eating with a few friends, shrugs when I ask how the meal was. “It felt like it needed a bit more.” The word bland was used.

Steve, the chef, tells me he has nine months of “intensive” training in Southeast Asia where he cooked “everywhere they have food and pots and pans.” Guess what the one enjoyable taco was. The “asian inspired” shrimp taco with chili tamarind sauce for $5.50.

I sign the check with a red golf pencil and spend a minute figuring out how to place my credit card into the wind up rattling teeth given with the check, until I give up.

I ask my friend eating with me if she’d like the one taco left untouched on our metal tray. After all, it costs $4.50. She shakes her head. She isn’t full, she just…doesn’t want it.

And neither do I.

FOUR PLACES TO GET A BETTER TACO THAN XO THE MISSION

304 East Onondaga St.

OTRO CINCO

206 South Warren St.

ALTO CINCO 526 Westcott St.

CAMINO REAL II 3811 Brewerton Rd.

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SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF Who are we to disagree? We traveled the world and the seven seas to bring you the best cheesy recipes.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PRINCE DUDLEY

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GRILLED CHEESE Spread 1 tbsp. mayo on one side of each slice of white bread.

Assemble the grilled cheese with two slices of American cheese and a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese. Place on skillet over medium heat with the mayo side down. Throw in ½ tbsp. unsalted butter. Cook until the bottom is golden brown. Flip. When the bottom is golden brown, take off heat. Eat immediately.

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MAC + CHEESE Cook 1 lb. Cavatappi pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Drain and add back to the pot. Turn the heat to low. Mix 8 oz. of cream cheese into the pasta and incorporate 12 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese slowly, as it melts. Add 4 tbsp. Parmesan.

Pour in 2 cups of whole milk a bit at a time until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Eat while hot.

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CHEESEBURGER SPECIAL SAUCE: Cook 6 pieces of bacon in a skillet until crisp and chop finely. Throw one medium chopped white onion into the bacon grease and cook until caramelized. Mix onions, bacon, Âź cup mayo and Âź cup ketchup in a bowl. Spread on buns.

BURGERS: Rub 1 tbsp. canola oil on a pan. Set it on high heat. Roll 1 lb 80/20 ground beef into loose balls, making four burgers. Salt and pepper aggressively. Place the burgers into the pan and smash down with a spatula. Cook for 4 minutes on one side and flip. The burgers are done once brown on both sides and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. Turn off the heat and top the burgers with a slice of American cheese. Put a lid over the pan until the cheese is melted. Place on a toasted sesame seed bun layered with thin slices of tomato, special sauce and torn lettuce.

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MOZZARELLA STICKS Fill a dutch oven with 3 cups of canola oil. Turn the heat to high. Scramble 2 eggs in a bowl and pour 3 cups of bread crumbs onto a plate. Dip 12 string cheese-style mozzarella sticks into the egg, then roll them in the breadcrumbs. Repeat until all are double-breaded.

Sprinkle breadcrumbs into the oil. If they jump and pop immediately, the oil is hot enough. Carefully lay a few sticks into the oil. Turn the sticks over once golden brown, about 30 seconds. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon. Eat while hot.

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You Are What You Eat The science is there. Food can be medicine if we let it.

BY ELIZABETH SALTER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN SCHNITZER

CAN’T SLEEP? LAVENDER CHAMOMILE TEA

Combine 2 ½ cups of water, 2 tbsp. chamomile buds, 1 tsp. lavender buds and 1 tbsp. honey in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until hot.

Strain into a mug and sip in bed.

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FEELING SICK? VITAMIN C BOOSTER SMOOTHIE

In a blender combine ½ cup frozen pineapple, ½ cup fresh strawberries, ½ orange, 1 large carrot, cut into chunks, ½ a juiced lemon, and a splash of almond milk until smooth.

FEELING STRESSED? NUTTY TRAIL MIX

Combine 1 cup almonds, 1 cup pistachios, ½ cup pumpkin seeds, ½ cup craisins, ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, and ½ cup coconut flakes in a bowl and mix.

FEELING SAD? DARK CHOCOLATE VEGAN BROWNIES Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mash ¼ avocado in a bowl and whisk with ¼ cup olive oil. Add 1 cup of flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, ¾ cup sugar, 1 tsp. baking soda, ½ tsp. of salt and ¾ cup water. Stir in 1 cup dark chocolate chips. Pour into a pan, top with more chocolate chips and bake for 15-20 minutes. fall 2018 | 35

YOU CAN SIT WITH US It’s all fun and games until your jeans don’t fit, so grab your Thanksgiving pants and get to gobblin’.

BY THE BAKED EDITORS

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Stuffing

Brussel Sprouts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Chop 1 loaf of rustic bread and toast on a baking sheet until golden brown.

While the bread is toasting, melt 4 tbsp. unsalted butter in a skillet. Cook 1 chopped large yellow onion, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 4 large sticks of diced celery, 10 small breakfast sausages and 3 tbsp. chopped rosemary in the skillet until golden brown. In a large casserole dish, toss onion mixture with the toasted bread and mix in 2 cups chicken broth and 2 beaten eggs. Salt and pepper generously. Bake for an hour, or until golden brown.

Cook 4-6 strips of bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crispy, and chop. Throw 1 lb. brussel sprouts and ½ large yellow onion, chopped, into the same pan with the bacon grease and cook until brown on edges. Stir the chopped bacon in a bowl with the brussel sprouts mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Everything Mashed Potatoes

Boil 8 medium-sized potatoes until tender and drain. Beat hot potatoes until smooth in a large bowl with 8 oz. cream cheese, 1 cup sour cream, and 4 tbsp. melted butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with 1 cup crispy chopped bacon and 1 cup thinly sliced green onion.

Sweet Potato Pie Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Peel and chop 1.5 lbs. of sweet potatoes.

Boil until tender then drain. Mash in a large bowl with 6 tbsp. unsalted butter. Slowly mix in 1/3 cup sugar, 2 beaten eggs, ½ tsp. ground cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 7 oz. shredded coconut, and 1/3 cup evaporated milk. Divide into 2 unbaked pie crusts. To top, mix 1 cup light brown sugar, ½ cup flour, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup unsweetened chocolate chips, and ½ cup melted unsalted butter and scoop onto pies.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Herb-Roasted Turkey Legs & Gravy Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Place a cooking rack inside a tinfoil pan so there’s room between the turkey and the bottom of the pan. Pat 6 bone-in turkey legs dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture and begin rubbing 2 tbsp. butter on the legs. Combine 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 tsp. dried oregano, 1 tsp. dried parsley and 1 tsp. paprika in a bowl and rub onto the turkey. Cook roughly two hours, turning the legs every half hour to make sure all sides are browning.

Your meat thermometer should read 170 degrees Fahrenheit.

To make the gravy, pour all the juices from the bottom pan into a sauce pan and thicken with flour over medium heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cornbread Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Combine 1 can creamed corn, 1 can drained corn kernels, 2 packages of Jiffy corn muffin mix, 2 eggs, 2 cups of sour cream and 1 stick of melted unsalted butter into a casserole dish.

Bake for one hour.

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THE FRITTATA

CHALLENGE This six-pound frittata will be your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

BY HALEY ROBERTSON

O

ff Route 290 in Syracuse, New York, sits a small red shack on a gravel parking lot five times its size. A “Cash Only” sign hangs on the white screen door as eager customers watch their breath in the autumn chill and wait for their names to be called.

It’s Sunday brunch at Mother’s Cupboard. The hustle and bustle of plates clanging in the kitchen and customers chattering over each other fills the small eatery.

Mounds of fluffy eggs, golden hash browns, and Italian sausage sizzle on the grill as a cook plates the diner’s most famous dish— the six-pound frittata topped with four slices of buttered toast.

It’s a massive heap of scrambled eggs with sausage, pepperoni, home fries, broccoli, onions, and red peppers for $12.95— plus your choice of American, mozzarella or cheddar cheese for 2 dollars more.

With options such as a quarter, half or whole frittata, customers can choose how much they’re willing to stomach. Those daring enough to order a whole frittata come to conquer The Frittata Challenge. They have just 30 minutes to shovel all six pounds of this greasy, glorified omelet into their bellies before they can get their picture added to the collage of past winners.

In 2010, Adam Richman of “Man vs.

Food” visited Mother’s Cupboard and won 44 | baked

the Frittata Challenge. One day, with an extreme amount of bravery, I asked myself, if he could do it, why couldn’t I? As the waitress walked toward our table, my friends and I anxiously pushed aside our napkins and silverware to clear a space for the incoming mountain of breakfast glory. I immediately questioned my decision to order french toast and hash browns on the side and wished I hadn’t eaten the day before in preparation.

The first bite was easy. But with each scoop of my fork, it got harder and harder until my stomach bloated in protest. I barely made a dent and had to ask for a take-home box—a sign of defeat.

For the people who can finish, the staff celebrates by applauding and cheering for the winner, who then proudly writes a message in ketchup on their empty plate.

For foodies seeking different breakfast options, other popular items include pancakes, loaded potato omelettes and cinnamon sugar-dusted French toast. The reasonably priced dishes and exceptional service have established Mother’s Cupboard as a Syracuse breakfast staple.

So, if you’re up for the challenge of consuming a loaded egg dish larger than your head, Mother’s Cupboard is the place to go.

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HOW DID YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH FOOD? Like most people I started cooking with my grandma and her sisters, prepping for holidays‌in my heart of hearts I knew I was going to play a matriarch role in my family and I wanted to know what that looked like, what that sounded like, how it was maintained.

BEFORE FOOD, YOU USED TO WORK AS A SOCIAL WORKER. WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO SOCIAL WORK? I really love building resources and teaching people how to build their own. Becoming more self-sufficient is extremely important to me, especially in the black community.

I think autonomy is the greatest gift, to be able to figure out a way to solve your problem, or at least recognize that there is one, and start with a plan, even if the plan is to make a plan.

That's why I started SheChef, because it’s a little bit of social work and a little bit of culinary. It's almost as if my culinary self decided to move in with my social work self and start a family.

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Elle Simone Scott, a culinary producer and food stylist, is the first black woman on America’s Test Kitchen. She is also the founder of SheChef, a culinary mentorship and networking community for women of color and their allies. So far, SheChef has over 1,000 members. This interview has been condensed for clarity. BY LEE MUSHO

IS SHECHEF SOMETHING YOU WISH YOU HAD ACCESS TO? It was definitely born because I didn't see any representation in the industry and I think representation is important to the success of any person. You have to physically see yourself there to to know that it's attainable. I wanted SheChef to do that, to put women chefs of color to the forefront.

cooking within certain cultural guidelines. Because a woman is Chinese-American doesn’t mean that she desires to only cook Chinese food—that's not the limit to her skillset. I feel like a lot of women of color get pigeonholed and then it’s assumed they cannot work outside of those parameters.

We’re here to help you be successful, even if it's just to allow you to stand out, to give you the notion that you take up space and we are here and have already done it. I'm not the first African American woman on America's Test Kitchen just for the sake of saying so, I'm saying it so that there won’t have to be another first, and there won’t be a reason for there not to be a second or fifth or tenth.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE TO WOMEN STARTING OUT IN THE INDUSTRY? To people who are facing challenges, women especially, don’t allow yourself to just be a statistic or be marginalized. Be a voice. Stand up for what you know is right. Don’t take a backseat to issues. Advocate for yourself, even if that means joining an organization, because you get further together than you do alone.

That's an African proverb by the way.

ARE THERE ANY CHALLENGES IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY YOU’VE FACED THAT YOU’VE SEEN A LOT OF WOMEN FACE AS WELL? One of the challenges that happens with most women of non-European descent is that they get pigeonholed into ethnic cooking or

Anytime we’re attacking areas that aren’t diverse or inclusive, we’re whittling away at the nasty core of a problem. I want every woman coming into the industry to know that it doesn’t matter how small or singular you think your voice is. It’s still a voice and it's very strong. It can definitely make a difference.

fall 2018 | 47

48 | baked

OVERGROWN OASIS A triumphant community garden struggles each fall as funding runs out.

BY MICHAEL SESSA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEE MUSHO fall 2018 | 49

T

he Southwest Community Learning Farm is an overgrown oasis—a nearly acre-large anomaly of vibrance born out of compromise. Buried among the weeds is an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables—everything from collard greens to thyme to carrots haphazardly growing against the backdrop of a struggling city.

Stray gardening tools and half-eaten tomatoes litter the aisles between the hand-built beds that house most of the plants. The garden, located on Bellevue Ave., is a short trip from the offices of Jubilee Homes, a neighborhood revitalization group based on Syracuse’s Southwest side and the owners of the learning farm.

Jubilee Homes began in 1987 to develop housing and has since morphed into a catalyst for economic development and workforce training in the neighborhood. Urban Delights is the organization’s entrepreneurship arm—an agricultural project that gives teenagers and young adults the chance to run a small business. Participants operate farm stands throughout the Southwest side, providing locally-grown produce to residents of neighborhoods where fresh fruits and vegetables are often difficult to find.

Kristina Kirby, Jubilee Home’s fiscal manager and the leader of the Urban Delights program, drives past abandoned lots, boarded houses, and new construction on the short trip from the Jubilee offices to the learning farm. As she drives, Kirby says she wants kids from the neighborhood to love healthy eating just as much as she did when she was growing up.

“My family always had gardens,” she says, hopping out of the van. “I love tomatoes—especially cherry tomatoes—so my grandfather every year would get me a plant that I could grow in a pot and just tend to it and grow it and eat my tomatoes.” Inside the garden, she bites into one like an apple.

“I do feel like a plant mom,” she says, smiling.

That passion for fresh food—and the sense of purpose and responsibility that comes with producing it—is what Kirby says Urban Delights is all about.

“Previously there was no grocery store in this neighborhood,” she says. “So the area is labeled a food desert. One of the goals of 50 | baked

Urban Delights and the learning farm is to not only bring access to fresh, affordable, organically-grown produce, but also to educate people about their benefits.”

Syracuse’s Southwest side didn’t have a major supermarket from 1970 until the construction of a Price Rite in 2016. Residents had to rely on convenience stores for their grocery shopping or find transportation to supermarkets miles away.

Even with the addition of the store, much of the area is still designated a food desert by the Onondaga County Health Department.

Corner stores capitalizing on cheap junk food outnumber grocery stores by a margin of 4 to 1. Adult obesity rates range from 25.6 percent in areas closest to supermarkets to a staggering 48.6 percent in areas furthest from them. 34 percent of the area’s population live in poverty, and 36 percent of households are eligible for SNAP benefits, federal food-purchasing assistance for low and no-income Kristina Kirby, people.

Jubilee Home's For many liv- fiscal manager ing in Syracuse’s and the leader of Southwest side, fresh produce the Urban Delights presents a learn- program ing curve.

“You walk past stuff in the grocery store every day, and because you’re not knowledgeable as to how to cook it or what it’s going to taste like, you just walk past it." She says.

Even among experienced home chefs, she says, swiss chard and fresh herbs are new. Part of the program’s allure is the opportunity to experiment with new flavors and ingredients—trading in community classics like sweet potato pie for healthier alternatives like butternut squash.

Urban Delights isn’t just about healthy eating and expanding access to fresh food.

The farm hires teens during the summer through a city-run employment program.

They manage farm stands at the downtown farmer’s market, area retirement homes,

I do feel like a plant mom

and the Pioneer Homes Coffee Shop.

“They’re learning the math,” Kirby says.

“They’re learning how to count back change, how to properly price things. We try to let them run it themselves.”

The training is about more than running a successful farmstand, Kirby says—it is about learning how to be adaptable and how to recover from a hit. As Kirby weaves through the learning farm, she starts laughing.

“We planted asparagus this year, not realizing that you have to grow it for three years before you can harvest it. Trial and error.”

As she walks through the aisles of overflowing raised beds, the extraordinary amount of unharvested produce takes center stage. Hundreds of yellow cherry tomatoes grow near the corner of the lot, and dozens more are scattered on the ground nearby. Eggplants, string beans, and a variety of peppers are growing too. The learning farm hasn’t been harvested since the start of the school year almost two months ago.

The youth farm stand is a multi-agency initiative, relying heavily on the contributions of local non-profit community orga-

nizations and community-minded funders such as foundations, banks, and local businesses. While the city of Syracuse provides a small amount of funding for Urban Delight’s workforce development initiatives, the majority of the program’s financing comes from grants.

When fall rolls around and funding runs out, it is up to Kirby and community volunteers to harvest what’s left and prepare for the off-season, leaving most of the fresh produce to rot on the vine.

Weaving through the now-dilapidated garden, Kirby collects squash and melons in a wet plastic shopping bag she finds under some leaves. She says she does this often in the fall, leaving her work in the office for a few moments of solitude in the garden.

The scene—Kirby tending carefully to Urban Delight’s now-unkempt garden—is a testament to the struggle inherent to such community initiatives. But it is proof of the passion and endurance of the plant moms it takes to lead them.

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KEEP ON

CRAVING ON We surveyed nearly 100 students about their typical cravings and got some odd answers. Here’s everything you crave, weirdos.

BY FRANKIE SAILER | ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN DOSCAS

What do you crave…

When you’re hungover?

Miso Soup

When you’re high?

A sleeve of Ritz Crackers

When you’re stressed?

Cucumbers

When you’re heartbroken?

My mom's Thanksgiving stuffing When you’re drunk?

Cinnamon Buns

When you’re PMSing?

Whipped Cream

52 | baked

PURCHASES with a PURPOSE

BY EMILY CERRITO | ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN DOSCAS

Thanks to a viral image of a sea turtle with a straw stuck up its nose, what was once an easy decision to grab a plastic straw along with your iced coffee is now a moral dilemma.

Anti-plastic has become quite the trend, and with all trends it’s easy to lose sight of the real issue—contributing to waste. So we’ve done you a favor and filtered out all the b******t.

Here our are favorite plastic free picks to make the world suck a little less.

STRAWS

BAGS

KITCHEN TOOLS

Next time you’re about to leave your house, pop a few of these in your bag, whether they’re glass, bamboo or stainless steel. Maybe this will finally get the environmentally friendly barista to notice you and write their number on your cup.

Despite most of the buzz surrounding plastic straws, plastic bags are just as guilty.

The U.S. alone uses a whopping 100 billion plastic bags every year.

Fortunately, the possibilities are endless with this small switch. You can purchase a reusable bag, clean ones you already own, or opt for cloth alternatives when shopping for produce.

Turns out, there’s more plastic in your kitchen than you realize. To swap out the culprit, turn your sponges biodegradable, replace your tupperware for glass storage containers, and your plastic spatulas and serving spoons for wooden ones.

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Ever show up to a pregame and all that’s left is just a liter of coke and less than a shot of Hennessy sitting on a battered table? When your place is voted as the next pregame spot, do better. These recipes are easy to make with minimal ingredients and will get everyone tipsy in no time.

BY SARI KAMP | PHOTOGRAPHY

BY JORDAN SCHNITZER

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Whiskey Lemonade

Combine a 750 ml. bottle of whiskey, 12 cups of lemonade, and Âź cup honey or agave in a pitcher. Slice 4 lemons into pinwheels. Add ice and lemon slices to mixture. Makes about 15 drinks.

Makeshift Moscow Mule

Combine a 750 ml. bottle of vodka, 8 cups of ginger ale, and 4 cups limeade in a pitcher. Add ice. Garnish with a few mint leaves in each glass. Makes about 15 drinks.

Rum Punch

Combine a 750 ml. bottle of white rum, 6 cups of orange juice, and 6 cups of pineapple juice in a pitcher. Slice 4 limes into pinwheels. Add ice and lime slices to mixture. Makes about 15 drinks.

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