www.sites.google.com/fort-outpost
advisor.
Jennifer Fay
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”
~Herman Melville
IThis duality of nature teaches us to celebrate each day and be thankful for the moment as we are living in it.
Bey have learned.
Community is a mighty thing and you are all a part of ours here at Fort. Make lasting memories and enjoy every moment of your Summer!
Don’t forget that, when we come back in the Fall, we’ll be looking for more students who want to contribute to the Fort Outpost and make their own
lasting impression in our school community.
contributors.
Isaac Dennett - Editor in Chief
I’ve been writing with this newspaper for all 4 years now, and I love it. I love to write about problems in the community and the solutions to them.
Christian Golden - Associate Editor
I’m half black and half Japanese. I enjoy doing sports, especially track and I like being able to do new things.
Amy Nguyen - Assignment Editor
Hi! I’m Amy. My favorite color is purple and my favorite artist is Beabadobee.
Leila Folsom - Writer
Having been in the Medical Magnet program all four years and AVID for three, I’d also consider myself a long-term resident of the science wing.
Isabel Laib - Writer
My favorite class is pottery and I’ve made several tv show themed pieces. My personal hobbies consist of building lego sets and writing.
Cristina Martin - Writer
I’m a current senior at fort and a medical magnet student with much love for the science wing. I also participate in the upcoming Writer’s Club.
Jacob Owen - Writer
JenniferFay Advisor - Journalism Club
Crochet Club Hooking Students
From arts to DIY, a common craft that always comes up is crochet. People from around the world know how to crochet with different names and ways to do things. It’s a fun thing to learn and is cool to participate in. We have our own crochet group called the crochet club. It meets on Mondays after school and during lunch on Wednesdays in the medical room (Ms. Turcotte). The people in it have all different skills and skill levels but we are all friends. Even people outside of the club donate yarn to the club so we can keep the crochet work up. I recommend joining the club and if you can’t you should show your support by donating your unused yarn to help everyone have fun!
I am passionate about chemistry and plan to major in chemical engineering and have a career in pharmaceutical chemistry.
Sariah Dennett - Writer
This is my first year writing for the newspaper (obviously) and I’m excited to do it this year.
Alexis Johnson - Writer
I am new to the journalism club here. I am super into psychology and my goal is to become a mental health therapist.
Natalie Martin - Writer
I am a Freshman here at FVHS and I am new to the Journalism club. In my free time I like to make paper crafts.
Fort Vancouver Students GIVE BLOOD
November 1st marked the return of Fort’s annual blood drive. In collaboration with the American Red Cross, students from the Medical Terminology class aided phlebotomists in facilitating the blood drive, routing staff and students, as well as ensuring their health and wellbeing throughout the process.
We thank the Medical Terminology class for their diligence, as well as Ms. Dunegan, for giving our students and faculty a chance to contribute to the improvement of our community by donating blood, each donation potentially saving up to 3 lives.
The main organizer for all of Fort’s blood drives, Colleen Dunegan, has been working hard for years to ensure our school is part of donating consistently. Now here is a message from Dunegan: “Fort has a long tradition of hosting blood drives. I arrived at Fort in the Fall of 1999 and so since my tenure here at Fort we have hosted over 50 blood drives, but I am very confident there were many blood drives here before I arrived. We have worked with various blood donation agencies including the American Red Cross who have hosted a total of 37 Drives on their behalf.”
Throughout the many years of blood donating, the average of units per blood drive is about 38. Our goal with this blood drive was 22 units, but we successfully collected 34! Our next annual blood drive will be February 12th, 2025.
“There is always a need for blood donors in our community, and I think donating blood is a simple but powerful way to contribute to our community. You may never know who the person was that received your donation, but you can bet that individual and all their loved ones are forever grateful. 1 hour of your time can save 3 lives.” -Dunegan
If you missed this schoolwide opportunity, and you’re still interested in contributing, the Red Cross website www. redcrossblood.org has official listings of their upcoming donation events, with the nearest events on the 5th, 7th, and 10th of December. Ensure that you are prepared for an evaluation by their trusted physicians before attending.
Unified For Fun
Words & Photos by Cristina Martin and Leila Hight-Folsom
The Unified Harvest Dance has commenced! On November 22nd at Fort, in the commons. This inclusive dance was not only fun for its attendees, but important for outreach for our students with developmental disabilities. This dance had a DJ-Announcer combo, an activity room with lots of fun games and crafts, and of course a sensory friendly room to have a relaxing, calming space during the dance. Many volunteers have been planning this dance for weeks by contributing to this event, through making signs, activities, music lists, and decorations!
You may be wondering what makes this dance so unique. With typical school dances, they’re often considered overstimulating due to the amount of people attending, loud music, and crowded venues. Because of this, it deters those with sensory issues that are triggered by such events. With the Harvest Dance, accommodations were made with these issues in mind. Volunteers spent a few weeks planning for music that was enjoyable, but not too overwhelming. If, however, anyone grew tired from the festivities, a space adjacent to the dance floor hosted relaxing activities like stained-glass painting and drawing was provided. A quiet space was also planned for, in case anyone was in need of a break from the dancing and socializing.
The last few hours before the dance were spent perfecting signs and stocking the concession stands, before preparing to greet first-time guests into our school. There was also a free photo booth, manned by our cheer team, and photography teacher Mr. Dickinson, that attendees were welcome to use. When the dance began, the cafeteria venue was comfortably filled with a mixture of staff, cheer, volunteers, and our
Unified attendees.
From 5:30-8pm, All aspects of the dance came together in a gathering that was reviewed as “Sweet”, “Fun”, and overall “Heartwarming” by our guests! The DJ-Announcer team had a blast lighting the dance floor, including many floor-filling classics like “Cupid Shuffle”, “T.G.I.F”, and “Cha-Cha-Slide”, and more, for the majority of the evening. The dance ended with a quick, but enjoyable round of musical chairs, in which all participants were celebrated for their sportsmanship.
Our sincerest thanks go to the volunteers that coordinated this dance, the cheerleaders, participants who attended the dance, and our Unified youth who brought this event to life! And lastly Mrs. Delgadillo, who was the foundation for putting this event together.
Following the Harvest Dance, Unified Basketball sign ups are currently out! Sign ups are on final forms and practices are right after Thanksgiving Break! These practices are during the school day. The unified club supports Unified athletes and partners, as well supporting ASB with assemblies that include the Unified Sports teams and the Unified Activities (like the Harvest Dance!). Unified club is small, but is looking for students who want to participate in activities with students who have developmental disabilities.
THE BOARD BREAKDOWN
nov. 12th
By
Isaac dennett
“If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.”
Hello everyone! I’m starting a brand new section in the newspaper. It’s called the Board Breakdown.
I’m going to break down everything that happens in the school board meetings in between newspaper releases. The meetings are one of the most influential things to Fort students, for example. They talk about district-wide cell phone policies, budgets, layoffs, hiring, and awards.
In this edition, I’m going to talk about the most recent meeting on November 12th. You can watch it on YouTube. You can attend all meetings in person or on Zoom and you can also watch them when they are recorded and uploaded 2 days later. You can see the agenda for the whole meeting, with what they talked about, sections, and what they are voting on here. You can also see the Superintendent report
here, which is arguably the most important document. It has everything the Superintendent brought up during the meeting. I strongly suggest you research it yourself, as everyone deserves to have their own opinion.
There were three main topics in this board meeting. The budget, the capital levy, and cell phone policies. All three of these topics can be found in the superintendent report. First, the budget. Many previous teachers are going to continue being recalled to increase our teacher amount for this year. They most likely won’t be recalled into the same position, but it means that we won’t have to deal with as many classes as we did at the beginning of this school year. But, it is going to put some more strain on the district’s budget.
The school district needs to
increase the money coming in from the state and local governments.
There is a massive lack of funding for the school district, and we need a lot more support. The solution is escalating the problem to state legislators. But, you can directly help. By sending your stories about schools with overflowing classrooms or bad technology, you can help push for more funding for our school district. This link sends you to a page with our local legislative districts. Fort Vancouver is in District 49. Email your representatives with your stories. They can fight for you.
The second main topic is still connected to the budget. It’s a capital levy, full name being the TECHNOLOGY, SAFETY AND CAPITAL PROJECTS LEVY.
We’ve already had this levy, but it’s expiring and up for renewal.
STAFF EXCELLENCE
It will expire in December 2025, and we have to vote on whether it will continue in November of next year. To summarize its purpose, it puts money in the budget for technology (iPads and Chromebooks), networks (higher internet connection and safety), subscriptions (Kami), safety (cameras and safer schools), and capital projects. It’s a capital levy because the money can be used on capital things.
This needs to pass. Any money is great for reducing the strain on our school district. If you can vote in the next election cycle, vote yes. Or, if your parents can vote, have them vote yes.
Next, we have cell phone policies. Our school district is evaluating cell phone policies for next year. The district has been sending out surveys over the course of this year to give them
data about what decisions to make. They have sent surveys to teachers, parents, and students. All the data from that survey can be located at https://vansd.org/ cell-phone-policy/. They have all the data split into the three groups stated before with graphs and numbers and all types of interesting stuff. We’re on step two of the whole process right now. Step one and two is all about collecting information on the policy, and finding out what needs to change. The next step, happening in December, is where they will propose the rest of the changes.
That’s it for this board meeting! Make sure to research these topics and draw your own conclusions. It is your duty as a citizen to stay informed.
https://vansd.org/employee-excellence/ Our hardworking staff that recieved an award!
Svitlana Ostapenko
“Her fluency in Ukrainian and Russian enables crucial connections with families, while her
deep empathy and cultural understanding help students navigate the complexities of the education system. Svitlana’s tireless advocacy extends beyond interpretation, as she connects families with vital resources and offers unwavering support to ensure all students feel valued and empowered.”
- From VPS Website
FORT REPORT VIDEO PRODUCTION
The Fort Report is a video produced in the studio of our school’s advanced production class. It is normally shown in classrooms weekly-biweekly during SEL time. It features updates on school events, clubs, opportunities, and current news like weather. There is a bright team behind the fort report, and this article will cover student roles, segments, and behindthe-scenes details
JSOME PEOPLE LIKE WHAT YOU DO, SOME PEOPLE HATEWHATYOU DO, BUT MOST PEOPLE SIMPLY DON’T GIVE A DAMN
onas Catton and Braden Morgan host the anchor segment. They introduce each segment, give the fort report, and provide general information on events currently happening at the fort. Jonas has an additional segment, called the “Jonas Jukebox” which explores music from various decades. Noah Roeper runs the current sports information segment and announces recent and upcoming games. Yousef Hussein covers the week’s forecast and weather highlights to look forward to. Alek Villezcas Zepeta runs a new segment on the Associate Student Body, which covers the latest ASB news, club info, and much more to come. Another segment that occurs in some uploads is the Pokemon Man segment, which stars an unknown student. This is usually a fun snippet, with a promotion of his YouTube channel, or surveying random students.
Now, here’s some personal statements from the hosts of their respective segments.
Yousif: “Well my segment is to do the weather telling the condition the weather is gonna be and what day is gonna be and what degrees so that’s what I do.”
Alek: “The ASB segment is a way for ASB to reach out to the rest of the school to promote certain topics ASB related, like dates and themes for spirit weeks, promoting clubs, or just giving any information that seems useful. Same way we promote on the ASB Instagram ( follow ), this is the same thing but with a more person-to-person approach. It is also a way to get opinions from viewers on upcoming events hosted by ASB.”
Noah: I’m Noah Roeper, I am the lead sports correspondent, and I manage all the sports reports. I also act as a liaison to the district for dates we can film the sports games. A fun thing about myself is that I can talk about sports endlessly.”
While a ton of work happens on scene, a ton goes on behind the scenes as well! The team works hard weekly to produce, edit, film, and perfect the Fort Report for viewers. This includes many roles that are BTS (sound designers, camera operators, graphic designers, scriptwriters, studio technicians, production assistants, lighting technicians, and many more). They make the magic happen, ensuring the sets are in place, the sound is just right, and making sure the script and cameras are rolling.
Now, let’s see what the different roles are keeping the fort report running.
Editors are the people who work carefully to split sections of different segments and then attach them all together to create one singular video that runs smoothly. They ensure that each transition is seamless and that the final product is cohesive and engaging. This process requires a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of the narrative flow. Editors play a crucial role in video production, as their work significantly impacts the overall quality and effectiveness of the final video.
TAKE A LOOK INTO FORT’S OWN NEWS NETWORK, THE FORT REPORT.
Technicians play essential roles in creating a video report. Lighting technicians set up and adjust the lights to ensure the scene is well-lit and visually appealing. Camera technicians operate the cameras, making sure the shots are framed correctly and the focus is sharp. Audio technicians handle the microphones and sound equipment to ensure clear and highquality audio. Together, these technicians work behind the scenes to ensure the video report looks and sounds professional.
Designers carefully add various elements such as pictures, photos, names, and other relevant details to different segments of the project. This process involves selecting the appropriate images and text that best represent the theme or purpose of each segment. They ensure that these elements are arranged in a visually appealing and coherent manner, enhancing the overall aesthetic and effectiveness of the design. By paying close attention to these details, designers create a cohesive and engaging experience for the audience, making sure that each segment stands out and contributes to the overall message or narrative.
Upcoming Winter Events
Don’t miss out on fun activities with your fellow students!
Winter Formal 2024
The theme for this year’s winter formal is ‘A Night in Disguise Masquerade Ball.’ If you didn’t already know, a masquerade ball is a dance where people wear fancy masks. The dance will be on Saturday, December 7th, in the commons from 7pm to 10pm. Masks will be provided with tickets and are required for entry.
It is recommended to wear semi-formal or formal attire. The dance’s color scheme is black, white, gold, and red. Tickets will be sold at regular price for $15 from December 2nd to 6th.
Photography Movie Night
On December 13th in photography room 427 a movie night will be hosted, and student work will be shown in the courtyard on the wall adjacent to the photography room.
The movie being shown is Edward Scisscorhands, an emotional heart fulfilling Christmas classic.
Come support our photography students, enjoy a movie, and some popcorn will be provided for free! We hope to see you there!
QUEER EXIT GROUP
Are you a senior who’s part of the LGBTQ community? Are you nervous about transitioning from high school to the next phase in your life and finding community? Queer Exit is a group for you, hosted by our intervention specialist Alizz Quarles.
This group will offer resources for finding communities, events, important news, and other topics in any path you’re taking after high school for students part of the LGBTQ community. Whether you’re going to community college, university, studying abroad, taking an apprenticeship, or going another route, you can
get help with any questions with resources. Alizz has many other groups that provide support and are confidential.
If you have questions for Alizz about groups you may email her at aliz.quarles@vansd.org
This group’s meetings are held during Monday SEL lessons in room 265. This group is about you! You dictate what you talk about and research.
Updates on the group will be in future additions of the Fort Outpost.
Salute to Service Veterans
VETERANS FROM EVERY BRANCH OF THE MILITARY AND MANY DIFFERENT CAMPAIGNS WERE ON HAND TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES.
On November 7th, a Veterans Day assembly commenced in the auditorium. It was an important and meaningful assembly.
Veterans Day is a day to recognize all of the heroic sacrifices and service of millions of veterans. Our assembly not only gives us an opportunity to honor the legacy of all of the people who have fought for our country, but an opportunity to understand the cost of freedom.
The significance of this day lies in recognizing and expressing gratitude for the sacrifices and contributions of veterans to the nation’s security and freedoms. In order to recognize these contributions, we must first understand the roots of this nationally recognized day. Veterans Day is an important holiday in the United States, observed annually on November 11th. It honors military veterans who have served in the United
States Armed Forces. Veterans Day originally began as Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I on November 11, 1918. In 1954, the holiday was renamed Veterans Day to honor all American veterans, not just those who served in World War I.
Celebrations that honor our veterans on this day are marked by various ceremonies, parades, and events across the country, with many people taking the time to thank veterans personally for their service. It’s a day to reflect on the bravery and dedication of those who have served and to ensure their efforts are remembered and appreciated.
Fall Sports Recap
How did your Trappers sports teams do this Fall? Read below to find out!
Co-ed Cheer
Our cheer team, while not competing in a tournament, worked really hard in cheering for many of our sports events. They even took up cheering in new sports like swimming.
Co-ed Cross country
We had a very good showing from our cross country team. We had two girls go to state and while our boys didn’t go to state, they have a lot more hope in the upcoming years. From having only 4 male athletes in the year before to now 10, the coaches are looking forward to upcoming seasons.
Boys Football
The varsity football team had a tough season this year. With 5 new coaches on the team, it was a year for rebuilding and improving. The team is also looking forward to the JV athletes turning to varsity in the next years as they have gotten 3 wins this season.
Boys Golf
Our boys’ golfers worked hard and played with the Hudson’s Bay team in competitions. Some of those golfers were varsity players and put out their best work with the little members they have.
Girls Slowpitch Softball
Our team of around 12 softball players faced quite the competition this season. They faced schools like Skyview, Battle Ground, and Union and managed to get a couple of wins this season. Some of our members like Violet had managed to get all first team, an accomplishment of being some of the best in the league.
Girls Soccer
Our Girls’ soccer team has managed to get 5 wins this season and showed a lot of improvement this season. They faced many difficult teams, a couple of which were state level, and showed a good fight. Many of the players on the team had gotten all first team and showed huge leaps in performance this season.
Girls Swimming
We had six swimmers this season and spent a lot of this season growing and adapting to better the swimmers. They worked hard in competing with the few people they had but felt like there was more to improve.
Boys Tennis
In tennis, there were 5 athletes getting in the top 8 in districts. While they were disappointed in not being able to make it to state, they worked hard to compete with stronger competitors that they found in the 1A league.
Girls Volleyball
WE’VE HAD
The girl’s volleyball team had a tough season this year. But they had faced many strong teams throughout their season and spent this time to strengthen themselves for next season.
A GREAT FALL SEASON THIS YEAR! EVEN THOUGH A LOT OF OUR ATHLETES HAD TO GO THROUGH MANY CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO THE SWAP FROM 2A TO 1A THEY ADAPTED REALLY WELL. SO AS FALL SPORTS COMES TO A CLOSE AND THE WINTER SEASON BEGINS, IT’S TIME TO RECOGNIZE THE GREAT IMPROVEMENTS OUR FALL ATHLETES HAVE MADE THIS YEAR.
Schools restrooms a DUMPING GROUND FOR COMPLAINTS
There have been multiple issues this school year with bathrooms being closed down due to vandalism, smoking/vaping, destruction to property, and more. It has become a prominent problem since November, as many may have noticed. The science wings’ bathrooms have been closed, along with both of the bathrooms in the 200’s wing (mens+womens), and the cafeteria restrooms at times.
This problem has had many solutions thrown at it, with not much change. Yet it has increasingly gotten worse. With a survey we conducted, we collected responses from Fort staff and students to see the broad expansion of how it is affecting others. The responses have majorly supported the statement that more should be done. It is a difficult issue to tackle, but maybe bringing awareness to it can help others realize their actions and misbehaviors inconvenience others more than they may realize. The school restrooms are inconsistent and the only ones who can truly change that are the students. Your actions around the school are truly affecting others.
According to the Google Forms sent out Friday November 15th, 87.2% of the 172 respondents had said that they believe the bathroom policy should be more strict/ have more security to better the accessibility and safety regarding the use of the bathrooms. When asked to state the amount of times they were personally affected by the shutdowns of these bathrooms, 57% of the students/ staff said they were unable to use the bathroom 3 or more times during the week of November 10th- 15th, 25.6% 1-3 times and only 17.4 % were unaffected. These results are pretty significant in showing the true impact of this issue. Students and staff, when asked to further talk about how they are feeling and how they are affected,mostly find it inconvenient due to missing class, getting punished for being late, and so much more. Below are a few quotes which show more in depth how our actions in the bathrooms affect others. Bathrooms should be an automatic right, and which everyone deserves and needs but it repeatedly gets ripped from others due to misuse and disrespect.
“Responsible students have to go across the whole school and it takes them out of class longer than is necessary. Female students who need to visit the restroom regularly throughout the day for feminine hygiene issues are being disproportionately impacted. However, if we do open more bathrooms, we need to have adults available to monitor them. If they are not monitored, there could continue to be costly vandalism and inappropriate behavior.”
“I am engaging students in the hallway almost daily and the interactions are pretty frequently disrespectful, while other students are complaining about disgusting or hostile bathroom environments. I don’t see a solution other than increased adult supervision INSIDE the bathroom or increased monitoring OUTSIDE the bathroom. Students continue to smoke, vape, and litter in the bathrooms. “
“I have a lot of friends who unfairly suffer from locked and misused bathrooms. they complain about having UTIs because they can’t use the bathrooms when they need to. They dont feel safe in gendered multistall restrooms. they cannot use them because of others misusing them to skip class or vape or smoke. it is really hurtful to see others abusing bathrooms, and getting that necessity taken away from those who actually need it.”
“The closed bathroom is the BIGGEST girl’s bathroom in the school. Along with the gender neutral also being closed. This leaves 2 bathrooms for people who use the girl’s bathroom (7 stalls). 2 bathrooms that are usually full to the BRIM with people. 2 bathrooms that usually lack toilet paper and soap. Please open this dang bathroom”
“The problem isn’t the lack of open bathrooms, the problem is our student body feels the need to vandalize our bathrooms every chance they get. I have been witness to this on multiple occasions. It boils down to a clear lack of respect for our school. this shouldn’t be something that falls on us as staff. We have all been working trying to limit this from happening.”
“I have a lot of friends who unfairly suffer from locked and misused bathrooms. They complain about having UTIs because they can’t use the bathrooms when they need to. They don’t feel safe in gendered multistall restrooms. they cannot use them because of others misusing them to skip class or vape or smoke.”
Winter Recipes: The Versatile Butternut Squash
Butternut Squash, also known as the winter squash, is an extremely versatile and delicious ingredient that can be a substitute, a garnish, or even the star of the show in a dish. Not only can it be used in sweet dishes, either roasting it on its own with syrup and cinnamon, or incorporating it in a filling, similar to pumpkin, but it can also be used in savory dishes, like making a rich butternut squash soup, or roasting it with garlic and onion as a side dish.
Ingredients for cinnamon roasted squash
• ½-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (vegetable is the best for baking, but other oils such as avocado and canola work as well)
• 1 ½-2 tablespoons of cinnamon (less if you don’t like a bold cinnamon flavor)
• 2-4 tablespoons of maple syrup (more if you want a sweeter flavor, or use brown sugar if you’d rather a different flavor profile)
• 1 whole butternut squash
• A bit of rosemary (optional)
Peeling the squash/prep
After rinsing, using a vegetable peeling (cucumber peelers work well), ensure to peel all of the external skin off. While it is edible, the texture is rubbery and hard to chew, and generally unpleasant. After the initial layer is cleared, there is a yellowish layer before the bright orange underneath. Ensure to peel this as well, as the flavor is more bitter than the center.
After peeling the squash, cut it directly in half vertically. Continue to remove the stringy center, including the seeds. After this the choice is yours, you can cut the squash into smaller cubes (this ensures better coverage of cinnamon and syrup throughout your squash, results in stronger flavor) or keep it whole, leaving the middle more bland, but still being able to cook it to perfection.
Cook time
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
• Ensure to coat your baking dish thoroughly, try not to overlap the squash too much. You can use a basic cooking spray like Pam, or vegetable oil, or even butter.
• Place the squash equally throughout the pan, to ensure all pieces cook evenly. Garnish with rosemary if you’d like!
• Cook the squash for about 30-40 minutes, stir the squash places (simultaneously flipping some) about halfway through the cooking time. Pull them out, allow them to cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!
Winter Recipes: Traditional Isli
Isli is a Greek/Turkish Christmas cookie, with its name meaning “worked” (“ış”), as its origins lie in Turkey. The Turkish name is heavily based on the fact that you must work on each individual cookie to perfect them. These cookies are perfect for sharing with friends and family, or simply enjoying them with a cup of tea, coffee, or milk! It takes about an hour to bake, and makes 42 cookies.
Ingredients for Syrup
• ¾ cup honey
• 1 ½ granulated sugar
• ½ cup orange juice - can come from the oranges used in this recipe, as you will need the peels and zest from them anyway.
• 1 orange peel
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 ½ cups water
Ingredients for Filling
• 200 g walnuts, crushed
• 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
• ¾ tbsp orange zest
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
Ingredients for Cookie Dough
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking Powder
• 1 tsp baking Soda
• 3 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup fine semolina
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
Instructions for Syrup
Combine all ingredients into a small pot and bring to a boil. Allow the mixture to boil at medium heat for 7-10 minutes until the syrup thickens. The sugar should be dissolved as well. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Instructions for Filling
Combine all ingredients together in a bowl, mix with a fork until combined. Set aside to add to the dough.
Instructions for Cookie Batter
Combine olive oil, orange juice, sugar, orange zest into a stand mixer. Mix for 3-5 minutes at medium speed. If a stand mixer is unavailable, use a small fork or whisk until the ingredients are combined. Whisk the listed dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. When they are well combined, slowly mix the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients.
SHAPING/BAKING ISLI
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F Pinch about a tablespoon of dough, flatten it into a thin circle with the size of the palm of your hand . Place an equal amount of filling into the center of the dough. Pinch the edges of the dough together to enclose the filling.
Traditional Isli are shaped similar to Christmas trees. It may be difficult to make the shape as a beginner, but the priority is making sure the filling does not fall out during the baking process. This is where the work comes in! (:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the cookies out with 1 inch separations between them. Lightly perforate the tops of the cookies with a fork, light indentations being the ideal. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the cookies turn a golden brown color.
When the cookies have been removed from the oven, soak them in the set-aside syrup while it is room temperature, and the cookies are still hot.
