March 2019 archive
I use baking as a way to relax and relieve stress. Baking helps me when I’m having a bad day. However, this week I’ve had baking on my agenda for my blog, but it lead to stress. Since I was planning on baking for homework, not for fun, I saw it as a task I needed to do and started to dread it. Since I realized that baking was no longer the fun activity it once was, I decided to not bake this week. I am planning on baking this weekend with my friend in my dorm, not specifically to write a blog about, but because she asked me to make carrot cake with her.
Since I have been doing research on the treatment of animals and how factory farms are very harmful for the environment for my Issue Brief, I wanted to look up some tips for vegan baking. I know that the chickens that eggs come from are horribly mistreated, to the point where many of them are unable to walk. Because of this, I want to bake without supporting these horrible practices (as buying new eggs or more milk or an animal product from a factory farm would do) and I wanted to share some ways that people can bake more ethically.
Eggs are probably the most important change when baking. I have recently used applesauce and bananas as substitutes for eggs. I also found that a new egg replacement is aquafaba, which is the liquid that comes in a can of chickpeas. One can of diet soda can replace two eggs, according to the Ultimate Vegan Baking Guide.
Another thing to consider is butter. Although margarine is a popular substitute for butter, many brands are made with hydrogenated oils, which are not healthy. Earth Balance is a brand to consider, which does not have hydrogenated oils. Coconut oil (substitute one-to-one) or olive oil (1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons is equal to one cup of butter) can also be used to replace butter, and they do not include these harmful oils.
Another tip I found is to take honey out of baking. I did not realize before that honey is not vegan, but if you’re planning on baking for someone that’s vegan, you should avoid honey. Maple syrup or agave can be used as a replacement for honey.
I’m really excited to try these tips out. In the past I have not noticed a difference in taste when I’ve replaced eggs with applesauce, and I hope to have similar outcomes when I continue to use vegan recipes.
This weekend was one of my best friend’s birthdays. Instead of buying him a gift, I decided to make him brownies. I thought that that was a fun way to celebrate his birthday, and also show my appreciation for him!
By now my friends know that when I start bringing stuff out to the kitchen, I’m going to be baking. Everyone hung out around the kitchen, waiting for my brownies to cook. Luckily they only take about 20 minutes to cook in the oven, and only about 10 minutes to mix together. So my friends didn’t have to wait too long (it usually takes upwards of an hour to bake brownies).
It was very easy for me to make the brownies. I simply used the Betty Crocker Fudgy brownie mix that I got from Louie’s and followed the recipe. I cracked open two eggs and mixed them together. Then I added a quarter of the brownie mix. Then I added 3 tablespoons of water. Then I mixed in about half of the brownie mix. Finally, I added 1/3 cup oil and then mixed in the last quarter of the mix. It should be thicker than usual, which makes it a lot more fudgy. I heated the oven to 350 degrees and then put the brownies in for 18 minutes. They came out perfectly; however I always recommend testing the brownies by sticking a toothpick (or in my case a knife) into the center and making sure it comes out clean.
So I did something a little different with my brownies this time. Normally, I use three eggs and make the brownies more cake-like. However this weekend, I decided to use two eggs and the brownies were a lot thicker. They were more difficult to mix, because it was more dry than normal brownie mix (with a third egg there is more liquid, from the yolk and egg whites, which makes the mix more liquidy and ultimately easier to mix). And I’m always concerned about undercooking my brownies, however when they came out of the oven, I used a knife to test them and it came out clean. These brownies were still very fudgy and a little more liquidy. However, they were not undercooked, just baked a little differently.
I had a lot of fun baking brownies, and thought that it was less expensive and more meaningful if I baked brownies than if we went out to get ice cream (which was the original plan). I would always recommend baking as a gift for someone; it’s truly a kind thing to do and anyone would appreciate home baked goods.
I attended the “Plastic State University: Reducing Single-Use Waste” deliberation on Friday February 22. Both mine and the other half of my class’ deliberations had a lot of similarities, including the size, almost universal agreement on the necessity of fixing the problem, and the set up/location of the deliberation.
Although both deliberations were on well known topics, single-use plastics tends to be treated as more of a scientific problem, while binge drinking is seen as more of a social issue. In creating an information base, it was more important for the plastics moderators to explain the science behind single-use plastics and eco-friendly programs at Penn State. Most people understand the inherent issues with binge drinking, so moderators for the drinking deliberation did not have to explain as much as in the plastics deliberation. The audience may have felt like they learned more from the plastics deliberation because the moderators had to create the information base that the binge drinking deliberation already had.
The plastics deliberation set up their deliberation to discuss a multitude of solutions, but the binge drinking deliberation discussed only three solutions. There was more creativity in the discussion of the plastics deliberation. Both methods of discussion fostered productive and informative conversations. The plastics deliberators discussion covered more topics, but the binge-drinking discussion was more focused.
In both deliberations the moderators made discussing the pros and cons very important. In the binge drinking deliberation students started discussing the cons too early in the conversation, but the moderators did a good job of trying to steer the conversation back to pros. The pros and cons sometimes overlapped; some people thought that the truth-style campaign, could be harmful and influence people to partake in embarrassing activities, while other people thought it would influence students to not embarrass themselves. So some people’s pros were other people’s cons and the tradeoffs were discussed (is it worth having this campaign if it may prevent some students from drinking, but may also encourage others to do embarrassing things). For the plastics, an interesting tradeoff/con suggested was that disabled people may need single-use plastics because it may be too difficult to have a green-to-go that they have to bring back to the dining commons.
The microphone made a difference in distributing speaking opportunities. Both deliberations took place in Webster’s and it was difficult to have a deliberation in a small space where it was relatively loud. I think that the microphone helped distribute speaking opportunities more for the plastics deliberation, because the moderators were able to pick who got the microphone and everyone had to listen to the person with the microphone. However, the microphone became too much of a hassle for our deliberation because of the cord and difficulty in getting it to everyone. Although I thought that without the microphone the binge-drinking moderators did a good job of distributing speaking opportunities, it was clear that the people in the front participated more than the people in the back. Most people raised their hands, and the people in the back did so less often. However, towards the end people stopped raising their hands, and on occasion someone would talk too much and it was difficult for the moderators to pick who spoke.
In both deliberations the moderators remained neutral during the discussion, while considering a range of ideas. In the plastics deliberation, for example, we spent a lot of time on the eco-coin. The delibertators built off of what others said, and many people talked about the eco-coin even though they had never heard of it before. It was clear that those in the discussion listened to what other people were saying, and had a genuine conversation rather than simply speaking for themselves. I think that this was also done in the binge drinking deliberation, especially when we spoke about disagreements between the community approach. The disagreements showed that students were listening and reacting to what someone else said, and then explained their point of view (deliberators argued over whether students will stop drinking if they see there are fun things to do besides drink, or if they are going to drink anyway).
In both deliberations everyone was respected. With binge drinking it was more important that people felt comfortable speaking about drinking or their experience with drinking culture. When one student spoke about Penn State’s Responsible Act Protocol, the deliberators did not judge her nor make her feel bad for sharing a personal story. There was no problem with respect in the plastics deliberation; everyone in the group showed that they care about the environment. To foster a good conversation, it is important that everyone feels respected. All of my classmates did a great job of making sure the conversation was respectful and productive.
During Spring Break my dad asked me to bake with him. I was super excited to do so. His only request was to have “anything with icing” so I decided on macarons. We would make the shells, and then while they are cooking fill them with icing. They turned out delicious.
I’ve made macarons once before, but that was in middle school. My mom basically baked them and I was just in the kitchen with her. But this time I worked with both of my parents, and all of us had a part in making the cookies.
Macarons are very difficult to make, but are extremely enjoyable when made right. The shells have a simple recipe: 3 egg whites, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1 2/3 cup confectioners sugar, 1 cup finely ground almonds. The almonds were the most difficult ingredient; they stuck to the side of the blender. I would recommend using almond flour instead of blending your own almonds.
Heat the oven to 285 (which is pretty low for baking). Beat egg whites until they are foamy. (This means genuinely foamy, not a couple of bubbles) Then, beat in the white sugar until soft peaks form. This means you can take the mixers out of the mixture and it will hold its shape. Then fold in a mixture of the other 2 ingredients into the wet mixture.
Using a bag with a small hole in the corner (or a piping bag), squeeze small disks onto a baking sheet. I would recommend lining the baking sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easier. Bake in the oven for about 9 minutes, and then let the shells cool.
While cooling, I made the icing. Mix together 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened, 3 3/4 cups Domino® Confectioners Sugar, 3 to 4 tablespoons milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Once the shells are cool, scoop some icing in between the shells and make a cookie sandwich. Voila, you have homemade macarons.
Surprisingly, the shells tasted great on their own, but with my sweet tooth I loved having the icing in between the shells. I would recommend making macarons with your family; it’s a great bonding experience. And at the end of it, you get to enjoy a nice dessert. That was my favorite part of break, because it was an easy and simple way to spend an hour or two with my parents, focused solely on a really fun activity. 
