picture is worth a thousand words... right? Sorry for not posting...

Let's just say I'm very apologetic for not actually writing that blog post I promised, okay? But here's a nice short and sweet one for y'all. Every year, towards the end of the winter term and the beginning of spring term, I go through a health phase where I start cooking and baking healthy recipes, and trying all new things. This golden milk recipe is my new favorites. I make a cup every evening, and it's the perfect thing to help me settle down. (Which 
Golden milk is a trend I'm quite behind on, it seems like everyone and their mother have already tried and become obsessed with it, but if you're like me and apparently living under a rock, here's a quick explanation of what it is. 
Golden milk is a milk infused with a blend of superfood spices such as turmeric, cinnamon and ginger. That means it has quite a number of health benefits, which include but are not limited to having anti-inflammatory  and joint relieving properties, being filled with antioxidants, perhaps aiding in memory and brain function and mood, protecting against heart disease, and lowering blood sugar levels and risk of cancer. If you're interested as to why that is, I may make another post, or it's pretty easy to look up, but I promised a quick post and explanation, and I'm going to try and stick by that promise. 
Just a a few more quick side notes about the recipe.  if you're wondering about the pepper, it helps to bring out the health benefits locked inside the turmeric so your body can actually absorb them. 
You can use any sort of milk in the recipe, even cow's, and heat that milk any way you wish. I use a milk frother, but I am aware not everyone has those so use whatever you prefer: microwave, stove, etc.
You can sprinkle cardamom and clove on top of the milk to add more flavor and health benefits, but I personally am not a fan of those flavors and do not use them. 
There are a ton of recipes, all differing from each other, on golden milk, but this one has been my favorite of them all because it makes a paste that you can make once and use for a long time-- that means not having to heat milk up on the stove every night = making my life and level of dishes so much easier. 
The most difficult part of the recipe is making the paste, which simply involves sitting by the stove for 5-10 minutes, whisking some spices and water so not really all that difficult. Without further adieu, here's the recipe. 

Paste: 
Ingredients: 
1/2 cup water
2 tsp turmeric (ground spice) 
1 T + 2 tsp coconut oil 
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 
1/4 tsp ginger root
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 

Recipe: 
1) Place all ingredients into saucepan. 
2) Put on medium heat and whisk until a thickened paste. 
3) Place in a container and keep in the fridge. (Will keep for a long time as none of the ingredients are particularly perishable). 

Milk: 
Ingredients: 
1 tsp paste
1 cup milk (coconut, almond, soy, hemp, etc.) 
Maple syrup or honey to taste
1/4 tsp cardamom (optional) 
1/4 tsp cloves (optional) 

Recipe; 
1) Heat milk. 
2) Stir all ingredients in a mug until well mixed. 
2b) Throw ingredients into a blender to make a frothy latte. 
3) (The hardest step of all) Enjoy! 

Thanks for reading, hope you all love this recipe as much as I do. <3 
​Anji

I know, I know, I'm always beginning these posts with sorry I never post and a ton of excuses, so I won't update y'all on excuses, and just say that hopefully I'll be able to get another post out before my winter break ends :) Happy New Year Everyone. 

Sorry for the lack of updates recently-- I've been so busy with the fall of my senior year (field hockey, AP courses, college applications etc.) that I haven't really had time-- hopefully I'll be able to make a decent post soon!

Chocolate chip cookies were a staple in most of our childhoods. I, for one, have many memories of helping to measure flour and sugar, and then being told NOT to eat the cookie dough (and then eating it anyway). Then again, as a child I was more than happy to be given anything sweet. Now a days I'm not the biggest consumer of cookies-- I find them boring to make and boring to eat. Nevertheless, when I came across Buzzfeed's "Perfect" Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, I felt a relentless urge to try it out. Why? I'm not exactly sure, especially since Buzzfeed's "Perfect" Chocolate Cake recipe turned out to be such an epic failure. Still, I tried it, and here are my results. (In the video) 
The conclusion that I came to was that yes, these are in fact some spectacular cookies. They have a crunchy outside and a goey middle-- which, for most, is what would be defined as the "perfect" cookie. Would I say they're the best in the entire world? See, the difficult thing is that first off, they're not exactly my preferred type of cookie, and secondly I don't eat a lot of cookies therefore I can't exactly be the best judge of what the "best" is. My favorite kind of cookie is the really crunchy sort-- and while goey is good, I think crunchy is better. The recipe is certainly better than your average cookie, due to the extra ingredients in it such as browned butter and espresso powder-- they just add more layers of flavor that really make it a treat for your tongue. 
The recipe is definitely a lot more work than your average cookie recipe as well-- such as the browned butter. While the browned butter makes the flavor go beyond average, it also takes an age to make. And all the extra steps do add up to a lot of extra time (which can be assumed, I suppose, because adding anything extra would obviously add extra time). I would recommend trying making these if you're looking for something fancy-- maybe to impress people, or maybe just to try a really good cookie. If you just want a quick and easy cookie, this certainly isn't the recipe for you. 
I followed every step given, including the recommended but unnecessary step of leaving the cookies to sit in the fridge overnight. This is a way to develop more flavor in the dough-- actually, it's a trick that many bakeries use, and since I wanted these cookies to be the best they could, I left them to sit overnight. Which turned out to be harder than I expected-- the extra ingredients made this cookie dough even more deadly and tempting than other doughs. All I wanted to do was just gobble down the raw dough, needless to say I was pretty excited to try them after they were baked off the next morning. 
I also added half a teaspoon less salt than the recipe called for after reading a comment on the original video saying the normal amount was WAY too salty. Personally, I think this was a good choice because the cookies I tried seemed to have just the right balance of salt in them, but according to Caitlin, I should've added the extra salt and that would've made them just perfect for her. So, if you're a fan of salty cookies, go for the full two teaspoons. 

Also here's the link to Buzzfeed's video and recipe-- but just so you don't have to click on another link, here is the full recipe written out below as well. :)


Makes 18 cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 cup bread flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt or 1½ teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2-3 tablespoons cold water
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 350˚F (180˚C). (Unless you want to let the cookies sit overnight in the fridge)
In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. 
In a medium light-bottomed saucepan, add the butter and melt over medium heat. 
Bring the butter to a boil, stirring occasionally. As the water begins to boil out of the butter, the milk solids in the butter will separate, sink to the bottom, and begin to toast and brown. As this begins to happen, make sure to stir constantly so the butter browns evenly. It may become quite foamy and difficult to see, so keep a close eye on it.
Once the butter has turned a nice nutty brown, remove from the heat and pour into a liquid measuring cup to stop the cooking. Give it a stir and add 2-3 tablespoons of cold water to the butter to bring it back up to 1 cup of liquid. Set aside to cool to room temperature. To help speed this process up, you can place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. You want to make sure the butter is still liquid when you’re adding it to the dough later on, so make sure to remove after 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, add the sugars, vanilla, espresso powder, and cooled brown butter. Cream together with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. (If not becoming fluffy, the butter may be too warm. Stick in the fridge for a bit to let it cool off and then try again.) 
Add the egg and yolk and beat until incorporated.
Add the dry ingredients, about ⅓ of the mixture at a time, and beat between additions until just incorporated. It’s okay for there to be a bit of unmixed flour on the edge of bowl, this will be incorporated in the next step. 
Using a wooden spoon, fold the chocolate chips and chunks into the dough
Scoop the cookies onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in 3-tablespoon-sized mounds. 
For optimal flavor, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or, even better, overnight. 
Evenly space the dough 3 inches apart from one another on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-14 minutes. 
Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, 
​Anj

It's the end! It's the end of everything. But of course, to be totally cliche, the end of everything is also the beginning of something. For those of you who don't live around Bryn Athyn, and didn't read the title of the post, you may be asking yourselves "The end of what? It's not the end of 2018, we're only about half way through it..." And to that I'd reply- it's the end of the school year. Or we're past the end of the school year now. The seniors have officially graduated and the juniors (aka me) have officially become seniors. 
Scary thought, right? And how exactly did that scary thought become reality? And how did it become reality so soon? The answer to that is that I have no idea. While junior year felt like the slowest possible time ever, looking back it feels like a blur. (Isn't that how life always is, though?) The end of this year just feels like it sort of jumped out from behind a corner and surprised me. I can't believe this year is over, and I most certainly can't believe that I'm a senior. Even writing those words feels wrong. I. Am. A. Senior. That's wrong, that most definitely can't be right. Me? A Senior? Just the other day someone asked me how old I am, and you know how I answered? I said I'm 15. 15. You know how off that is? I haven't been 15 for two years. TWO YEARS. Where did those years go? HOW AM I a SENIOR? 
Excuse my (not) mild freaking out. I am just in total awe and disbelief by the fact that I'm a senior. This really is coming close to the end of my high school career. A year from now I'm probably going to be writing on this blog about how senior year really just flew by and I can't believe I'm off to college. A YEAR FROM NOW I'M GOING TO BE OFF TO COLLEGE. And more importantly to my freaking out brain, this year I have to make some big life choices such as which college I'm going to go to and what I might want to major in. How can I be making these choices when I literally still feel like I'm 15? 
And no, this is not a philosophical post answering that question and all the life questions you've been dying to have answered. I'm just splatting out words on a post because I haven't posted on this blog in a while, and also in a tribute to my senior (now college freshman) friends. 

Here's a quick little word of remembrance (no, they're not dead... I'm just going to see them a whole lot less next year :( ) for my senior friends. 
Caitlin-- thanks for being my partner in crime this year. We did everything together, ranging from tackling defense on field hockey to producing a play and a musical to being the best statistician and statistician's assistant for the wrestling team. (Guess who was the assistant. Hint: It wasn't me.) You're one of my bestest friends, as proven by how well we've gotten to know each other-- we literally know each other's food orders. I'm not sure it gets any more personal than that. Love you so much, and can't wait for the shenanigans we're going to get up to in the months and years to come. 
Rayna-- thanks for being my Broadway buddy. We made some pretty great memories together going to some fantastic shows. I loved having you there to experience the magic of theater with me, despite the fact that people around us start to think we're crazy. Of course, going to Broadway with me isn't the only thing I love you for. I love you for making the field hockey and capes team fun for me this year. Nothing will be the same without your bright, smiling face. 
Ellie-- thanks for being one of my oldest friends. We're so close that we literally finish each other's sentences and thoughts. I can't believe you graduated this year. You're such a talented musician, and I'm so lucky to have you as a friend. You know I'm always down to play you (crush you?) in video games or just to hang out and have oddly deep talks or really random, light discussions about random occurrences. 
Waverly-- thanks for being my lacrosse and musical buddy. You helped me to endure hours upon hours of dry tech and tech, and you made me feel included in the lacrosse team, even though I'm just a statistician. It's a real shame we didn't become friends sooner, because I feel like we really bonded this year and since you're going to college down south next year... Well, it's likely that I'm not going to be seeing you all that much. :( Good luck, though, and I hope you have the best time next year. :) 

And... the Class of 2019 is about to be the top of the school. You hear that underclassman? You have my permission to start running and screaming now, because with my class in charge, I'm sure it's going to be a chaotic year. Of course, hopefully that also means that's it's going to be not just a fun year, but the best year of our entire lives. Look out senior year, because here we come! (and I'm still not so silently screaming about the fact that how are we seniors, what are we going to do, how is this end so near???)
Thanks for reading, 
​Anj

Sorry, I've been very busy with school. Spring of junior year is a rough time. School ends soon and I'll post as soon as possible! ​

Yeah, so sorry, as usual I'm apologizing for not posting enough but this time I have a legit excuse! (which just so happens to be the same excuse I use every time so...) This excuse comes in the form of one, single, torturous word: School. And you can give me a break, right? It's the spring of my junior year so I have AP tests as well as the SAT coming up. That's a lot of stuff to be panicking over. (Which I am, I really, really am).
Another thing other than the mountains of homework that has been keeping me busy is ANC's spring musical-- Shrek. And here's an obviously placed ad for it, because I'm the student producer and gotta try and get as many people to come to the production as possible. Y'all should come to Shrek! It's the closing weekend this weekend-- last two shows! Tomorrow night at 8 PM and Saturday at 7 PM. If the hard work of the cast and crew doesn't instantly draw you to the show, the never ending hard work of the production's top of the line student producers (myself and Caitlin Irwin) should! (haha...) So with that extremely subtle yet totally convincing ad, I'll be seeing you all buying tickets from me at MPAC's box office... right? Hehe. 
No, but seriously, the cast and crew of Shrek have worked so hard these past few months, and I can attest to that! I've been at (most) of the practices and have had the joy of seeing this show come together. It's a great production, and I promise, it'll be worth the $15 for an adult and $12 for a kid that you gotta pay for it. (See what I did there?) It's a family friendly show that will be fun for everyone, ranging from on-the-death-bed old to just came out of the womb infants. Please, come see our show! (also my best friend is starring in it, no big deal or anything...) 
Anyway, that's what I've been up to, sorry I gotta keep it short because there's so much else do!
Thanks for reading, 
​Anj

Oh, also, P.S. another one of my best friends, Ellie Taylor, is having a piano recital at 7PM on Wednesday, May 16th. She's a wonderfully talented pianist and it's not a performance you're going to want to miss! If you're interested make sure you RSVP by May 2 so she knows how many people are coming :) (At the Settlement Music School in Willow Grove-- 318 Davisville Road)