By: Sloane Lindsay

Did you know that Ms. Lopez, the eighth grade Team Imagination math teacher, has traveled to over thirty countries? Yep, she goes all around the world to amazing places such as Iceland, Jordan, and Indonesia, which are her favorites so far!

Ms. Lopez has eaten some delightful food on her travels. She had a delectable fish soup in Iceland that she still dreams about today. She recalls, “I’ve never had anything like it and would never order it normally, but I loved it.” Fish is a very important part of Iceland because it’s a very typical food source, along with lamb and yogurt, and makes up about forty percent of their exports. Ms. Lopez also really enjoyed all of the food in the Middle Eastern country Jordan, especially the spices. Last but not least, her favorite part of Indonesian cuisine was a type of chili oil. “I love spicy food, so to be able to add as much as I wanted on everything was ideal.”

Of course we can’t forget about the astounding views. From Portugal to Hawaii, you can find both natural and human-made scenes that are sure to awe you. Ms. Lopez saw basalt columns and a volcano in Iceland, as well as the beautiful cliffs and ocean in Croatia. The famous Jordanian archaeological site and one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Petra, amazed her when she learned how its creation dated back to around 300 B.C.E. and was only just rediscovered in the nineteenth century C.E. She also visited Mount Batur, a hiking trail and active volcano.

Ms. Lopez was surprised that she didn’t get homesick, despite staying away from home for nearly two months last summer. “I felt like I was so busy and just continuously learning and exploring new things, so there never really was time to feel homesick,” she explains. Since she often travels by herself, meeting new people is one of the most interesting parts for her, because, “I love hearing their stories about how they got to be where they are and why they enjoy traveling.” She has kept in touch with many people, and even meets up with some of them in other countries. She plans to meet some friends in Greece next summer!

Traveling is even more enjoyable when you have family to share the experiences with. Ms. Lopez and her brother, whom she was never that close with until they became adults, loved getting to travel with each other. “These adventures brought us so much closer together and are memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” she shares.

Ms. Lopez has been to many places and is an inspiration to anyone wanting to travel. Her next stops are Scotland, the UK, and France. Perhaps she’ll see the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben, or try a beignet or fish and chips!

By: Sarah Thomas

In this article, I will be sharing three recipes that use apples. These recipes will be perfect for this season, especially because apples are a main part of fall and Thansgiving. I hope that this article will inspire you to create some delicious recipes! 

Apple Crisps: Apple crisps are a great way to use up some fresh apples. This classic apple recipes is also very simple and doesn’t need a lot of ingredients.
Time: 55 minutes / Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• ⅔ cup of rolled oats
• ⅓ cup of all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup of dark brown sugar
• ⅓ cup of toasted, chopped pecans
• A pinch of fine salt
• 6 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 4 medium sized baking apples
• Unsweetend whipped cream(optional)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter six 6 ounce ramekins.
2. Whisk the oats, flour, brown sugar, pecans, and salt together in a medium bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the butter is in even, pea-size pieces.
3.  Peal, core, and coarsely chop the apples and divide them the evenly among the ramekins. Sprinkle the mixture from the bowl(the topping) over the apples in each ramekin. 
4. Transfer the ramekins to a baking sheet. Cook until the tops of the apples are golden and bubbling along the side(30 minutes). 
5. Preheat a broiler. Put the crisps about 4 inches from the broiler and cook until they are golden brown,(30 seconds). 
6. Let the crisps cool for for 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with whipped cream if you like, and enjoy!

Apple Meringue Cupcakes: These delicious cupcakes are packed with apples and easy enough for anyone to make.
Time: 2 hours (including cooling times) / Makes: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes: 

• 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• ½ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon of fine salt
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup of sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup of sour cream
• 1 large, crisp, sweet apple, chopped, cored, and peeled

Meringue Frosting:

• 8 large egg whites
• 1 ⅓ cups of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice & 1 teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest
• A pinch of cream of tartar
• A pinch of fine salt 

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Set the bowl aside.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using the electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy(about 3 minutes). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Next, beat in the the vanilla until smooth. 
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and then beat in half of the flour mixture until just combined. Add the sour cream, mixing to combine, and then the rest of the mixture. Beat it until it is well combined, but be careful to not overmix. Stir in the chopped apples. 
5. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them until they are almost halfway full. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean and the tops spring back when pressed gently(about 20 minutes). 
6. Cool the cupcakes in the tin on a rack for 10 minutes then remove them from the tin and cool completely. Transfer the cooled cupcakes to a baking sheet.

Frosting:

1. Prehat the boiler on low
2. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk together the egg whites, sugar, lemon juice and zest, cream of tartar and salt in a heat-safe bowl. Set the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and beat, using an electric mixer at medium-high speed, until the meringue is cool and holds a stiff peak, about 7 minutes.
3. Use a spoon, offset spatula, or piping bag to dollop, spread, or pipe the meringue on the top of each cupcake. Use the back of a spoon to create peaks and/or valleys in the frosting anyway you want.
4. Divide the cupcakes into batches and put them in the broiler and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until meringue is browned in spots. Avoid burning. 
5. Enjoy!

 

Caramel Apple Soft Pretzels: This recipe uses both soft pretzels and caramel apples to make a salty and sweet combo.
Time: 2 hours / Makes: 6 pretzels

Ingredients:

Pretzels: 

• 1 cup of whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees Fahrenheit
• 2 ¼ of active dry yeast (one ¼ package)
• 3 tablespoons of packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour 
•  Tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped into ¼ inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• ⅓ cup of baking soda
• 2 tablespoons of coarse salt

Caramel Glaze:

• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• ⅓ cup of packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup of heavy cream
• 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar, sifted
• ½ teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
• A pinch of kosher salt

Steps:

1. For the pretzels: Pour the warm milk into a medium bowl and sprinkle the yeast over. Let the yeast bloom until softened and foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the brown sugar, vanilla and 1 cup of the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined. Stir in the softened butter until incorporated, then add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour, chopped apple, cinnamon and kosher salt to make a sticky dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes. Shape into a ball, place in a lightly buttered large bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Punch the dough down to deflate it, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. (If the dough seems tight, cover it and let rest until it relaxes.) Divide the dough into 6 pieces
6. Working with one piece at a time, roll and stretch the dough with the palms of your hands into a 24-inch-long rope. Lift the ends of the rope to make a U shape, then cross one end over the other twice to make a double twist in the middle. Fold down the ends and attach them to the bottom of the U, creating a pretzel shape. Repeat with the remaining dough.
7. Dissolve the baking soda in 3 cups hot water in a shallow baking dish. Gently dip each pretzel in the soda solution, let some of the excess water drip off, then arrange on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Bake until the pretzels are puffed and deep golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
8. For the caramel glaze: Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until completely melted and smooth. Whisk in the heavy cream until combined, then transfer to a medium bowl. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth (it should be thick enough to drizzle over the pretzels but not so thin that it drips away). Immediately transfer to a small piping bag or resealable bag, snip the corner and drizzle over the cooled pretzels. Let the glaze set, about 10 minutes.

By: Gracie Hanlon

Every Thanksgiving, I watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade held by Macy’s, a huge store chain, which each year, throws a huge festival on the streets of New York! In this article, I will be sharing some of the history and traditions behind the parade, because impressively it has gone for many years, (three hours long each time) and it is one of the most famous parades in the world! 

Okay, so the parade first began in 1924. Almost 100 years ago!! During the time of the first parade Macy’s Department Store took up a whole block of New York and to boost business they decided to hold a celebration just before Christmas, for holiday advertising. 

So on November 27th 1924, the parade began at 9:00 am on 145th street! 

The original entertainers included bands, Macy’s employees, animals from the Central Park Zoo and of course Santa at the very end, as the grand finale. And because the parade ended up being so successful, they soon began to plan one for the next year. But they eventually stopped using live animals for the parade and instead opted for balloons! 

And these balloons were created by a very talented man: Anthony Fredrick Sarg. He was born in 1880 and started designing puppets and balloons professionally in 1917. When Macy’s found out about him, they immediately asked him to design balloons for the parade. And the first balloon to be featured was Felix the Cat in 1928, followed by many other early creations such as a dragon, a dachshund dog, Mickey Mouse, Wizard of Oz characters, and a hippo. One thing that made this so special was, back then, huge balloons and big elaborate celebrations were most likely not as common. Now we have TV and the internet, so we can pretty much tune into anything or look up anything we want, back in the 1920s and 30’s the parade hadn’t even been broadcasted on television. It wasn’t often kids saw these incredible parades so on Thanksgiving morning, this was very exciting! 

Fun fact: The balloons were designed to fly for days and so they were marked with an address so that whoever found it, could ship it back to Macy’s and win a free gift! 

After this, they really had the parade figured out, and it went on, year after year. It still happens today! The only years the parade was canceled or held differently was for three years during World War 2 and even in 2020, the year COVID began, they still held it, safely of course, it was closed to the public but people could enjoy it from home, on their TV screens. 

In America, there are many other annual Thanksgiving parades such as ones in Chicago, Detroit, Houston, and Philadelphia but Macy’s has surpassed all the others in popularity and attention. It is the largest in America. 

The finale of the parade was once featured in the 1947 film, Miracle of 34th Street and in 1948, for the first time it was broadcasted on TV. The most popular balloons include: Mickey Mouse, Garfield, Smokey Bear, Spider-Man and Big Bird and each of those balloons were recreated several times and shown in multiple different parades. Out of these five, Smokey Bear was featured the most, appearing in 17 parades but there are many others. And they’ve only continued to get more attention from the media and Macy’s is definitely a huge place for Black Friday shoppers as well. 

The parade will be held this year on Thanksgiving, Thursday November 24th and you can look forward to some musical performances and of course new balloons. You can also find a countdown on Macy’s website. As I’m writing this it is 7 days, 12 hours, 50 minutes, and 1 second away! 

Macy’s Thanksgiving parade is magical, exciting and a Thanksgiving staple for many people! Millions come or enjoy it from home. So not only does this parade give Macy’s new shoppers and holiday attention, it’s an exciting way to celebrate Thanksgiving and watch some incredible music, balloons, and other performances where many creative and talented people contribute their time! So if you’re looking for a Thanksgiving and/or early Christmas celebration, this parade is definitely for you!