My Liquid Obsession

Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I like hot drinks – a lot, especially hot chocolate. I don’t even know why I like it so much but I always seem to be in the mood for it, even if it’s like 90 degrees outside. Call it my weakness, call it my kryptonite, even call it my obsession – but don’t call me an addict!! I get enough of that from my friends.

Seeing as how much I love that drink and how I’m always in the mood for it, it’s natural that I’m going to want a cup while I’m at school. Now I’m at school everyday, damn near all day, so yeah, if I’m hungry or something then I’ll get something warm to drink before I buy some food (I hardly buy food at school – don’t ask why). And as usual I always look for  how much my favorite drink is and am heartbroken that it’s more expensive then most of the other drinks. Really?! What’s up with that? There’s no point in naming all the food kiosks that disappoint me, because it’s the same situation everywhere on campus.

A cup of tea can range from a dollar to a $1.50, a cup of coffee can range from a dollar to, I don’t know, maybe $3.00 if that much, and how much is my little cup of hot chocolate you may ask. Always in the $2.00 – 2.45 range! Seriously? I’ll never understand that. Perhaps I just don’t understand the intensive labor of pouring powder into a cup, adding hot water and topping it off with with store-bought whipped cream. I mean if these kiosks were importing this particular type of chocolate from a certain part of the world – high up in the mountains, or it takes 12 hours to get the chocolate or the whipped cream to the perfect consistency, then yeah, I’ll pay my money with pleasure but that’s not the case.

Call me cheap, but I really feel like I’m boycotting the drink because I think it should be cheaper. All the drinks should for that matter, but I understand that my school is a business not a charity. Maybe I’m so outraged because that’s the drink I want the most. Don’t get me wrong, I have paid for the drink in the past, but since my tuition went up (twice over the summer), I kind of feel like my school should do a little bit more to help out the students, and it’s the small things that count.

People never seem to understand why I enjoy that particular drink so much since it’s just powdered sugar that adds on calories that I desperately don’t need. But hey, everyone has their obsession.

Craft Beer in a Can? A Gutsy Move is Paying Off

I love beer. It’s a simple and highly factual . . .  well fact. To me, I’ve always enjoyed bottled beer because it’s what I was introduced to by my father (go figure). So when I came across the NPR report, Craft Beer in a Can? A Gutsy Move is Paying Off , I just had to listen.

It starts off by opening a can of beer and the reporter, Annie Feidt, talks about the booming business of craft canned beer in Anchorage, Alaska. The natural sound includes the factory where the beer is produced and the machinery used to can the beers. Although it’s said that canned beer is cheap beer, John Burket, a beer distributor in Anchorage believes that canned beer tastes better because the “cans protect the ingredients from sunlight and oxygen, which degrade the flavor over time.” Business wasn’t always great in the beginning when distributors couldn’t sell their product because of the lack of belief that canned beer could be craft beer.

I’ve never personally had a grudge or dislike for canned beer, I find it easier to open and transport then bottled, however it’s all about enjoying the flavor of the beer and the after effects it can have. Oh and of course, cashing in on all those cans and bottles that accumulate when you recycle – that can fund the process all over again!!

The Daikon: Unearthing the Radish with Soul

As a food lover, I can admit that I’ve always enjoyed my vegetables – surprisingly even as little snot-nosed kid.  However, I rarely liked my vegetable to be cooked and soft, which can lead to them being mushy – yuck! I love the crunch and I love finding out about vegetables I have yet to try. So  I decided to listen to the NPR report  entitled The Daikon: Unearthing the Radish with Soul. It originated out of Japan and is turning up American farmers markets.

They say that it looks like “an albino carrot, on steroid,” which can be as big as an arm or leg. The literal translation of Daikon is “fat root” – the Daikon radish has a sharp taste and has “lots of soul” and energy. I enjoyed the report, especially the natural sound. When the reporter, Tina Antolini, interviews Michael Burns, a worker at the Daikon field in Amherst, Massachusetts, I could hear birds chirping in the background and it made me think that she was actually on the field with him. Also when she talks to the owner of the Daikon field, Kazu Yoshimoto, I liked the sound of them chopping up the radish and then eating it – you could hear the bite they took and them chewing.

It gave me a good visual although I kind of felt like either they always chew loud, or they definitely emphasized eating the radish because the smacking was pretty apparent to me. Overall, I thought it was a good report; it made me want to see how big these radishes can get and possibly be on the lookout for them at any farmers market. They also gave suggestions of how to eat the radish which sounded pretty tasty to me – I’m a big fan of radishes and punch they give. I even enjoyed the upbeat music that was played at the end, with some kind of stringed instrument that had an Asian or Japanese influence; reminded me of how foreign this vegetable is.

The moral of the story – eat your veggies!

About

Danielle Mitchell is a 20 year old, photojournalist major at San Francisco State University. Going on her second semester as a member of the journalism department, Danielle is currently working on her Bachelor’s degree. She enjoys traveling, writing, photography, food and adventure and hopes her degree will take her around the world. To contact Danielle, visit her blog at danmit.wordpress.com.

Corned beef and Cabbage!!

Ok, so my current living situation consists of me staying with my aunt until i find a place of my own. Free room and free food is not a bad thing, so I’m not complaining too much, and one thing that’s really beneficial is learning how to make all the different meals my aunt decides to make.

The rainy season is finally upon us (I’m so glad I waited and decided not to wash my car!) and because of the cold weather, my aunt choose to make corned beef and cabbage. Now, I can’t ever remember a time eating that particular part of the cow, so needless to say I was curious. From start to finish, I had to say the process was far from complicated.

She started by boiling the entire chunk of beef  in water and seasonings for about 4 hours (and it smelled heavenly), and once the meat was cooked she placed it on a cutting board to set while she chopped up some potatoes. Now the potatoes don’t have to be chopped up, but of course they cook faster that way, and we were pretty hungry in that household!  So anyways, she chopped up the potatoes and placed them in the broth the meat and seasonings cooked in until they became tender, during which time you want to chop your meat up into edible sized pieces.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever had corned beef but it’s incredibly salty! All thanks to the curing process. The term “corned” doesn’t have anything to do with corn (I can admit I thought it did). The process reverts back to Anglo-Saxon times where they rubbed salt on everything because they didn’t have refrigeration. Hence the name – corned beef.

Back to the cooking – now once the potatoes are nice and tender – a process of about 15-20mins if that much depending on how small you cut them, you place the meat back into the pot with the potatoes so everything can absorb and your meat can heat up again. Like I said, corned beef is incredibly salty, so I wouldn’t recommend seasoning your potatoes especially after cooking in that broth. So you let the meat and potaotes mix around in the pot for about 5 minutes or so, and during that time you can add vegetables of your choosing. My aunt decided to go with cabbage.

Once the meat and potatoes are done, and the house is completely filled with the smell of heaven, you put your desired amount of uncooked cabbage at the bottom of your bowl and pour your meat and potato stew on top. The heat from the broth and the food will cook your cabbage without making it too mushy and there you are – corned beef and cabbage!!

Now, call me spoiled, but I’m one of those people who enjoys their meat to be somewhat tender and/or soft, and although the meat had a good flavor (the combination of potatoes and cabbage cut the salt levels in half), I personally don’t enjoy chewy meat. I’m sure not all corned beef has the same texture and consistency, but it might. It all depends on how you make it. My aunt’s just happened to be chewy.

But if you’re hungry like I was, it really doesn’t matter, and this hot dish on a cold day can really warm you up. It’s definitely worth a try!

Journalism Jobs

While reading the article Jobs for Journalism majors, I came across a link for Journalismjobs.com in order to see what stands out for me. I’m currently studying journalism to become a photojournalist. So anyways,  I came across a job position available for a photojournalist to work for a newspaper called The World. It’s located in Oregon’s south coast and is a full time position. They’re looking for experienced or beginning photojournalists. And ask that the candidate have skills in multimedia, and be familiar with the Pacific Northwest. A bachelor’s degree in photojournalism or a relevant field is required, as well as a demonstrated ability to cooperate with co-workers and deal professionally with the public.

Although I don’t meet all the requirements yet, I’m working my way to fulfill them. Once I graduate I’ll have a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism, and by then I’m sure I’ll have taken a class in multimedia. This job spoke out to me because I found that I’m almost qualified for it. Although living in Oregon is not my ideal location for work, I won’t rule it out either.

My main goal is to work for a magazine or on-line publication as a traveling photojournalist. I want to go on assignments that can range from location, to people, to tourist hot spots, to food, and I also want to be able to write about my experiences as well as have my own pictures to back it up. Journalism, to me, means easy information for the readers to know what’s happening in the world, and gaining knowledge as if they were there themselves. In my case, I want to transfer my ideas and experience through my work in order to inspire or move people. I want to travel to see the world and I can bring the world back to the viewers so they can see and experience what I have through my writing and my pictures. This is why I’m studying journalism and I feel like I’m on my way to achieving that goal.

Emma Uribe

Emma Uribe is a 22-year-old photojournalist major. She currently resides in Sebastopol, California, which is also her hometown, and commutes the hour ride to school three days a week. Emma is the middle child with one older and one younger sister. She was a dietics major at first, yet all the science and government regulations deterred her. She then changed her major to journalism and found that she liked the photography aspect as well as the writing and switched to photojournalism.  This is Emma’s fourth year at San Francisco State as a full time student taking four classes. She hopes to graduate in the fall of 2010 with a minor in holistic health. Emma aspires to take her degree and experience with photojournalism on the road. She’s interested in travel journalism with a side interest in becoming a culinary artist. She hopes to attend culinary school and intertwine her passion for food and journalism into a career. Emma is currently not single; she has a boyfriend named Noah and a cat named Mochie.