back to college! and famous feta pasta!
Hello from college! How are you?! It’s been awhile since my last post, thanks for being patient with me. Things have been exciting and hectic on my end…it’s crazy to be back to college in-person. I forgot what it was like to be around so many people. I’ve loved meeting up with people I haven’t seen in awhile, and it’s been great to re-connect to communities on campus. The adjustment has definitely been both exciting and tiring (I’ve been taking lots of naps throughout the day haha). It’s a lot of adjusting to a new environment and a faster pace of life, and it can definitely be draining at times. But it’s also been really rewarding, and I’ve been trying to be intentional with setting aside time to just unwind.
Something I’m looking forward to for this semester is continuing to lead the running club! We’d been doing core workouts together over Zoom during quarantine, but it will be nice to finally get to physically run together. I recently found a pretty route that goes through the downtown village area to a nearby park. I also joined taekwondo club! My mom is happy about that because she’s been telling me that I need to learn some self-defense skills. I know how to run away, but I could use some practice in learning how to fight…so this is good for me! I’m also part of a couple Christian clubs on campus which has been a really positive source of community and fellowship.
I’m really excited about a few of my classes. I’m taking this amazing “Creative Journalism” class that focuses on creative non-fiction writing (memoirs, personal narratives, etc.). This week we’re on our food unit, so we’re working on food writing (…I know! Right up my alley!) I love the creative freedom that we have in each of our essays and how we get to take the essay where we want. It’s refreshing after having taken so many writing classes focused on structured academic essays.
For this week’s essay, we were asked to write about a food that has special significance in our lives—one with memories attached to it. In addition to writing about these memories, we were also asked to include research on that food (e.g. history of the food, events or celebrations around that food, interesting facts, etc.) While I love so many different foods, I chose to write about pancakes for my essay because it’s a food that has some vivid memories attached to it. In my essay, I write about making buttermilk pancakes for my aunt, uncle, and cousins (shout-out to Kate and Maddie!), and I also write about eating McDonald’s pancakes for breakfast for about 2 months straight when my family lived next to a McDonalds before we moved to our house. I talk about how it was a child’s dream getting to order fluffy pancakes slathered with butter and doused with maple syrup every morning. On the fun facts side, I learned that during the time of the American Revolution, pancakes used to be eaten for dinner rather than for breakfast. In the 1780s, Americans started to add pearl ash to their pancake batter as a leavening agent, and pancakes caught on as a breakfast food. Also, in the U.K. there’s something called “pancake races” which take place on Pancake Day (the day before Lent). In these races, participants run through the streets while flipping and catching pancakes in a pan. I’d like to participate in a pancake race.
The other two classes that I’m really excited about are social psychology (I find the topics of group behavior, emotions, social influence, prejudice, and relationships fascinating) and voice lessons. I love to sing and hope to continue to improve my singing through the semester. I haven’t performed in front of people in-person in awhile, so it will definitely be a little nerve-racking, but I’m mostly excited.
Enough about me though! I’d love to hear how you’ve been doing! I hope you’ve been well. Please send me an update if you get a chance.
Now onto the recipe. I finally got a chance to cook at college and I made TikTok’s famous baked feta pasta with my friend Olivia. I don’t have a TikTok, but I heard that this pasta was all over people’s feeds. After making this TikTok sensation, I can say that I get why it went viral. First of all, it’s so delicious. I never knew that baked feta could add so much flavor and creaminess to pasta. The feta alone acted as a great sauce for the pasta. And when you combine it with the burst cherry tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic, it was pasta perfection. The pasta was also so visually aesthetic with the vibrant multi-colored cherry tomatoes and the block of melted feta. This recipe is definitely a keeper. If you try it out, send me a picture and let me know how you like it!
Ingredients
8 ounces dried cavatappi pasta or pasta of choice (we used fusilli)
2 pints cherry tomatoes
8-ounce block feta cheese
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves minced
¼ cup packed chopped fresh basil, plus more for serving
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the cherry tomatoes in an oven-safe baking dish. Pour the olive oil on top, and season with salt and pepper. Toss until well combined.
Place the feta block in the middle of the baking dish surrounded by the cherry tomatoes, and flip a couple times to coat it with the olive oil and seasoning.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, until the cherry tomatoes burst, and the feta cheese melts.
While the tomatoes and feta are baking, cook the pasta in a pot of salted water according to package instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid in case you'd like to toss it in.
Immediately add the garlic and basil leaves to the cooked tomatoes and feta and toss everything to combine.
Add the feta mixture to the pot of pasta. Garnish with more fresh basil and serve warm.
