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Show AggieLife Page 10 Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010 Enjoy your Thanksgiving with a twist on old favorites t ThisyearforThanksgiving I've been wanting to branch out and try some Eat That new twists on old favorites. If you want to do the same, even if it's just in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, JENNELLE CLARK here are some interesting recipes I've tried and liked, using traditional seasonal ingredients in a fresh and delicious way. Yeast-Raised Cornbread Rolls Even though these are more like rolls than cornbread, they are still great with a dollop of honey butter on top. 4 cups flour 1 1/2 cups cornmeal 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 package (2 3/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast 1 cup warm water 1/4 cup olive oil 3 tablespoons honey 2 eggs 2 cups corn (if using frozen, defrost to room temperature) - Whisk together the four, cornmeal and salt. PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE, Ruby Pears and Yeast-Raised Cornbread Rolls are three recipes that use traditional seasonal ingredients. JENNELLE CLARK photo - In a separate bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add about 2/3 of the flour cornmeal mixture. Then add the olive oil, honey, eggs and corn and mix using an electric hand mixer. 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 tablespoon vanilla - Drain pears and place them, cut side up, in an 8-inch baking dish. For the Topping: 1 cup miniature marshmallows 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 cup sour cream - As the dough comes together, add more of the flour cornmeal mixture a little bit at a time until you get a soft dough that isn't too sticky. (You may not end up using all of the flour cornmeal mixture). - Dump the dough out onto a floured countertop and knead for 3-5 minutes. - Gather the dough into a ball and rub with a little olive oil. Place the ball in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let it sit in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. - Once the dough has risen, dump it out onto the counter and use a knife to cut it into equal sized pieces. An easy way to do this is to keep cutting it in half until you have 18 equal sized pieces. - Shape each piece into a ball and place them into greased muffin tins. Cover and let rise another hour. - Bake them at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until rolls are golden. Serve with honey butter. Ruby Pears This recipe combines two seasonal ingredients, cranberries and pears, in a delicious alternative to the old jiggly can of cranberry. 2 (15 oz.) cans pears 1 (14 oz.) can whole berry cranberry sauce 1/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice - In a medium saucepan combine cranberry sauce, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and cook, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is heated through. - Spoon over the pears, and bake at 350 degrees for 2530 minutes, until hot. Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crust and Marshmallow Sour Cream Topping This sophisticated dessert is refreshing in a sea of plain pumpkin pies this time of year. For the Crust: 1 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs 1/2 cup pecans, toasted 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 teaspoon ginger 2 tablespoons butter, melted For the Filling: 2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, at room temperature 1 cup sugar 1 3/4 cup canned pumpkin 2 eggs 1 1/2 tablespoons flour 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon ginger 1/8 teaspoon gloves dash of salt Aggie health club gives back By NIKKI LIVES staff writer The Aggie Health service club focuses on service opportunities emphasizing health, said Jackie Neid, director of Aggie Health. According to the USU Service Center website, Aggie Health is a service organization which provides health-focused volunteer opportunities for students on campus and in the community. The club provides service through clinics, educational opportunities and supporting health oriented organizations, projects and events. Neid, a junior majoring in nutrition and food science, said, "Aggie Health works with bigger service agencies like Intermountain Donor Services and Friends For Sight." In collaboration with Intermountain Donor Services, Danielle Schwarz, a junior majoring in psychology, said the Aggie Health club used a committee of volunteers who wanted to participate in health fairs to educate about donating organs and tissue. According to Schwarz, who is on the Aggie Health council, Aggie Health also works with a non-profit organization, Friends for Sight, that gives free eye exams and glaucoma screenings at high schools and senior citizen health fairs. The first thing I did with Aggie Health was working with Friends for Sight to do the glaucoma screenings and that's what got me excited about the club," Tim Bikman, a junior majoring in business administration, said. "We give senior citizens free eye exams so they know whether or not they will pass at the DMV when they go to get their license renewed." Bikman was the director of Aggie Health last year and said the club has done many other health-related activities. "Aggie Health has set up booths at the USU health fair to raise awareness about diabetes and we have also done volunteer work," Bikman said. The club volunteered at a 5K run at a local high school during red ribbon week to raise awareness about drug abuse. Bikman said they work on smaller events in the fall, like the health fairs, but their biggest event is in spring semester. Last year, Aggie Health set up an on-campus competition based on TV's "The Biggest Loser" and according to Neid, it was a big success. "Right now we're working hard on getting things set up for the Biggest Loser competition in the spring," Neid said. "If you've ever seen the television show, it isn't anything like it." Neid said the competition on campus lasts about nine weeks. Last year, Aggie Health had about 20 participants who lost an average of 15.5 lbs. Some also saw up to a six-inch decrease in their waist size and everyone saw reduced cholesterol levels. Neid said they have activities twice a week for contestants during the competition. One activity is exercise-based and the other is an educational or inspirational speaker to aid contestants in their weight loss journey. "We provide a lot of different types of weight loss activities. Last year, we had the ROTC and Sports Academy each set up an activity for the contestants," Neid said. The Biggest Loser isn't just about weight loss, Neid said. The competition sets up a point system and contestants get points for coming to the activities, listening to speakers and participating in a nutrition assessment, as well as points for their weight loss. "We try to focus on a positive lifestyle change," Bikman said. He said the competition helps contestants to focus on exercising a lot, eating healthier, getting enough sleep and other things that contribute to being healthier, physically and mentally. The Aggie Health club works with psychological and medical professionals to help their contestants, Bikman said. "We also have a blood panel that checks HDLs and LDLs," Bikman said. HDLs and LDLs are good and bad cholesterol levels. Neid said the biggest loser competition is taking applications now, which can be picked up from the service center. Applications are due Dec. 6 and contestants are chosen based on their applications. The Aggie Health service club meets on the third floor of the TSC, Mondays at 3 p.m. Schwarz said they are mostly working on planning their competition for spring right now, but anyone is welcome to come find out about upcoming health events and help volunteer. - nikki.lives6@aggiemaiLusu.edu - To make the crust, combine the cookies, pecans, brown sugar and ginger in a blender or food processor until well ground. Remove and add butter. Spread in the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch round pan. Bake at 350 degrees until set, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. - To make the filling, beat the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and beat well. Beat the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each one. Add flour, spices and salt and beat just to blend. Stir in the vanilla. - Pour filling into the cooled crust. Bake at 350 for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the middle is set and it's just starting to crack. Allow to cool for 1 hour before refrigerating overnight, uncovered. - To make the topping, combine the marshmallows and milk in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. Let mixture cool to room temperature and then fold in the sour cream. - Spread over the chilled cheesecake and refrigerate until topping is set, about 1 hour. - jenn.nelle@gmail.com Job: Seeking help from readers 1continuedfrom page 9 and it gives me a great reason to make fun your help. We have our e-mails at the botof the movie "Backdraft." This puppy is tom of these things for a reason; if you give solid gold. us something good to write about we'll But then again, I already spent a good darn sure put it in our thought basket. We page and a half on the useless banter of the might even send you cupcakes, but don't last hour of my day, and I have a study ses- bet on it. sion in 15 minutes. So this will have to do. Moral of the story: we columnists need - steve.schwartzman@aggiemaiLusu.edu Street Speak Did you play Humans vs. Zombies? v -- ,r ' 1;I 1 ,-. , t - Rob Clark, junior, international studies , i0.010 ,4 or r "I wore a Coach scarf and got attacked by three zombies. One guy had me tackled on the ground." - Ryan Riedel, junior, printmaking survived and I survived 'til the bloody end." , 7 would play if they were real zombies and I could really kill them." -John Land air, senior, photography and sociology fib P . .1 r ile1 2211._ i'v ± , , a - , la.. 71--j-_1 j vat., "Not this time but I'm totally going to do it in the spring" - Sierra Cassas, junior, art education 4 - - .. - , information and photos gathered by MAKAELA HERRAN |