I have had many favorite foods over the years, recently my all time favorite would have to be my Nana’s homemade pasta dinner. My family is very Italian oriented so pasta has been a big part of my childhood. Once a month since I was little, my family gets together and makes pasta and so many sides. We make homemade pasta, me and all of my little cousins create funny shapes for us all to eat. While we were making all of the little pasta shapes, all of the adults were in the kitchen making homemade sauces. We always have three different types of sauces. My favorite sauce we have is homemade vodka sauce. I recently learned how to make vodka sauce myself and it is my favorite dish to make. Sometimes I make it for my family and they love it. Another sauce we have is homemade pesto alfredo and it is so delicious. I love putting it on farfalle with extra parmesan cheese. Lastly we have regular red sauce. I love the regular red sauce, it is so basic but so delicious. We also make homemade garlic bread and we dip it in all three sauces. We have homemade meatballs as well as spicy and sweet sausage. To top it off we have a salad with homemade caesar dressing that my Grandfather makes from scratch. My family all sits around a table while we feast on the most delicious meal to ever exist. All you can hear is laughter and music playing while everyone enjoys their food. I have the most special memories from our pasta dinners. I have been slowly starting to learn to make all the homemade sauces and the meatballs so I can carry on the tradition. I love this meal so much and it will continue to be my favorite meal from now on.
My Grandma knows that this dish is so special to all of us, she takes so much time out of her day to prepare it. My Nana says “this dish means so much to me, I have grown up with my Grandma making it for me and the recipes have been passed down for so many years”. While I talked to her on the phone she told me all about the process of preparing the sauces and how she makes the dough for the pasta. I have tried before to watch her make the sauces but it takes so much time to prepare. My grandmother knows how much I absolutely love her homemade pasta meal. While I was on the phone with her she laughed when I asked her if she thought I liked it. She says “of course you like it! It is your favorite meal!”. She told me that she knows for a fact that I love it because it is the one thing I always request. When I asked her if it was her favorite meal, she told me that she wouldn’t say it is her favorite food but it is the most special to her. She said her favorite food is definitely fish and chips seeing as we are from a small beach town and we have the best fish and chips. Even though it isn’t her favorite meal she says it is her favorite to make and it creates the best, most heartwarming memories. Lastly I asked her why she carried on this tradition throughout all these years. She told me “my mom carried on this tradition to me so that I could keep it going. I remember when I used to sit in my grandma’s kitchen and watch her make the homemade Ferris family red sauce because I wanted to learn so badly. I am so joyful that all my grandchildren love this meal because now they can pass it onto their kids and keep the family recipe alive.” Listening to my grandma talk about how much this meal means to her, makes me love it even more. I truly can not wait to pass the recipe down to my children and teach them how important it is.
Hi! My name is Liza and I’m from Arlington Massachusetts. Just outside of Boston. I love living just outside the city. It’s about a 10 minute drive to get to Boston. I love driving into the city and listening to music with my friends. I play soccer and I’m on the club team here at UNE! I also have been dancing for 16 years. Back home, I help teach the younger kids at the studio I danced at. I like to sing and I perform solos at the church I’ve grown up in. I also play guitar. The arts have always been important to me. I love painting and even have an art studio in my house! I love spending time outdoors. My family and I like to go on hikes and there are some trails that we like to take my dog at local lakes around where I live. We have a beach house about an hour away from home in Plymouth Massachusetts. I spend most of my summer there and my family has owned a private beach for about 5 generations. I love the beach and I’m so happy we have a beach here at school that I can go for walks on.
Hi! My name is Jillian Dinneen, and I am 19 years old. I am a freshman nursing major at the University of New England. My favorite class is anatomy and physiology and I plan on becoming a nurse practitioner which requires a master’s degree in nursing, which means I’ll be in school for the next 5 years! I am from a small town called Merrimack in Southern New Hampshire. I have a fat cat named Izzy that I have had since I was in the third grade. I love summertime, the beach, being outside, being with friends and family, thrifting, and cooking. I have been a host/server at a family-owned Italian Restaurant back home for over 3 years. I have also been on student council since middle school, and I still am today for the UNE class of 2026. UNE was my top choice because it has an amazing nursing program and it’s right on the beach! I grew up spending my summers at Old Orchard Beach and I love being only 15 minutes away from a spot I have tons of memories from!
When I read the art of quoting I learned a lot about how to quote that I did not previously know. I learned that having quotes assure accuracy. Having quotes is very important to give your writing more depth and importance. I also learned that over quoting is frowned upon because then it seems as if you lack confidence in your own writing and you just quote too much. The book gave a lot of good examples on how to frame a quote which is perfect because I usually always do the same frame. I think that those examples are going to be very helpful for me in future papers. I also learned that you should blend the author’s words with your own. All of this is very helpful to me and I am looking forward to quoting correctly from now on.
La La’s Macaroni and Cheese
My mom’s hero and best friend was my Great Grandma. I feel truly blessed because I have so many memories of her before she died at the age of 93. One of the dishes that comes to mind about a favorite meal is my Great Grandma’s macaroni and cheese.
My mom first described the relationship with my Great Grandma’s macaroni and cheese recipe, a unique and flavorful dish that is super cheesy with the added bonus of evaporated milk and protein from eggs. As she continued, she began to share that it floods her with fantastic memories of her childhood when she used to go to her Grandmother’s house for lunch and she would make the dish for her and all of her friends. She remembers her grandma making it a few times a week in the summer when she was swimming in her pool and when my Great Grandma would come out and surprise her with a fresh pan out of the oven. She shared stories of how she and her best friend used to sleep in my grandparents’ camper in the backyard and La La would bring it out to them for a late night treat. She also explained that my Great Grandma “La La” made that as one of the dishes for her wedding rehearsal dinner. Before my great grandma went into assisted living, her sight was failing after a stroke. My mom reminisced when she made the dish while La La sat next to her and gave her the directions. At that time, my grandma wasn’t strong enough to grate the cheese, or scrape the pan, but she passed down the history to my mom with love. When my mom makes this dish now, it makes her feel that a part of my Great Grandma is still here, even though she passed away 3 years ago. It really is a comfort food reminding my mom that her hero is still with her. My mom said she prefers homemade pizza on the grill as her most favorite meal because she and my step dad tend to get quite creative with their toppings and use shrimp, pesto, butternut squash, homemade potato chips and goat cheese. She enjoys that because it is a “production” and there are so many options like buffalo chicken ranch or barbeque chicken. I asked my mom why she liked to go through so much trouble in making all of the different kinds of pizzas, and she explained that some people like to play games as a family, but she likes to “create” food.
9 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 2”
I have had many favorite foods over the years, recently my all time favorite would have to be my Nana’s homemade pasta dinner. My family is very Italian oriented so pasta has been a big part of my childhood. Once a month since I was little, my family gets together and makes pasta and so many sides. We make homemade pasta, me and all of my little cousins create funny shapes for us all to eat. While we were making all of the little pasta shapes, all of the adults were in the kitchen making homemade sauces. We always have three different types of sauces. My favorite sauce we have is homemade vodka sauce. I recently learned how to make vodka sauce myself and it is my favorite dish to make. Sometimes I make it for my family and they love it. Another sauce we have is homemade pesto alfredo and it is so delicious. I love putting it on farfalle with extra parmesan cheese. Lastly we have regular red sauce. I love the regular red sauce, it is so basic but so delicious. We also make homemade garlic bread and we dip it in all three sauces. We have homemade meatballs as well as spicy and sweet sausage. To top it off we have a salad with homemade caesar dressing that my Grandfather makes from scratch. My family all sits around a table while we feast on the most delicious meal to ever exist. All you can hear is laughter and music playing while everyone enjoys their food. I have the most special memories from our pasta dinners. I have been slowly starting to learn to make all the homemade sauces and the meatballs so I can carry on the tradition. I love this meal so much and it will continue to be my favorite meal from now on.
My Grandma knows that this dish is so special to all of us, she takes so much time out of her day to prepare it. My Nana says “this dish means so much to me, I have grown up with my Grandma making it for me and the recipes have been passed down for so many years”. While I talked to her on the phone she told me all about the process of preparing the sauces and how she makes the dough for the pasta. I have tried before to watch her make the sauces but it takes so much time to prepare. My grandmother knows how much I absolutely love her homemade pasta meal. While I was on the phone with her she laughed when I asked her if she thought I liked it. She says “of course you like it! It is your favorite meal!”. She told me that she knows for a fact that I love it because it is the one thing I always request. When I asked her if it was her favorite meal, she told me that she wouldn’t say it is her favorite food but it is the most special to her. She said her favorite food is definitely fish and chips seeing as we are from a small beach town and we have the best fish and chips. Even though it isn’t her favorite meal she says it is her favorite to make and it creates the best, most heartwarming memories. Lastly I asked her why she carried on this tradition throughout all these years. She told me “my mom carried on this tradition to me so that I could keep it going. I remember when I used to sit in my grandma’s kitchen and watch her make the homemade Ferris family red sauce because I wanted to learn so badly. I am so joyful that all my grandchildren love this meal because now they can pass it onto their kids and keep the family recipe alive.” Listening to my grandma talk about how much this meal means to her, makes me love it even more. I truly can not wait to pass the recipe down to my children and teach them how important it is.
https://lprovost3.uneportfolio.org/about-me/
https://nbertuch.uneportfolio.org/about-me/
Here is the link to my profile page.
https://asheridan2.uneportfolio.org/about-me/
Hi! My name is Liza and I’m from Arlington Massachusetts. Just outside of Boston. I love living just outside the city. It’s about a 10 minute drive to get to Boston. I love driving into the city and listening to music with my friends. I play soccer and I’m on the club team here at UNE! I also have been dancing for 16 years. Back home, I help teach the younger kids at the studio I danced at. I like to sing and I perform solos at the church I’ve grown up in. I also play guitar. The arts have always been important to me. I love painting and even have an art studio in my house! I love spending time outdoors. My family and I like to go on hikes and there are some trails that we like to take my dog at local lakes around where I live. We have a beach house about an hour away from home in Plymouth Massachusetts. I spend most of my summer there and my family has owned a private beach for about 5 generations. I love the beach and I’m so happy we have a beach here at school that I can go for walks on.
Hi! My name is Jillian Dinneen, and I am 19 years old. I am a freshman nursing major at the University of New England. My favorite class is anatomy and physiology and I plan on becoming a nurse practitioner which requires a master’s degree in nursing, which means I’ll be in school for the next 5 years! I am from a small town called Merrimack in Southern New Hampshire. I have a fat cat named Izzy that I have had since I was in the third grade. I love summertime, the beach, being outside, being with friends and family, thrifting, and cooking. I have been a host/server at a family-owned Italian Restaurant back home for over 3 years. I have also been on student council since middle school, and I still am today for the UNE class of 2026. UNE was my top choice because it has an amazing nursing program and it’s right on the beach! I grew up spending my summers at Old Orchard Beach and I love being only 15 minutes away from a spot I have tons of memories from!
The Art of Quoting
When I read the art of quoting I learned a lot about how to quote that I did not previously know. I learned that having quotes assure accuracy. Having quotes is very important to give your writing more depth and importance. I also learned that over quoting is frowned upon because then it seems as if you lack confidence in your own writing and you just quote too much. The book gave a lot of good examples on how to frame a quote which is perfect because I usually always do the same frame. I think that those examples are going to be very helpful for me in future papers. I also learned that you should blend the author’s words with your own. All of this is very helpful to me and I am looking forward to quoting correctly from now on.
https://jlopez10.uneportfolio.org/about-me/
La La’s Macaroni and Cheese
My mom’s hero and best friend was my Great Grandma. I feel truly blessed because I have so many memories of her before she died at the age of 93. One of the dishes that comes to mind about a favorite meal is my Great Grandma’s macaroni and cheese.
My mom first described the relationship with my Great Grandma’s macaroni and cheese recipe, a unique and flavorful dish that is super cheesy with the added bonus of evaporated milk and protein from eggs. As she continued, she began to share that it floods her with fantastic memories of her childhood when she used to go to her Grandmother’s house for lunch and she would make the dish for her and all of her friends. She remembers her grandma making it a few times a week in the summer when she was swimming in her pool and when my Great Grandma would come out and surprise her with a fresh pan out of the oven. She shared stories of how she and her best friend used to sleep in my grandparents’ camper in the backyard and La La would bring it out to them for a late night treat. She also explained that my Great Grandma “La La” made that as one of the dishes for her wedding rehearsal dinner. Before my great grandma went into assisted living, her sight was failing after a stroke. My mom reminisced when she made the dish while La La sat next to her and gave her the directions. At that time, my grandma wasn’t strong enough to grate the cheese, or scrape the pan, but she passed down the history to my mom with love. When my mom makes this dish now, it makes her feel that a part of my Great Grandma is still here, even though she passed away 3 years ago. It really is a comfort food reminding my mom that her hero is still with her. My mom said she prefers homemade pizza on the grill as her most favorite meal because she and my step dad tend to get quite creative with their toppings and use shrimp, pesto, butternut squash, homemade potato chips and goat cheese. She enjoys that because it is a “production” and there are so many options like buffalo chicken ranch or barbeque chicken. I asked my mom why she liked to go through so much trouble in making all of the different kinds of pizzas, and she explained that some people like to play games as a family, but she likes to “create” food.