Lily King 

1/30/23

Miller 

English 110

Favorite Food Essay 

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. Coming to college has been such a difficult transition food-wise. I used to get a home cooked meal every single day at home. My mom and my nana did so much just so me and my sister could get a hot plate of food on the table at dinner time. After coming to school, the one thing I miss more than anything is a home cooked meal. Don’t get me wrong, the dining hall food isn’t bad. It is just so different from home. When I went home over Christmas break I requested a spaghetti dinner and it was amazing. Finally getting a wonderful home cooked meal that I could actually take my time to enjoy was so great. The smell  coming from the kitchen when the spaghetti dinner is being made is my favorite smell ever. You can smell all the different spices that are in the sauce. Also the smell of the homemade garlic bread is simply amazing. 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. The meatballs have chunks of bread in it to soak up the red sauce and it makes them so much more juicy and delicious. The Italian spicy and sweet sausage are cooked to perfection. Also a secret ingredient is to put spicy italian pepperoni into the sauce to give it a little kick. To top it off we have a salad with homemade caesar dressing that my Grandfather makes from scratch. If you have ever been to an Italian restaurant and they make table side caesar dressing, it is nothing compared to my grandpas. 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. She said the red sauce takes five hours to make but the vodka sauce only takes about one. The red sauce is so simple yet so complex. There are so many spices and other things in it that you never would have guessed. I can confidently say that I will never eat jarred pasta sauce after learning how to make my nanas red sauce. 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. Nana has had so many years of experience perfecting the sauces and the pastas. The final outcome is so beyond worth it. I look forward to the spaghetti dinner more and more everyday.

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 also 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. 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. 

Lily King English 110

Jesse Miller

12 February 2023

Soy Do You Have a Favorite Food  

In “The End of Food” by Lizzie Widdicombe she talks about the future of food and how it is affecting the world. The future of food is so beyond important, but it is quite terrifying to think about. After reading all about Soylent and learning about its benefits and downsides, I am not totally sure on how I feel about it. I think that Soylent definitely has a lot of benefits, it is easy and very inclusive, for all people. It has a lot more downsides in my opinion. It is not very cost friendly, it would most likely cost more than a grocery bill for a week’s worth of food. That wouldn’t be great for people who are less fortunate when it comes to money. It would take away a lot of jobs if the world switched over to Soylent. There are so many jobs within the food industry and people would be without jobs and trying to fend for their families. Soylent could be very beneficial but it could also be difficult for many people. I feel like real homemade food is a way better alternative. It tastes better, provides more energy and probably makes you happier. 

Homemade meals are so nostalgic and they mean so much to families. Also there are some cultures that fully revolve around food and when they celebrate holidays or events, the food plays a big role. Most cultures would phase out if the world started just drinking Soylent. In most cultures, food plays a big role in how holidays or gatherings are celebrated. Many cultures would be less heard of because of how big food plays a role. I think that Rob Rhinehart has a vision with Soylent, I just don’t think it would be too realistic.  In my favorite food essay, I wrote about how much a spaghetti dinner means to me. I love getting together and cooking with my family. Eating the food is one of my favorite memories. If the world switched over to Soylent, those would just be memories and not reality anymore. I do think Soylent would be an easy alternative for sure. It would be easy for people just to drink a glass of Soylent and call it a day. I don’t know how much that would fill me up though. I think that I am so used to real food that switching over to just drinking would be so extremely difficult. Soylent versus Homemade meals is a difficult topic for the most part. Generally I am on the side of a home cooked meal but there are rare situations that I am on the side of Soylent. In Widdecombe’s paper she brings up a good point, “You can live without plant chemicals, ‘but you may not live maximally and you may not have optimal function. We’re concerned about much more than surviving.’” (Widdecombe, 9) I believe that a good meal is truly needed to have maximum function through our daily lives. I think that when you have something of actual substance you will most likely be happier, healthier, and more filled with energy. I wrote about this in my favorite meal essay, how important it is to have a good meal. I said, “A good homemade meal is always my favorite time of the day, I know I can eat premade food anytime but a home cooked meal is what truly makes my day great”. I think that Soylent could possibly be helpful in some ways but nothing will ever beat a home cooked meal. You need specific nutrients to function maximally and properly. 

When you have a good home cooked meal you are more likely to enjoy it rather than just drinking a drink to get you along for the day. In my favorite food essay I wrote a lot about my favorite food and how happy it makes me. 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 spaghetti. I can’t wait to get the recipe memorized so I can cook it for my children and teach them how important it is. Nana has had so many years of experience perfecting the sauces and the pastas. The final outcome is so beyond worth it. I look forward to the spaghetti dinner more and more everyday.  Soylent is just a measly drink. Yes it probably fills you up fast and gives you the necessary nutrients you need, but it isn’t satisfying. For me I need something to chew on. I occasionally make a protein shake after the gym and that doesn’t fill me up like a meal would. I love meals of substance that I can eat and enjoy. I would hate having to give up my favorite meals for soylent because I would be sad without them. Food always makes me happy, it brings my energy up and when I have more energy it almost forces me to be happier. With soylent I don’t exactly know how I would feel and I am not totally sure if it would make me happy. 

Soylent seems to have a demographic for college students. Lizzie Widdecomb mentions it in her essay. Personally as a college student, I would rather go to the dining hall and indulge in a good meal rather than just drinking a bottle of my nutrients. I love to eat, it is my favorite time of the day when I sit down in the dining hall with a huge plate of food in front of me. “I was starving,” Reinhart says. (Widdicombe, 1) I just wouldn’t feel satisfied with a drink. Another thing I love is eating a meal with family and friends and just bonding. Soylent would take that away from me. Instead of being able to sit down and talk with your family and friends about your day, it is not the same when you just grab a drink from the fridge. I personally wouldn’t really enjoy that as a growing human. 

Works Cited 
Widdicombe, Lizzie. “The End of Food.” The New Yorker, 5 May 2014, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/the-end-of-food. Accessed 12 Feb. 2023.