The Scripps Voice

By Hannah Long ‘15
Food Columnist

With winter break quickly approaching, I am eager to get home and start cooking some of my favorite holiday meals. Along with the traditional peppermint bark and pumpkin pie, this year I’m planning to try a few new dishes. Here, we’re sharing a few holiday recipes gathered from around Scripps campus.

photo courtesy of Dessert.net

The first is the Malott Commons’ Double Chocolate Bread Pudding, which is my favorite dessert on campus. With glorious amounts of dark and white chocolate, I think that this decadent treat would be perfect to make for my family on a cold winter night. The recipe is simple enough to whip up for an intimate gathering, but can easily be multiplied to feed a crowd. If you want something a little more health conscious, dried cranberries or chopped apples can easily be substituted for the chocolate (although it won’t be quite as gooey).

Next is a Beet, Quinoa, and Tahini Salad from Motley Baker Allison Barnwell (CMC ’14). This dish is full of flavor and substance and perfectly highlights my favorite winter vegetable. It would make a great side dish for a holiday meal, but is also perfectly suitable for a main course thanks to the protein-rich quinoa. As Allison explains, it’s also very festive for the holiday season: “This dish is Christmas colored, with its deep red beets and dark greens, and it’s a nice break from all of the heavy holiday food.”

We hope that these recipes inspire you this holiday season, and wish you a fun, relaxing, and delicious winter break!

Malott Commons’ Double Chocolate Bread Pudding

20 cup bread, chopped or broken any size

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

8 oz white chocolate, chopped

5 large eggs

½cup plus 4 TBL sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3 cup whipping cream

1 cup whole milk

Place chopped bread, chocolates in bowl. In another bowl add eggs and mix well. Add ½ cup sugar, vanilla, 2 cups whipping cream and milk. Mix until well blended. Pour over bread mixture and let stand 1 hour to overnight. Pour mixture into a well greased pan, pour remaining cream on top and then sprinkle with the 4 tbl sugar. Bake for 1 hour or until custard is set.

Allison Barnwell’s Beet, Quinoa, and Tahini Salad

1 cup cooked quinoa

4 medium beets with greens attached

2 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1-2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt

Cut apart beets from greens and wash beets thoroughly, saving greens. Peel the beets and chop into 1-inch squares. Coat beets with a splash of olive oil and roast for 30-50 minutes. They will be done when you can spear them with a fork easily. Coat a small skillet with olive oil. Over medium heat add beet greens and garlic; cook until wilted. In a salad bowl, combine tahini, lemon juice, one tablespoon of olive oil, and salt to taste. Stir together, adding water as necessary, to form a creamy dressing. Add quinoa, beets, and greens and mix to combine.

Gingerbread Pancakes

The perfect fix to your early morning gingerbread cookie craving. These pancakes will melt in your mouth with their delicious flavor. For an even more scrumptious meal add orange butter!

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons baking powder
3 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
6 tablespoons ground hazelnuts
3 cups milk
6 egg whites
6 tablespoons dark molasses
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions
1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon and cloves; stir in hazelnuts. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together milk, egg whites and molasses.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it. Stir just enough to moisten; batter will be lumpy.
4. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Ready In: 30 min
Recipe by Allrecipes.com

Gingerbread Cookie Mix in a Jar

Need a gift that is inexpensive yet creative? Try this recipe for gingerbread cookie mix in a jar. Perfect your for mom, dad, neighbor, or even your boss. Add your own extra touch with personalized decorations.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed brown sugar

Directions

1. Mix 2 cups of the flour with the baking soda and baking powder. Mix the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour with the ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice. In a 1 quart, wide mouth canning jar, layer the ingredients starting with the flour and baking powder mixture, then the brown sugar, and finally the flour and spice mixture. Pack firmly between layers.

2. Attach a card to the jar with the following directions:

Gingerbread Cookies
1. Empty contents of jar into a large mixing bowl. Stir to blend together. Mix in 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine, 3/4 cup molasses, and 1 slightly beaten egg. Dough will be very stiff, so you may need to use your hands. Cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Place cookies on a lightly greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. 4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven. Decorate as desired.

Recipe by Allrecipes.com

By Anna Petkovich ’14
Features Editor

There’s nothing quite like Christmas music to get you in the holiday spirit. Sure, there are holiday movies on TV and adorable Christmas trees in dorm living rooms, but little compares to the warm fuzzy feelings that envelop you hearing your favorite song. That being said, consider some of these tunes, guaranteed to bring happiness and holiday cheer as you prepare for Christmas (or finals). This playlist has a little something for everyone – the Rat Pack classics, holiday movie favorites, alternative takes and, of course, Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi. Also included, some alternative to the alternatives!

“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”- Bright Eyes
Bright Eyes definitely brings tidings of comfort and joy.

“Silver Bells”- Dean Martin

“Happy Christmas”- John Lennon

“Peace”- Norah Jones

“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”- Death Cab for Cutie
(Also see: “Baby Please Come Home” Jon Bon Jovi Sentimental and rockin’ versions).

“Last Christmas”- Jimmy Eat World
(Also see: “Last Christmas” Taylor Swift Versions for everyone! In addition, consider “Last Christmas” by Wham! to add some 80s flavor to your holidays).

“Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!”- Ella Fitzgerald
Entirely appropriate for 70 degree Claremont weather.

“Blue Christmas”- Bright Eyes

“All I Want for Christmas is You”- Mariah Carey

“Santa Baby”- Eartha Kitt
(Also see: “Santa Baby” Kylie Minogue Kylie gives Eartha a run for her money (literally and figuratively?), but no one can replace Ms. Kitt as “Santa Baby”’s sensual, gold-digging chanteuse).

“Winter Wonderland”- Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin

“Christmas is All Around”- Billy Mack Love Actually!

“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”- Sixpence None the Richer

“Christmastime”- The Smashing Pumpkins

“Frosty the Snowman”- Fiona Apple

“Christmas Eve/Sarajevo”- Trans-Siberian Orchestra

“Baby, it’s Cold Outside”- Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel Elf!

“Step Into Christmas”- Elton John

“Jingle Bell Rock”- The Beatles

“Christmas Tree”- Lady Gaga
Trust Gaga to take a wildly inappropriate approach to a holiday favorite.

“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Lena Horne

“Oi to the World”- No Doubt
Nothing beats Christmas music about post-gang fight reconciliation, gotta spread that holiday cheer.

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”- Judy Garland
Meet me in St. Louis!

It just wouldn’t be the holiday season without watching the Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve!
- Corey Jay ‘12

“My new years resolution is to read for fun more often! And to use up part of my obscenely large yarn stash. And maybe to stop shaving my legs. If I hit 1/3 it will be a success!”
- Ariel Bloomer ‘12

Every Christmas Eve, my family and I load into the car, play Christmas music on the radio, and drive around town to see all the Christmas lights. It was magical when I was a kid, and it is still one of my favorite things about Christmas!
-Megan Lewis ‘12

“My family has a tradition to beat the post-holiday blues and procrastinate on taking down decorations. Every year on the day after Christmas, we go and spend the whole day at the movie theater watching all the movies that came out before Christmas that we didn’t get the chance to see. The people at the movie theater in town have actually started to expect us each year.”
- Chelsea Thompson ‘14

My family would drive around drop off poinsetta plants on the doorsteps of family friends and my dad’s clients, going out of our way to look at Christmas lights. One house, legendary for its extravagant lights, even had live animals on a life-size nativity set…until they found out it was illegal.
-Berenice Villela ‘12

By KC Mautner ‘12
Co-Editor-in-Chief

By now, it is—or at least, should be—common knowledge that when the holidays come around, so does an onslaught of consumerism. Americans spend an average of over $800 on Christmas gifts each year, often going into debt by buying products that many people don’t even need. But this is old news. We know that Christmas constitutes consumerism (pardon the alliteration). But does our knowledge of this fact actually influence or change our actions for the better around the holiday season? We can talk about our collective disdain for holiday consumerism all we want, but that doesn’t change the fact that we continue to drop loads of money into the event, year in and year out. So, how can we put into action this talk? And furthermore, how can we sustain this action, not solely around the holidays, but year-round?

Serving food at a soup kitchen, often on Thanksgiving or Christmas day, is a common example of a way in which Americans give back during the holiday season. The same goes for donating a gift to a toy drive, giving a few dollars to a bell-ringer for the Salvation Army or volunteering to raise funds for UNICEF. Efforts such as these require little forethought—opportunities are plentiful, and the saying “a little goes a long way” is never more pertinent than toward giving back during the holiday season.

In reality, many of these once-a-year holiday actions are just that: once per year. I certainly do not wish to argue that holiday charities are pointless or meaningless—indeed, many do good things, not just during the month of December, but throughout the year. However, by Jan. 1, the vast majority of Americans will inevitably fall back into their old habits, focusing inward and neglecting any sort of positive giving once more. But why can’t we sustain the positive charitable momentum that is garnered in December throughout the entire year, rather than containing it to one month? It’s not sufficient to serve soup to the homeless one day per year, and consequently consider your charitable obligation fulfilled. In order to make lasting and meaningful contributions to the world that we share, I challenge readers to engage in positive change not solely during the holidays, but continue that effort year-round. Consider it a New Year’s Resolution? That is, of course, without the holiday label attached….