I went into the theater with hesitancy, and I came out appreciating “The Odyssey,” but not being as dazzled as others were.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure why I felt this way, why I wasn’t 100% on board with the growing crowd of people that are sharing their opinion on how this film is practically the epitome of cinematic perfection.

I’ll admit, I did have concerns about it from the start because of the casting of American mainstream actors and issues with historical accuracy concerning props, set design, and costume design. Which one should admit that those are not unfounded concerns as a lot of the designs seemed to have been inspired loosely by Greek culture and leaning more towards other iconic ancient cultures usually depicted in caricature within Hollywood.

But I’m not blind to the fact, nor ignorant of the idea of someone having artistic interpretation. I believe Nolan had an idea and a concept, and I think he executed on that point to the best of his abilities. I believe he satisfied the criteria that he probably laid out for himself concerning the concept of his film.

On sort of a side-note because this isn’t really the main point of this post, I want to touch on the costumes because I think that bothered me just as much as what I will be discussing here. I just felt like the costumes were lackluster in comparison to that black striking armor that Agamemnon wore. I think that particular costume really emphasized to me that this was a very conceptual Brutalist Gothic design concept that Nolan was going for. And if that was the intended Concept for the whole movie, I think he could’ve leaned into it further. In doing so, I think it really would have made it obvious to everyone that this is a conceptual retelling. Also, I think it would’ve made everything look even cooler.

I had some problems with Penelope’s costume, as well, because it didn’t look regal and it didn’t look expensive nor historical. To me, it looked like a gown that a high society woman would easily wear to a Charity gala in Manhattan. It had those cape like sleeves and the choker necklace thing, I’m not really sure what it’s called specifically, but rather than giving off Gothic brutalist vibes it just appeared that her costume leaned more towards modernity.

There are some other issues, costume-wise for me, but that’s not really the point of this post, I just wanted to touch on it quickly.

The point of this post is my issue with the dialogue. And it is what you think but it also isn’t what you think.

What a lot of people were complaining about was the modern take on the dialogue. I will admit that there were times where it did take me out of the film. I do admit this was an incredibly immersive film, but the dialogue did not match it. I don’t just mean historically either. I do think it could’ve sounded a bit different, but that’s not the main issue for me. I feel like the dialogue was not at the same caliber as the other aspects of the film, and you should know that I am a dialogue girl.

After watching the film, I finally allowed myself to be open to watching the content that is rolling out now on the Internet regarding the film, whether that be cast interviews or edits made by people who enjoyed the film maybe a little bit too much. Then I came to the realization that I was not the target audience. The target audience seemed to have been those die-hard fans of Nolan‘s Batman movies and Oppenheimer, These kids nowadays that love and live for aura farming and epic visuals and effects. I believe they were the target and it was catered to their specific cinematic cravings. Which there’s nothing wrong with that, I nor anyone else had any obligation to love this film as unconditionally as so many other people have.

But what would’ve made me actually love the film would have been if the dialogue was on the same level as everything else. I’m very much a period genre movie lover. Think Pride and Prejudice. I love it when I get real conversations between characters, and I love when it feels like the writing of that dialogue was something that was well marinated and intricately woven into the acting and the overall story. It’s what breathes life into it all and makes it feel real.

Nolan‘s dialogue choice brought a simplicity to the story that probably made it easier for a large audience to understand the plot, but I also think that it made the job of the actors very difficult, and only a few of them were able to live up to the standards of their own names despite the surprisingly challenging dialogue.

I thought Matt, Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Patterson, and John Leguizamo gave truly stand-out performances despite the circumstances. I was thoroughly impressed by the sheer presence that Benny Safdie was able to give to Agamemnon, a character that said so little and did so little. Samantha Morton also deserves a ton of credit for her performance that made her scenes truly memorable, even though she disappointedly doesn’t seem to be one of the main faces that keep being pushed in the media coverage for this film. Although I do think that some of the dialogue did her a disservice, I can’t remember what it was specifically that she said because I remember it being just one line when she beckoned Odysseus to enter her home, and I remember being like that was weird that they had her say that in that way, and it kind of took me out of it, but just for a moment because her amazing performance brought me back into it.

Those were the actors that stood out to me in my opinion, and I think they were given a very difficult task to film only with IMAX cameras.

Comment

If you watch the cast interviews from the actors and director, they discussed quite often the difficulties that come with filming and acting in front of an IMAX camera. I believe these difficulties restricted performances and was the cause and reasoning behind the simple dialogue.

Some of the issues that I heard about were about the two minute time span they had to film each scene before the film strip had to be removed and replaced. This really did not leave room for error and I feel like it did not allow for multiple takes. I’m sure that they did multiple takes at times, but I think that allowing the actors to do various takes of a specific scene allows them the freedom and opportunity to interpret and see what works, what doesn’t work, or maybe improvise a bit. A lot of times we see that those moments of improvisation tend to be some of the most standout moments because you’re allowing the actor to truly get into their character and perform naturally.

I also believe the time restriction is what caused them to take a more minimalistic and simple approach to the dialogue. I haven’t seen anybody actually confirm this as a fact, but this is just my theory. Having more simplistic dialogue minimizes the chance for mistakes. I heard in an interview that there was very little room for mistakes from the actors because of the time restriction for filming as mentioned before, and I’m sure, the cost of film. Without mistakes how does one improve? How does one test and tweak? I’m sure plenty of rehearsal was done in order to solidify the scenes, although I’m also sure that in those rehearsals the dialogue and scenes were written in a way that was best suited specifically for the IMAX filming experience.

There are work-arounds. And at times they did a great job of working around those issues. But something felt amiss. It didn’t click. The dialogue is what is needed, imperative actually, for a story to go deeper and become more meaningful. Visuals can only take you so far. For me, a movie isn’t just about looking cool. It’s about people finding a story worth telling and choosing to pour themselves out to an audience in order to connect in a way that is only unique to the cinematic experience.

I’ve heard a number of opinions, comments, and statements about the dialogue that feel more like excuses rather than intellectual and sensible explanations.

What many like to argue is that Nolan was inspired by the Ancient Greek bard culture in which stories are told and retold verbally and with every retelling the tale develops and changes. That’s why he started the movie off with Travis Scott, a performing artist, which is something that may be our own modern version of a bard.

I get this. I get his concept. But I don’t think it was clear enough at the time of filming to get full commitment. You might think I’m a bit too opinionated for saying this because it’s hard to say after watching the film that there was a lack of commitment. But I think there was, in a sense, a lack of commitment to the concept. I believe there was full commitment to special effects, practical effects, and casting. But I’m not sure if there was a full commitment to the conceptual approach to the story and source material.

There were moments where the true concept peaked through and shined. For example, the costume design of Agamemnon or the Hades scene. It was a Gothic Brutalism that was reminiscent of his Batman movies. An aesthetic that is loved dearly by his audience. But I think there was a push and pull felt when there were moments that showed a desire to have a more historical approach while also wanting to add contemporary and conceptual twists to the film.

He should’ve just fully gone for it. Go for the Gothic Brutalism fully with costumes. All the armor would’ve been cooler, the gowns, and the togas. The castles and settings could have featured simple, sleek, yet dramatic stonework and concrete designs. It would have been more conceptual and maybe it would have fit better with a more simple approach to dialogue.

But to be frank, I find the simple dialogue to be a bit offensive to his intended audience. I’m offended for you. I mean if Nolan is acting like this is how we would be retelling “The Odyssey” epic in modern times, he chose to simplify language as if the modern audience is too dumb to understand anything a bit more complex.

The intended audience had no trouble understanding “Pride and Prejudice” the show and movie. The intended audience can understand the actors when they speak in accents. Think of the show “The Chosen,” for example, the actors speak in accents to signify where they are from and yet not many viewers seem to have no trouble understanding or have a problem with it being this way.

I would’ve loved to see Greek actors be featured in this film rather than the same Hollywood faces. It would’ve been so refreshing and interesting. It’s not about color. There are Greek people of all colors and ethnic background who are proud Greek citizens and love their country. I mean, Nolan couldn’t even get American actors with Greek relatives. Just to further strengthen my claim of Nolan’s approach being conceptual because he didn’t even bother with the cast at all.

I mean just imagine how “The Odyssey” could have been if he would’ve just taken a more committed approach to the gothic brutalist aesthetic. It all would have made sense. The coloration of the film, the approach to the costume design, the armor of Agamemnon, and even the dialogue. Although the dialogue was reminiscent of when a theater does a modern take on a Shakespearean play so the costumes and set look historical yet the dialogue has been changed to modern contemporary English. You watch and understand but something is just off. But maybe it would’ve worked a bit better with a different approach.

I just think if what I described is what I would’ve seen in the theater then I know for a fact that I would’ve thought it was a cool film. Maybe a life changing one. Maybe even perfect.

Subscribe

As a Puerto Rican woman, I just want to say that I will not accept someone who decides to play into the stereotypes and hyper-sexualizes and objectifies women in their music as the face of or representation of my culture.

Know that it’s great to encourage more exposure of Puerto Rican culture, but I hope Puerto Ricans and Latinos alike can finally reject the over-sexualization of our people that has been forced and encouraged within our culture and music. It just affirms the stereotype of Latin men objectifying women, and it also encourages that behavior and language to continue with each generation to come.

Bad bunny has played into those stereotypes to gain his fame and popularity. As many artists, especially reggaeton artists, have done. Then he turns around and acts like an advocate for our culture now that he has fame. For once, I want someone to advocate for a change in our culture that doesn’t hyper-fixate on left wing politics that white liberals insist on pushing onto people of color.

It’s racist to think that Puerto Ricans are single-minded individuals, a monolith if you will, as if we all have the same brain, think the same thoughts, and believe the same things. We all have differing human experiences that shape our morals, values, views, and beliefs. It disturbs me when I see that white liberals insist on pushing their agenda onto certain ethnic groups as if they know what is best for us. As if we have to understand that they are the only people in the world that can take care of us. As if we can’t take care of ourselves. As if we cannot form our own opinions.

Now, I don’t want to act as if white liberals are the ones causing so many other Latinos to be liberal in their political views. But I feel as if they have encouraged and pushed it within Latin culture. Which I believe has swayed many in their favor. I’ve seen statements and attitudes that pretty much say that it is only the democrats and liberals who will support us and not be racist in any way, look to prove it, they will give us more government benefits and allow us to qualify as DEI candidates so that we can get ahead.

We don’t want to be pushed ahead by someone who pities us because of the race we were born into. I want to be hired by someone who will not judge me in the slightest because of my race. DEI hiring has only increased the judging because there are many instances in which under-qualified people have been hired into positions just to fill a race quota. It makes people question your skills and worth as an individual because they want to know if you were hired for real, or just as a DEI requirement. The era of us having to prove ourselves has only been extended and worsened by the far left agenda.

We don’t need that. You know why? Because there are intelligent people within every racial and ethnic group. Intelligence, natural and hard-earned, does not discriminate. But remember, stupidity does not discriminate either. There are painfully stupid and ignorant people in every single race. Which only further emphasizes why we cannot treat other races as monoliths, but also we cannot treat ourselves as one either. When we make assumptions about what our fellow country-men believe, then that’s when real diversity gets trampled and people become angry.

Bad Bunny has been embraced by the entertainment industry not because he is the face of the Latin community, but because they have turned him into the face of their political agenda push in an attempt to infiltrate the minds of young people. Specifically, young Latinos. They encourage him to be more controversial and make bold statements to challenge and invoke thought. He represents them. He represents himself. But he cannot possibly represent a whole culture. It’s as if they have forgotten that this person who seems to be so thought-provoking and deep within political activism is not the same man that raps vulgar lyrics about the women within the culture he is trying so hard to present in a good light.

It’s contradictory. And everyone is falling for it, especially the younger generations. When they go to his concerts, dance inappropriately, and sing those lyrics, the last thing they care about is how he is challenging political and social views. Because he is not creating and encouraging a culture of intellect. He is cultivating a culture that attempts to invoke this faux intellectualization in defense of vulgarity and the objectification of women within music.

He paints Puerto Rico as the home place and capital of inappropriate and sensual dancing. I had glanced at an article which was a male professor at a Puerto Rican university defending the newfound cultural embrace of “perreando” in Puerto Rico. He described it as an empowering movement in which women reclaimed their sensuality and liberation. You know, all those wonderfully inspiring words, all used to describe the specific dance in which a woman grinds and twerks against another person, in most cases men.

Okay, so a man is singing about this. Having women dancing all over people. Then a man is discussing and teaching this as an intellectual and empowering movement. Again a man. Okay so this is where I believe the manipulation comes into play. Make Latin women, especially Puerto Rican women, believe that perreando is a powerful way to display your independence, empowerment, and liberation of men in the system, so that they can in turn continue to grind up on men and think it’s a great thing because they “chose to.” I’m wondering, when is this dancing occurring. In classes? In protests? In courtrooms? Oh wait, it’s all happening in clubs and bars and parties full of guys and girls drinking away and dancing inappropriately to the music they are not even coherent enough to understand.

That doesn’t seem like something overtly Puerto Rican to me. This encouragement of a culture of party and dance. Nearly every country, every city, and every town around the globe has clubs where people dance and get drunk. This is not an occurrence that is defined by race. But in Latin culture there is an encouragement to embrace that as something that is deeply entwined and meaningful and powerful within our heritage. Something so “wholesome” to pass down to the kids.

Wholesome. That is a word that has been tossed around and about and has been used to rebrand so many people and things in this world. So many artists and entertainers have turned their brands from being womanizers and partiers to wholesome advocates.

Since we are particularly on the topic of Bad Bunny, this new rapper that is just so wholesome, cutesy, and charming, according to his fans. He comes off as caring and kind because of his political and social activism related to themes of lgbtq, women’s rights, and the celebration of cultures, all while preaching love not hate and wearing avant garde attire designed by the most exclusive designers. He’s relating to the people and showing that he cares about everyone and everything that pull at their heart strings.

That’s the Bad Bunny brand that has been constructed, has appeared, and has been presented to us. He’s wholesome. He spreads a message of love. While also rapping vulgarities about women that you can twerk to in the club.

I could not care less that he is performing at the Super Bowl. I have these same views about most of the people that have performed at the halftime shows. Some forgetting that there are millions of families of differing beliefs watching with children. I can safely say that I am truly on the edge of my seat hoping someone has a remote in hand to change the channel, while watching with my grandma and little cousins, no matter who is performing, knowing how normalized inappropriate and sensual music and dancing have become on family TV.

It’s immature to be even more joyous knowing that some people are upset about his performing. Or to spread a generalized claim that all right-leaning people are being racist or want him to be deported.

Stupid comments have been said by everyone on all sides within the weeks leading up to this. I think saying that Bad Bunny is not a citizen because he is Puerto Rican is just as dumb sounding as someone saying that it’s wrong, hilarious, or racist that families don’t want their kids to watch women dancing inappropriately and listening to music that preaches vulgarity. I think that’s dumb because most of the people saying that people are racist to not want their kids to see that are people who have never fully understood the lyrics of his songs and never bothered to. Many people have had issues with the lyrical content of the music at the halftime shows and Bad Bunny’s music before this. But because he is Latin and was going to perform in Spanish, I feel like people’s negative and critical comments, which they have a right to say, were bunched together by liberals and placed under the category of anti-immigration rhetoric.

Let’s be clear, immigration and the topic of hyper-sexualization in the music and entertainment industry are completely different. I’m tired of politics being so deeply embedded into music and entertainment and it being commonplace.

As a Latin woman, what I do find weird is to have a performance mostly in Spanish at a Super Bowl. In my opinion, this is the most overtly American and patriotic sports event that is held yearly. It’s true though that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US. That’s a fact because of the large Latino population. But let’s remember that the most spoken language in the US is English, meaning that the majority of the population watching the Super Bowl speaks and understands English. The point is, The that he wanted to convey to the nation, he conveyed them In English, and with the visuals that he brought to the show. Nothing else had to be understood.

Many of Bad Bunny’s fans don’t even care that he sings only in Spanish. I think Spanish and English speakers alike can barely understand him anyways when he performs because of his preferred strange enunciation of words while he raps or sings. This goes to show that they like the music, they like the dancing, the videos, and most of all the sensationalized political displays, but they have no clue nor do they even care what his lyrics are truly saying in the majority of his songs. It’s kind of sad to see how surface level a lot of people are, especially young people. It’s kind of just party and dance music for many people.

And for the people that didn’t understand, they got a message that was about dancing and enjoying life, embracing people and togetherness, putting a spotlight on all cultures and at the end of the day it’s love not hate. It all seems really nice, sunshine and rainbows, and all while singing a song about perreando while his background dancers grind up against one another.

In my opinion Latin culture is a part of American culture. But I don’t mean the culture of Columbia is American, for example, or the culture of Guatemala is American, again another example. What I mean is that there is something that happens when Latinos come to America and live here and become embedded. It turns into something different. Something very American actually. Latin American. Meaning a Latino who is fully Latin and fully American. Each individual culture and ethnic group across the Americas has their own culture of their own land. Nothing in the world will ever mimic or replace that. And it would be disrespectful to the country of origin or the country of adoption to try to copy and paste on top of what is there. It’s called adding to the story, not erasing what was written there. Meaning the story from before will remain there in that book, and if you so choose then the writing can continue as a new chapter in another book.

I wouldn’t even care if Bad Bunny performed solely in Spanish if it weren’t for his comments beforehand. His remarks constantly expressing disdain for the US. I am not against free speech in the slightest. He has 100% full rights to criticize governments and countries and express his opinions. I think the issue comes in when you repeatedly express disdain for something, but then you participate in something that is a full on display of celebration of that something. I can’t criticize Bad Bunny and his music then go ahead and listen to it and enjoy it. I have a right to criticize it while others have a right to support it. It would simply make me a hypocrite by doing the opposite of what I’m saying. Which I feel like the whole point of this whole post here is to expose and discuss a sort of hypocrisy within the career of Bad Bunny that has only gone to further expose the deep hypocrisy that has been integrated into many cultures, political views, and movements.

But, this is when I find it to be slightly racist for people, mainly white liberals, who choose to put other cultures on a pedestal and allow people of other cultures to disrespect their own. As if other ethnicities are harmless in comparison to white people. As if every other ethnic group in the world has a right to solely criticize the US. This is also recognizing the fact that a lot of liberal Americans are choosing to act as if the label of American is just for white people, obviously using it as a derogatory term, because they find just the white people to be the aggressor and every other ethnic group in the world to be the victims at all times.

It is racist to forget that other cultures contain people of all kinds. People who are capable of good and bad. White liberals will only ever use the umbrella term American for other ethnicities when they are given explicit permission to do so from people of other ethnicities, as if we were their handlers. While ironically, acting like our handlers and telling us who is on our side and who or what to believe in.

Now, let’s turn the tables. If this were an event held in Puerto Rico, and the second most spoken language in Puerto Rico is English, how would the world respond? How would someone like Bad Bunny respond to an artist performing in his home and saying that they will not perform in their language and the people of Puerto Rico better get to learning English in the meantime? I know he said it in a sort of joking manner, but I’m sure this would have been met with a response from him that if it were coming from a right wing conservative, he would be labeled as a racist nationalist.

White liberals act as if “minorities” have a right to react in such a manner, but it’s only dangerous when conservatives and Americans react in such a way. They forget the fact that anyone has a right to react in any way they want to when you live in a free country that prioritizes free speech. They forget that danger does not come from only one racial group. Danger, and specifically dangerous people, are present in every single race and ethnicity.

Extremism is dangerous on both sides, and so is hypocrisy. Let’s stop with the political hypocrisy in this country and stop uplifting the wrong people. Bad Bunny was a typical reggaeton rapper who only further contributed to the hyper-sexualization of Latin culture and women. Now that he has been accepted into Hollywood mainstream they want to numb the minds of young people with these lyrics and ideologies while turning him into a symbol of sensationalized hyper-political rhetoric just like every other musician. The Grammys were a great example of that. Let’s not allow these people to be the face of our political and moral views and values, no matter what you believe in because in reality, we don’t truly know who these people are, we only know their brand.

I live for iced coffees. You will find that 99.8 percent of the time I will be ordering an iced coffee. Yes, the other 0.2 percent of the time is simply when an establishment does not serve iced coffee, or they give me the wrong order and I dare not correct.

I drink iced coffee every day. I make iced coffee everyday except for on the weekends, that’s when I go out into the world to be disappointed.

In the video I shared is my exact routine for making iced coffee at home. This is NOT cold brew which is a topic I will not touch upon in this post.

My iced coffee routine

…starts off with me placing a large glass cup into the freezer. I use a mason jar mug, but a regular mason jar will also do. Any glass jar thing with a lid is recommended for certain results to be achieved.

Next, in the video you will see I make a pumpkin spice brown sugar simple syrup. This is obviously done beforehand as you want to make sure the syrup is cooled before using.

I used to make an equal ratio simple syrup. This means you use one cup of water then use one cup of sugar. But now I do a 2:1 ratio of sugar and water, respectively. The reason I do this is to make it shelf stable. This should last a few months unrefrigerated. I actually don’t recommend refrigerating at all because it may become way too thick especially if you are using brown sugar, so you’re kind of forced to leave it out which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. I have a bunch of cute glass containers that I love having out on the shelf. Little things like having a jar of simple syrup placed usefully on the shelf next to an empty container that nothing fits into are what make a kitchen feel like your kitchen in the most aesthetic way possible.

In the video I use only one cup of brown sugar. Then I took a half cup and filled it with a giant glug of good vanilla and filled the rest with water. I put it all in a pot with a heaping pile of pumpkin spice and a pinch of salt. I just kept stirring until all all the sugar was dissolved. It bubbled the slightest bit which you should try to avoid taking it too far because then it will just become incredibly thick when it cools the longer it boils.

When cooking with spices issues that may arise are clumping or graininess. Especially when adding to syrups. In order to fix this I went ahead and took my immersion blender and I blitzed it until it was all one homogenous mixture. This helped so much with the grainy texture, and I actually think it made the flavor of the spices more potent.

I highly recommend buying an immersion blender. It comes especially handy if you have to quickly blend something when you don’t feel like taking out your whole blender.

Now onto the coffee. I like to drink two shots of espresso to start off my day. No more, no less. My self control is boast-worthy, I know. I prepare that in a separate cup and set aside.

Now it’s time to put it all together.

The cup is freezing cold. You’ll know it is once you remove it from the freezer and it looks frosty.

Once the chilled cup is removed I place two shots of espresso into the cup, before adding any ice. I swirl it around to cool it down. A trick I learned was to pour it along the side of the cup so that the liquid comes in contact with the chilled surface. The coffee should cool down and be closer to room temperature if not colder.

From here I place a teaspoon of brown sugar and a splash of vanilla, no need to be fancy with syrups if you don’t feel. Although if you have a premade syrup feel free to indulge in the convenience. At times I like to swirl the cup or mix with a spoon just to incorporate the sugar a bit.

Then I add my desired amount of ice.

Then my desired amount of milk. Do not fill the cup to the top with milk as the space will be filled with the froth which occurs after you place the lid and shake.

Shake for as long as you’d like, or until you see everything is incorporated and all flavorings are dissolved. Once done I have the same results as my previously described method, if not better because I have ZERO ice melt-age happening.

The result is a sweet, creamy, frothy and ICE COLD coffee. No watered down flavors or textures. It’s perfection.

Now why is this so hard to imitate in a coffee shop.

I mean, you may say the number one issue here is time. Sure, I have all the time in the world when making my coffee at home for myself, party of one. Still, I only take a few minutes. But in a cafe, they don’t have all the time in the world so they cut corners. Yet they do take all the time in the world, just to give you a lackluster coffee.

There seems to be a new coffee shop or cafe opening up all the time around my county. All of them boast specialty roasts and brews. House-made syrups. Organic milks and nondairy options. Anything and everything you could ever dream of and want from a coffee shop.

Yet why am I rarely ever satisfied?

Iced coffee has a chokehold on quite a large population of Americans at the moment. It’s a necessary item every coffee shop in the United States should have. Not just have on their menu though, it should be treated as a speciality item because it seems that streamlining this process has proven to be difficult for many.

I believe the key to serving a properly chilled coffee beverage is to take the necessary steps to cool the espresso down properly and maintain the integrity of the ice. The drink is entitled “iced coffee” on menus after all, not “cold coffee.” I’m expecting ice to exist, flourish, and thrive in my cup, not die in front of me or be already decomposed.

These crucial and seemingly superfluous steps are often ignored, cut, or mimicked in order to achieve a visually passable result. But once you take that sip, all is revealed.

What do I mean by ignored? I mean they take a plastic cup and dump some chunky ice into it then proceed to dump steaming beyond anything shots of espresso with some splashes of syrup, a glug of milk then off it goes into your hand unmixed and warm on the bottom just so you can see that useless gradient. Yes, I know there is coffee and milk in there, but I paid to consume them mixed together, not for me to see them separate in a cup. Now I have to be doing the mixing which further obligates you to need a straw and other unnecessary items like napkins because it’s bound to spill all over the place.

If you haven’t been cursed with passing through a terrible cafe with ignorant, temperature blind baristas then you probably have come across corner cutting cafes. These are cafes filled with baristas who know what to do and what to serve in order to give the impression of a cold iced coffee, but because they don’t care to give the effort or have the energy to go through all the steps they cut corners. Skip steps. All to give you what you think you want, but once you take a sip all is revealed.

A latte is made decently then a cup is filled to the brim with ice. In goes the latte onto the ice. More ice is added to make up for the melt-age. Now here you can enjoy two ounces of a diluted, watery, gym sock beverage. Then you keep yourself busy later by chomping on the iceberg that is left behind.

Unfortunately, the only place that I can think of that I’ve tried that even comes close to my own coffee is Starbucks. Say what you will about them. I don’t care. Their iced shaken espressos are a lifesaver and a triumph in my eyes.

What do they do right? They shake the espresso separately with the flavoring along with the ice. The temperature of the espresso is cooled. It’s poured into a cup and topped off with some cold milk of your choice. I recommend the oat milk for their shaken espressos, by the way.

Yes, they can be excessive with the ice. But the drink is not melting the ice while in my hand. The ice is stable and the drink is cold. It’s the bare minimum and they achieve that. Thats all I’m asking.

But there is still an issue that bugs me. They heavily rely on the ice to do the work therefore causing you to pay more for less product.

This is avoidable.

My method does not rely on ice to do the cooling and it prioritizes the amount of liquid in your beverage that you would like rather than the amount of ice needed to be crammed into the cup for chilling benefits.

I have ordered from dozens of coffee shops and cafes. The taste of watery burnt coffee is never a pleasant experience in the morning. It makes me feel bad about myself, really, because nothing makes me feel more like an out of control caffeine addict than downing a 16 oz cup of lukewarm dirty sock water just so I can feel alive and avoid a migraine. Thinking on it, I should just continue to make my own coffee at home even on the weekends before I go out. But I’m still on the search for the right place and the best cup of iced coffee.

I’ll let you know when I find it.

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk

1 tablespoon white vinegar

½ tablespoon lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

I’m kind of a theater person, but not really. I’m into musicals, film, and television, but theater has been something that I haven’t really had too much access to. Although my appreciation for it is equivalent to that of other facets of entertainment I indulge in.

I watched Wicked in the movie theater, so I’m going to be criticizing my experience in the theater as well as the movie itself. I should add that I watched it twice, actually, with the second time being on a high quality TV at home.

I’ve never seen Wicked on broadway. I’ve only ever heard bootleg recordings of performances from differing actors on YouTube. The only songs I had in my brain were “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.” I did see the performance by Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel on The Today show.

I was aware of the popularity of Wicked, and its significance in the world of musical theater. This movie is my only real experience encountering the full story and music of this play.

Before watching it I kind of wanted to avoid seeing anything about it. I wanted my opinion to be untainted by the biases of this world. Unfortunately my YouTube was flooded by clips of the press tour which was unbearable to watch. For actors there is supposed to be a line, the only of which we see should be their work and performances as an actor. Their personal lives and personalities, although many enjoy seeing and commenting on as if it were our business, is something that should be private.

For me, press tours are just another part of the performance. It’s what they do to make you like the actor and want to follow and support their work. It’s just to get you to watch the movie. Although it is presented to you as if these were genuine moments and interactions for you to get a peak into what it’s like to be with a star.

It’s not real life. For other professionals, your private life should not run into your professional life. It should be of no one’s interest.

I just felt like this particular press tour was pushing it too far in trying to create characters out of these actors off the screen. They did their job for the movie, but I felt like the acting wasn’t done when it came to the press tour. I just think their performances on screen could speak for themselves.

For some reason I feel like there is a lot of sensitivity when it comes to talking about the press tour and even criticizing the film. It shouldn’t be controversial to say your opinion. The movie is treated as if it was untouchable. Sacred almost. It was like if you are a theater kid then this movie is gold to you, you love it automatically and don’t you dare question! I felt that a lot of people had a hard time formulating their own opinions of the movie without being influenced by the opinions of those they idolize.

Anyways, let me first talk about my theater experience.

I went to the REEL Cinemas is Lancaster, PA. This is a new theater. Built very recent. I had gotten the impression that this was supposed to be a high quality place to watch movies and eat food.

First impressions were a serious let down. It was strange how small the entry room was. It was awkward. We ordered some popcorn and soda. There was a brick oven for pizza which was being used. But I doubted the quality of it. There was a bar weirdly placed in the corner which was busy, simply because it served alcohol. The theaters were very large, though. I’m assuming they sacrificed on space in the entry room to make space for the theaters themselves as this was built on a smaller lot of land surrounded by other stores.

The hallways and floors were an absolute mess. Yes it was later hours, but there were still a good amount of customers.

The theaters were clean. The screen was large and the seats were well maintained. They were recliners.

We kind of ended up in a weird seat, although at first I didn’t think it was at a weird angle. The screen was head on in front of us. With screens this large usually any seat is fine except for the ones right in the front. We were at about the middle.

This is when I started to have some issues. I have been to the theater and watched movies at the worst seats. I have been front and to the side, but never once did it really affect the quality of the screen.

I noticed right from the start that the screen was a bit blurry. It could’ve been from the angle or because I wear glasses. I’m still not too sure what was the cause.

I have mixed feelings about the coloration of the film. It is definitely colorful, but mostly because of their abundant use of abnormal colors that we wouldn’t use in everyday life. But if that same coloration were to be applied to a movie set in the real world it would appear very dull. The dullness was still there. At times it created a sort of drying effect on the faces of actors. Although it did benefit Elphaba. It made her skin look realistic, the green didn’t look painted on or like it was just laying atop the actress. It made it appear like flesh. This may have been a winning reason as to why they chose to go for a less saturated look. Any brighter it would’ve made her skin and features look fake and prosthetic-like. She would’ve looked like a cartoon.

My issue is that although we wanted Elphaba’s features to look more realistic, we weren’t really desiring that same effect for the world of Oz. We know it’s fake, fantastical, and bright. I don’t think there was ever a desire for it to undergo a filter of depressing reality. Instead of making it look like a real place, it looked more like a theme park. There was something lacking.

Although I don’t want to exaggerate. The movie is definitely colorful and dreamlike. The coloration didn’t do too much to destroy the essence of what Oz is to many people.

But, I do believe the coloration really made the blurriness look even worse for me in the theater.

I did watch it again at home. We purchased the movie and watched it on our TV. A very new and high quality TV. I say this because I still found myself seeing things a bit strange. Not necessarily blurry like I did in the theater, but there was just something about it that was causing visual difficulty. I do wear glasses at a high prescription level, but it has never caused me problems with watching movies. So again, I’m not sure what it was.

There is a lot to talk about besides the singing and acting. Although those parts are key to making a movie, they are not the only hands involved in creating this piece of art. In every aspect there are people on an off screen giving their best performance in order to get to a specific outcome, so I only find it fair to mention all aspects and critique.

The sound. This is very controversial. The actors sang live as an homage to those that perform it live on stage every day. I don’t have a problem with this. But I think it created a problem with sound mixing. I found the music to sound and feel thin. Especially in the theater. I could tell they could tell. When the movie began they played a sort of sound test advertisement to feature the sound system the theater was using. This was extremely loud. Mind crushingly loud. I heard a few people make comments about the volume. I did have a problem with it, but I was excited knowing that I would really be able to feel and hear the music. I was hoping it would feel full.

The disappointment I had when I realized that despite the volume being so loud, the movie itself sounded quiet. I didn’t feel the bass or feel the music. The best part of theater is the high quality audio where you can feel the sound all around you. I knew it was just the music because sound effects seemed to carry more body and substance than the music itself.

The singing was pretty great all around. Although, obviously there are some better singers than others, but most everyone fit their characters well with their singing styles.

Cynthia Erivo is a phenomenal singer. And that’s that.

Ariana Grande is a great singer. I could never deny that. Although this character demanded a more operatic style of singing at times. At times she delivered, and at times her lack of experience within this realm showed. I found it most noticeable in the first song she sings, “No One Mourns the Wicked.” Nearing the end of the song she is in full operatic style singing sky high. It felt very thin. I could sense that the audio engineers were in a battle of their own trying to not drown out or overwhelm her voice. I think sacrifices were made in this particular song in order to benefit the main singer when all of this could’ve been avoided if it was recorded in studio.

The only reason I bring this up is because of the fact that I question whether this role was handed to her. Everyone really wanted to highlight that she had to audition and go through a process. But she also mentioned how she was preparing for this role for a while taking lessons in acting, dancing, and opera singing. I mean sure, she could’ve been doing this in preparation for an audition. But I just feel that she was preparing more for a screen-test rather than an audition. I think she was practically guaranteed this role, but they just needed a test to be sure. The whole “telling her to come back stripped of her on brand makeup” only further added to the dramatics of making it seem like she would endure an audition process like any other new up and coming actor.

If this was a broadway audition would they choose someone knowing they needed to be prepared in the necessary skill to play the role after they get it, or someone who already has a firm grasp on the skills needed. If they needed an opera singer for the role, they wouldn’t choose someone who is still in the midst of training, not as experienced as others with this style of singing, and may or may not be ready for consistent performances.

I felt that there was an emphasis on trying to act as if the same approach taken to the play was taken to the movie for the actors and performers. There is a certain level of insecurity because as the movie stars, they didn’t want to seem like they were cheating having their chance to keep in their best performances while theater performers only have that one chance to give the audience what they paid for. They wanted to make sure the audience believed they could do the same. That they were on the same level. That they earned the ability to become the face of these characters for many.

There is also a sense of unspoken insecurity from many people in the theater community because they could play these characters on broadway or anywhere else, but they will never be the face of these characters. This is something that is true because a movie is more accessible than a play. Everyone around the world now has access to the performance of Cynthia and Ariana, but we don’t have access to anyone else’s performances. It’s unfortunate.

In reality, a movie cannot be approached in the same way a play is. There are much too many complications. I’m sure there are more than I’m even aware of beyond sound, mixing, and whatnot. By the way, mixing is basically the job of sound technicians, and it is when they take the live audio along with prerecorded audio, which includes music, sound, speaking, singing, and even sound effects, and they take those sounds and put them together to sound balanced and intentional. Their job is to give the viewer the best listening experience while watching this movie.

With this being a musical, the job of the sound technician had to be one of the most important. I cannot stress that enough.

So I get that they wanted to pay homage to live singing on broadway, and I think it was possible, but something just wasn’t clicking here. It didn’t come together as seamlessly as it should’ve for a movie as big as this. I also believe it didn’t do justice to the phenomenal performances given by the actors. It distracted a bit.

This was a pretty difficult task to undertake. These were not acoustic songs. These are big numbers involving so many moving parts. I would say one of the best live recorded musical theater performances one can find is Hamilton which can be found on Disney+. Even this didn’t have perfect sound mixing. That’s how difficult pulling this off was. I would say a particular song where poor sound mixing was a bit evident was in the song “What’d I Miss,” this is the one mainly performed by Daveed Diggs. I found this particular song to sound strangely empty. Although his performance was boisterous and energetic, it was as if someone suddenly turned down the volume of the background music. It didn’t feel like the vocals and music went together.

This particular occurrence happened in Wicked an unacceptable amount of times. Hamilton is a musical performed on one stage. It was a recording of a play. Wicked was not a recording of a play. It is a movie, yet at times the audio said otherwise.

Now, it might seem as if I’m focused on continuously bashing the audio and whomever was responsible for it, but I just cannot reiterate enough how important it was to get this aspect right.

Every part of the movie was important for the story. Not just the acting, singing, or music. Because of this, the way I view it, is that every person that has a hand in making this movie a reality is a performer in the movie. This is the time for people to bring their best performance forward to get the best result.

I think most everyone did this. Although there are issues with audio and visuals along with some singing and performing. I will mention that I think some of the casting was more name based rather than based on whether they could sing, dance, and act. You may think I’m talking about Ariana here, but I’m not. I think if this actor wouldn’t have been able to make it past auditions and perform consistently on broadway, then maybe they weren’t the best fit for the movie. I believe this would’ve been the best way to respect the broadway play and the performers who are in this play and have been because without them there would be no movie.

To be honest the two main actresses would’ve most likely made it past auditions and be cast in their respective roles even on broadway. I’ll leave it at that.

You may be thinking that I’m being overly critical. I’m just bashing and judging the movie to the best of my abilities. But in reality, the critiques and opinions I’ve shared are really just me being nit-picky. My main issue here was my viewing and listening experience as that is really the only aspect that really affected my initial impression of the movie. It’s an important aspect that I think is most worth mentioning. Hopefully things get tweaked and reworked for the next part to be released.

Again, I want to emphasize that I’m being nit-picky here, and the only reason I can be is because of how much effort, hard work, and talent went into this movie from every single person involved to create a masterpiece. It’s definitely a go-to musical for me now. I actually only have the ability criticize and judge the movies that I feel are worth keeping in my mind and analyzing. If it’s not memorable, it won’t be in my mind for long, I’ll forget about it and let that sad terrible memory of a movie die in the abyss of my forgotten thoughts.

Wicked is a movie worth thinking about. It’s worth watching and rewatching. It’s worth listening to. It’s worth singing along to. Yes, not every aspect of it is perfect, but they were given an impossible task to attempt to live up to such a legendary and iconic piece of musical theater history. I believe they did it justice.

But because you really love something doesn’t mean you should be afraid to talk about it, criticize, question, or share opinions on that matter. If you care about that subject it only makes your opinions all the more valid in the argument and discussion.

Yes, it is February while I am writing this. I’ve been wanting to write this for some time. I was initially going to post this along with the video shortly afterb Thanksgiving, but motivation was lost as the holidays swept through. Not to mention how my recipes seemed to lean more toward failure rather than edible. I may be exaggerating as I recollect the past. Lets be real here, nothing is worse than a failed recipe on Thanksgiving day.

I do this to myself on a yearly basis. I focus on one recipe that I believe within my mind would will be show-stopping, unforgettable, and fool proof. Usually I opt to bake something which takes up most of the holiday. But this year I wanted to make Mac and cheese for the first time in my life. For the first time at this level at least. I made it the day before so all I had to do was put it in the oven, and I could be free to make other dishes and help out a bit more with the cooking.

I made two recipes on my own for the Thanksgiving dinner which are featured in the video.

Let’s start with the first. I’ll be breaking down the ingredients, recipe, and sharing my regrets.

MAC AND CHEESE

The recipe I used was a video I found on Martha Stewart’s channel.

It’s called “How to Make the Ultimate Mac and Cheese.”

No, I did not make Tini’s Mac and cheese. Maybe I should’ve, with the benefit of hindsight.

I couldn’t find the recipe written down so I took the time to transcribe it onto a piece of paper. I’m not going to write it down again though, so here it is:

Let’s start with the most important aspect, the CHEESE.

This recipe uses quite a lot. I used three different kinds of cheese when she used two. I stuck with the same measurements of cheese as to not mess with the proportions of the recipe. I decided to sacrifice just a bit of one kind of cheese and replace it with shredded Parmesan cheese. I love Parmesan and find a way to add it any way I can. It would be a crime to have a cheese based recipe and not include Parm.

This recipe did have a roux and béchamel. I’m not sure if I just didn’t do this part correctly or maybe the proportions were off but my béchamel sauce suffered greatly. Maybe I didn’t cook the roux enough or initially added too much milk. I’m not sure what caused it to go south. By south I mean full of little lumps of flour.

I could not get rid of them no matter how much I whisked. I waited for the sauce to thicken then I decided to use an immersion blender to smooth it out. This worked perfectly.

I added the spices at this stage. Nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne. I just wanted to follow the recipe to try to achieve the same flavor profile, but I will say this definitely was not enough seasoning for my taste. Yes, it allowed the flavor of the cheese to be the star of the show, but some more seasoning definitely would’ve been the right call here.

Now on to the incorporation of the cheese.

The recipe calls for you to remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese. I disagree with this wholeheartedly. It was too much cheese and the béchamel was not able to maintain the proper level of heat to continue melting the cheese into a homogeneous sauce.

I opted to put the pan back on the stove and continue with the cheese mixing because the sauce became unmixable.

I transitioned from a whisk to a flat wooden spoon. I put the heat on low and continued on.

I then encountered another issue. I found with all the cheese it was looking more like the best slime any 12 year old would be jealous of rather than a luscious, velvety sauce. It needed more liquid.

DO NOT add in cold milk. I microwaved some in a quick minute and added it in. It worked like a charm and was a great fix. When making a cheese sauce I recommended keeping some hot milk on hand to quickly loosen the sauce before things get out of hand and unmanageable.

Once all the cheese was added I plopped in the giant mass of elbow macaronis and mixed away until every noodle was evenly coated.

At this point the Mac and cheese was perfection. The sauce was creamy and velvety. It was luxurious and smooth.

To the baking pan it was laid to rest and sprinkled with a generous helping of more cheese for the crust that would form once placed into the oven.

Next day.

I find some open oven time to bake the Mac and cheese. This had been sitting in the fridge overnight and it required being in the oven at 375 degrees F for 45-60 minutes.

The recipe called for an optional bread crust which I opted not to do because at this point in the day I stopped caring.

I don’t know what I thought was going to happen. I guess I thought nothing was going to happen and that it was just going to warm up and be just as it was the night before when I just finished making it.

Well it wasn’t.

This was the moment when I realized that baked Mac and cheese was a totally different animal than stovetop Mac and cheese. I was never aware of the difference. How could I be so careless and naive? And of all days to discover this, I discover this on Thanksgiving!?

I remove the Mac and cheese. Let it sit for a few minutes then bring it to the table. I dig in a spoon and expect to find that gooey, velvety sauce to be revealed in all its glory. But to my disdain, I was met with a sauce that was tight and stodgy. It looked separated. I thought it was separated.

My heart sank. I wanted to throw it against the wall. But I just continued on and acted as if it was supposed to be that way. It was intentional. The flavor was mid thanks to the lack of seasoning.

I had made so much that I was still forced to bring some to the large family gathering. I placed it in a corner along with my apologies. I was met with empty compliments.

With the benefit of hindsight, it was actually correctly done for it being a baked Mac and cheese. If you didn’t know this, you do now. Baked Mac and cheese is not going to be saucy, creamy, and velvety. It is going to be more of a casserole texture. It is going to have form and maintain it. The texture completely changes.

I only realized this recently when I remade Mac and cheese on the stovetop and it came out great, in my opinion.

But this one fail was enough to crush my spirits for the remainder of the day.

NEXT RECIPE: Cranberry Sauce

On Thanksgiving day I had my hand on a few other dishes, but one dish I took full ownership of was my cranberry sauce. This is my second year making it from scratch.

The recipe is basically:

1 bag of cranberries

1 orange

1cup of sugar

Various warm spices

Pinch of salt

Vanilla

Everything was just thrown in a pan and cooked on medium to high heat. I juiced the orange and threw in the zest. I didn’t have an zester so I just sliced some pieces of the zest making sure not to include the pith.

The warm spices I threw in were cinnamon, cloves, and ginger I believe. Any warm spices will do. I believe a pinch of salt was added as well for balance.

I regrettably added vanilla, though. That was my mistake for this recipe. It definitely took it more into the dessert, pie-filling route rather than an acidic accompaniment perfect for the rich meal.

This recipe is pretty straightforward when you follow the video. Just make sure to crush the berries as they soften as to avoid mini popping explosions. In my mind it also accelerated the cooking process so that’s what I do to “hurry it along.”

Once it gets really thick it is done. Although you can take it to any level of viscosity you would prefer. As long as the berries are cooked and broken down it should be edible.

Subscribe now

Conclusion.

I did work on two other recipes that weren’t featured in the video. One was roasted carrots which were terrible then another was a trifle which I brought to the family gathering which was a success. So at least I ended the day on a high note.

To reflect, maybe I should have done a more well known Mac and cheese recipe. That was really the downer for me. I know now that it wasn’t necessarily a fail, although it was under-seasoned. I know now what baked Mac and cheese really is. I know I’m not a huge fan of that texture, and I know now the procedure I must go through to get the desired result next time I attempt this dish.

Christmas crack is composed of four parts: saltines, brown sugar caramel, chocolate, and festive toppings.

I’ll be rating the recipe on how easy it is to follow and execute. Then I’ll be rating the taste. To finish I’ll give my own suggestions for any improvements I think should be made.

This is the link to the recipe I kind of followed: https://tasty.co/recipe/cracker-candy

Emphasis on the kind of. If you may have noticed in the video, I was doing two batches of this recipe in preparation for a Thanksgiving thing that I had to make a dessert for this past Sunday. Doing two batches definitely added chaos which may or may not be noticed in the video or the outcome of the snack dessert thingy.

Let’s start off with my initial thoughts before starting the recipe or ever tasting anything like this before.

I thought that it would be a perfect go-to holiday party snack for me. The saltines would add saltiness, the brown sugar would be warm and toasty, and the semi-sweet chocolate would bring indulgence without being overwhelming. I believed that everything would be balanced out. Not only that, I thought the recipe would be incredibly easy and quick to make. So I was ready to add this to my lineup of go-to party recipes.

The Recipe: 6/10

Now on to what it was actually like following the recipe.

The directions were very much straight forward. But I had wished that at one point it would be made clear what it was I was actually making, specifically referencing that brown sugar caramel type layer.

To start from the beginning, laying out the saltines was pretty straight forward. Although many recipes I saw were lining baking sheets with aluminum foil and spraying with nonstick oil which I thought was strange when it was obvious the best option was and always is parchment paper.

I used parchment and had zero problems. I didn’t have to spray oil or butter, so there was no extra greasiness.

The next layer was the most complicated and frustrating. This is when I realized that I needed to know what I was making. A caramel? A toffee? I needed temperatures or a consistency to look for to when it was ready.

Instead, they thought that ignorance was bliss for the reader. The vibe here was “Just follow what I say and everything will be fine.”

It was two ingredients: butter and brown sugar. I added the vanilla because I’m addicted to unnecessarily adding it whenever I can. Seize any moment you can to drown your recipes with vanilla is what I believe.

The instructions were to let the butter melt, then increase the temperature to medium and put in the brown sugar, then get that to a boil and let it boil for three minutes. What was never mentioned was how vigorously you have to WHISK, not mix, the two ingredients in order for a homogenous liquid to form.

Remember, I was doubling this batch. So that meant I had another pan of chaos and confusion going on right next to this one. In the video you can slightly see another pan in the adjacent burner. After realizing how much attention was needed for one pot I quickly put the other at a lower temperature in order for there to be staggered cook times.

Now if I had known I was actually making a caramel or toffee of some sort rather than just a butter and sugar mixture, then maybe I could’ve been better prepared emotionally and physically to cook the number one thing I despise creating and consuming. I can’t stand caramel.

Anyways, the chaos really ensued once the caramel was done. I was supposed to pour it on top of the crackers, spread it evenly, pop it in the oven for a bit, THEN put the chocolate chips.

I did this wrong for the first batch.

What I did was dump the caramel on, which was just slightly over-boiled and did not want to spread smoothly. So my sister and I were scraping it about in a panic with spatulas.

Then, while still in a panic, I absentmindedly started dumping the chocolate on top of the caramel before putting it in the oven. So then, in order to try to reverse the damage, I had to cover up the pan with foil and put it in the oven, then when that came out I just dumped even more chocolate on top and continued on like normal.

All of this chaos was at the fault of the caramel. If I had known it was a legitimate caramel maybe I wouldn’t have done two batches at a time and not have been so nonchalant with my approach to the recipe.

The rest of the recipe went kind of smoothly. This is besides the fact I topped it with nearly scorched almond slices. I had to edit out the parts where I was picking out tiny flakes of coal from the chocolate. I was convinced that the burnt bitter notes from the almonds would bring out the toasty notes of the caramel.

I then decided to obliterate it with sprinkles for it to look extra festive and hide any burnt flavors.

It should then be put in the coldest part of the fridge, if you can fit it, to set for I would say an hour to be safe. The freezer works great, and it’s faster.

The chopping was easy. Chopping with a knife is possible maybe with a giant knife, but breaking it by hand is easier. Although don’t be surprised that a lot of it is going to break into the individual crackers again. If that is the natural state it desires to return to, then so be it. It is supposed to be freeform, so I suggest not stressing too much about it.

The Taste: 3.75/10

As mentioned before, I have a distaste for caramel. For some reason I never processed that this was basically toffee with crackers and chocolate.

I’m okay with toffee as a topping but when it’s the main character, that’s when I have a problem.

This wasn’t really a review of the particular recipe I used, it’s more of a critique of Christmas Crack in general as this recipe was quite generic. Practically every recipe is nearly identical to this one, so following any will do, and it’s all up for interpretation.

I found that the saltines did add some saltiness but it was not enough to combat the sweetness from the caramel and chocolate.

The caramel alone is toffee-like. If served by itself, it probably wouldn’t be so unbearably sweet. The same goes for the semi-sweet chocolate. But when put together they both just bring out each other’s sweetness and invite an overall imbalance.

I believe that this Christmas Crack concept definitely has the potential to be something quite addictive and perfectly balanced if made with the right ingredients.

If I were to remake this recipe, this is how I would do it.

The crackers: I would prefer unsalted soda crackers. A plain and solid base.

The toffee: I would instead use a toffee recipe and approach it as such with execution. I would definitely add salt to give a more salted caramel flavor.

The chocolate: first off, the chocolate would be Dark chocolate. I would wait to add it when the caramel Is set and cool. I would do this so I could melt and temper the chocolate and it could set hard and shiny. This would ensure a better snap and maybe a better texture when eating. At this point any topping could be added, but I think a properly toasted nut would work best.

The recipe could’ve been better.

The ingredients could’ve been better.

The taste could’ve been better.

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

Copper Cup is a franchise café. There are quite a few within the Lancaster County borders. I’m not sure if there are any locations outside of Pennsylvania.

They specialize in coffee and café type goods. They have a good lunch menu as well.

But the true test of a good café is being able to order any coffee and a classic bagel. If they get that right then they could be considered trustworthy.

Coffee

For my choice of beverage I decided to look at their Fall options. The winter holiday options seemed to have just rolled in, all of them being different variations of peppermint drinks as it is labeled on menu “peppermint features.”

I decided to go for an Iced Butter Pecan Latte. This is advertised as a buttery drink with notes of nuttiness and a light sweetness accompanied by a shot of espresso. My choice of milk was whole milk. My sister got the same but with oat milk.

This drink is just as described. Tastes of a light and creamy milk, in my opinion this how many would actually want plain milk to taste like. The espresso was a great accompaniment. It did not overpower, nor was it bitter. It was toasty and nutty. The oat milk option was just as good. I found that the oat milk actually enhanced the nutty flavor, so I may consider getting it with oat milk next time I order.

It was a good solid cup of iced coffee. No complaints from me.

8/10

Bagel

I feel that the bagel has definitely grown into a more underrated baked good in the world of American cafés as the ever growing world of croissants has increased in variants within the past few years.

A café that can provide you with a good solid bagel is a place to be trusted.

Copper cup does not make their own bagels. They source their bagels from a local place called Thom’s Bread Bakery. I have been and highly recommend as the place to go for all your bread based needs.

So this is more of a review of Thom’s Bread bagels, but also it is questioning Copper Cup’s ability to find and provide their customers with a good quality product.

The bagels are giant and fluffy. They served them warmed not toasted. I honestly don’t think it would even fit in a toaster. I order mine with a honey cinnamon cream cheese.

The cream cheese is smooth and thick. It’s perfectly sweetened, as if they slathered on a barely set cheesecake within the bagel. Although maybe they slathered it on a bit too liberally. I usually eat my bagel halved and eat each half separately. They serve it as if it was a sandwich with cream cheese, so when bitten the cream cheese is sure to squish out the sides. The one napkin provided will not be enough to save you.

The bagel itself is fluffy and well flavored. The crust is crisp, but not too thick. You could tell it was freshly made as it was perfectly soft and chewy. The eat was enjoyable, and it wasn’t even toasted which is how I usually enjoy my bagels. They made the right call here to just warm rather than toast the bagel as the crunch would make for a much more overwhelming and unenjoyable bite, it would also distract from one noticing the fluffy chewiness of the bagel.

When paired together the bagel and cream cheese provide you with a dessert-like breakfast that could match any pastry. I prefer this as it was just enough sweetness, but not overwhelming to the point that you felt like you were eating a bunch of sweets.

Overall, tasted great, satisfying chew, messy but worth it.

9.5/10

Carrot fries

This was kind of a wild card pick from the menu. There was no rhyme or reason behind ordering this. Although I should be able literally order anything from the menu and be assured that it’ll be good. What’s the point of having something on the menu if you’re not going make sure it’s up to par.

These were described as carrots baked with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. It was served with a vegan dill sauce.

This was a poor excuse for baked carrots. The carrot strips were flacid. There was no texture, the carrots did not retain an crunchiness. There was no color or browning that signified baking or caramelization. They were served piping hot, so they were definitely cooked. But they were well seasoned and the flavor was good. The carrots were bright in color and seemed fresh.

I just wasn’t satisfied with given droopy sticks of carrot that had literally zero texture to them. They felt more boiled than baked.

The vegan dill sauce was basically ranch just with extra dill. It was good, and it paired well with the carrots. It made the eating experience a lot more bareable. It was thick and addicting. Dill is my favorite herb, so I’m biased here.

In my opinion this is an item that doesn’t really need to be on the menu unless they were able to execute it perfectly. It needs to capture the eye and be memorable to the palette. It definitely should’ve been baked more or caramelized just so there was some color or texture. That for sure would’ve imparted a more enjoyable flavor to the carrot sticks themselves.

I mean, they were left in the car for about an hour and they seemed to have regained rigidity. So after an hour, when cooled, they tasted and felt just like a raw carrot stick.

This is a skip for me. The sauce was good though.

2/10

Overall, I really enjoyed the coffee, the bagels are my favorite, and the carrot fries shouldn’t exist. You probably weren’t going to order the carrot fries anyways so I won’t let it dock too many points. This is definitely a go-to place for me.

Overall score: 8.5/10

I’ve never liked Olive Garden. I remember eating there as a child and ordering the butter noodles. I clearly recall, as a child, reaching for the salt shaker as there was absolutely no flavor at all. I don’t know what butter they used, but it had to have been the most bland and unsalted butter that has ever existed.

Is this not supposed to be an Italian restaurant? Is there no indulgence even for children’s items?

The real problem with Olive Garden is the sheer lack of authenticity, and the lack of self awareness towards their lack of authenticity.

One could simply spend ten to twenty minutes on YouTube, the internet, or library and quickly find out what truly makes a dish categorized as authentically Italian.

My credential for being an expert on spotting authentic Italian cuisine comes from watching Stanley Tucci’s “Searching for Italy” series more than twice over in one year. There’s no argument there as to whether my palette and mind is qualified to determine these sort of things.

Let’s start with first impressions, then with the appetizers, starters, and end with the main course.

First Impressions:

I walk in and it smells like a child’s diaper.

As an amateur connoisseur of cheese, I know that is the signature scent of Parmesan. So I’ll let it slide this time as it is a signifier of their heavily used item which I have no problem with.

We were seated promptly. It was a weekday, and getting quite late. The restaurant was not buzzing with crowds, but most tables were occupied.

We were seated in a back corner of the restaurant. It was a section with a number of larger families sat in their bigger tables.

As a family of five, we are always seen as a larger party so we usually get a big table. It wasn’t super private, but the seating arrangements weren’t terrible.

The waiter comes around after a few awkward moments of waiting. We order our drinks. What seems like an eternity passes by until we receive our beverages.

I would say in the meantime I looked over the menu, but I already knew what I wanted. Usually in places that I am unsure of I like to look at the menu before arriving and find something that I think is worth ordering. Usually this entails watching review videos online and seeing pictures of how it is usually served.

I wanted to find an item on the menu that had the highest chance of actually being covered in sauce.

This is my main issue with Olive Garden. This is the most inauthentic part of themselves. It is their lack of sauce coverage. They usually just dump an insufficient amount of sauce atop a large pile of undercooked noodles, but more on this later.

Appetizers

We ordered our food then received our appetizer which I am considering to be the bread. We also did order an appetizer but it wad just an order of the meatballs that was more for my brother and dad, so I didn’t try it. I’ll consider the bread to be the appetizer because an appetizer is usually a small nibble before an my substantial food while a starter is something that really signifies the beginning of a meal and is a bit more filling.

The bread. Very famous and a favorite item for many.

This is my least favorite item in their whole menu.

The texture is not there for me. It’s usually too soft, almost like a roll in log form. But this time the bread was actually incredibly dry. Not stale, just very dry. After taking a bite I opted to save it for when my soup arrived, which is what I ordered as my starter. Usually the texture is too soft for me to dip it with soup, but the dryness of it this time around was suited perfectly for dippage.

Another complaint I have against the bread is the flavoring. It is a buttery garlic bread. I don’t have an issue with garlic bread, although I am slowly developing a distaste for it. This particular attempt at creating garlic bread is beyond pitiful. They either use garlic salt or granulated garlic and simply have it mixed into their melted butter that they sort of glaze atop each breadstick. The seasoning does not dissolve into the warm butter. It just sits atop which leaves you with a grainy texture. Eating granulated garlic that is not properly incorporated is an unpleasant experience as the flavor is quite punchy and lowkey bitter when eaten on its own.

With this bread you’re just left with greasy lips and fingers that end up stinging from the garlic salt that’s just sitting there ready to transfer, stain, and create discomfort.

Bread: 4/10

Starter

For my starter I ordered a soup. Others in my family ordered the salad so I was able to try both.

I ordered the pasta fagioli.

Take note in the picture. I don’t make this much of a mess when eating. The waiter just let it slip a bit when bringing it over. I’m not going to cry about it, but I’ll complain. It didn’t ruin my experience though, as there wasn’t much of a spill. I digress, this is simply natural human error. I must move on.

Anyways. The soup was actually good. It was served steaming hot, which is preferred and desired within the world of soup consumption.

The broth was flavorful, savory, and hearty. It had a tomatoey flavor that gave you the experience of drinking a watery marinara sauce. It sounds strange, but it’s actually enjoyable.

The soup had little pasta tubes called tubetti. Alongside the pasta were white beans, red beans, and ground beef. Looking back at the picture there may have been some veggies as well like celery, but I don’t recall.

I am very much a textural person when it comes to my food. I need to enjoy the mouth feel and the moment something feels off, points are docked.

Everything was in the right place here. The soup paired wonderfully with the freshly grated parm atop. But I had a problem with the addition of the ground beef.

I did my research. Pasta Fagioli does not traditionally include any type of meat, although many variations do welcome it. This is just another layer added to their inauthenticity.

I have never been a fan of any type of ground meat. I find the texture horrifying. Like gravel or tiny pebbles in the mouth. They’re not tender or juicy. Ground meat is usually overcooked and dry.

In this case, the ground beef felt very gravely. It was dry and not very homogenous with the soup. I quickly found myself attempting to navigate around and avoid it as my spoon ventured about the bowl.

The soup was quite good with the dry breadsticks though.

My main starter was the soup. But I did get a chance to try the salad.

The salad is good. Refreshing and a great palate cleanser. But, the veggies could be sliced a bit more uniformly. I stabbed a piece of lettuce with my fork and shoved it into my mouth. Unbeknownst to me, along with that lettuce came a giant wedge of red onion. This absolutely destroyed my palate. The spiciness burned and left my nostrils aflare.

The point of a salad is for you to take your fork and stab about to enjoy the edible garden. Unfortunately, I did this a bit too confidently and put way too much trust in Olive Garden, and I paid the price for that.

Soup 8/10

Salad 6.5/10

Main course

For the main course I ordered the Ravioli Carbonara.

I was a getting a bit full from the soup and bread, but I had my mind set on ordering this entree. In my opinion, for what it is, I find it a bit pricey at $17.99. It’s just cheese ravioli in a cream sauce.

My reason for ordering this, as I mentioned earlier, was because I wanted to find a dish that had a higher chance of actually being covered in sauce.

Traditional and authentic Italians cuisine does emphasize the fact that the pasta needs to be tossed in the sauce.

Not just tossed, I should add, but finish cooking in the sauce. Usually the pasta is cooked at al dente or a bit before so that you could toss the rest of the pasta along with its starchy water into the sauce. The pasta is left to finish cooking in the sauce while its starches help to emulsify the sauce and make it a more cohesive dish.

The sauce is not to be poured atop the pasta on the plate. That’s just flat out wrong. I thought this was a well known fact about Italian cuisine, and I wrongly assumed that a self-proclaimed Italian restaurant would have encountered and embraced this fact.

I chose the Ravioli Carbonara because not only was it covered in a cream sauce, which I know is far from legitimate carbonara, but it also was covered with a blend of cheeses. In my mind that meant more pasta coverage, which I was right about.

The pasta was actually good. I made a good call ordering this version of the ravioli. My sister ordered the ravioli that was just with the red sauce. They did exactly as predicted and just dumped some barely cooked pasta onto a plate and splashed a scarce amount of sauce atop of it. It was pitiful, really.

My pasta was flooded with cheese and sauce. It came with bacon as well, which you can’t really see, but you can very much taste. I didn’t mind the addition of bacon. It added a savory smokiness that brought the flavor away from being just cheese. Although the bacon was a good addition, it felt as if they were bacon bits rather than chopped up bacon. The texture was a bit firmer like, again, tiny pebbles. The texture wasn’t super unpleasant. It wasn’t enough to deter me from eating the pasta. They were barely there and I couldn’t actually see them, so I couldn’t avoid them. I’ll always opt for real bacon over bacon bits, though.

The pasta was cooked perfectly. It was quite addicting as it was served steaming hot.

I will say, though, that the dish is very much one-note. It’s good. I knew it would be a great meal to follow the Pasta Fagioli because the soup was tomatoey which is a bit acidic. The pasta brought a richness that worked well after the soup. But once it began to cool a bit and as I was nearly halfway through, I hit a wall.

The flavor was so monotonous. There was nothing to break it. It was just cream and cheese and that’s it. But I found myself just trying to trudge though as that was $18 worth of ravioli. It had to be eaten.

Ravioli Carbonara: 7.5/10

Overall, this wasn’t the worst experience I’ve had in an Olive Garden. The food was served very hot and fresh which definitely always assists with edibility.

The bread was dry, the ground beef wasn’t needed, and what was basically a serving plate of a ton of ravioli in cream sauce cannot be served as an entrée alone.

I guess the meal as a whole was pretty good together. But, I don’t think a single item could’ve stood on its own.

The grated parm was the real star here.

Overall: 7/10

I have been going to Hershey’s Chocolate world, located in Hershey, PA, since I was a child. In fact, we visit multiple times a year.

I have witnessed Chocolate World evolve prior to its renovations that have occurred in the past few years.

I’ll admit. Improvements were made with this renovation.

But because we have, I can safely say, overdone Chocolate world, this will be a review of everything you can do here that is absolutely free. This is purely because at this point we refuse to pay for any other experiences that they offer here from sheer stinginess.

So if you’re looking to visit Chocolate World and want to save so you can visit Hershey Park or simply want a free attraction to visit while on a trip, read on.

The main free attraction that Chocolate World offers is their tour.

Their tour has remained about 70% the same as prior to the renovation.

The tour cart thingies have changes into these pods as opposed to the prior giant brown chunks that I’m realizing now were supposed to appear like chunks of chocolate.

The tour is good for kids. I will say that.

It’s just a ride-through of the process of making their chocolate. This includes certain immersive stages that included warmth to imitate roasting and scent to represent cocoa butter production.

The part pictured first is the end bit that shows different popular products that are produced and sent worldwide. This is followed by a group photo in the cart and a moving projected image display of a random animation of a chocolate factory.

It still feels outdated and a bit run-down in some areas.

The tour: 6/10 (for first timers maybe 8/10)

After the tour, you leave that area. Frankly, the most exciting part is getting on and off the “ride” because the floor is moving and they like to make a big deal about watching your step even though I’ve never seen a single person stumble or fall because of this.

Once you get off the moving floor you make your way back up a set of stairs to look at the picture you took and pretend you’re even thinking of buying them when we all know that you’re not.

Here is the second biggest free perk in chocolate world: a piece of chocolate.

Seems quite underwhelming, but if you’re lucky they will be allowing people to sample new flavors or seasonal flavors of their chocolate bar or Hershey kiss.

Although this has rarely ever happened. Most times you’ll be getting a fun-sized regular chocolate. All the candies will be fun-sized unless it’s a kiss, then it’s just the kiss.

Candy Sample: 8.5/10 can’t go wrong with free food.

It is now time to bring up the smell.

This hits you hard especially after coming off the tour where they sprayed out a wonderfully chocolate scent which is really just the scent of cocoa butter.

It’s no secret that their chocolate doesn’t actually smell like that.

It smells like puke. Vomit. Throw-up.

That is what you will smell in their world of Chocolate.

It is slightly disturbing, and stronger in some areas than others. But eventually you become nose-blind and it’s easy to move on from it.

The scent: 0.5/10 (unless you like the scent of vomit, of course).

That’s kind of it for the free experiences within Chocolate World. But that doesn’t mean it’s over.

It’s definitely fun walking about and seeing all the merchandise there.

I believe they have all of their candy products available to purchase. This is a can’t miss especially if you’re having a hard time finding their newly released candies in stores. They also have difficult to find candy products as well that aren’t necessarily new. These candies are pretty much sold at regular store prices (I think most are), so buying a candy there won’t necessarily break the bank.

So I will say the candies are worth the purchase. But the themed merchandise not so much. The merchandise is good quality, but mostly all of it is fairly expensive.

The store itself is quite large and satisfyingly organized. They do have giant dispensers of candies like M&Ms and such, which if you’re trying to save on this visit I would say it’s not worth buying from those as they are mostly gimmicks.

The Store: 8/10 just because they have every candy and it’s fairly normal priced.

Once you come out of the tour, to your right is the cafeteria area. It is here that you can purchase food. Like food food. Soups and burgers and such. I’ve never gotten food from there. So I can’t say whether it’s good or not. But I don’t think it’s worth it. There are better and cheaper eating options outside the Hershey attraction area.

What I do think is worth purchasing from the cafeteria area 3 things.

The cookies: They are soft and taste good in my opinion. I recommend the double chocolate, that is my favorite.

The s’mores: the s’mores that are sold outside right at the entrance in that small blue building are the same thing you can get in the food court. What you do is choose your chocolates and they put it on their own graham crackers, with marshmallow, and they put it into a machine that warms and melts it all. It’s served very warm and gooey. I think the graham crackers are low-key the star here.

The chocolate milkshakes: they are perfectly chocolatey, thick, and refreshing. A great pairing with a cookie if you’re looking for a full chocolate experience. I have a theory that they don’t actually use their own syrup to make this because it actually tastes good. I’m not a fan of their chocolate syrup.

Recommended purchases from cafeteria: 8.5/10 what I’ve tried has been good.

Overall the Hershey attractions in PA are a must visit. There a few attractions to see from the Hershey’s Chocolate company, but the one to choose if you’re looking to stay on a budget is definitely Chocolate World.

There are other experiences within Chocolate World that I didn’t mention here because they cost money and would be considered expensive for most people, especially if you’re trying to go to Hershey Park. Although I believe there may be attraction packages to help with that, but it’ll still be expensive.

You could visit Chocolate World and spend absolutely nothing and still have some level of enjoyment. But if you want to get candy and some baked goods, I would say you could stick to a budget of 40-50 bucks and try a few things.

Overall Score: 7/10

Subscribe now