Restaurant Review:  Lotus Garden

If you enjoy eating Chinese food then the perfect place for you to eat is the Lotus Garden. The Lotus Garden is a Chinese buffet in downtown Provo, across the street from the Tabernacle and NuSkin. They have a large assortment of authentic Chinese food ranging from sesame chicken and rice to fortune cookies. Most of the people who work there are originally from China and will willingly speak to you in Chinese. The service there is also tremendous; when you are done with something someone is right there ready to take it from you. The Lotus Garden gets a very large lunch crowd from all over the valley. Their lunch is $9 including tax. The most popular foods are the rice, cream cheese and crab wantons, and the sushi. They also have a variety of desserts; ice cream, pudding, jello, and many other delicious desserts. The Lotus Garden has fantastic Chinese food. If you ever have a hankering for Chinese food the Lotus Garden is the place to go.

Here’s what’s cookin’: 7-up Jello Salad

This dish is perfect for family get-togethers or casual dinners, or even just an afternoon snack!  Theresa Rather, a Meridian School athlete in her prime, attributes her stellar times at Region and State track meets to “eating this fantastic stuff beforehand.” Marc Luthy agrees.

Ingredients:

• 2 pkgs. lemon jello
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 cups 7-up
• 1, 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
• 2 cups small marshmallows or crème
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup pineapple juice (drained from can)
• 2 tbs flour
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup whipping cream

Directions:

1. Combine jello and boiling water; stir until dissolved. Add 7-up and stir in. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 pan. Add drained pineapple to the pan. Add marshmallows. Put in fridge to partially set.
2. Combine and cook sugar, juice, flour, butter, and egg, and let cool.
3. Whip whipping cream and add to cooked mixture, then spread over partially set jello mixture. Place back in fridge to finish setting.

[Optional: 3 tbs grated parmesian cheese to sprinkle over the final dish.]

Iron Man 2

by Casey Wahl

Iron Man 2 picks up from where the first Iron Man left off. After revealing himself as Iron Man, there is world peace for a few months. The government wants the Iron Man technology for military use. Stark refuses to give up the information because he does not want it to fall into the wrong hands. He also claims that other countries are still several years away from developing the Iron Man technology. These claims don’t last long when Stark is attacked by Whiplash in Monaco with the same technology used in the Iron Man. Iron Man’s vulnerability is questioned. Stark is slowly being poisoned from the palladium core of his arc reactor. Tony Stark is in search for a cure for the palladium poisoning while Whiplash is set on revenge. Iron Man 2 is a great movie. The high budget film is very entertaining. It does a good job at continuing Iron Man. It is a must see movie!
Tip: Stay for a clip after the credits.

Puzzle Piece Frame Craft

Materials Needed:

• 4 Craft Sticks
• Puzzle Pieces
• Photo
• Tab From a Soda Can
• Craft Glue
• Scissors

Instructions:
Glue the craft sticks together at the edges to make a frame. Glue the puzzle pieces around the craft stick frame. Trim the photo to the same size as the frame and then glue it to the back side of the frame. Finally, glue the pop tab to the back to use as a hanger.

Healthy Morning cookies

In a mixer bowl, beat margarine or butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer till well combined. Add whole wheat flour, applesauce, oats, bran, milk powder, egg white, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and clove. Beat on low speed just till combined. Stir in nuts and raisins. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray coating. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough, 2 or 3 inches apart, onto baking sheet. Spread dough until each cookie is about 2 inches across. Bake in 375 degree oven 10 minutes or till set. Cool on wire rack. Spread bottoms of half of cooled cookies with 1 tablespoon cream cheese or peanut butter, tip with remaining unfrosted cookies. Chill til serving or wrap and freese. If frozen, let thaw in refrigerator overnight. Makes 8 sandwich cookies.

Restaurant Review: Four Season’s Hot Pot

by Tim Lei

Four Season’s Hot Pot, one of the most popular restaurants among Upper school students is located at 236 North University Avenue Provo, UT 84601.  The Four Season’s Hot Pot serves all dumplings, traditional Chinese dishes, as well as their most famous authentic Chinese hot pot.

This is not a typical Chinese restaurant like people expect to see in Utah. It is a “Mom and Pop” place run by a Chinese couple and their daughter. The “Mom” is in charge of her homemade dumplings, so it could take up to 40 minutes. Customers can feel free to walk right over to their “kitchen” and watch her making your dumplings with special home-made garlic dipping sauce.

The “Pop” is also  conscientiously in charge of his traditional chinese hot pot which includes free chicken broth soup base, szechwan mala spicy soup base, miso soup base, tomato soup base, and all-you can-eat buffet, soda and ice cream bars. Don’t worry if you don’t know how everything is supposed to work, “Pop” does his best in showing how it goes as well as putting their finest meats and freshest vegetables for you and answering every question you have. (He speaks mainly Mandarin, so his English is not very good.   Be patient and all will work fine.)

” It’s really good, after I got the hang off it, ” said junior Alison Warnick. ” The chef taught us what to do. He started with putting vegetables and meats in the soup for us. It was like a Chinese Tucanos. I will probably go there again. I like crabs and the beef the most. “  This ws her first time going to Four Season’s Hot Pot, along with seniors Amelia Child and Hyung Pyun and juniors Theresa Rather and Marc Luthy.  ” The place is awesome! The owner is so nice, and he taught us how everything works there,” said Amelia. ” The beef is so tasty!”

Four Season restaurant, where a wide selection of dishes from the traditional Chinese cuisine appeal to all the tastes. So, what are you waiting for ?

Book Review:  Complications by Atul Gawande

Date Night is about a couple, Phil and Claire Fosters, played by Steve Carell and Tina Fey, who decide they need a change of taste and try to bring the spark back into their marriage. The two agree to go on a different type of date to a very popular seafood restaurant downtown.

It begins great when they take a reservation that isn’t theirs and start to eat until two men confront them and make them follow them into a back alley. There they discover that the couple that had made the reservation backed out of it because they had something to do with a flash drive. Date night turns into a disaster and they spend the whole night trying to convince the men that they really aren’t the thieves they think they are. The couple attempt to retrieve the flash drive and return it, leaving them with a night they will never forget.

Most of this movie was hilarious, but there were a couple of interesting parts. It was enough to catch your attention and Carell and Fey are both amazing at playing the lead couple, each feeding off of each other’s energy. The story line is very well done. Even though it may seem like a dramatic “run away from the bad guy” movie, this one stuck out from the rest.

Cocoa Bean Cupcake Cafe

by Rachel McCloskey

In January of 2010, the sweet tooth’s in Provo Utah were pleased to welcome a new, one of a kind cafe: The Cocoa Bean. Located at 1774 North University Parkway in Brigham’s Landing just southeast of the BYU football stadium, The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Café sells a variety of gourmet cupcakes as well as delicious hot chocolate and more.

Their “Better Than Whatever” cupcake is sold every Monday thru Saturday and each of the six days also features several other cupcakes, some of which include: Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake, Caramel Apple Pie, Smores, Luscious Lemon Blueberry, and Hostess With The Mostess.

“My favorite cupcake is the Rasberry Chocolate Cheesecake,” said senior Rachel Allen.  “It’s just delicious. It has nutella, cream cheese frosting, raspberries, and chocolate. What more do you want in a cupcake? I also like the Irish Cream Iced drink. The environment is cool too. They always have good music and it is really cheap. You can get a cupcake and a drink for under five bucks.”  Rachel is a frequent visitor and a big fan of The Cocoa Bean.

Teacher Kim McCloskey has also indulged herself. “I like the imported hot chocolate because it has a unique flavor that is not too sweet or heavy. And they had a cute little place to sit. I would definitely recommend it to other people because it is a nice atmosphere and it’s unique.”

With such a wide variety of scrumptious delights, amazing customer service, a nice cozy environment, and cheap prices, The Cocoa Bean Cupcake Café is sure to please everyone.

http://thecocoabeancupcakecafe.blogspot.com/

Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland” A Hit

The once beloved story of the brave, young Alice searching for adventure has been brought back to life. On March 5^th, 2010, the long awaited rendition of the celebrated story of Alice in Wonderland was released into theatres, in both normal and 3d, around the world.

Director Tim Burton does an outstanding job of twisting the original, well- known story of Alice in Wonderland to make it his own. He accomplishes this by keeping many of the same characters and even some of the same events that occur in the original, but changing the over all plot.

Instead of having Alice as a young girl first discovering this wondrous place, he decides to have her return thirteen years later, totally oblivious that to the fact that she had been there once before.

“It was good. I think it was way better than Avatar. 3D was better I think and they changed the story a bit. Like Alice dreamed it before. That was great,” replied ninth grader Yeon Soo Lee after seeing the movie with her friends.

Another freshman Fernando Amaya also agreed. “I thought it was pretty good. Heck, I’d watch it again. Cat was awesome.”

This newest version of the acclaimed story contains many of the same characters: the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Caterpillar, the Queen of Hearts (or the Red Queen), Dormouse, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

It also includes some of the most popular scenes from the original such as the Queen of Hearts playing croquet with flamingos replacing the mallets, and hedgehogs replacing the balls. It also replays the beginning scene of Alice first entering into Wonderland and going into the room with many doors.

Nineteen year old Mia Wasikowska, who has starred in several Australian movies and TV shows, is a relatively new face to the American big screen. She does a fabulous job starring as Alice.

The movie also stars many more distinguished faces. Johnny Depp yet again blows the crowd away with his amazing interpretation of the Mad Hatter. His quirky personality is perfect for the Hatter who is almost on the edge of completely losing his head.

Helena Bonham Carter played the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Crispin Glover as the Red Queen’s assistant Stayne, and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, are just a few more of the actors making up the amazing cast.

“The movie was really good and it was worth the money I paid to watch it. I like the Cheshire cat. The 3D was good, but I don’t think it was as good as Avatar. And they should add more fighting. I think there should be some more slow motion fighting scenes like in the Matrix,” said Tim Lei, a senior.

The box office sales soared high and Alice in Wonderland was a huge hit. It is a fun film, packed with color, imagination, and adventure. It is ‘Completely Bonkers’.