In my previous blog post, I had written about visiting a cranberry processing facility and, to my surprise, had the opportunity to write about cranberries for the autumn season! It was published on the “Fruit and Veggies More Matters” website in early November.
Click on the link below to bring you to the webpage with my article! You’ll love cranberries now more than you did before!
Happy Holidays to all!!!
Cranberry bog that was not yet flooded.
First, we went apple-picking at the UMass Cold Spring Orchard. Two weeks ago, we took a 2-hour bus ride to eastern Massachusetts for a field trip. We got to enjoy the beauty of cranberry bogs and the manufacturing process of cranberries at one of the leading cranberry manufacturers in the world. These field trips are great ways to learn about the storage and preservation of apples and harvesting and processing of cranberries.
Instead of sitting in class and listening to a professor lecture about different foods, we fortunately got to see how the cranberry bogs are harvested (i.e. they’re flooded). I learned that harvesting cranberries takes only 5 days of the year and that only a few places with specific climactic conditions are suitable for harvesting cranberries! Of course, Massachusetts is one of several states in the US to grow and harvest cranberries. Quite impressive, huh? After learning about harvesting cranberries, I had to stop walking because we saw a small horse or pony!
When we were done walking around the cranberry bogs, we went to the cranberry processing facility, where we wore a lab coat, gloves, ear plugs, hairnet, beardnet, and goggles in accordance with safety practices. Once inside the processing facility, we saw copious amounts of cranberries in different cleaning, manufacturing, processing, and drying equipments. Seriously, I was enticed by all of the yummy cranberries, so it took some psychological strength to not grab and eat some cranberries. What can I tell ya? It was too tempting! Thankfully, I left the processing facility with my own bag of dried cranberries..
Everything from learning about harvesting cranberries to learning about the startup of the company was well worth the 4-hour bus ride. I tend to learn better in a different environment other than a classroom, and I like hands-on experience. Rather than lecture, professors should add interactive components to their lectures. I enjoy my Food Science courses because most classes incorporate a laboratory section to the course, so we end up understanding concepts through our lab work. We use everything that we learn in lab and apply our knowledge in a work setting, like the cranberry processing facility, so our well-rounded education comes full circle!
In order to climb the social ladder, get a great job, and achieve unprecedented successes, you might start as an intern, as you might’ve guessed. Internships are a great experience in the real world, and they’re great ways to meet new people, impress potential employers, and add to your repertoire. The past few years, I’ve been interning for a few organizations and companies. This semester, I’m interning at Big Y, the supermarket that UMass students are all too familiar with.
Each week, I walk into Big Y’s corporate office looking dapper (of course) and strutting my stuff until I arrive at own my cubicle. Yes, I said my own cubicle! What can I say? I like my own space. After a few hours on the job and a caffeine spike from drinking 5 cups of tea and coffee, I’m done with my work for the day, hit the road, and scream some songs aloud in my car.
If an opportunity arises or presents itself, take it! Even if an opportunity isn’t something you wanted from the outset, go for it anyway because you might end up enjoying it and, consequently, choosing a different career path. Whether good or bad, every experience teaches you something and equips you with a new skill. Do yourself a favor by complementing your academic coursework with hands-on experience, since you’re already in college and paying an arm, two legs, and 300 cats for college. In other words, take advantage of the value of your education. Who says it has to be in your freshmen-filled lecture halls and stuffy classrooms? You and your potential employers will appreciate it!
Pig in a cup and fushigi? Hilarity commences.
I don’t think I’ve posted the above picture before, so here it is! Last year, while teaching my uber-fabulous nutrition lessons a few days before Christmas break, I felt it was necessary to take a picture of the dry erase board listing some of the things (both animate and inanimate) on my students’ Christmas list. (This Christmas List brings back nostalgia.) A kid can only dream, right? Then again, dreams can and do come true! I think it’s time of the year to begin dreaming, wishing, and making a Christmas list..
Needless to say, I miss their funny comments, their eagerness to yell out answers, and their yearning to learn. When I’m overly stressed or bored, memories of my past internship, my students, and my co-workers always make me smile! Yup, I’m totally cheesin’ right now..
Had to drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte before lab.
I'm ready to kill some cancer cells!
Laboratory research. You know what laboratory research is, right? Sure, you do. Wearing a spiffy, white lab coat, huge goggles, and gloves, you mix solutions together until something magical happens in the middle of the night during a torrential downpour, cacophonous thunder, and luminous lightning. In movies, this scenario might be the case, but in reality, it’s far from the truth. Since you’re thinking about attending UMass or are already enrolled at UMass, take advantage of your education! Rather than studying notes or reading textbooks all day, try working in a lab under the tutelage of one of your professors whose research interests you.
The past two years, I’ve working in my Food Science professor’s lab, studying the effects of bioactive compounds or phytochemicals found in food on the growth of lung cancer cells. Sounds fun, huh? Some of the bioactive compounds I’ve used in my experiments include apigenin, sulforaphane, and metabolites of PMF (a compound naturally found in orange and orange peels). The past year, I’ve been using treatment combinations to determine if combinations of treatments are more efficacious than one treatment. For instance, I’ve combined some of the aforementioned bioactive compounds with Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering statin.
My experiments determining the efficacy of numerous bioactive compounds require attention to detail and meticulousness. Otherwise, if I made a manual mistake or calculation error, those errors and mistakes will yield inaccurate data, so be extremely vigilant and careful! Because I study cancer cells, I have to allocate an hour or two a few times each week to carry out my experiment, and I have to follow my schedule closely when working in a lab because cells don’t care about my schedule. Cells are undoubtedly time-sensitive, so if I want good results, I need to follow my lab schedule, even during a monsoon, hurricane, or blizzard.
The objectives of my lab research are to determine the efficacy of various bioactive compounds on the lung cancer cell growth and to determine if those bioactive compounds are more efficacious when combined with other treatments, including Lipitor. If they are determined to be efficacious, then they might be considered for supplements or treatment of lung cancer. Wouldn’t it be amazing seeing something you’ve researched being used as a treatment in hospitals or being sold at stores nationwide?
In short, I like doing research in a lab – and you might, too! Look at the research labs of your professors, peruse some of their publications, and/or set up an appointment to talk about your interests. Also, you might even look at some research that may not interest you, but try it anyway because you’re in college to learn and explore! Unlike Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College, UMass, with its huge student body and variety of research conducted by many professors, offers many lab research opportunities and different types of research that may interest you. Since you’re paying to be in college, take advantage of the resources offered at UMass!
Live, learn, and explore at the U!!!
My cancer cells on my lab notebook, with hardcore calculations scribbled all over..
It's purrty, huh? The purple color is a measure of the viability of cancer cells.
Walked out of my lab to a beautiful sunset.
As y’all may know by now, I’m a huge foodie, proponent of tree-hugging, and lover of nature! This past weekend, instead of going back home, I just had to hit up the Atkins Farm Apple Orchard because I needed to relax from the eustress of exams by running around on healthy green foliage like a feral animal. When we arrived at the apple orchard, it was moderately crowded as expected because people, like me, felt the urgent need to take advantage of the sunny weather this past Columbus day weekend, especially with the chilly fall weather upon us.
In short, I had to go all wild picking a wide variety of apples and tasting all of the different varieties of apples, just like the time when I went on a field trip to the UMass Cold Spring Orchard. This time apple-picking was just as fun as the time at the UMass apple orchard. Of course, at both apple orchards, I needed to avoid the Macintosh apples because I love crispier apples, including Golden Delicious. Still, I grabbed each variety of apples to share with my friends, and we left the orchard after our bags were so full that the straps of the bags almost ripped off.
After apple-picking at the Atkins Farm Apple Orchard, we worked up a voracious appetite and knew the perfect restaurant to satiate our peckish selves: Judie’s. The first time I ate a meal at Judie’s, I was instantly in food heaven after the first huge bite of the Turkey “Pop” Pie Popover! It’s so delicious that I was tempted to get it again, but I had to force myself to try another menu item. Since the popovers at Judie’s had my approval, I wanted to try another popover and decided on the Steak Tip Popover – another great choice, if I do say so myself. Needless to say, I devoured my popover with ease, leaving Judie’s satiated and satisfied with my meal. To say the least, I’ll be stopping by Judie’s for some more food in no time!
Steak Tip Popover at Judie's.. Salivation recommences.
Chicken Parm (?)
Bacon and Cheese Potato Skins.. They were so delicious!
Although I liked the Steak Tip Popover, the Turkey "Pop" Pie Popover is without hesitation the best popover! It's unbelievably good!
For one of my Food Science classes, when I heard that we were going to go apple-picking as a lab, I was overly excited and couldn’t contain my elation. Getting a 100/100 points for a lab for showing up, looking mighty fine, and picking apple for my own consumption? Sounds great! I could tell that a field trip to the UMass Cold Spring Orchard was going to be a blast – and it was!
When we arrived at the Cold Spring Orchard, a UMass professor greeted us, gave each student a 1/2 bushel bag, and began his tour of the orchard, beginning with the shed in which freshly picked, ripened apples are collected and sorted. The shed contained a few refrigerators used for storing apples that are sold throughout the whole year, and the atmosphere for each refrigerator varies depending on the variety of apples because each variety of apples contains different amounts of sugars, acidity, and respiration rate . Those apples stored in the refrigerators might be the apples you’re eating right now or this past spring! Further, he said, the residential area Orchard Hill used to be the first location of the UMass Cold Spring Orchard and thus was given the appellation Orchard Hill based on its past as an apple orchard. Honestly, let’s face it: Wouldn’t it be difficult maintaining an apple orchard surrounded by frenetic college students? I would think so!
After getting a tour of the shed, my peers and I walked around the orchard looking at some agricultural equipments used to plant, grow, and harvest over a dozen varieties of apples and learning about their usage and applicability in agricultural production. Once the professor was done with his tour and educational spiel, we took a group picture and were finally allowed to go apple-picking. I went apple-picking like there was gold and money on those apple trees. Seriously, I picked at most apple trees I could find and even went as far as possible that there was a sizable distance between the class and me. Who else wouldn’t want to grab as many different varieties of apples as possible? In the end, I ended up with a copious amount of apples. In fact, I still have quite a few left over, even after eating two or three apples a day to keep the doctor away!
If you want to go apple-picking, try the UMass Cold Spring Orchard, a huge orchard located in Belchertown that’s open during the summer and fall. The Dining Commons ship the apples from this orchard to the D.C. for students’ consumption, but why grab an apple from a fruit bin when you can easily pick an apple or a wide variety of apples from an apple tree or hundreds of apple trees? The UMass Cold Spring Orchard spans over at least five acres and is used for educational and research purposes. It was so huge that disappointment immediately set in when I couldn’t ambulate and gambol my way across every single feet of the orchard and pick at every apple tree. What are you waiting for? A new episode of Rugrats or Hey Arnold? (I unregrettably am.) Support the UMass Cold Spring Orchard (which supplies the DCs with apples, pears, and other fruits) and UMass!
You’re probably wondering, “Who or what is this thing called the Big E?” The Big E, also known as The Eastern States Exposition, serves as the de facto state fair for all six of the New England states and is often called “New England’s Great State Fair.” Like mentioned in another blog post, it runs from mid-September to early October and is located in Springfield, so get going and visit the Big E!
Our excursion at the Big E was priceless! We went the first day it was open and got a discounted price of $10! Remember to bring cash, though, because most of the vendors accept only cash. You don’t want to miss out on the delectable fried goodness, the variety of unique and cute animals, and competitive games, do ya? We sure didn’t, so when we got to the Big E, we had to get a head start on scoping the area. Of course, we were looking for the Craz-E burger, Big E-clairs, and Big E Cream Puffs, to no avail. Since we couldn’t find those signature Big E foods, we instead decided to watch the Circus, which runs three times a day. In the circus, there were talented men and women performing acrobatics and dogs and elephants being the usual crowd-pleasers!
After watching the circus, we couldn’t wait to eat lunch, late lunch, early dinner, dinner, pre-dessert, and dessert. Walking around until we found the Craz-E burger, we each got a Craz-E burger, baked potatoes, drinks, and fried Oreos. Hey, we were that hungry and easily gorged our food! The Craz-E burger and fried Oreos were delicious! Satisfied with our meal, we walked slowly around the area until we saw.. animals! I took a lot of pictures of those happy (but not really) animals, including goat, alpacas, chicks, horses, an elephant, a zebra, and an oryx. Then we got to see a parade dedicated to the Military around in the evening, the variety of things offered in all six New England states, and buildings created in the 1800s.
When we entered one of many houses made in the 1800s, a UMass alumnus kindly greeted us and gave us some background information about this house, which was taken apart piece by piece and rebuilt on this part of Massachusetts. He also spoke about how the Big E began: It started as a fair for locals! The rest is history.. As we left the house, we thanked the UMass alumnus for his time and his informative story. (Meeting UMass alumni throughout the Commonwealth is amazing.) As we looked ahead, we had stopped in our tracks because we saw Cream puffs and E-clairs! Needless to say, our voracious appetites devoured them, though our overly stuffed stomachs weren’t too happy.
After eating some sweet goodies, we watched a parade honoring the men and women in the military courageously defending our freedom and protecting our great country and its citizens. A half hour later, we saw the jackpot: buildings for all six New England states selling local and/or homemade goodies. The first one we entered was New Hampshire, and we eventually ended at the Massachusetts building. I have to admit that the first building had what I thought was the best things and goodies.
Not the type of people to leave without doing something amazing or trying an interesting food, we rode an elephant, got a picture out of it, and topped the day off with some incredible.. fried butter? Yes, fried butter! As a nutrition major, I knew that butter has a lot of artery-clogging saturated fat, but I’m a person who’s willing to try almost any type of food, even if it’s “unhealthy.” Surprisingly, fried butter didn’t taste bad at all, but it might’ve had a lot to do with the sweet batter. Still, the fried Twinkie and cheesecake were much more gustatorily satisfying.
From eating an excessive amount of fried foods to offering a variety of items, games, and activities, the Big E offers something for everyone, especially college students. It’s something that you shouldn’t miss as student in the Five College Consortium or as a visitor. Most importantly, it shows that agriculture and things from nature can be exciting and fun. Look at the faces of those animals below. Talk about cuteness overload! Go to the Big E to experience all New England states, each of which has its own feel, culture, and special types of food. Don’t miss out on the Big E, but if you don’t have the chance to go this time around, there’s always next year!
This had a lot of BEARings on our adventurous day!
Baked potatas with all of the fixins' and the Craz-E burger!!! The Craz-E burger is a bacon cheeseburger with a glazed donut bun!
Fried Oreos.. Yum!
Fried Butter. Enough said.
Big E-clairs and Cream Puffs.. Delicioso!
Fried Twinkies!
Fried Cheese Cake
They're milking everything for what it's worth..
They sang!
Watching chicks hatch.. Sadly, some didn't make it. It's a chick-eat-chick world in there.
Alpacas!
A mother next to us told her child, "That's what we eat."
I wanted to take this adorableness home with me.
I don't know what this is, but I want it.
An overly excited goat
Hay, I had to chill for awhile because of a food coma!
This is a law office back in the olden days.
I touched all of them.. As expected, they're quite soft.
This is a kitchen in the 1800s.
Witches are supposed to be scary, but this one isn't.
Good times!
Rhode Island: The Ocean State
New Hampshire: The Granite State
Maine: The Pine Tree State
Vermont: The Green Mountain State
Connecticut: The Constitution State
Massachusetts: The Bay State, also known as the Best State of All Six NE States.
Mount Sugarloaf is thattaway!
A picture of the toothsome Noah Webster.
Since the amount of sunlight in Amherst is slowly dwindling, and since the weather has been awfully fickle and temperamental, my friends and I wanted to enjoy what little sunlight and warmth we might get in autumn by going to Mike’s Maze in Sunderland, a necessary stop in our ride to my springtime graduation. Last Saturday, we ate breakfast, chitchatted for a bit, and drove from our abode to Sunderland, passing by our beloved Mount Sugarloaf and enjoying the natural beauty that is western Mass. Astounded by the tranquility of and soothing breeze at Mike’s Maze, we ambled around the place, pointed to Mount Sugarloaf, took some pictures, and paid a small entrance fee to enter the corn maze.
As mentioned in another blog post, Mike’s Maze changes the image of its corn maze every year. Several images in years past included the Amaizing Minuteman Maze in 2000; Mona Lisa in 2001; King Tut in 2003; The Odyssey in 2008; Charles Darwin in 2009; and Campbell’s Tomato Soup Can in 2010 (um.. okay?!). This year, it’s the venerable Noah Webster, the man who authored the The Compendious Dictionary of the English Language that eventually became what we now know as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Interested in finding Mike’s Maze while hiking up Mount Sugarloaf a week earlier, my friends and I had a panoramic view of Mike’s Maze atop Mount Sugarloaf as we stopped midway up the mountain. It was breathtakingly gorgeous.. No, really. We actually had to take a few breaths after hiking halfway up the mountain!
Looking down at Mike’s Maze at the midway point on Mount Sugarloaf made us want to visit it even more than we did before. A week later, we were at Mike’s Maze! After we found out the purpose of the activity at Mike’s Maze, we entered the maze with unrelenting excitement and unyielding eagerness. The purpose of the game is that we had to find all of the letters of a word included in Webster’s first dictionary, along with a number attached to the letter. Once we find a number matched to each letter forming a specific word, we get a certain amount of points. Depending on the amount of points we earned from all of the completed words, we would win a certain amount of small pumpkins.
Finding the letters and numbers for about 24 words was not easy, but it was worth the headaches and fun! My friends and I went down different paths, found the letters, yelled out the numbers out loud, and converged at a specific point. Although we were quite efficient using the same plan to find the other numbers and letters, we still didn’t find all of the words or numbers and letters to complete the whole word. Even so, we won six small pumpkins! To say the least, Mike’s Maze is something you should not miss.. It’s not ephemeral, it’s not boring, it’s not a craze… It’s something that you can enjoy every year, and it’ll remain fun and popular for a very long time!
It says, "Irene walked through Noah too."
Pumpkins and gourds
We won some pumpkins!
We were atop Mount Sugarloaf (in Sunderland).
Look closely for UMass.
This semester (and beyond), Mt. Sugarloaf is one of many places that you’re coming to visit with me. Since it was a moderately nice day, I wanted to hike up Mt. Sugarloaf in Sunderland, a town close to Amherst. My friends and I had some free time, so we packed up some of our things and drove 15 minutes to this huge mountain. Of course, Mt. Sugarloaf is one of many mountains in the Pioneer Valley, as you can see from the pictures above. To prepare for this uphill battle, we packed some snacks and water because we need to de-stress from the little homework we had in the beginning of the semester!
As we were climbing up Mt. Sugarloaf, we were surprised by how strenuous it was to hike up, panting all over the place and stopping for a few breaks. Midway up Mt. Sugarloaf, we just HAD to stop to view the already beautiful scenery that is the Pioneer Valley. (Needless to say, it was an excuse because we were sweating profusely and breathing heavily!) We sat on a bench, stared at each other’s beautiful eyes, and talked about places that we saw from the view. After a good 10 minutes trying to pull ourselves together, we recommenced our hike up Mt. Sugarloaf, with a few zingers thrown in between our ascent up Mt. Sugarloaf. Once we finally arrived at the top of Mt. Sugarloaf, we couldn’t wait to talk about how awesome we were climbing up it, take pictures atop Mt. Sugarloaf, and look for places and things that we knew. We saw Mike’s Maze, the Pioneer Valley, and UMass! Okay, we actually didn’t all of the Pioneer Valley, but at least it was close enough. Did I mention we saw UMass?! Look for Lederle or the Southwest towers..
What’s more, we met a UMass alumnus ’68 with his granddaughters and wife! Isn’t amazing meeting UMass alumni wherever you go? He asked us questions about our dorms, major, and UMass. When my friends and I mentioned that we live in the Northeast Residential Area, he mentioned that we live in a few of the oldest residence halls on campus and that one of our residence halls was not yet built when he was enrolled at UMass. From my recollection, he now lives in Springfield and enjoys coming back to Amherst and UMass. To say the least, he was a proud UMass alumnus!
After talking to the UMass alumnus, lying down on a bench, and joking around, we decided that it was time to go to the Yankee Candle Company located in Deerfield, MA. The Yankee Candle Company in Deerfield is one of two flagships nationwide, is considered the “Scenter of New England,” and attracts millions of visitors each year! In fact, it was started when a boy who didn’t enough money for a present melted crayons to make a candle for his mother, and the rest is history.. that we can see at the FIRST Yankee Candle Company! At one of the entrances to Yankee Candle, you can see how candles were created decades ago. This time was my second visit to the Yankee Candle Company in Deerfield, where you can find a lot of trinkets, all types of food, a vast array of scented candles, and so much more.. You can even create your own scented candle! Did I mention the food? The types of food at Yankee Candle include candied and caramel apples, several types of flavored popcorn, over 50 variety of candy, and delectable fudge!
After looking at the variety of items at the Yankee Candle Company, we worked up a voracious appetite and knew the best restaurant to fulfill our dietary needs: Bub’s BBQ. It’s on the way home and is a restaurant that offers unlimited sides with your original purchase of a sandwich or BBQ meal. Honestly, I forgot what I ordered, but it was delicious nonetheless! Both of my friends ordered the pulled pork and fried gator tail! Gator tail! It was delish! It tasted similar to chicken but had a similar texture to seafood. In addition the gator tail, my sandwich and sides were sooo tasty and flavorful! Bub’s has outdone itself with its delicious menu items and its support of local farmers, who sell their locally grown produce to Bub’s.
I can say that today was an amazing excursion and that I can now cross off a few more things of my bucket list.. This is actually turning out to be more of a fun ride than I thought it was going to be! Graduation, here I come!!!
The Pioneer Valley behind us!
The Yankee Candle Factory in Deerfield.. We are currently for sale.
Even Bub's signage tasted delish.
How else do I eat my food? I like being fed.
You know I had to get my grub on..
Delicious Gator Tail!
