Within the ranks of North Atlanta’s student body lies a sea of differing skills and hobbies. From sports to books to knitted sweaters, everyone has their niche—but nobody does it quite like the NAHS cooks and bakers. It’s easy work to devour a good muffin or sandwich in minutes, but much more thought and effort has to go into crafting these mouth-watering treats. Just how do students manage to turn a handful of ingredients into a delectable meal? How did they start out, and how is it going? The answers to all three of these questions are a little less surface level than they may seem.
Quarantine during COVID-19 was full of long days hunched over a computer, listening to the crackly voices of teachers through headsets. Cut off from friends and family, students had to get a little creative to find ways to amuse themselves in the suddenly abnormal amount of free time they had. It was through this severe lack of entertainment that sophomore America Ojeda Gonzalez discovered her passion for baking, specifically for brookies, a brownie-cookie hybrid. Although she started off as a novice, she honed her skills over months of work, and now, it’s common to find her and her family snacking on treats she makes. “I got started over quarantine when I was bored,” said Ojeda Gonzalez. “I made stuff with what I had at home and gradually got better.”
Some students got started a lot earlier, however. Simone Morris, tenth grader, has been baking and cooking for nearly her entire life. Inspired at a young age by the Disney movie Princess and the Frog, her parents encouraged her interest by gifting her the movie’s cookbook and later on watching cooking videos on Youtube. Now, with years of experience under her belt, it’s relatively easy to recreate any recipe she finds online that appeals to her, but her all-time favorite things to make remain banana bread and cake. Morris is big on sharing, and although currently it’s primarily her family who eats what she makes, she hopes to soon start giving to her neighbors, too. “I want to keep cooking as a hobby,” said Morris. “I don’t want to turn it into a money thing because I want it to stay a passion, not work.”
Brookies and banana bread barely break the surface, though. So many of North Atlanta’s students operate in the kitchen as a pastime, bringing countless delicious ideas to life. However, you don’t need to be a master chef to make a good meal. So, who’s hungry?
