Today in HCG we learnt and baked the recipes ‘basic cheesecake and apple strudel,’ I really enjoyed the creation process of these recipes and working with my group members to create them. As I derived knowledge from this lesson on things I didn’t previously know and got a taste of delicious apple pastry.

I found these recipes easy to follow, straight to the point and if I were to recreate this I would create them in a metal mould instead of baking paper however If I was to use baking paper I would make the moulds for the cheesecake in a more efficient and improved way as well as cutting off the excess baking paper.

Therefore in the future and in my own time I would most likely try to create basic cheesecake and apple strudel even if it wasn’t following these exact recipes, and this experience was interesting and enjoyable.

One thing I learnt about Chef Mark was the fact that when they were both 18 years old he worked with Gordon Ramsey before Gordon Ramsey was famous.

As for two safety aspects of using knifes, one would be always hold you knife to your side when not in use in order to ensure you don’t hurt anyone while moving around. Another safety rule is to face your knife towards the chopping board when placed on a bench in order to make sure anyone passing by won’t nick themselves on your knife.

Two types on knifes he showed us was a Chefs knife which is the overall most used/common knife. As well as a boning knife which is used to pry the meat of the bone.

I found the lesson to be enjoyable and I learnt many things from Chef Mark. The Minestrone soup was really good. My group members were amazing. Overall, a really fun lesson.

Tomorrow when the war began is a novel we’re currently reading in class. This novel concerns the story of the narrator Ellie and her friends, who are Robyn, Corrie, Fiona/Fi, Homer, Lee and Kevin. The friends decided to venture out into the wilderness for a week of camping, in hopes for making memories and having some fun for a while.

However the trip isn’t going as planned as they have to ascend up ‘Satan’s steps’ and they have to make difficult navigation through overgrown areas. Eventually they make it to the top discovering a bridge which was man made, but this area was known for having no civilisation.

As peculiar things begin happening, before and after their return to Wirrawee (their hometown) they notice that the world that they once knew has changed for the worse. This novel depicts multiple strange discovery’s, mysteries, intriguing hints of romance and dilemmas that the group has to go through in order to survive.

Year 9 was a interesting chapter in my life, and I had to adapt to the different lifestyle changes throughout the year. High school definitely exceeded my expectations, because of the difference between it and Primary school. For example, I had to get used to different teachers, subjects, options etc these were all big changes for me.

The most confusing thing for me was probably later in the year, jump start. As I was already getting used to year 9, year 10 jump start confused me because we got to pick options and during that time the timetables were also adjusted.

However despite all these changes it was a pretty fun year overall, since I made new friends and socialised with more people (pushing myself out of my comfort zone) and also met new teachers and tried new things.

Today in performing arts we were focusing on one of four drama techniques, voice me and my friend did this in pairs. This is an example of what we practised.