1. During the process of my Capstone project, something that I have learned about my subject is that developing a (vegan) menu requires some sort of experience being in the kitchen. Continuously testing the recipes and figuring out what changes needed to be made with each dish was a huge component of the process, and in order to carry out the tests, having some experience is extremely beneficial. Although it is possible to hire someone else to cook the dishes for you, you are the person who knows exactly what to look for and being able to be hands-on with your own project is much more rewarding when the project is finished. With creating a menu, I also learned that patience and time are extremely crucial. Like I have mentioned before, testing the recipes is a huge component of the process of creating a menu and it requires a lot of your time. You need to be willing to make time out of your day or week to work on developing the menu and figuring out what you want to accomplish within each work period. The way I tackled this was by creating goals for my project each week and creating a list of what I wanted to get done on certain days. Through experience, I have also learned that this requires a lot of patience as trial and error is the only method to perfect the recipes. While being in the kitchen, there were several moments where I grew impatient and felt like giving up because the dishes weren’t turning out exactly how I wanted them to. However, I was able to recognize that this was all a part of the process as the errors are what helped improve the dishes.
As for my skill set, I learned that I am capable of taking responsibility/being in charge and collaborating with others no matter the differences. I have always been the type of person who doesn’t like being in charge or having to take responsibility for something. I’m typically the “follower” in group settings and I would be the last person to volunteer to be the leader. However, the Capstone project pushed me to be the “leader” as this was an independent project and I was a little overwhelmed at first, but I slowly realized that I didn’t mind it at all. I honestly really enjoyed being in charge of my work and having the power to do things the way that was most comfortable for me. Whenever I was in the kitchen cooking the dishes, I really liked the fact that I had the kitchen all to myself and I got to operate it how I wanted to. Due to my Capstone project, I also discovered my ability to easily collaborate with anyone that I come across. When I had to present some of my dishes to my mom’s employees to ask for their feedback, I thought that there was going to be a huge barrier between myself and the employees due to the difference in ages. However, I had no problem speaking to them or taking their criticism. I was able to learn a lot from them and all of their advice helped improve my dishes in ways I wouldn’t have thought of myself. Through my Capstone project, I was able to discover how much I actually love to cook. I always knew that I enjoyed cooking because it’s one of my hobbies and one of the things that help me de-stress. However, this project has allowed me to realize how passionate I am about it and how much fun I have whenever I am in the kitchen. Although there were some difficulties that I had encountered while testing out the dishes, I think the reason why I was able to overcome those obstacles was due to my love for this hobby. If I hadn’t picked this specific subject as my Capstone project, I don’t think I would’ve ever made this discovery about myself and probably would’ve viewed cooking as an activity that I enjoy. Due to this project, I can definitely see myself helping my mom out more often with her business and possibly creating more dishes that can be added to the menu. 2. My Capstone project is relevant to me because it’s a project that is benefitting my mom’s business and that has always been one of my goals in life. My mom’s been a business for as long as I can remember, and business is something that she is extremely passionate about/interested in. I always try my best to help my mom out in any way that I can, such as working at the restaurant whenever I am able to. I’ve done small gestures to help with the restaurant, but I’ve never completed anything huge that my mom’s restaurant would benefit from. Due to my Capstone project, I’m finally able to accomplish this goal of mine that I had for a while now, and hopefully, my project will succeed by driving more customers toward the business. My Capstone project is relevant to both the school and to the community because students and community members who are vegan will be able to enjoy Japanese cuisine at my mom’s restaurant. Moreover, those who are wanting to experiment with veganism can also be aware that they will still be able to enjoy Japanese food despite changing their diet. There have been times where some of my friends and teachers at our school have said that they want to visit my mom’s restaurant, however, they either have dietary restrictions or they don’t enjoy fish. My mom had also mentioned to me a few times that she has encountered many customers who have struggled with the menu due to the limited options that were available. I am a firm believer that good food has the power of bringing people together and the best memories can be created by simply sharing a meal with our loved ones. Due to my Capstone project, even if vegan customers are dining with others who aren’t vegan, they can still sit down and have the Japanese cuisine experience like everyone else at Sango Japanese Restaurant. 3. My Capstone project has allowed me to have a better understanding of what my mom does for work, and her business as well. Through this project, I was able to learn what it takes to develop a menu and to create new dishes to be added to the menu. When business owners first come up with an idea of a product, they don’t know if it will succeed or if it won’t work out at all. However, it’s the possibility of it succeeding that gets business owners excited and motivated to put their all into what they create, and I experienced this excitement as well. This experience has made me realize how much I enjoy helping out with my mom’s business and it’s something that I want to potentially continue working on along with the occupation which I want to pursue. Through my Capstone project, I’ve also been able to strengthen the relationships I have with my mom’s employees and the project has influenced the way that I view them. Many of my mom’s employees had taken the time out of their own days in order to provide me with their inputs on the dishes and advice on how I could improve the dishes. During these times, the connections I had with the employees deepened as I had the opportunity to actually sit down with them (which I don’t get to do often) and have conversations that went beyond simply discussing the dishes. I began to realize that the employees aren’t just people that my mom had hired, but they are individuals who have a passion for this business as well and are willing to give their all toward improving the restaurant. 4. Something that I’m proud of with my Capstone project is how I was able to create vegan dishes when I’m not a vegan myself and knew very little about veganism. Creating vegan dishes was a completely new territory that I was dealing with, and although I was excited to start the project, I was also a little nervous at first because I had never done anything like this before. It was a whole new area of food that I needed to explore, learn more about, and experiment with because I had zero background knowledge. However, through countless hours of dedicating my time to this project and putting all my efforts into every single that I did for this project, I’m very proud of myself for having pulled all of this together. Completing the project on time is another aspect of my project that I am proud of as I was very worried in the beginning that I wasn’t going to be able to finish my project by the due date and that it would be incomplete. There was a clear timeline in my head of how I wanted the project to work out and when I expected certain things to be completed (i.e. at what point I expected for the testing component to be wrapped up). Due to this timeline I had set for myself, I was stressed at the beginning of the project as I was so worried about it not working out the way I pictured for it to turn out. Although the main focus with the Capstone was about how much I have learned throughout the process, it is extremely satisfying to see it complete and ready to be put into the works at my mom’s restaurant. 5. While researching for my Capstone project, a difficulty I encountered was that some of the recipes I had looked into required alternative/vegan ingredients that were hard to get a hold of from typical grocery stores and required me to order them online. Before going into this project, I was aware that with some vegan dishes there would be ingredients that I’ve never heard of or used in the kitchen before because I’m simply not vegan and have never tried to experiment with vegan foods. However, I was never aware that some of these ingredients (i.e. Ener-G) would be difficult to purchase as many weren’t sold in any of my local grocery stores and had to be purchased online. Purchasing ingredients online wasn’t a concept that I was against but the time it would’ve taken for the ingredients to be delivered was too long for my liking and wouldn’t have fit in with the timeline I had in mind for my project. Although this limited some of the dishes I could’ve created, I was able to work around this obstacle by choosing recipes that could easily be made with existing ingredients at the restaurant. By doing this, it would be much more convenient for my mom as well since she wouldn’t have to go out and buy new ingredients that would only be used for a very select number of dishes. 6. If I was able to do so, one thing I would have changed about my Capstone project would be to have selected more dishes to add to the vegan menu. When I first began my Capstone project, I initially wanted to create at least 6-10 vegan dishes for my mom’s restaurant. However, after having a discussion with my mom, she explained how working on just a few dishes would be a better idea as I would be able to put my full attention into the few items I selected, and I wouldn’t feel as overwhelmed. It was also my first time taking on the responsibility of developing menu items for my mom’s business, so I’m very glad that I took her advice. By doing so, I was able to really focus on the three dishes I worked on, and it was the perfect workload that I was able to handle. Nevertheless, if I had the entire year to work on my Capstone project, I would have definitely increased the number of dishes I created and would have probably gone with the first group of recipes I had considered in the beginning. 7. To future Capstone students, I would tell them to never procrastinate with this project, and one way of preventing yourself from doing so is by choosing a topic that you are passionate about/highly interested in. It can be easy to slack off with the Capstone project because you’re given a fairly long time to complete it, so it feels like you have all the time in the world to get it done. However, deadlines come up much quicker than you would expect and the last thing you want to do is to complete your Capstone project at the last minute. To prevent yourself from putting the project off until the last minute, go with a topic that excites you and makes you want to learn more about. Choosing a topic that I was actually interested in made the journey ten times more fun and motivated me to work on it whenever I had those days of making excuses and telling myself that I’ll “do it tomorrow”. I was excited when I worked on my project because I was eager to learn more about my topic and knowing that I was getting closer to reaching my goal made me excited to see the finished product. I really hope that other students have the same experience of finding joy out of their Capstone projects and having as much fun as I have throughout my journey.
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Personal Awareness & Responsibility:
1. Self-Determination - I can express my needs and seek help when needed: With my capstone project, there were a lot of situations where I had to seek help from my mom and/or her employees as I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about what it takes to create a menu for a restaurant. For example, when I was making the sauce for the Crispy Tofu Yaki Udon, I recognized that there was something that was lacking but I didn’t know what it was. Then I reached out to some of my mom’s employees to ask them for their suggestions, and I was able to create a delicious sauce. I’m the type of person that can immediately recognize when I’m struggling and will find a way to get the help that I need no matter what. My mom and/or her employees weren’t always available to answer my questions, however, with my time management skills I was able to figure out how and when it was possible to get help from any one of them. 2. Self-Regulation - I understand learning takes patience and time: Going into this project, I was aware that it would require a lot of my time as it’s a very important project for this year that will demonstrate my skills and abilities. Therefore, I tried to set aside as much time as I was able to each week in order for this project to progress and for my goal to be reached. In each week, I made it a requirement for myself to work on my Capstone project a minimum of two times. Working on my Capstone project has varied from going grocery shopping, finding a time to cook, writing out the evaluations/feedbacks from the tests, and preparing for the next test by updating the recipes and creating a list of groceries that’s needed. By simply working on my project as regularly as I can, little by little, I’ve been able to make a lot of progress and have learned how important determination is for business owners. No matter how tired or lazy I was, I knew that through this project, I would be able to gain more skills and knowledge, and the outcome would be so worth it. Social Responsibility: 1. Solving problems in peaceful ways - I can identify and appreciate different perspectives on issues and use and evaluate strategies to resolve problems: When I received feedback from my mom and/or her employees on the items that I ended up creating, I knew that they were going to have different opinions, and there were some who had complete opposite opinions than mine. Not every item that I made was going to fully satisfy everyone’s taste buds, but that was something that I just had to accept. There were situations where some people loved a dish that I created while others didn’t like it so much. Throughout this journey so far, I’ve been able to recognize that everyone has different taste buds, and I didn’t get discouraged when I received constructive criticism, and I’ve tried my very best to consider every feedback that I received to apply it to the following tests. 2. Building relationships - I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships: Majority of the people that I’ve worked with throughout this project so far (my mom’s employees) are a few years older or much older than me. They have been a significant component to my project as they have helped me evaluate the dishes during a few tests, which is why it has been crucial for me to have good relationships with them. Although there’s a difference of ages between the employees and I, and there most certainly were differences of opinions, I know most of the employees fairly well and they’re all easy going people. There’s never been a time where I felt like the employees looked down on me or treated me differently because of my age. I’ve already built strong relationships with most of the staff at my mom’s restaurant before this project and I’ve only strengthened these relationships along the way. Critical Thinking: 1. Analyze and Critique - I can analyze and critique my work and my learning: This project has required me to analyze and critique my work very often as that was the only way I was able to make progress with my work. After every trial/test of each recipe, I needed to critique my own work and figure out what I could do differently for the next test. Although my mom, her employees, and my sister (from time to time) also gave me feedback, I was always the first one to taste and see the finished products, and I was the first one to make judgements about each dish. It was very important that I was able to criticize my own work, especially for this specific project, because I’m the one that is responsible, has been keeping track of my progress, and will be creating the dishes at the end. 2. Develop and Design – I understand the purpose for my work and consider my audience: While working on this project, I have always been thinking about the purpose and why I’m doing. With every decision that I have made for this project, the purpose(s) was always present in the back of my mind. Not only is the purpose of this project to help/support my mom with her business, but it’s also to allow all customers, despite their dietary restrictions, to feel included when they walk in to Sango Japanese Restaurant. The goal for this project is to allow vegans to also have a range of items that they’re able to choose from when they look at the menu and to be able to experience Japanese cuisine in the same way that people who don’t have dietary restrictions do. Creative Thinking: 1. Generating Ideas – I can use the environment around me, including others, and my unconscious mind to generate new ideas: In the beginning of this project, I had realized that my environment and the people that are in it influence my ideas a lot. For example, when the idea of my Capstone Project had first come up in my head, it was all a coincidence because while I was silently worrying about what I should focus on for my Capstone project in my head, my mom was complaining about how her restaurant lacks items for vegans. If it wasn’t for the environment that I was in and the collaboration between my mind and my mom, I would’ve never thought of this idea. I can confirm that these types of scenarios have occurred many times during the project as well because that’s how our minds work. We come up with the best ideas during the moments where we least expect it. As I worked on and tested different recipes, some of my ideas were inspired/influenced by scenarios similar to the one I mentioned above, the people that supported me during the process, and simply being in the kitchen and in an environment where I had the freedom to be creative. 2. Developing Ideas – I can persevere, and understand that failure can be productive: There were a few moments throughout this project where I had a good idea for a recipe but then it didn’t end up working out the way I had wanted it to. For example, during my very first test, I decided to pan fry the tofu because it seemed like an efficient method. However, I realized during the process that there could be a more convenient and quick way to cook the tofu. Therefore, I decided to deep fry the tofu instead and it turned out to be a better option than pan frying. I was aware of scenarios like this occurring and although I did get a bit discouraged during these situations, there was always something for me to get out of these situations that allowed me to improve the recipes and the dishes. Failure is a part of the process because it’s impossible to perfect a vegan menu in one try as there are steps that I needed to take and still need to take in order to create it. Communication: 1. Connect and engage with others – I can listen, learn to contribute to meaningful discussion and debate, consider different perspectives, and build consensus: It’s significant for my Capstone project that I’m able to have meaningful conversations with my mentors and I’m able to consider different perspectives when I ask for other people’s input. My mentors (my mom and her employees) are the people that I have been reaching out to the most because they’re people who have a lot of knowledge and experience with business and food (specifically Japanese cuisine). Therefore, it’s important that I take their perspectives into consideration when I continue to work on my project because they also have a good idea of what the customers would like, after having many years of experience. I’m also mature enough to have engaged in meaningful discussions even when it was with people that had different opinions than me, which is why it wasn’t a problem for me when I began to ask for their evaluations. Moreover, having meaningful discussions with my mom is also very important because she is able to give me the most honest feedback and communicates to me what she expects for future trials. My mom’s also a chef who is extremely picky with food which is why she’s so good at explaining what components of an item might be lacking/missing and what parts of it need to stand out more. 2. Explain/recount and reflect on experiences and accomplishments – I can reflect on the processes of learning and share what I have learned: Throughout this project, it’s been required of me to reflect on what I learn from my Capstone and give updates on my progress. This has been an important part to my project because not only was I communicating to the teacher on what I’ve learned so far during the process, but it has also helped me because I have been able to look back on what skills and knowledge I’ve gained so far, and have been able to look back on my progress in general. This has been useful for when I critique the recipes that I will be using and for whenever I’m cooking/testing the recipes because I was aware of what I needed to focus on for each test. Sharing my learning will also be extremely important for when I’m presenting my Capstone Project as I will be demonstrating everything that I have learned/gained from this project and it will also show how I’m able to put in the time and effort into the things that I am passionate for. Personal & Cultural Identity: 1. Personal Values and Choices – I understand what is important to me: This project has allowed me to recognize my values and what is important in my life. My mom’s business is extremely important to her as it’s something that she is passionate about and worked hard for on her own, and because it’s so important to her, her business has become very important to me as well. My mom is definitely a role model in my life as there’s never been a day where she’s not done something productive. This has motivated me to work harder during this project, and being able to help out with my mom’s business has been one of my goals for a while now and I’m glad that I’m putting my goal into action. No matter how long this project will take me and even if I do need to continue working on it after this course is finished, I’m so happy that I’m a step closer to my goal and I hope that this project will help drive more customers to her restaurant. 2. Personal Strengths and Abilities – I know my strengths and what makes me unique: In every situation, I recognize my strengths and try to apply them as much as I can in any scenario. I’m aware that my strengths are what allow me to get my work done and it’s also what will help me to complete this project. Some of my strengths include being patient, self-motivated, and having a positive attitude. I’m a fairly patient individual and I always try to look at the bright side of situations. Being patient and having a positive attitude is important for this project because not everything will work out perfectly as I envision it to. Developing the skills and knowledge that are necessary for creating a menu like picking up on cutting techniques has also required a lot of my patience as it certainly did not happen overnight. Not only have I needed to be patient with myself, but I also needed to be patient with the mentors that have helped me. They weren’t always available to help me and this required for me to be patient with them and appreciate the time that they were willing to give. Being self-motivated is also one of strengths and it’s what has allowed me to not give-up and to keep going even when things got difficult. There has been moments during this project where I’ve felt unmotivated because, once again, it wasn’t easy to create a vegan menu from scratch. However, because I’m determined and motivated to complete this project to the best of my abilities, I have been able to get through the challenges that I have been faced with. My Capstone goals between now and December 1st is to continue to set aside some time each week, a minimum of two times a week, to work on my Capstone project and to plan out what I want to accomplish during that week. For example, my goals this week include editing the recipes in order to perform Test #2 (which I have already completed) and to complete Test #2 with the new recipes on Saturday, as well as to evaluate the products to identify what I can improve on for the next test. So far with my Capstone project, I’ve spent a lot of time researching different vegan recipes that fit into the Japanese cuisine, deciding on what dishes I want to create, and writing out and editing the recipes. My goals moving forward are to carry out the tests for the recipes I have chosen and to evaluate them after every test in order to improve the items as I continue with the project; improvements/edits of the recipes can include anything from the taste and/or presentation of the dishes. I’ve had the chance to test each of the recipes once so far, with support from my mom who supervised me during the process and guided me during the moments I had some difficulties. I took a few pictures of the process while I was cooking for evidence as well as what the final dishes looked like as presentation is also extremely important. Once the dishes were created, I tasted the dishes and wrote down my impressions of the dishes, then I got my family to taste the dishes and state their honest opinions on what I can improve on for the next test (this was the evaluation portion of the test). Once the evaluations were over, I edited the recipes based on the feedback I received. This entire process will be carried out for the tests in the future, and I’m hoping to complete at least two more tests (most likely sometime during the weekends) for each of the dishes by December 1st in order to get closer to achieving the perfect recipes.
Specific elements of my project that I will accomplish before the end of the month include Test #1, Test #2, and Test #3. From now until the end of the month, I will continue to be working on editing the recipes/improving the dishes I have chosen to create for my project. The first test for my Capstone project had been completed last week. I cooked all three of the recipes under the supervision of my mom who was present to support me if I ran into any problems during the process. During the process of cooking each dish, a few pictures of the procedures were taken, and after I finished cooking, the dishes were evaluated by my family members and myself. This process will be repeated as I continue to work on each test, and it will all be documented on the Evidence & Artifacts page on my website, including the recipes, pictures of each dish, and the evaluations. Before the end of the month, Test #1, #2, and #3 should be documented on the Evidence & Artifacts page of my website to demonstrate how my project is coming together so far and what I have accomplished. By the time I have completed Test #3, I should be able to make an estimate or have a rough idea of how many more tests I need to proceed with until I’m ready to wrap-up the testing portion of the project. I will accomplish my goals and stay on task by setting my Capstone project as one of my top priorities for each week and this will be ensured by writing it down on my weekly to-do list. Constantly having my Capstone project written down somewhere where I check regularly will prevent me from procrastinating and will remind me to take some time working on it each week. Moreover, I can write specific dates on my to-do list and list what I have to accomplish on each day in order for this project to progress smoothly. For this week’s to-do list, I wrote a note to myself to update my website by posting the evaluations of Test #1 and the recipes for Test #2 before the day of Test #2. To ensure that I went through with completing Test #2 in this week, I arranged a time with my mom where she and I were both available so that I didn’t make excuses for myself to not do it. Setting a specific day and time for my project with my mom almost felt like I was making an “appointment”, and if I didn’t show up for something that I asked my mom to help me with, then I would be wasting her time. Arranging a schedule for my mom and I to work on my Capstone project is another method that I can use to stay on task and to accomplish my goals because it will make it a lot harder for me to avoid doing the work, as I mentioned previously. Knowing that my mom is willing to take the time out of her own day to help me with my project will prevent me from postponing the test days, and my mom will also act as a good reminder if I ever do forget. I will provide evidence of my progress and learning by keeping the Evidence & Artifacts page on my website up to date whenever I work on my project. Since there will be at least two tests that will be done by the end of the month, I will post a minimum of two times each week on the Evidence & Artifacts page during this time. The posts will include the recipes for each test, evaluations that were made after each test, and a few pictures that demonstrate the cooking process of the dishes. In relation to my progress, the Evidence & Artifacts page on my website currently displays the recipes which I was first considering, the recipes for Test #1, pictures (evidence) to Test #1 for all of the dishes (tofu katsu, crispy tofu yaki udon, tofu katsu curry), the evaluations of each dish for Test #1, and the recipes that were edited for Test #2. At the end of the week when I carry out Test #2, I will post the pictures (evidence) of the cooking process for each dish and will also post the evaluations of each dish which will state what I can improve/fix for the next test. Then I will tailor the recipes for Test #3 and post it onto the Evidence & Artifacts page. After, I will go through the same process for Test #3 as I did for Test #2; pictures and evaluations of each dish will be posted. By the end of the month, I’m expecting for there to be recipes displayed for each test (Test #1, #2, and #3), pictures of the cooking processes of each test, and evaluations of each test. The people in my life who I can look to for help include my mom and her employees. Since I will be creating my project for my mom’s restaurant, she’s the person that I can look to the most when I need help since she has a lot of knowledge and experience with cooking as well as crafting menus. Due to her knowledge and experience, she will be able to give me a lot of great advice along the way and provide me with her input as she observes me putting this project together. As I worked through my research (which consisted of looking through different vegan recipes that fit into the Japanese cuisine), if I came across ingredients that I was not familiar with or wasn’t sure if they were vegan friendly, I was fortunate enough to simply ask my mom as it was more convenient for me. For example, during the research process, I was looking at a yaki soba (Japanese noodle stir-fry dish) recipe and was thinking of incorporating crispy tofu in the dish instead of a meat. I had thought that the noodles used in this dish were vegan friendly, however, after I told my mom about my idea with this recipe, she notified me that the noodles are in fact not vegan as they contain eggs. I was a little discouraged when I found out, however, my mom suggested that I could create a dish called yaki udon instead which is also a noodle stir-fry dish and can be enjoyed by vegans. If it weren’t for my mom’s suggestion, it probably would’ve taken me a longer time to learn that yaki soba noodles aren’t vegan and I would’ve had to do my research again. During moments like this when I’m stuck and don’t know what my next step should be, my mom is an excellent source of help as she’s been through the challenges of creating new dishes for her restaurant and I will probably run into some of the same problems that she has faced before. Other people in my life that I can look to for help are my mom’s employees. My mom’s employees are also people who have a lot of experience with cooking as most of them have been working at her restaurant for at least 3 years and they’ve gained their knowledge and experience from previous restaurants they’ve worked at as well. Aside from my mom, I can reach out to them when I want their inputs or suggestions of what I should do to improve certain aspects of the dishes that I create. Having various people that I can ask to project their thoughts while I create my project will allow me to consider all points of views and might get me to think of new ideas that I won’t have thought of on my own.
Three specific sources of information that I plan to rely on to conduct my research include my mom, vegan blogs, and a vegan Instagram account that I follow. My mom is a great source that I can go to for information because she already has several recipes that she’s constructed for her restaurant that I can possibly use by substituting the non-vegan ingredients. For example, the yaki soba with chicken, beef, and seafood are already existing items on the menu, therefore, I can ask her for the recipe and switch the ingredients that can’t be consumed by vegans (I.e. meat and oyster sauce). It’s also very convenient for me to get my information/recipes from my mom because she’s someone that I know I can trust as she has a lot of knowledge about cooking and it’s very quick to get the information that I need from her since I see her every day. The downside of using my mom as a source to get my information is that she is not a vegan so there might be times where she won’t be able to help me think of alternatives for the non-vegan ingredients that are included in her recipes. Switching out a single ingredient can sometimes affect the entire dish and the taste of it, but this is something that will take some time and that I will need to experiment with as I begin testing the recipes. Vegan blogs (I.e. biancazapatka.com and lazycatkitchen.com) are also a great source to retrieve information from because the posts are very detailed/a lot of time was put into writing these blogs, and they often provide the readers with tips and tricks that can be used in each step. Moreover, they’re reliable because all of the blogs I have viewed are focused specifically on posting vegan recipes, so I won’t need to worry about substituting any of the ingredients. The downside of vegan blogs is that sometimes they provide too much background information/stories about why they chose this recipe rather than providing detailed information of the recipe itself, which can make it difficult to navigate the procedure on these blog posts. Moreover, due to the excess background information, the recipe and methods are not as detailed as I would like them to be. The third source I’ve used for my research is the Instagram account, @okonomikitchen. This account is a great source because majority of the recipes are focused on vegan Japanese dishes that are easy to follow and look very appetizing, and she posts short tutorials to demonstrate the procedures. As I look through the posts on her account, I can get inspiration of what ingredients I can use for substitutions as well as different plating techniques since all her dishes are very aesthetically pleasing. A downside to her account is that her posts/captions aren’t super informative and detailed, which makes it a little difficult to understand what’s going on in the short videos she’s posted. The videos are also not super informative as she doesn’t speak throughout the videos and there aren’t any captions in the videos to explain the steps. However, there won’t be any particular recipes of hers that I will be using since I’m only using her account to look at the various substitution options that are possible. In terms of my progress with my Capstone project, I would say that I definitely have a clearer idea compared to last week of how I should move forward with the project. A step of my project which I’ve been able to accomplish is having found time to sit down with my mom in order to talk about which dishes I will be creating. I’ve gone over the recipes that I had decided on with my mom and broke down every ingredient and procedure of the recipes with her. During this process, my mom has helped me to simplify some of the instructions in ways that made it easier for me to understand, and I also typed out all of the recipes on a separate document so it would be easier for me to navigate and edit them along the way. The recipes that I’ve decided on include tofu katsu, tofu curry katsu, and crispy tofu yaki udon, which I’ve all mentioned in last week’s blog post as well. In the beginning of my Capstone project, I was wanting to create 6-10 new items to be added on to the menu of Sango Japanese Restaurant. However, after discussing what I had envisioned with my mom, she suggested that it would be a better idea to focus on creating three dishes first, and if those dishes are successful, then I can create more in the future. She recommended that in the time I’m given for my project, I should focus on releasing three amazing dishes that have been perfected to see if customers are willing to purchase these items. As I’ve now fully decided on what recipes I will be working on and had my mom approve of the dishes, the next step is to go to the grocery store with my mom to get some of the ingredients that we may not already have at our house or my mom’s restaurant. Going to the grocery store with my mom will be useful as she knows which brands have the best products of what I’m looking for and with the produce items, she will be able to help me pick out the freshest ingredients. An obstacle which I have encountered so far in my project was when my mom and I were discussing how many dishes I would focus on during this project. We ended up getting into a small argument as I wanted to create 6 dishes while she said that it would be best to focus on 3. I was frustrated because in my mind, I had thought that releasing as many items as I was able to would be better. However, my mom reminded me of quality over quantity and explained how she would rather have 3 delicious new dishes on the menu than 6 that are just decent. Another challenge I have faced is moving onto the next step of my project. I’ve mentioned this before but finding a time where my mom and I are both available to buy the ingredients I need and to start testing the recipes has been challenging as we have other priorities aside from this project. However, this is something that I will need to discuss with my mom in order to figure out a date that works for the both of us. The draft proposal has helped me to have a better idea of the purpose of my Capstone project, how it will work out, and the steps that I will need to take along the way. The draft proposal pushed me to really think about why I wanted to create a vegan menu for my mom's restaurant, and after I figured out my purpose, I felt much more motivated and excited to begin this project. It allowed me to reflect on my life and what I want to get out of this project; to make vegan customers to feel included when experiencing Japanese cuisine, while helping out with my mom's business at the same time. As mentioned in the draft proposal, it's always been a goal of mine to be able to help my mom's business become more successful, and the draft proposal has made me realize how great of an opportunity this is for me. I have the chance to be creative and have fun, while also learning about the process of creating products for a business. The draft proposal has also allowed me to think of some of the obstacles that I could run into during the process of my project, such as not being able to decide on a date/time to hold a meeting with my mom's employees for their feedback. If it weren't for the draft proposal, I would've gone into this project blindly without having any ideas of the problems that I could encounter as I work on putting this project together. Some strategies that I plan to use to keep myself on task and organized with my project is to create checklists of what I want to achieve every time I set aside time to work on this project. For example, for a certain day I can decide that I want to test out a certain number of recipes, and decide to test the remaining recipes on another day to divide the work. Simply setting goals for what I want to get done on that day can help me to stay on task with my project and make progress. Another strategy that I can use is by writing a journal for every time I test out a recipe, and write down things I should consider in the future when I test it again. In every journal, I will keep track of the trial number (i.e. "Test 1") as well as the name of the product of which I was experimenting with, and then write things that went well in the test and things that didn't go well/future considerations. Keeping up with the blog posts and assignments related to my capstone project is another method of keeping myself on task. Through writing the blog posts, I will not only be communicating to the teacher of my progress and what I've learned so far with my project, but I'll also be keeping myself updated as well as I reflect on what I have achieved with my Capstone project so far. For example, even with this blog post, I've recognized that I can begin to test out some of the recipes as I've done some research and have a few ideas of what I might want to create. Some obstacles that I still need to overcome to be successful with my project is figuring out a time where I can begin creating in the kitchen. Managing my time has been a little difficult recently since I have other responsibilities outside of school like work and volunteering. Moreover, finding a time where both my mom and I are free can be a challenge as she's usually very busy and has other responsibilities even on her days off. This could make it difficult for me to decide what days I can spend time working on this project, and this is an obstacle that I'm still trying to overcome on this journey. Another obstacle that I still need to overcome is gathering all of the materials I need to begin testing recipes in the kitchen. This obstacle is somewhat related to the previous one, however, purchasing/gathering the materials is another obstacle that I need to overcome because I need to consider the materials that I need and when I will have the time to go to the grocery store with my mom as she is my source of transportation. To overcome this obstacle, I will need to create a list of what I will need for the recipes which I will be testing, and I will also need to speak to my mom about when she's available to come with me on my visit to the grocery store.
So far with my Capstone project, I have completed the draft proposal as well as most of the research component related to my project. The draft proposal has allowed me to have a better idea of how the process of my Capstone project will look like as well as obstacles that I may run into and what I anticipate for my final project to look like. Creating a menu is a long process and can take several months. There’s a possibility that I won’t get to the point of beginning to craft the actual menu since it will take a lot of patience and dedication to perfect the recipes. I have mentioned this in my draft proposal as something to keep in mind because I really don’t know how far I will be able to get with this project, but not knowing what could happen is making me look forward to what I will be able to accomplish within the given time. The research component is another step of my project that I have completed. I’ve investigated some existing vegan recipes that fit into the Japanese cuisine and have a few products already decided including tofu katsu, tofu curry katsu, and crispy tofu yaki udon. Katsu is a Japanese dish that usually consists of deep-fried chicken made with panko breadcrumbs placed on top of rice. However, I will be substituting the chicken with tofu to make the dish vegan friendly. Yaki udon is a Japanese stir fry dish that consists of thick, white noodles made from wheat flour called udon. The noodles are usually fried along with meat and vegetables, but to make it vegan, I will be using tofu for this item as well. Some things that I have learned so far through my research is that there are a lot of various alternatives for food items that vegans don’t choose to eat. For example, two of the recipes that I’ve looked at created vegan fish (tuna) by marinating tomatoes and watermelon. As someone who knows what tuna tastes like and what the texture of it is like, I was a little skeptical of how using tomatoes and/or watermelon might turn out when compared to actual fish. However, when I looked at the photos of the finished products, you wouldn’t even be able to notice if the vegan fish was made from tomatoes or watermelon. Seeing the images made me intrigued and I’m so curious to what it would taste like and if it would be even remotely close to actual fish. Adding on, I’ve also learned that vegans use a lot of sauces and processes like marinating to give their food flavour. Even with the tomato or watermelon “tuna”, simply leaving them as what they are will be what I’m guessing to be an unpleasant experience as there will be no flavours to it. Adding seasoning, sauces, and marinating the unique alternatives will allow for each bite to be much more flavourful and delicious. Some things that still need to be completed with my Capstone project is deciding what recipes I will test first and when I will test them. This requires me to find a time within my schedule where I have time to be in the kitchen, as well as my mom’s schedule since she will need to supervise and support me through the first few tests. Before I start cooking in the kitchen, it’s also probably a good idea to go over the recipes with my mom and ask for her input and approval as it’s her business. I will also need to discuss with my mom about how many items will be added onto the menu as I’m planning for around 6 items to be added, however, this number may fluctuate after I have a discussion with my mom and/or through the process of my project. Another step of my project that still needs to be completed is getting my mom and her employees to review the items that I create. Getting their feedback is important because considering different opinions is always a smart choice and they’re people who have experience and more knowledge about cooking than I do. If I end up getting to the point of perfecting the recipes, another step would be to take pictures of some of the perfected products (to add to the menu) and to create/design a draft of the menu, with approval from my mom, to send to the company who will be printing them out. Although I won’t necessarily be making the menus myself, I would still need to communicate to the company how my mom and I are expecting for them to turn out. This is a process that will also take some time as the company has many other projects that they're working on, and there could also be edits that might be made along the way.
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