Devon's Top Recipe Picks

By: Devon Benzaia

For today’s article, I made Tastefully Simple’s Absolutely Almond Pound Cake recipe. 

For this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• Absolutely Almond Pound Cake mix

• 1 cup water

• ¾ cup melted butter

• Pan grease

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Step 2: Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. 

Step 3: Combine the mix, water, and butter together in a large bowl. Take special care to not overmix once the batter is smooth, or else it will become lumpy again.

Step 4: Spread in the greased pan.

Step 5: Bake for 50-55 minutes and let it cool for 1 hour. (This recipe should make at least 10 servings depending on how you cut it).

Review: The recipe is super easy to follow, but I don’t recommend you trying this out unless you love rich desserts, especially ones that taste like almond or coconut. I forgot to take an after picture but it comes out looking like a loaf of bread and tastes like fluffy cake. This recipe is definitely a 10/10 if it fits your palette. Super delicious!

NJ Election 2021

 

By: John Stracco

Tomorrow, Tuesday November third, is election day. Unlike most states across the country, which typically experience an off election the year after a Presidential election and do not elect any state or federal officers, New Jersey will have its gubernatorial election as well as elections for all state house and senate representatives. Incumbent democrat Phil Murphy will face off against republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli in tuesday's election. While many could argue that an election this year is pointless, it can actually speak to a much larger political landscape of the country.

It is expected that on a statewide level Phil Murphy will easily win. However, the down ballot races can provide insight into the state of the country and its approval of the first year of the Biden Administration. This is especially notable in swing districts. Here the independent voters can and will swing an election in one side's favor. If the decisive group, that overwhelmingly voted for Biden one year ago, stays with democrats then it is clear evidence that they, and a majority of the country, approves of the job the president is doing. If the down ballot races showed republican gains in swing districts, then that means the majority if the country disapproves of the Biden administration.

Furthermore, the political sentiment of the country is a sign of what's to come. Next year are the 2022 midterms, and the local elections here in New Jersey can help experts “predict” the state of the country next year. Election day is a sacred democratic right in our country and everyone has the right to participate in our democratic process. Even though this year’s election  is an off cycle it is still extremely important that everyone who can vote votes.