My senior project at Freestyle is now the 3rd project which I have done where it involves food. My focus in this project was to work on creating a dish of my own.

One day I craved ravioli so much I said to my mom, "Mom I want ravioli." She tells me that she would love to have ravioli again but my sister can't eat the store bought ones because they have cheese normally. My sister is lactose intolerant so she cannot have any dairy products at all, especially cheese. It became almost like a mission for me to create a ravioli that my sister could eat and enjoy as well as everyone else in the family. I found some recipes online and looked at the ingredients. I went to nearby stores, like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, to pick up different lactose free cheeses. I ended up picking out rice mozzarella and soy parmesan cheeses. After I had made this filling a few times I became more used to what flavors they offered and what I needed to add and take away. The cheese and spinach ravioli has been my favorite ever since I got the flavors and texture right. The picture at the top of this page is actually the cheese and spinach filling that my friends rolled together and started wrapping.

I started off trying to make the perfect dough, with a filling with the right flavors. I almost completely mastered the dough aspect but have been working with the filling for quite a while. I have tried doing a cheese and spinach filling, a meat filling and lastly an onion and mushroom filling. I had more practice with making the cheese and spinach ravioli and have created more flavors that give it a subtle kick as well as smooth flavors.

This is my second year at Freestyle Academy and I have enjoyed every minute of it. For a few years now I have been fascinated with cooking. I took a class last year at Los Altos High School with Betty Ewing. She has taught me a lot of valuable keys within the Culinary Industry. In her class I have had to make my own dishes and present them in such a way that it doesn't look sloppy. During the documentary unit at Freestyle I studied culinary arts. Going to different culinary institutes and interviewing their chefs I gained alot of knowledge about what it takes to succeed. When working as a chef one must have a certain amount of knowledge, skill, and passion. Without passion you wont be able to reach the full potential of a chef. Yes you can cook and work in a kitchen and do a decent job, but if you don't have a love for what you are doing then you will not be able to reach the level of the top chefs.

Special thanks for Sabrina, Jessica and Tiffany for helping me with making the best Ravioli and for letting me take pictures of them.

Thanks everyone! ~Deanna