Successful sweets
By: Carissa Wiens
When I was growing up, baking was my jam. I loved making cupcakes and cookies and giving them away to people. But as I’ve grown up, I’ve favoured cooking over baking. To me it seems like there are so many more options with flavours and textures in cooking, plus I love my vegetables, and I love not having to follow a recipe exactly as it is.
But yesterday, I baked. After watching the episode of Chef’s Table, featuring Christina Tosi (creator of Milk Bar), I was inspired to get in touch with my sweet tooth, so I made donuts. It turns out that using yeast is not as complex as some make it out to be and following a recipe to the tee isn’t the worst thing in the world. And if I do say so myself, the result was spectacular. Since I excelled at donuts, I’ll tackle croissants next week. Stay tuned.
Trampling on paradise
By Aleister Gwynne
I am sure a lot of us would like to travel the world and see its wonders, but in the modern age such mass tourism has consequences. We are treated to sights like Mt. Everest covered in litter, or the Eiffel Tower always being so jam-packed you can barely get in. Visiting places like these is a valuable experience for anyone. It creates cherished memories and enables one to gain a greater understanding of the world that books, film, and the internet cannot adequately convey. Yet in the act of visiting some secluded island paradise, I draw that place and the people who live there further into the world I seek to get away from. In doing so, I fear I may be ruining the experience of those who come after me, and possibly the lives of the locals as well. As in physics, the mere act of observation changes what is observed. Before visiting that “unspoiled” part of the world, ask yourself if it is worth degrading that place a bit so you can have the experience of it. The world is a cake — you cannot have it and eat it too.
The economy is not your friend
By: Darien Johnsen
The Wet’suwet’en movement has a lot of people concerned about the economic harm it has caused. People have been saying that struggling single mothers who need to pay their bills can’t get to work because of the blockades, and that the Wet’suwet’en Nation under the elected leader system really needs the jobs Coastal GasLink (CGL) will supply with this pipeline project. Here’s the thing: the economy is not your friend. This economy that is causing all these people to suffer and struggle is the same one that the hereditary leaders and other demonstrators are fighting against. The only argument for this pipeline is an economic one, and it’s a desperate argument about how struggling people need it. This is the same economy that’s been marginalizing Indigenous communities for hundreds of years. Why is it that so many people don’t care about struggling single moms and jobless Indigenous people until they can use these people as leverage to try and denounce the Wet’suwet’en movement? It sounds like a lot of people in this country need to wake up and look around at the reality of our economy — it is designed to work against us.
Seductive shoulders
By: Andrea Sadowski
I am currently doing my global development studies (GDS) internship in India, and let me tell you I did not pack the right clothes. First of all, all of January until the middle of February was cold — much colder than I ever expected India to be. I shivered in my light jackets all day until I could come home and sit directly in front of my heater to thaw. Thankfully it has started to get warmer, and I can actually leave the house without draping myself in a blanket. However, because of the conservative culture here I have to constantly find creative ways to cover my seductive shoulders from the lustful male gaze. It makes me reminisce of when I worked at a Mennonite summer camp near Cultus Lake, or when I served as a missionary in South America and needed to cover every inch of skin possible, because God forbid a boy would see my kneecaps and become aroused. I understand that I have to be respectful of the culture I reside in, but I am dreading the sweltering heat that is awaiting me in May and the unruly sweat stains that will come with it.
Illustrations: Kelly Ning/The Cascade
Darien Johnsen is a UFV alumni who obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with double extended minors in Global Development Studies and Sociology in 2020. She started writing for The Cascade in 2018, taking on the role of features editor shortly after.
She’s passionate about justice, sustainable development, and education.
Andrea Sadowski is working towards her BA in Global Development Studies, with a minor in anthropology and Mennonite studies. When she's not sitting in front of her computer, Andrea enjoys climbing mountains, sleeping outside, cooking delicious plant-based food, talking to animals, and dismantling the patriarchy.