Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

My first love is writing, but my true love is cooking. One of the things I missed while being in college was cooking meals not only for myself but for the people I love most. Every time I cook a meal, I do my best to incorporate so much love into it so that when people eat my food, they feel a sense of warmth and comfort. So, to express how much I love cooking, here are some of my favorite dishes I enjoy cooking at home! 

  1. Pastelitos  

Pastelitos originated in Cuba. This baked pastry is usually filled with sweet and savory ingredients that bring flavor to the dish. I first made this dish with my mom when I was younger. We would sit at our wooden kitchen table and fill the orange wrappers with our filling that had seasoned ground beef and potatoes in it. When I would hear the oven beep signaling that they were done, I always got so excited to enjoy the warm taste of the filling along with hearing the crunch of the outer shell when I took that long-awaited first bite.  

  1. Sweet Potatoes  

Every Thanksgiving, I would always ask my dad if he was making his famous sweet potatoes. Instead of saying he would, he decided that I should make them for our family this time. Now, understand that I was very nervous because I wanted to make these potatoes as good as my dad makes them. The first thing that I did was cut them up into large cubes and I knew I had to cut as many potatoes as possible because as the “big back” of the family, I knew I was going to eat a lot of these. Then, I filled up our large, stainless-steel pot with the cut-up potatoes and water and brought them to the stove to boil them. When they started to boil, I put a cup and a half of sugar and a tablespoon of cinnamon and nutmeg and began to stir them. The aroma that erupted from the pan was so divine that I felt like I was in another world. Rest assured, all those potatoes were eaten by the end of the night.  

  1. Spicy Ramen 

Have you ever gotten those midnight cravings where you know you want something but have no idea what to make? Yeah, that was me on the night I decided to make spicy ramen. Let me set the scene. You see Olivia sitting in her bed and all of a sudden, she hears this vile sound come out of nowhere. Turns out, that sound was her stomach. Since I had ramen sitting in my room at home, I knew what I wanted to make. I rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a pan and got to cooking. I threw in a tablespoon of butter, a tablespoon of minced garlic, some cayenne pepper, paprika and crushed red pepper flakes. Once that simmered, I added my cooked ramen noodles and added a little bit of hot sauce and a tad bit of seasoning from the seasoning packet. For making spicy ramen at home for the first time, I think I did well since I licked the bowl clean.  

The way I look at it, cooking is like writing. You put things together to create something that is unique to who you are as an individual. In this case, I cook to create something that will make people happy, even if they are going through the hardest of times. Because when I create something, I always make it with love.  

Olivia Francis is a second-year member of the Her Campus at SBU chapter. She oversees the site’s culture, entertainment, and wellness verticals on the site, including mental health, relationships, TV shows, and movie coverage. Olivia is currently a second-year student majoring in Communications, Social Justice & Advocacy at St. Bonaventure University. Beyond Her Campus, Olivia has been published in many anthropologies over the years through an organization called Young Writers. She is also one of the leading coordinators for SBU's Break The Bubble. In her free time, Olivia enjoys writing poetry and short stories, along with taking walks while listening to her favorite music genres on Spotify such as Pop or R&B. One of her goals is to travel the world someday and explore new foods and customs. An interesting fact about Olivia is she is not only the first college gen student but, she is the first female in her family to go for a higher education.