Evan Barber | WSPN

Macaroni and cheese is the perfect comfort food. Try it in honor of Mother’s day!

My mom is always the first to admit that cooking is not exactly her thing, but a few weeks ago she made an amazing batch of mac and cheese that deserves some recognition.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I feel that this is the perfect opportunity to share this recipe with you.

There are an endless number of recipes for mac and cheese, and honestly I find most of them to be perfectly comforting and delicious.

What makes this recipe special is the fact that it is super quick and easy to make, and it uses Velveeta cheese as opposed to cheddar or other cheeses that are more commonly used.

If you’ve never tried Velveeta, I especially encourage you to try this recipe because it is a really delicious way to use it. (It works great in scrambled eggs too!)

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
3/4 lb pasta (I recommend pipette-it holds the sauce really well.)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk 1 tablespoon flour
1/4 package Velveeta cheese (about 4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Boil pasta with 1 teaspoon salt until tender. Melt butter and milk over medium heat in saucepan. Whisk in flour until dissolved.
Add cheese and stir frequently over low heat until melted. Stir in garlic powder and salt. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Stir and serve.

Evan Barber | WSPN

Take a break from studying for AP exams by baking a batch of Oreo chocolate chip cookies.

I stared at the picture longingly for a solid three minutes until I realized that I could easily put my Googling powers to use and get this recipe. I typed in something truly intelligent, “chocolate chip cookies with Oreos inside,” and was extremely excited to see that the same picture I had just been mentally indulging myself with was the first result with a recipe underneath it.

The best part was that when I clicked on the link, I found myself looking at another cooking blog. I began looking through the site and reading the comments left by the readers who had already made and tried the cookies.

I clearly didn’t need any convincing to make these cookies, but after reading the comments my hands were itching to begin.

If you know my family, you would know that having cookies in the house, let alone Oreo cookies is a rarity, so it put a minor speed bump in the process.

After obtaining the Oreos, I began the process of the cookies, which was extremely simple.

All you have to do is make chocolate chip cookie dough and then wrap it around an Oreo.

If you are feeling especially lazy, you could also buy a roll of chocolate chip cookie dough and use that, although that’s not as fun. The recipe says that it makes 24 cookies, but I only ended up having enough to make eight the first time and 12 the second time.

While wrapping the cookies, I realized that if you don’t want the cookies to be super sized, it’s easiest to flatten a piece of cookie dough and then wrap that around the cookie. I found myself not so much wrapping, but rolling the dough around in my hand to form a ball that completely covered the cookie.

Just a small warning for when you make these cookies: they are HUGE and when I say huge, I mean like four times the size of a normal chocolate chip cookie. The cookies were a tremendous hit though. When I pulled out them out at school, I was literally bombarded with people asking for them, so I highly suggest you try out this recipe.

Enjoy!

Evan Barber | WSPN

Spring sports teams are gearing up for their final month of the regular season.

May means that for most of us, there are less than two months left in school, and for seniors, only one. It also means that the regular season for spring sports is in its final month. The seasons are starting to shape up for teams as they prepare for the month ahead.

Girls tennis has hit a little bit of a funk right now, losing their last four, but with half the season left, there is plenty of time to turn it around. The girls tennis team also hosted a successful round-robin tournament with donations going to the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund, showing that Wayland athletes have a positive impact both on and off the court.

Boys tennis sits at 6-2, winning their last three. The boys have yet to drop a match to any DCL Small opponents. They hope to keep that up as they face C-C and Weston this week.

Boys lacrosse is having a tough first half of the season. They are 2-6, with a recent 10-9 loss to Waltham. They are in the middle five straight road games. They have split the first two.

Let me just say there have been some funky things going on the with schedules this year as far as home or away games. Check Warrior Scores to see for yourself.

Girls lacrosse continued to stay hot, winning all three games last week by a combined score of 49-11. This team is legit, and if they keep it up, who knows where they’ll end up.

Boys volleyball is quietly an impressive 5-4. As I’ve said before, this team has no seniors, so it’s a kind of trial by fire, but the team as a whole is gaining invaluable experience.

Softball got their first win of the year against Weston yesterday, 9-8. It was their first game of the year in the DCL small, they have two more games this week against fellow small opponents.

The baseball team got two wins last week, and we notched our third yesterday. We are currently 3-6 overall and 2-0 in the DCL Small. Our game on Wednesday will be for first place in the DCL small, and has huge implications for the league title.

As always, check Warrior Scores for the latest. Enjoy the last month of the regular season and the waning days of school. Hopefully with May some nice warm spring weather will come.

Evan Barber | WSPN

Looking for a quick and easy dessert for a friend's house? Try Carolyn's lemon squares.

I always end up looking toward the standard items: chocolate chip cookies, brownies and even the occasional pie. One dessert that invariably slips my mind are lemon squares; I don’t know why because they are so yummy and probably one of the easiest desserts to make.

I know I say this all the time, but I really love simple and delicious desserts. I think many people avoid making lemon squares because they think the process is harder than it truly is. Lemon squares can often be associated with lemon curd or lemon meringue pie, which usually require a thickening process on the stove.

Lemon squares are very low maintenance and don’t require this step. If you’ve never made them, I encourage you to give this recipe a try. Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Carolyn Jones

Lemon squares are a quick and easy snack for anybody looking for a treat.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
½ cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon double-acting baking powder
2 slightly beaten eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Sift flour and confectioners in small bowl. Stir in butter and combine. Press onto a greased 8×8 inch baking dish. Bake 20 minutes, or until crust is slightly golden.

Meanwhile combine granulated sugar, baking powder, eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Pour oven warm crust and bake again for 25 minutes. Let cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes, and then cut into squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Evan Barber | WSPN

With the spring season in full swing, seniors are fighting the battle against senior slump in their academics and extracurricular activities.

Our team is 0-5. We suffered a tough first loss to Maynard, 2-1, in the bottom of the seventh inning (we only play seven innings). All of our other games have gotten away from us, but we’ve played some solid innings, and when we put it together, we’ll be fine. We play three games this week and because of the rain, they are all in a row, culminating with our first game against a DCL Small opponent, Weston, on Friday.

The girls softball team is also searching for the elusive first win; they are 0-5. They have a tough upcoming schedule against DCL Large opponents. They might not get the results they hope for in these games, but hopefully they can learn from them and put a sound game together.

Boys lacrosse is off to a slow start too, but they have captured their first victory. They sit at 2-5. The boys seem to be lacking some team chemistry and are trying to fill the holes left from last year’s senior class, from which five players are playing in college. They have an upcoming stretch of five consecutive road games that should determine what the season will be like.

Both boys and girls tennis have enjoyed solid starts; the boys sit at 3-1 and the girls at 3-2. Each team has two more matches until they start the DCL Small schedule.

Boys volleyball has already played seven matches this season, and they sit at 4-3. This is a very young team, and they will gain some invaluable experience from this season regardless of their final record.

Girls lacrosse is off to an impressive 4-1 start. However, that one loss was against DCL Small opponent Concord-Carlisle. I hope that loss doesn’t hurt their chances at the Small title. The girls team has a lot of talent this year and could do some big things this upcoming season led by senior captains Rachel Massicotte, Bailey Morgan and Jess Greenwood.

Now as I said earlier, it is tough to keep up with work during senior spring, and some athletes feel the same about sports. This is why some seniors refuse to even try to play a spring sport. Simply put, they don’t want to put in the time or effort, and that’s perfectly fine. The tricky part is when seniors who are on sports have those feelings.

It is especially tough for seniors who make tournament. Most of the time, the seniors’ school year is already over when they’re in tournament. And depending on how far their team goes, they may have already graduated, yet seniors are supposed to show up every day for their team.

It’s an interesting situation, and one would hope that a team member, particularly a senior, would be dedicated enough to the team for such a tournament run, but that’s not always the case. I’ve seen it and experienced seniors giving up on the team in a way. I bet it will be tough, but I certainly don’t plan to slump on baseball. The only real solution I see would be to change when the playoffs are, but the MIAA already has enough trouble finding good refs or umps, so I don’t think that’s going to happen.

The spring season is off and running. For a glimpse over break, it felt like summer. Hopefully that weather comes back, and we get rid of this gloomy rain, so we can enjoy the sun! But don’t forget the sunscreen! As always check Warrior Scores for the latest.

Ellen Barber

Capture the spring spirit with this bunny shaped cake.

This week, I decided to try out my decorating skills and attempted to make a cake that wasn’t just the classic two-layered circle. It didn’t quite turn out like a Buddy Valastro masterpiece, but it was pretty good, considering my lack of artistic talent.

In honor of Easter, I choose to make the cake in the shape of a bunny head. I poured my cake batter into two 8” circle pans and while I waited for them to bake, I began to brainstorm about how I would go about decorating this cake. I have to admit, I did do a little Googling to help me get the general idea of what to do.

When the cakes were done cooking and cooling, I began to make my creation. I started by cutting one of the circle cakes in half and then shaped the halves so that they looked more like bunny ears. I placed the ears above the other full circle and then proceeded to frost the entire cake using white frosting.

I prefer the taste of homemade frosting to store bought, so here’s a good recipe for vanilla frosting.

I didn’t go too crazy with the decorations: I used two vanilla wafers for the eyes and pink decorating gel to make the nose and the inside of the bunny’s ears pink. It wasn’t perfect, but I wouldn’t consider it a disaster, especially because in the end it still tasted good.

Enjoy!

Evan Barber | WSPN

Senior WSPN Blogger Andrew Herstine reflects on his last season as a Warrior athlete.

Two weeks in to the spring season, and some teams have already started their regular seasons, while others are still preparing for their start.

Boys lacrosse was the first to open the spring season, with their first game against Brookline. The boys lost, 7-4.

Girls lacrosse opened their season Monday against Tantasqua (yeah, you read that right). They won, 15-12.

This spring marks my 12th and final sports season at the high school. During these 12 seasons, I have played a total six sports, two fall sports, two winter sports and two spring sports. I’m proud that I was able to play so many sports, but I’m sad to see it come to end.

I have made countless memories from my experiences with Wayland High School athletics, and regardless of what I do next year, I will always be a Warrior. However, I hope I’m not quite done yet; I still have my first WHS baseball season ahead of me. It gives me a chance to make new friends in a new sport, something that I’ve learned to cherish over the years.

My final season has crept up on me too quickly. I’m starting to realize just how little time I have left at the high school. I plan to make my final season one of my best, although I don’t know if anything can compare to last fall’s soccer season.

It will be weird this summer not getting ready for preseason. I’m coming to realize that one of the things I’ll miss most about high school is playing on teams with my buds. It doesn’t last forever, so enjoy it while you can. Who knows? Maybe you’ll go on a run in tournament and win a state championship.

Good luck to everyone this spring!

For the latest scores check Warrior Scores.

Carolyn Jones | WSPN

Looking for something to warm you up this week? Try Carolyn Jones's fudge pie.

When it comes to warming myself up, I have three tactics: fuzzy socks, my Snuggie and a delicious helping of a warm and gooey dessert, in this case a fudge pie.

I remember stumbling across this recipe in The Joy of Cooking when I had a craving for something chocolaty, decadent and simple.

Luckily for me, this recipe for fudge pie was exactly that, and I was able to make it with ingredients that I already had on-hand at home. I would describe this dessert as a brownie pudding. It is so rich and gooey that it just begs for a scoop of vanilla ice cream to melt over it.

Carolyn Jones | WSPN

Blogger Carolyn Jones suggests adding whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to your fudge pie.

1. It never hurts to make a double batch (it goes quickly).
2. You’ll notice in the recipe below that you need to melt 2 ozs of chocolate. You could do this gently over a double boiler, or I like to do this in 15 second intervals in the microwave. Just be careful not to scorch the chocolate by putting it in the microwave for too long.
3. Whipped cream is an excellent topping.

Preheat over to 325 degrees.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolks (don’t forget to save the whites) and chocolate. Add and mix four and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with salt until stiff peeks are formed. Gently fold egg white mixture into the chocolate batter. Pour into a greased 8-inch pie dish and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Evan Barber | WSPN

Looking for a drink to cool you down this spring? Try Ellen Barber's banana strawberry smoothie.

Like Carolyn wrote in her last blog, the best thing about cooking is the ability to get creative and make it your own. A smoothie has the flexibility to be whatever you want: healthy, sweet or a combination of the two.

Despite my sweet tooth, my favorite kind of smoothie is banana strawberry.

I try to make it taste as tropical as I can, so besides adding banana and strawberries, I also put in a little bit of either vanilla or coconut extract, depending on my mood. Adding only coconut extract tastes a little bland, so I like to add a couple spoonfuls of sugar as well. If you don’t happen to have strawberries in the house, you can add strawberry jelly instead, which may sound gross, but tastes just as good.

The amount of each ingredient you put in all depends on what you like best. I usually put in one banana, 5-6 cut up strawberries, a cup of milk and a splash of vanilla or coconut extract.

Enjoy!

Evan Barber | WSPN

Break out your rackets, sticks and mitts because spring is here.

The boys played their hearts out against Medway, at Harvard, and fell a goal shy of a game at the Garden, 5-4. At times it was sloppy, but the boys left nothing on the ice and gave it all they had. It was a heck of a run for a team that some thought wouldn’t even make the playoffs, let alone win the Section. If this team can stay together, the future looks very bright, they lose only four seniors. They were key seniors, but there is no substitute for the experience the team gained on the run. Great season boys.

So I enjoyed my final day of the off season by watching college basketball, and my bracket is busted. Two fifteen seeds won for the first time ever in an NCAA tournament. It was then that I decided to scrap my bracket, and not look at it again. I wanted to focus on the games, and not who I picked. Granted this happened a little bit sooner than I wanted it to so I’m pulling for the underdogs now. Hopefully the glass slipper will fit through the first weekend.

As I said before the spring season will start this week, and this spring I’ll be doing something for the first time in my high school career, playing baseball. For the first three years I played lacrosse, but this spring I decided to give baseball another try. I often get asked why, and plain and simple it’s just what I wanted to do. I only get one more chance to play baseball, so I figured why not give it a shot? It is my last season, and I am glad that I’m going to spend it playing baseball.

The WSPN sports group will do another In-Depth report on this spring season, be sure to look for it. Until then good luck at tryouts or whatever you choose to do this spring. If the weather keeps like this I hope whatever you do is outside. A new spring scoreboard will be up soon, so check it out to see when your favorite teams are playing, and make it to some games! Let’s hope we can keep the success of this year going.

Evan Barber | WSPN

The boys hockey team won the Division 3 North Sectional Championship against Bedford, 4-1.

The seventh-seeded boys knocked off the top-seeded Bedford, 4-1, to win the Division 3 North section. They will now face Medway, the winner of the South section.

The Warriors struck first when senior captain Evan Barber sniped a shot over the goalie’s left shoulder. Wayland kept the pressure on and added two more goals, to lead 3-0 at the end of the first period. The second period was not as great as the first, but sophomore goalie Ben Boschetto only let one squeak by, and Wayland led 3-1 going into the third.

Freshman Lucas Bastarache sealed the deal with a late third period goal, and Wayland won, 4-1.
I hope the run keeps going; I know I’m not alone when I say that I enjoy watching the boys play, and it’s a blast to cheer them on. Good luck the rest of the way, boys!

Boys basketball fell to Danvers on Tuesday in overtime. It was a heartbreaking loss, but instead of focusing on it, I’ll just say that the boys had a terrific season. There’s another kind of basketball I’d like to talk about.

And that’s March Madness. March Madness is always one of my favorite parts of the year. Nothing comes close to the madness these next three-plus weeks have in store. This coming week is my favorite of them all; the upsets, the cinderella stories, and all of the story lines begin to unfold.

Now what would March Madness be without filling out your own brackets? It only adds to the fun. I just want to start by saying to those who don’t know that the spots that have two teams listed are just play-in games. It does not mean that two teams are playing one.

Here are some tips for filling out your bracket:

1. Fill one out as soon as you can, for whatever reasons. You could pick by mascots, by colors, by location, anything at all. It really all boils down to luck anyway, so don’t worry.
2. Let the initial bracket sit for about 8-12 hours, while you occasionally think about your picks, and make mental notes of changes you should make. Then make those changes.
3. Start to gather “expert” analysis. I put expert in quotes because different people consider some to be experts while others do not. Besides, who is really an expert when it comes to this? They don’t call it madness for nothing. Make changes accordingly.
4. Finally, there are always those games that you could go either way on; you change your pick hourly and nothing can make you certain. Here are some tie breakers you could give a try:

• Pay attention to numbers all day: test scores, the date, when you check the clock, etc. Whatever number you see more often should be your pick
• Rock papers scissors with a friend
• Pick the cooler mascot
• Close your eyes and choose
• Throw darts at your bracket
• Throw two balls to your dog with the teams written on them; whichever one he brings back, choose that one. If you don’t have a dog, use a friend.

Hopefully these tips will help, but just remember, nobody’s perfect, and as long as your champ is still in the field, you have a shot. However, I think the best part of March Madness is putting the brackets aside and just enjoying quality college basketball.

It’s the last week before the start of spring sports, but the school is focused on the hockey team’s run. HOCKEY! Knock’em dead boys.

Carolyn Jones | WSPN

When things don't go your way, you have to improvise. Sometimes settling for green velvet cupcakes isn't so bad.

Sometimes things, including recipes, don’t always go our way. This week, I promised to make my friend red velvet cupcakes for his birthday, so naturally I planned to make them red.

However, I’ve made this recipe several times and always use up the red food coloring, which leaves me with many tubes of green, blue and yellow left over. It was a cold night, and I was exhausted and wasn’t looking forward to driving to the store just for food coloring. I decided to improvise.

Red velvet is a very traditional recipe, and although it calls for a small amount of cocoa powder, it isn’t considered a chocolate cake. The frosting is traditionally cream cheese based, and yes, the cake is usually red.

In my case, the red velvet cupcakes that I ended up making were green.

Carolyn Jones | WSPN

The traditional red velvet cupcakes.

I think it’s important to be creative when you’re cooking or baking, even if you’re following a recipe. Baking recipes can be difficult to alter because a lot of chemistry is involved, but when it comes to new colors or decorations, it is easy to be adventurous.

I guess I was on a cupcake frenzy this week because my mom asked me to make them again for a dinner party she was going to. I asked her to pick up the ingredients that I needed, so of course, she came home with a new box of food coloring. I opened the box up and found a tube of yellow, green, blue … and blue. I had to laugh out loud.

My mom took a look at the tubes on the counter and said, “I guess we’re having turquoise velvet cupcakes this time.”

Red, green or turquoise, this recipe works well every time. The cake is moist, and there is always plenty of extra frosting. I recommend putting an oversized scoop on each cupcake. I really hope you try this recipe because no matter what color, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Enjoy!

Evan Barber | WSPN

Winter finally arrived in time for the state tournaments. The hockey and basketball teams fight for their lives this week against Lowell and Danvers, respectively.

It’s March and it finally feels like winter, does that mean it won’t be spring until June? I hope not, but the winter weather came just in time for the state playoffs. With the girls hockey, boys hockey and boys basketball teams all playing last week, it was a great time to follow Warrior sports.

The girls hockey team got it all started on Wednesday, in Franklin, where they lost, 4-2. It was a great season for the girls who made playoffs this year after not winning once the previous two years. This is exactly what the Wayland-Weston program needed. Even though times were rough, and the team was almost cut, the ladies hung in there, creating a wide open future for years to come.

Fortunately, that was the only loss of the week for the Warriors. Boys hockey played on Thursday, against Swampscott, putting together a three-goal second period which they were able to ride to a 3-1 victory. They followed that victory up with another one against 2nd seeded Nashoba Tech, 2-1, on Sunday. Sophomore Kevin Yun had both of the goals.

Next up for the boys will be Lowell on Thursday in Chemlsford at 8pm.

Boys basketball played their first playoff game Saturday night in a packed Field House, beating Hamilton-Wenham, 59-46. The boys will face 2nd seeded Danvers in Wilmington at 7 on Tuesday. This game is full of story lines. Wayland lost to Danvers in last year’s tournament, and our soccer team knocked off Danvers in the tournament this year. They were the top seed in the North, and have some of the same players on both teams. The game promises to be a good one, with the winner of this game favored to win the Division 3 North Section.

Senior Show is so exhausting it could be considered a sport. If you were wondering, Senior Show will be this Friday and Saturday (at 7pm), tickets will be on sale in the Commons. This promises to be a fun week for Wayland sports, hopefully everyone can make it to a game or two. These teams have worked hard and deserve a solid cheering section, it’s the least we can do. As always, check Warrior Scores for the latest. This week is going to fly by.

Evan Barber | WSPN

For most teams, the winter season is over but for a few teams, their respective state tournaments are just beginning.

February break is over and with it the swim, track, wrestling, alpine ski and girls basketball seasons. The only teams that are still playing are the boys and girls hockey teams and the boys basketball team. The rest of the athletes at Wayland High in the off-season. Here’s what you missed over a busy February break.

Girls basketball closed its season with a loss against Waltham and an overall record of 1-18. Certainly not the season the girls wanted, but with a strong core, including Coach Cupid, returning, the future looks bright for the girls.

Boys basketball won a thrilling game against Waltham last Friday to clinch a share of the DCL small title. They followed that up with a victory over Warwick, Rhode Island, 65-42. The boys are the 3rd seed in the Division 3 North bracket, and will play the winner of (6) Hamilton-Wenham vs. (11) Shawsheen Tech, at home on 3/3 at 7, BE THERE! Give them the home court advantage they earned during the regular season.

Boys hockey ended their season with a 10-7-3 record and are the 7th seed in the Division 3 North Bracket. The will play 10th seeded Swampscott on 3/1 at 8 in Stoneham.

The girls hockey team ended their terrific season at 10-8-2. There are the 22nd seed in the Division 1 bracket and will play 11th seeded Franklin on 2/29 at 8 in Franklin.

Boys and girls indoor track teams had their Division 3 State meet last Friday. Wayland took a total of ten athletes. Both 4 x 200 teams stole the show. The girls team finished 7th overall. I am on the boys 4 x 200 team and even though we were seeded last, came in 12th.

Boys swimming finished their season with a 7th place finish at states. Like girls basketball, the boys swim team has a very bright future, and will only lose three seniors from this year’s team.

Girls swimming recaptured the state title, their sixth in seven years. Congratulations to the girls, who didn’t even win a single event. It was a complete team effort, and the team looks to re-load and continue to add titles to the dynasty.

I wish the best of luck to all the athletes participating this week in the state playoffs. For the third time this season, I would like to call out the fans, and say it’s playoff time baby, go big or go home.

Try to make it to every game you can, it’s fun to support teams throughout the tournament. I’m hoping for some deep runs this season, and I’m sure the teams are looking for some help from us as well. I hope to be writing about three victories next week, if you can’t make the games check Warrior Scores for the latest.

Is that the spring sports season I hear? Or is the winter season not ready to share the spotlight?

Evan Barber | WSPN

The scores were released to colleges a while later and the result was like a shark sniffing
blood in the water. Since the scores were released, I have been flooded with emails and letters.In fact, I made a label in my Gmail account to keep track of how many emails – in the past month, I have received roughly 160 emails.

Of course, emails aren’t that bad. They’re easy to deal with. It’s the letters that are really starting to annoy me. Before I started to get them, I used to kind of complain I never got mail. Well, I’m never going to make that complaint again. My living room becomes flooded with the letters every week before we clean it each weekend.

I actually tried reading a few of the letters – and promptly found that they were a complete waste of time. Seriously, all I learned from each letter was, “Hi! We’re a university!”

Really? It’s not like the word university on the back of the envelope tipped me off or anything.

To quote an old post, “Way to state the obvious.”

This leaves me with the problem of what to do with the letters. Of course, I could just throw them away, but where would be the fun in that? It was suggested to me, then, that I
could use them as wallpaper. Brilliant! My walls will soon be covered in these letters. And of course, I have a plan:

“Let’s see, the crappier colleges will obviously line the bathroom wall, but I think I’ll save the Ivy Leagues for my bedroom.”

In fact, I think I should save the more prestigious universities for a special wall in my room – it would sort of be like the Wall of Shame in the old high school. Of course, since I’m not receiving rejection letters (I’m not there yet), I couldn’t call it the Wall of Shame. Given the content, maybe I could call it the Wall of Banality. Hmm, that doesn’t have quite the same ring.

Well, if any of you have any ideas, feel free to post them in the comments section.

Evan Barber | WSPN

This week is a big week for Wayland sports fans. The boys’ hockey team has a chance to clinch a playoff berth, boys’ basketball will play for the DCL small title on Friday, and boys’ hockey plays a much-anticipated game against Weston this Saturday at Rivers.

Although the last few weeks weren’t cold enough for the ice to freeze, this weekend was, and I was able to play for the first time this season. Now, winter sports like skiing, snowboarding and ice skating are not my strength.

I’ve ice skated a total of five times but that doesn’t stop me from having fun. I can go forwards, and that is about it. I can’t stop or go backwards, so people skate circles around me. But it’s still a lot of fun, so long as Doug Lyons doesn’t put his foot through the ice and end the day’s games.

I was even able to net two goals this weekend, adding two more to my career total, which is now four. Hopefully the winter will continue to be cold so we can get a few more games in on the rink, but there have been talks of moving to roller-hockey. Regardless, BYHL has become my new Sunday Club.

Warrior Recap
By the end of this week, almost all the winter sports will be done or looking towards postseason play. With the winter season coming to a close, here’s a quick look at how teams have done so far.

Girls’ swimming locked up another sectional championship this weekend, but this one had a slightly different feel. The girls are using their depth to their advantage this year rather than having All-American swimmers.

Boys’ swimming had an impressive showing at their sectionals finishing 11th. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams have their state championship meets this weekend.

Boys’ basketball is preparing for the DCL small title game on Friday against Waltham. It’s not actually the title game, but the winner will be the champion of the small. Hopefully we can give the basketball team a solid home court advantage, which has been lacking lately.

Girls’ basketball had another tough week, losing both of their games. With only three left, I think the girls are good for one more win, but hey, I’ve talked to the players and they’re enjoying it – isn’t that all that matters?

Girls’ hockey did something for the first time last week they haven’t done all year: tie. The girls tied both Waltham and a strong Westford Academy team, 1-1. The girls now sit at 10-5-2 and are playing for seeding in the tournament.

Boys’ hockey is still looking to clinch their tournament berth. They need two more points with three games left.

Two wrestlers qualified for All-States this weekend, junior Kevin Kelley (182) and senior John Monahan (285), good luck to them!

This week is a big week for Wayland sports fans. The boys’ hockey team has a chance to clinch a playoff berth, boys’ basketball will play for the DCL small title on Friday, and boys’ hockey plays a much-anticipated game against Weston this Saturday at Rivers.

I would recommend trying to go to any or all the games. Believe it not, spring is around the corner. As always check Warrior Scores for the latest. Enjoy February break!

Evan Barber | WSPN

This soup, however, is not good only when you’re feeling sick. It’s perfect after a cold day in the snow, or just  a cold day. There’s nothing like, after freezing outside, being welcomed into the kitchen by a saucepan on the stove filled with bubbling soup and lifting the top off the pan to be warmed with a cloud of steam and the smell of garlic. It tastes amazing after a long day of skiing, so if you plan on skiing over February break, I suggest you bring a batch of this soup to heat up after a long day in the snow.

Ingredients
1 Tbsp butter
4 garlic cloves minced
3 141/2-oz cans chicken broth
1 9-oz pkg cheese tortellini
¼ cup grated Parmesan
1 141/2 oz can of stewed tomatoes
½ bunch of spinach, stemmed
6 basil leaves, chopped, or 1 tsp dried, crumbled
add additional grated Parmesan if desired

Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over med. heat. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes. Stir in broth and tortellini. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Mix in ¼ cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until tortellini are just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, spinach and basil into soup. Simmer 2 minutes. (Use less garlic if tortellini has garlic in it.)

Enjoy!

(Credit: Evan Barber/WSPN)

So recently, I lost a bet. The stakes of this bet were that the loser had to dress up for Classy Thursday. I hate to dress up.

Now, as you are aware, my fellow blogger Josh wrote about dressing like a prep a few weeks ago. That, along with my distaste towards fancy clothes means that I can’t allow that post to go unanswered.

Now, obviously there is a limit to how much you dress down. Those of you who think wearing what you slept in this past month to school is acceptable (or hygienic), you will not find support here. The same applies to the lovely gentlemen at our school who wear their pants so low their underwear begins to feel exposed and self-conscious. Clearly, their mothers need to give them a refresher course in dressing. Gentlemen, belts go around the waist, not the knees! Any lower, and pants become completely pointless.

But, unless you have a special occasion planned, that doesn’t mean wearing a suit or really nice clothes to school makes you look special. You’re at a public school, not Prepwood Academy. You are not any cooler by looking like a tennis player in the Eisenhower administration. Wearing expensive clothes is an arrogant way to flaunt your wealth. To be fair, it’s not as bad as dressing “ghetto.” We all know those clothes were bought at American Apparel for the combined cost of a used car. Stop having your butler drop you off to school.

But I digress. It’s not just the ghetto look that annoys me. It’s the need to dress in brand-name clothes and plaster more logos on yourself than a NASCAR racer. While more honest than trying to look like you just came off the mean streets (of North Wayland), these clothes are just a way to show off your (parents’) money.

Here, I’ve defined two clear groups: utter slobs and rich preppies. The range in between is very broad. Shower regularly and wear clothes (rather than pajamas) that are designed to see more daylight than a vampire and you’ve cleared slob. If you’re not dressed well enough for the latest meeting of the Top Hats Society, you don’t have to worry about looking like a prep.

Find something in between, and odds are you won’t irritate a large group of people. Let’s be honest: your personality can probably do that.

(Credit: Evan Barber/WSPN)

We lost the Super Bowl, and it sucks.

I may be ready to talk about the Super Bowl a little bit, but it’s all still a little too fresh and all too familiar.

The Patriots 21-17 super loss hurts, and it hurts badly. But looking at the big picture, it might hurt even more.

Boston has no doubt had the greatest run in professional sports history, winning seven championships in all four major sports since 2001.

If it wasn’t clear in September when the Red Sox had their historic collapse, it might be now. The Boston sports dynasty is nearing its end. Now I don’t want to believe it, but it’s very hard to stay positive after such a crushing loss.

I do not have faith in the Patriots organization. There, I said it.

The Patriots, arguably more than any other professional sports team, treat their organization as a business. Everything they do is strictly professional, so it’s no wonder they are among the most hated teams in America.

This year, they overachieved. In my opinion, they were lucky to get as close as they did. Their defense was the main issue, but it should be noted that no one on their offense is getting any younger and they can’t stretch the field. The defense has a lot of bright spots, and with four picks in the first two rounds of the drafts, you’d hope that they’d make an effort to get better, but that’s not how the Pats draft.

When the Patriots work the draft, they stockpile picks. I would be stunned if they drafted and kept all four picks they had in the first two rounds. I would also be shocked if they used those picks on skill positions.

Somehow the Patriots seem to do just enough to win. At times it is respectable, but during other times like now, it makes you wonder what a team that was 22 million dollars under the cap could have done if they had spent more money.

There was one big free agency signing that I can remember, and he was a complete bust, Adalius Thomas. The Pats tried the big name free agent market once, and it didn’t work, so they haven’t gone back since. It could be a painful off-season to watch them attempt to do just enough when they could easily make moves that would push them over the top as a team.

I am certainly a Patriots fan, but I am frustrated with the way they run the organization. To make matters worse, the Patriots were odds on favorites to win the 2013 Super Bowl. Let’s see if they make the correct moves to actually win it next year.

Warrior Recap
Last week was a first for the winter season; every team got at least one win.

Girls’ basketball kept at it, and one day after losing to rival Weston, they beat them at Weston for their first victory of the season. That was the first of a tough four-game road stretch, but I think the girls have at least one more victory left in their season.

Boys’ basketball had an impressive three-win week with wins over Fenway, L-S and Weston. The boys qualified for the state tournament and are now looking to finish strong to get a better seed.

Another team qualified for states last week and that was girls’ hockey. Talk about a complete turnaround. Girls hockey, who went two years without winning, now sits at 10-5 for the year with a three-game win streak.

Both hockey programs are hot right now as the boys too have a three-game win streak. They look to take advantage of a favorable end of season and clinch a playoff birth.

Girls’ swimming took home the DCL title once again with Hallie Cramer, Saya Higano, Molly Pierce and Megan Pierce earning DCL All-Star honors.

The boys team finished fifth at DCLs and junior Doug Curtin was selected as a DCL All-Star.

Next up for the swim teams are the sectional finals this weekend and the state finals the following weekend.

Winter season is winding down, and teams are making the playoff push. Check Warrior Scores for the latest updates.

(Credit: Evan Barber/WSPN)

Food can be broken up into categories based on flavors, textures, origins and spices. My personal favorite category of food cannot be determined by any of those things, it is based purely on personal preference: comfort food.

Every once in a while, we are all entitled to indulge in recipes that will leave us feeling warm and comforted, especially in these winter months. I use the word “indulge” because comfort foods tend not to be so figure-friendly, but sometimes they’re just necessary.

I was browsing my recipe books this week, flipping through pages of beautifully iced cookies, tarts and pies, when I realized that the recipe I needed was sitting right in my cabinet, printed on the back of a package of milk chocolate chips.

The first recipe I ever made without the help of my mom was Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies. As a little kid, I remember standing on a stool, trying my best to stir in the flour without the help of my mom. My arm would get so tired as the batter continued to get thicker and thicker, but I was determined to do it all by myself. I hadn’t made this recipe in years because I always look for something new or fancy when I want to make a dessert, but I soon realized this recipe was just what I needed.

While I started combining the dry ingredients, the memories of making cookies as a child began to surface: the excitement of cracking an egg without leaving behind any shells, the soothing sound the chocolate chips make when they’re folded into the batter, and the excitement that comes from stealing a lick of dough off the spoon.

It is so easy to forget about the recipes that we grow up with, but there is nothing more satisfying and comforting than making the recipes that remind us of being younger and cheer us up on a bad day. I hope this inspires you to make a batch or homemade chocolate chip cookies, or your own comfort food recipe. Enjoy.

Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz pkg.) Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks.

(Credit: Evan Barber/WSPN)

Last weekend, I finally exhaled as the stressful days of mid-terms ended. The weekend provided a nice homework-free break, so I decided to try out a new recipe. Instead of searching through old cookbooks, I found myself Google-ing different types of cookies that would satisfy my sweet tooth.

After scrolling through countless ways to make the classic chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie, I found a more interesting recipe for Mississippi Mud cookies.

These cookies definitely satisfied my chocolate craving. The chocolate based cookies mixed with chocolate chips make them extremely rich. Gooey marshmallows top them off, giving them an extra burst of sweetness.

The recipe was simple and the only problem I had while making them was figuring out how long to bake them. Although it said to keep them in for 10-12 minutes, it took around 15 minutes for them to cook all the way through.

Enjoy!

(Credit: Evan Barber/WSPN)

Midterms are over, and I’m officially in senior spring, awesome. Like the school year, the winter season is past the half way mark, and for some teams it’s already the postseason.

Boys’ and girls’ swimming ended their regular season on Friday with both teams picking up the W. Next up for both teams is the DCL Championship meet this week.

Boys’ basketball had a minor slip up in their quest of defending the DCL Small title. They fell to CC this week at home 56-53.

Girls’ basketball is still searching for a win. They fell to CC as well this week. Having played against the girls in our IBL scrimmages, I think a win is in their near future.

Boys’ hockey had their way with Pope John Paul II yesterday, winning 11-1. Hopefully the boys can keep this momentum for their playoff push.

Girls’ hockey has found themselves in a little bit of slump right now, losing their last four games. Like the boys, they too are looking for a strong postseason push as the season winds down.

The sports section is working on another In-Depth Report, and this time it is about the Wayland-Weston rivalry. I thought it would be interesting to explore the possibility of the two high schools combining. I mean heck, we play against Acton-Boxborough and Lincoln-Sudbury, who are in the DCL Large, and Concord-Carlise, who is in the DCL Small (still to this day I don’t get how they managed that one, but that’s another story). I figure if we have to play against two-town schools, why can’t we just combine Wayland and Weston?

We already do it in crew and girls’ hockey. The crew team is one of the best public school teams in the state, and the girls hockey team, although it had some struggles, is 7-5 this year, including a victory over LS.

The merger would certainly bump us up into the DCL Large, and most likely Division I in every sport, but I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing. Every single sport would get better, and we already compete with the AB’s and the LS’ of high school sports.

What we would lose is the underdog feel. We would no longer be the little guy and could no longer shrug off loses to the large opponents like they don’t matter, but I’m not so sure we’d do a lot of losing. OK, so the combination of the schools would be a difficult process, I understand, but this is just a hypothetical thought.

The glaring negative I think would be the lack of available spots for players. Teams could still only take the same number of kids, yet have another entire school of athletes to choose from. This is how and why the teams would be better, but I feel like some teams at the high school right now aren’t all about success. I’m not sure that same philosophy would be accepted in a Wayland-Weston athletic program.

So since I keep saying how good we’d be in sports, I’ll use my best example to back that up: the swim team. As you know, Wayland’s swim team, both boys and girls, have created a dynasty the last few years. However, before Wayland’s dynasty, Weston had one of their own.

In 2010, when both the Wayland boys and girls team won state titles, Weston came in second in both genders. Adding the two schools together would surely create a state title even if it was in Division I. Last year, both teams finished in the top five in both genders, proving that Wayland-Weston swimming would be an elite team in the state.

Now this a just a hypothetical idea, like I’ve said, but it’s an interesting one. I’m not saying I do or don’t want this to happen, but I think the impact it would have on our sports would be immediate and would introduce us into a whole new world of high school sports: Division I.

As always check Warrior Scores for the latest. Is spring around the corner or will the real winter please stand up?