Alumni Blog

With fall comes Halloween, blustery fall weather and pumpkin spice everything. We've got two great recipes to spice up your fall and celebrate everyone's favorite spooky holiday. Take some time this fall to try making Pumpkin Carrot Cupcakes and Halloween Popcorn Balls.  

Pumpkin Carrot Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter (softened)
• 1 ½ cups sugar plus two tablespoons
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 3 egg yolks, 6 egg whites 

• 1 ¼ cups canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated carrot (do not need to peel)
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 5 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom 
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon allspice (optional)

• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Whip softened butter until creamy.
3. Add ½ cup brown sugar and 1 ½ cups white sugar and mix together until well incorporated, about 4 minutes.
4. Add three egg yolks and blend for about 3 minutes.
5. Add canned pumpkin and vanilla and blend for another 3 minutes.
6. Fold in grated carrot.
7. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice (if using), ground cloves (if using) and salt. Stir until well mixed.
8. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Mix on the lowest speed until all combined.
9. In a separate bowl, whip 6 egg whites with the 2 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form (should easily stick to whatever you’re mixing with).
10. Stirring with ⅓ of the egg whites at a time, fold the egg whites into the pumpkin batter mixture until smooth and incorporated.
11. Divide batter among your cupcake tins (which have been sprayed with some sort of cooking oil I would hope) almost to the top.
12. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick stuck in the cupcake comes out clean.
13. Top with a frosting of your choice!

Halloween Popcorn Balls

Every year on Halloween Nikki’s mother would make these popcorn balls, adding orange food coloring to give them a pumpkin appearance and we would wrap them up in sandwich bags with green wrapping ribbon.  Her mom would set them out on the Halloween treat table where trick or treaters could pick the homemade popcorn ball treats or a wrapped candy option if they choose.  Even the parents would accompany their trick-or-treaters to the door to get their own popcorn ball. To this day her family can’t celebrate Halloween without marshmallow popcorn balls.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bag of Jet Puffed marshmallows (miniature melts faster)
• 1 stick of unsalted butter (8 tbsp)
• 2 bags of microwave popcorn of your choice
• 1 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook popcorn in the microwave according to instructions on the bag. Remove any unpopped popcorn kernels and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan on low heat. Add marshmallows and vanilla and cook until marshmallows are completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring constantly.
3. Place popcorn in a large bowl (I grease mine with a small bit of butter to mitigate the sticking).  Add marshmallow mixture and toss until popcorn is evening coated.
4. Shape into 10 (3-inch) balls with lightly greased hands. Place on a sheet of waxed paper; let stand until firm. 

Special Tip: Don’t have a stove-top? You can use your microwave.

Microwave butter in a large microwaveable bowl on high for 1 minute. Add marshmallows and vanilla; toss until marshmallows are evenly coated with butter. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes or until marshmallows are completely melted, stirring after 45 seconds. Continue as directed.

Heleema Bharoocha, ’18 is on People’s list of 25 Under 25: Women of Color to Watch! She was also recently featured in the Seattle University magazine. She works at Alliance for Girls as Advocacy Director. Seattle University’s GOLD Council is honored to have her as an alumna and to be able to feature her as our Spotlight forfall 2021. We sat down for a Q&A to learn more about Haleema and the work she is doing.

Q: You made the People’s list of 25 Under 25: Women of Color to Watch - big congrats! What are some of the projects or initiatives you are working on that we should be watching? 

Haleema: Not One More Girl is a unique youth-driven initiative seeking to address sexual harassment on public transportation on the fifth largest transit system in the country. Together with community partners, artists, cultural strategists and youth leaders, we have made both policy and cultural changes to enhance safety for girls* and gender expansive youth. Some of these changes include tracking sexual harassment occurrences through data collection, offering non-police resources for survivors and a youth friendly campaign calling out sexual harassment. It is quickly becoming a model for other transit agencies in the country. Learn more at Bart.gov/notonemoregirl

*Girls: Gender-expansive youth (cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth).

Q:You are such a well-rounded individual with tremendous skill sets. What motivates you?

Haleema: I really enjoy community engagement work. Building relationships with the community is the core of organizing and advocacy. I love having one-on-ones with people and getting to know their story. 

Q: Who is someone you look up to that you feel has helped you better understand the impact you want to have on the world?

Haleema: I look to my mom who has always shown compassion and care even in the face of injustice and violence. As a youth growing up post 9/11, I saw her face many hate-based Islamophobic incidents and she always remained calm and did not allow these to ever take away from her own empathy for others. She has taught me how to ground myself in community care and to stay true to my values even during turbulent times. 

Q:Alliance for Girls is a spectacular organization - I am sure you have many visions for it. Is there one you would like to share with the GOLD audience? 

Haleema: Alliance for Girls is the nation’s largest association of girl-serving organizations with 180 members in the Bay Area that serve 300,000 girls and gender expansive youth annually. Our network brings together a critical sector of organization that serve our most impacted youth; they are a lifeline to many girls and gender expansive youth. We facilitate collective advocacy to meet the expressed needs of girls and gender expansive youth, coordinate youth led research on girls’ needs, host trainings on promising practices and organize members meetings and conferences to foster collaboration. In my biggest visions, an Alliance for Girls would exist in every state and country in the world. Our alliance model supports many girls’ organizations and brings together girls champions who often have shared goals. 

Q: How has COVID-19 positively and/or negatively impacted you and what you've been working hard to build?

Haleema: COVID19 has hit all of our communities hard. One of the things it spurred was the urgency for gender equity action as the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing gender-based issues such as domestic violence and economic security. I began working with Bay Area advocates to propose solutions to close the widening gaps. We advocated to address things such as period poverty and financial support for young moms. The pandemic will have long term effects, especially on communities already impacted by preexisting inequities. As we reopen and talk about recovery, I’ll be pushing for gender equity to be at the core of these policies. 

Q: What is your fondest memory of SeattleU? Did you have a favorite professor or class?

Haleema: One of my fondest memories at Seattle University is organizing to start the gender justice center with fellow students and with support from the administration. It was an incredible experience that set a strong foundation for my career today. I also really enjoyed my sociology classes which gave me the tools and language to understand systems of oppression as well as dream about utopian futures. 

Q:Is there a country that you have been to and you love? Or is there a place in the world that you hope to go to one day and why? 

Haleema: I love Turkey and it’s a place I hope to visit again. The people, food, art and culture filled me with joy. I loved the fresh pomegranate juice vendors that line the streets and beautiful architecture there. The people were very welcoming and kind as well.