Angel Thompson
Move over Alton Brown, there’s another kitchen scientist around.
Angel Thompson graduated with a bachelor’s degree from WVU Tech in 2015 and went on to earn a master’s degree from University at Albany – State University of New York in 2017. She currently lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland and works at the Children’s National Medical Center. She’s a research technician in the genetic medicine department and the metabolic disorders division.
She’s currently collaborating on projects related to sickle cell disease, spinal muscular atrophy and methylmalonic acidemia. Her role in these studies is to collect patient and animal samples and provide doctors with viable information on what they've discovered from those samples. Her mission is to design more efficient, cheaper and faster ways of analyzing animal and human tissue and blood samples. Angel shares, “In the research lab, we have successfully decreased the amount of materials and time needed to analyze samples.” There’s more to come from Angel’s work in the lab, as the publications related to her research should be out within the next year.
When she’s not in the lab at work, she’s in another lab: her kitchen. Angel had the idea of starting a cooking blog back in 2015, but schoolwork and research in grad school didn’t leave much time. After a few years of working professionally, she thought, “’Why not start now?” So, she did. She launched the cooking and baking blog, Dulcet Scintilla.
She wants to use Dulcet Scintilla to share her love for cooking in a way that resonates with her and friends’ needs as professionals. She wants to share easy recipes to help those with busy schedules. Angel explains, “The idea of easy recipes is to make everyone’s life easier.”
She gained a passion for cooking and baking at a young age by watching her mother and grandmother. “They taught me how to cook with love. So, cooking and baking are really like my self-therapy. It’s a serious stress reliever for me. I’m fixated on just the taste or the smell of a dish. It creates mindfulness where I’m only focusing on the now and nothing else.”
Angel says most of the recipes on Dulcet Scintilla are meals she’s made numerous times and wanted to share with the world. Sometimes, it’s just an idea that randomly pops into her head. But even her new creations go through a tasting process with 4-10 people before she adds it to the blog.
While Angel doesn’t have dietary restrictions herself, she realizes that it is something many people face. “The people in my immediate circle do have dietary restrictions, so some of the recipes I feature are catered more to them.”
Angel shares that her background in science plays a significant role in her baking.
“Baking requires exact amounts and timed instructions,” she says. “Mixing something in at the wrong time or not adding enough of one ingredient can seriously make or break your baked goods.”
Angel is lucky – in both of her labs. Attention to detail is one of her strengths.
“Just like a lab experiment, baking can go well or could go bad. My background also provides insight into why something like sparkling water should be added to your waffle mix. Or, why baking soda and baking powder are needed when putting Greek yogurt into your cake mix. Within the recipes, I briefly discuss why I add certain ingredients.”
Angel wants to expand the content on the blog beyond recipes. She’s looking into catering, merchandising and offering cooking classes. Angel shares that her wildest dream is “to be able to open up a non-profit organization that provides food, shelter and necessary amenities for those who are less fortunate.”
For her fellow Golden Bears, Angel shares a morsel of advice: “Enjoy and savor every bite of food you encounter.”
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