Alone time and the lack of it.

Recently I have found that I can't get the room to myself to do some revision of my notes for finals this coming week. The problem is that I like to study with a mug of some sort of caffeinated warm liquid (espresso if you will). Now I don't like to bring this into a library because it is a general courtesy to the librarians that I like to keep up. I like to let them worry about important information things rather then putting their focus on the safety of the paper collection. Now I can study in a noisy room (thank you to the inventor of the headphone and the one who fallowed suit with the noise canceling version) but, I can't study in a dark room. Now I could flip the switch but then my pot zombie and hungover roommates would scream and start an argument that I don't feel like dealing with. As it is Friday I am willing to limit myself to a small chunk of revision but tomorrow and Sunday its lights on so they better deal. I thought that I would get the room tonight as one of them is leaving before finals as he is dropping out and this is his last weekend to live it up in Boston. One did go out and the the other two and one girlfriend decided to stay in and watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. This bothers me as all the one that is leaving has been talking only of his desire to go out and get so drunk that he would make out with women (yes he is gay). The others said that they would go out as usual they didn't invite me but that is because I don't like to get drunk in a bar with people that I don't trust. As usual they are all broke from ordering excessive amounts of Dominos Pizza and things that one buys in a discreet manner. So I am stuck with a room that only the blind would know how to navigate.
Till my next rant
Rob C

The After Math of Turkey Day

There is something magical about sitting with family and being with friends but as this is a food blog all of that sentimetal stuff means nothing here as it all boils down to the main event of November the 22nd of November and what that means to the college student.
If you have a fridge in your room or a trusted friend's room then I hope that you were smart enough to bring the goods back to the hovel.

Pondering

Thinking about opening a B&B next to a restaurant.

Chocolate can make the World a Better Place

     One of my sources say that there is something scenting the air like chocolate and for once Starbucks and Dunk'n Donuts are not attempting to sway people to their side of the street. Boston Restaurant Talk has posted something special that I think that all of you should look at.
Link here Boston Restaurant Talk

I am going out for this sometime soon.

See my other blog

     So I have been working on my other blog lately called the College Life for Me: Part Food and it has taken priority as to which will be updated more often. This of course I am slightly more passionate about currently due to the lack or interest in improving the dorm from my room mates. mostly that they don't think that they should put some money into it to make it more livable, but that is a different can of worms.

Check it out here

The College Life for Me: Part Food

http://thecollegelifeformepartfood.blogspot.com/

Holiday Deals

     There is no reason as to why a restaurant shouldn't do a promotional piece on a holiday. Thank goodness that most do indeed use the day as to get people in the mood to give the establishment revenue. For this coming Halloween which is four days away I have found these deals by doing a quick search.


From 4:00 pm till Closing all chipotle's will be giving away $2.00 burritos to those that are in costume the link has more details as to the other parts of the deal.
http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/boorito/boorito.aspx

Costume contests
Some places won't set up their offer like Chipotle did some will just host a costume contest and have the prize be a free dinner at the restaurant.
http://calendar.boston.com/boston_ma/events/show/287464565-celebrate-halloween-at-the-salty-pig

It's ok to look like a fool if you and everyone else is having fun and who knows you might score some free food.

The violation of the sacred online space.

      It is a federal offense to go into sometimes email or other means of postage. This I believe also should include social media. While posts are to be read by an audience they are not to be created by that audience.
      As much as I am uneasy about the obsessiveness over an account. It is still the choice of if I set up and upkeep a profile that that is my profile and that the only thing that can stop me from my posting my own words is the contract between me and the website of my choosing. There is no reason as to why someone should be on my profile if of course I take all of the precautions to limit it to only me on my profile. There is a responsibility that is on me to log off change my password and other things of that nature but I would like to bring up a bit of integrity on the subject.
       Integrity is defined as
adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
Wow that's a lot. It's a double edge sword but make the ethical decision and close it and it can keep your friendship safe.

OCD (Off Campus Dining)

      This is more for the inner city student. Sorry to those like UCONN or UNH or anyone who is in a state like Maine or Oklahoma; For you this can be used when you are on a weekend getaway or on vacation in a larger city.
   
     There are a lot of options when you feel like doing some OCD stuff after the last time feeling like there was a lot that shouldn't be eaten off of the hot food buffet that the school supplies. It is possible to go out on a budget and still have up to a five star quality meal in one of the fanciest places in town. As this is the technological savvy generation Most of what I am going to cover is going to be on the internet or your smartphone.
     First the old methods for college students. College night. Most places have a college night of some sort which can range from once a week to once a year. Often times the student activities or housing should have a list of what is around and when special deals are happening and the stipulations that go with them. For example: I am apart of a few loyalty programs with some chain restaurants (These are worth it so take advantage most are free) one of which is FiRE+iCE on mondays it is $10 for students with their school's ID. The loyalty program gives me a discount for every time I go there and a free meal on my birthday. On college night I have to choose which deal I want to use as I can't do both. This is the only thing that I dislike.
     Next there is making reservations which is good to do if there is a popular restaurant that you want to get into or ahead of the long line. My general rule is that if it is over thirty minutes long then I go to another place. There is always the option of just calling the restaurant but there is a way to make those reservations work for you to help save money, what student or person wouldn't want to do that. There are websites and apps that one can earn points on like Opentable. This is the only site that I have found that I like. The web page is set up nicely and has a great app that uses your location automatically to find places to eat at in your area. The more you use it the more points that you earn towards dining cheques that are actually usable. If you don't want to set up an account with them thats ok as you can use your facebook account to log in. Often times you can kill two birds with one stone and make the reservation that will give you points and use a coupon, discount or whatever the loyalty program uses. On my birthday I received a offer from FiRE+iCE for a free dinner which I took advantage of and received ten points from Opentable when I made my reservation. WOOOOOOOOT.
Lastly just a google search is fine but there are TV channels dedicated to this lost art so take a look at your local listing and see what they have to say. There is Phantom Gourmet and it will show you the best places to go to on a budget and often these are better than the five star places. There are no words to describe how amazing it is and it is a global thing.
     It's ok to have an OCD moment at least once a week.

B.Y.O.S! (Bring your own spice!)

According to one of Murphy's law Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse. the same can be true for the food that is sold in the cafeteria and in the microwave meals isle of the grocery store. Currently I am attempting to enjoy what could be called a chicken soup from the schools cafeteria and it is missing one important part to it. TASTE! This soup that mocks me on my desk is only in existence because the chef has a sense of humor and enjoys the pleasure knowing of the suffering that my tastebuds are enduring. Complaints will be made on the facebook page that they set up.

The best way to create a enjoyable taste in instances like these is an insult to the foods creator but when one is forced to live off of it exceptions in etiquette must be made. ADD YOUR OWN SPICE. There are more options then salt and pepper and lets face it sometimes that is not going to cover it. I am slightly annoyed with myself as I have forgotten my spice wheels at home after refilling the supply. The basic spices are in there except salt and pepper as the school does have these handy to students. My wheel includes; paprika, cayenne, garlic powder (which would do my soup wonders), onion powder, basil, cilantro, cinnamon, crushed red pepper seed, and parm. for you ladies this fits conveniently in a purse. For men suck it up and use a murse.

WARNING: Do not use in a decent restaurant chefs are armed with an arsenal of knives

Frances gift to the college student

     The French have given us many things to enjoy; The tasty french vanilla, creme brulee, art, rudeness, the white flag, bad jokes about coward-ism and French press coffee. There is no doubt that a student is fueled by caffeine and that the leading source is coffee. While other students prefer tea this can still be useful to you. Some colleges will allow a microwave in the room but not a coffee pot due to the exposed heat plate that the decanter will sit on. Some schools will allow a Keurig machine while others will not. But, fear not there is something that yields a superior cup of Joe to expensive modern ways to brew the mornings ambition.
     The French Press may seem alien to some as it tends to be a unconventional way to the American thought of brewing Coffee, Espresso or Cappuccino with our good friend Mr.Coffee. The difference is that there is not a place that this could be considered a fire hazard as it is only a glass vessel with a lid and a straining disk on it. Also the press is relatively cheap to buy compared to the coffee pot.
     To use it you will need the fallowing:

1. The French press
2. Ground Coffee, Espresso, Tea leaves what or ever your poison is that you love to drink while you cram.
3. A microwave safe mug / Measuring cup that can hold more water then your press can hold. (Some will turn to vapor while it heats up)
4. A drinking mug
5. spoon
6. *Fixings if you can't handle the purity of the drink.

• Step 1: Spoon the coffee into the press (see what the company recommends as to proportions for water to grounds or leaves
• Step 2: Fill the measuring cup and put it in the microwave to boil (Keep watching it at all times in case of overly rapid boiling)
• Step 3: Poor the water into the press
• Step 4: place the lid on with the disk at the top( Do not push the disk to the bottom as it will render the efforts useless
• Step 5: Wait about 5 Minutes
• Step 6: push the disk to the bottom
• Step 7: poor out and enjoy.

There are a ton of great types of flavors out there to explore and you are not limited by what k-cups are available

The problem with the new network

This year my college has decided to put in a new wireless network that would put wireless internet into all of the dorms. This is great as in the previous year i had some spotty coverage in the room due to it's closeness to the college mall. The issue is that due to it's newness there are some kinks in the system. I am not thrilled with this at all. The routers have been set to the already existing network so this problem is a bit unusual and annoying as I and many other students have a lot of work to do. It better be fixed by the morning of the 5th.

After the year is over

I have not been posting as much as I wish to have been.
    Now that I have completed my freshmen year at Fisher college I have a lot of free time waiting till my summer job starts in mid June. I have been a little bit board. I live I the middle of no where NH and most of my friends have moved away. So far I have been cleaning the lower floors of the house including the basement. There is a pool table down there that I now have access to but due to my father putting things on it like a cast iorn Dutch oven it has bowed and can't be used as intended. I am a little posses about that because that was my favorite thing to do down there. Good I am so bored.

That boring class that I hate

So we all have those classes where the professor has no clue on how to teach the class. Like the on that I have for Event and Convention Planning. The professor only poses questions and gives shallow examples that have little merit to the theory that is being explained. There is much to be desired from this class as I do not feel like I am accomplishing anything worth my time. Even with the time that I am taking to writ this post I am missing little to nothing that is not common sense in planning for anything. The class is required a and I have a A at the moment. This would be a great class if I could feel like I was getting grades for something other then showing up and taking notes. I would like to have something to hand in and be graded in class. That is the lacking element and that is what I need to feel and observe my own progress in the course.

Know Your Resource Restrictions

     There are many benefits to being a college student for example the classic example is that there are resources that you have free access to that would usually cost an arm and a leg to use like Tutors, Professors with real life experience, TAs and a large library with access to databases and online resources. With that there is a myth of that these are unlimited and available all the time; this is not completely true.

     I have found time to blog this because I went home for the Easter Holiday weekend and I tried to work on my final paper for English being in a slight rush to get home I forgot to grab the manila folder that had the print outs of my resources with my highlights and notes. Naturally I go to my annotated bibliography and cut and pasted the URLs into the web browser. On all of the tabs popped up a message saying that I needed to put in the username and password to continue on to the page, so I typed in the one that I use to log on to all of the school's accounts and they do not work. I tried to get in by using the links on the schools web page and the same thing happened. I think that if there is going to be some sort of restriction as to what network I need to be on to access it as I do all of my work on my laptop then they should specify in a obvious place. I have just been  having the worst luck as of late with anything that has to do with the schools online information.
     Other things that you have to consider that is commonly forgotten is that  the library does close and professors do have lives after school hours. So always make sure that there is time to get what you need

Wireless in the Room

Where I am studying there is no wifi dedicated to the dorm rooms. I am one of the lucky ones because I am on a lower floor so I can get the wireless from the main lobby in the school. The issue is that the wifi is out and I can't find my Ethernet chord so now I am offline to do what I need to do. At the moment I am on my tablet so as soon as it finds a undecided network this post will be uploaded. It drives me insane when there is no back as a fail safe so that students can get online to do class work and other important tasks that require the internet. At the moment there are classes in the computer labs so those aren't an option right now. All I have is my wifi only tablet and my phone so at the moment I am using my phone for the research and the tablet for the typing on Google Docs so that it is already uploaded and available on other computer stations. I love you cloud computing when there is a internet to work off of.

The Balance

NewQSo I think that I have gotten my balance back and it feels great I think that I can actually sleep well tonight. Sweet stress relief... kinda... I still have three big projects to do but I have three Weeks to do them in. I can do this. Now only if I could crack my back then I would be good.

The unexpected

I apolagise for the lack of posts but I have had a little bit of a unpleasant surprise, the regret able passing of my grandfather. This is by far the hardest and most challenging of all this semester and probably my college career. It was a beautiful ceremony and I feel better because of it but there will always be a hole in my heart for him. The man was one if not, the most infuentail part of my life. I will miss you to no end. Rest In Peace.

Procrastination and of ressurection.

     As you are aware I have had a little bit of a stress to deal with lately The death of my grandfather and upcoming due dates for almost everything that you can think of that could be assigned for a class. I have been known for having issues with getting long term assignments done and this is no acception. Even if they can be accepted late I do not hand it in. If I miss the due date then what is the point if it sucked to begin with would be a low grade to start off and then the points deducted on top of that would make it pointless.
      In English 102 class there are four essays that need to be done. The first three are worth 30% of the final grade the last is worth 20%. Now the first essay the fault was mine as I did not do the final draft but the second essay I could not print and due to the schools email system which is crap (this is the only way to hand in work) it would not send. My Professor has allowed those like me who are missing essays to go and hand in these late pieces by this Friday while keeping up the expected work load. If any of these are 0s in the book there is no way I can pass the class.
     The good news, I have the first essay done and ready for the professor. The bad news, I can't find essay #2 anywhere in my folders or even a file search and being a fool I didn't upload it to Google Docs so there is little sleep to be had as there are other commitments that I have to keep. I can do this, there is only 3 weeks till I'm free for the summer obligations. How hard can this be right?

The Nest

     A lot of people forget the other half of the emptynest syndrome, the college student. Now as with the parents there is unlimited variation of how a college student adapts to being on their own at school. I have gotten over my home sickness at a young age because I have been going on weeklong camping without my parents around for several years when I was young. Now I work at one for roughly 9 weeks out of the year.
     Being at college without anyone immediately in the area is not unusual for me. With that being said I do not hate my home, rather I enjoy the space and the ability not having to report my every move to the King and Queen of my being. There is nothing that I love more than going back to real life which includes real food (Yes I'm that guy). But even though I am used to being out of the house there are times when the craving to go back is just great that not satisfying it would be unwise. Never forget where you come from. 

Getting personal with the MW

     Not all microwaves are created equal. They are all different in size, power usage and each has it's own sets of hot spots because of how the stirrer blade is made and installed.
     For the incoming freshmen who wishes to be in the elite of the MW culinary school Microwaves have some controls. There are two things that the microwave is on while it is cooking your food, On or Off. The MW Oven simply emits the microwaves into the main chamber that's all. If you microwave of choice has a low, medium or high setting that is just an adjustment on the percentage or the timing that the oven will emit. The waves vibrate fat, water and sugar molecules in the food that is being prepared producing friction which in turn produces the heat.
    It is possible to overcook your dish because the heat is being generated from the outside to the inside. For food to be ensured as fully cooked the heat needs time to evenly disperse. Microwave produced heat is different from the heat that is produced from a stove of standard oven because we are cooking with friction and  not simply producing strait heat and applying it to the food. That time that is spent letting the heat disperse is the stand time. If you just give it extra time with it being bombarded with the waves the molecules will just keep on vibrating faster and faster creating intense heat that will burn your mouth and/ or delay you even longer from having that needed late night cramming snack. With that being said on overcooking it is even more dangerous to under cook if meat is involved. Most professors are not lenient on work missed due to being ill, so don't do it. Stay healthy and don't be dumb.

Ramen: a College Staple

Ramen ever since it's invention has been for the college student a important part of dorm survival. At Fisher College it is a form of currency. more trades have been accomplished by adding a bag of Ramen to the bundle. Everyone loves these noodles but do not use it to their full potential. All you have to do is go and add a few veggies or precooked meat and there is a filling meal if the Cafe has closed. Most veggies don't take long to boil, if it does just cut it to a smaller sise as small food taked a quarter of the time to cook. Experiment the possibilities of the noodle

Depending on where you go for school determines what is allowed in the dorm rooms and what is available from the school to prepare meals. I am experimenting with how to cook here at Fisher College with the limited available materials. Here are my main constraint

1. Not allowed a microwave in the room.
2. Microwave, Fridge and sink are two floors below me.

Due to the school being in a historical part of Boston the school is crazy with the fire codes. A lot of them seem a little bit extreme but some of those extremes are from the building associations and laws. I love to cook legit food but it is difficult to find microwave recipes and microwave alternatives. So we will see what will happen.

On the Fence

I feel like there is a little built of guilt with the time that I have free during the day.  I know that there is nothing else to work on but then again there are some projects that i could get stuff done on but they are due so far off that it doesn't matter right now. I need to go and do it now that it is in the front of my mind. thank you blog for reminding me.

Get it Done (not on procrastination)

     I don't care about if you are the one to procrastinate on that project, presentation or speech. It is not your quality that I as a student care about either. The only thing that I do not understand is when students don't do the assignment and then try to come up with a lame excuse as to the reason why.
     There is this document called the Syllabus and that for those who are not in the college world or just as a reminder to the rest of us who dosed off during the first day; is the bible on how the class is to be run and what is expected form the professor and the students. There is little to no room to negotiate depending on who your professor is. I question the fact of how elastic the syllabus can be but some in my Public Speaking have almost snapped it in three pieces. Why push the limit of that with lame excuses? Seriously?

     The detail of the fact that all classes are expensive and that this is a waste of money. The class in question roughly costs $200 a day. I know that a lot of people don't like to publicly speak but in a private college of 700  students the class sises are small so speaking to a group of 15 other students shouldn't be that difficult. My beef with it is that if no one had their speech on the day that is scheduled for them the class gets cancelled. I want to learn. I want to do well. but how can I do both when the other students are being children. Man up and admit that you dun guft it.