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Saturday, October 27, 2012

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.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

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.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

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