One of the beautiful things about soup, besides the warm fuzzy feeling you get in your stomach while eating it, is the fact that it can be made from literally anything.  Not into beef? Throw in some chicken.  Sworn off animal products? First of all, I’m sorry.  But more importantly, don’t sweat it!  You can create all kinds of soup-tastic creations without any dairy or meat.  I like to think of soup as the great amalgamation between almost-forgotten vegetables, things in your pantry you bought because you thought you’d use them eventually and every spice in your cabinet.

Knowing I had a full week ahead of me consisting of paper-writing, book-reading, and other college-y things that don’t involve being social in any way, I decided to celebrate the coming Autumn with a weird farmers market concoction to commemorate this year’s fall harvest.  That, or I just bought a bunch of shit that I didn’t know what do with so I decided to make one master bowl of soup-y goodness so as not to waste money.  Hey—if Meeting Street can make a cookie of doughy leftovers that rocks the socks off of life, I don’t see why my fall bounty soup couldn’t do the same thing.  And, if I could use this experiment as a way to go crazy and make up a catchphrase that would make Emeril proud every time I plopped something else random in my pot, I say onward, ho! [Read more →]

Courtesy of Chattahbox

Don’t get us wrong; we relish saving the environment as much as the next college blog, but ever since Brown discontinued the sale plastic water bottles, other (more trivial) issues have surfaced.

According to the Providence Journal, Brown is the first Ivy League school to purge itself of the environmentally-offensive plastic water bottles. (And that is pretty tremendous. Of course Brown had to be first. That’s who we are.)

“While plastic water bottles are often more practical, Brown has been really good about distributing reusable ones,” freshman David Jacobs commented while sipping from his aluminum canteen.

Based 100% on anecdotal and flimsy evidence, however, some Brown students seem slightly insulted by the dearth of expendable, portable potables.   [Read more →]

Exams and papers got you down? What better way to cheer up than with adorable animals?!

Here is a compilation of some of the internet’s most adorable animal moments. You’ve probably already seen them all, but it can’t hurt to relive the cute all over again.

Animal surprise is always cute, so we bring you kittens and pandas!

If eating is your game, baby animals do a ton of that too. Two ebony and ivory teeny bunnies get their snack on, while this hamster devours broccoli.

If incredible laziness is more your bag, here is pathetic panda!

Or if you simply want some honest-to-goodness ridiculous cuteness, check out a compilation video of Knut the polar bear‘s best moments (and ignore the horribly cheesy editing).

Play us out, keyboard cat.

Due to the insanely bizarre freak thunderstorm that just happened (you may have noticed the thunder, lightning, pouding rain and hail), SPEC has sent out this message via Facebook regarding its Carnival, which was due to be on the Main Green at 5.

Hey everyone. We just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all of your support these past few days. Due to rain, rides and carnival games cannot be set up outside. Fortunately, we still have PLENTY of food!

COME TO THE BLUE ROOM between 5-8 TONIGHT FOR SNOW CONES, COTTON CANDY, POPCORN, HAMBURGERS AND HOT DOGS!

See you then!

Thanks,
SPEC

P.S. Stay tuned for Carnival Part 2!

Terribly disappointing news for all those who hoped to partake in some inebriated inflatable obstacle course races. Of course they’ll still have food in the Blue Room. And not sure what that Carnival Part 2 thing means. Maybe we’ll have another day of inflated fun on the Green?

Anyway, thanks, Rhode Island weather.

That’s right, the Ratty really does love us!

We know there was considerable outcry when Honey Bunches of Oats disappeared from the Refectory’s cereal lineup, but in case you haven’t been in the dining hall recently as a sort of protest (or maybe you just don’t pay that much attention to detail), everyone’s favorite cereal has reappeared! It even gets its own official sign — hopefully this means it will be returning as a regular staple, yes?

So go on, take two bowls and fill ‘em up — we can’t say we blame you. Just save some for the rest of us, too!

All you Golden Graham lovers can rejoice: Golden Grahams are finally available for sale on Thayer Street!!

If you’re a Graham-fanatic like I am, you’ll know that up until this point, no store on Thayer has sold boxes of those glorious honey-flavored diabetes squares — not CVS, not Store 24 (ahem, Tedeschi or whatever it is now), and not that weird little Metro Minimart. If you wanted the Graham, you had to either jack a bunch in take-out containers from dining halls or hike all the way to Eastside Marketplace. For those no longer on meal plan or with little grocery shopping time to spare, getting those Ridges that Rock was a difficult task.

But at long last, CVS has solved those problems. So leave all those dining hall cereal woes behind and head over there now to buy a box — they’re even on promo this week, with your CVS ExtraCare card!

While you’re at it, go here and submit your funny job search story for the chance to win 12 free boxes of Golden Grahams!

In a surprise move, the V-Dub served chicken fingers at approximately 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. After apparently running out of Beef Stew, the dining establishment turned to its most trusted fare for the last 15 minutes of the lunch session.

At the time, there were only a handful of diners huddling over their remnants of Tomato Quiche (unappetizing), and few seemed to notice the surprise arrival (more appetizing).

Even if it was an obvious cost-saving measure (leftovers, thawed), we’re not complaining (yet). Although that mystery Chocolate Cinnamon Cake Roll that kept appearing (Friday, Monday lunch, Monday dinner)? Not cool.

A visual cornucopia of cupcakes for every day of the week.  Almost as good as eating them.  Check out the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes above for a bite-sized taste.

For those of us who won’t want to leave our rooms today to puddle-jump all the way to Worker’s Appreciation Day dinner, why not get some Ratty take out, stay in and watch our very own President Ruth Simmons address the Rhode Island General Assembly?

President Simmons will be the keynote speaker for the Joint Legislative Black History Month Celebration today at 5 p.m. Fans of the president can tune in to Capitol TV.

Read the full press release after the jump.
[Read more →]

Our Ratty prayers have been answered…in the form of new bowls for cereal. The old bowls made for unsatisfying, messy portions of cereal, but these new ones allow for big servings of cereal with plenty of milk, and you won’t lose a bit on your way back to your table. We say hell yeah.

— Thea Aguiar