Spring Week has come and gone (goodbye, collection of fratty tanks…), and reality has begun to sink in; the end of the semester is fast approaching.  As much fun as I had over Spring Weekend, I was more than ready to start using my kitchen again to create some delicious (and healthy) homemade meals after a week of Sno-Cones, popcorn, tater tots and an (over?)abundance of Baja’s. After buying all of the fruits and vegetables Eastside Marketplace had to offer, I set aside an entire afternoon for cooking, during which I made enough food to feed me for the week.  Of these dishes, my favorite was the one that gave me an excuse to eat my favorite meal — breakfast — three times a day.

Brunch is a glorious thing: it both facilitates and deems socially acceptable the simultaneous consumption of eggs, bacon, french fries, pastries, sandwiches, coffee and alcohol. Brunch is one of those meals that people usually eat at restaurants, because they (like myself) are much too lazy to actually prepare such a cornucopia on a lazy Sunday.  However, after a week of barely even opening the refrigerator, I was feeling inspired, and thought I would put in the effort to make a deliciously brunch-tastic tart. [Read more →]

Gimme some of your tots!

Some of my fondest memories of Spring Week(end) consist of me and my friends eating all sorts of unmentionables at Jo’s post-concert and late night. Somehow, Butterfinger ice cream bars and Spicy Withs taste a million times better than normal when consumed in baggy Spring Weekend tanks. But now that most of my friends and I are off meal plan, it’s time to reevaluate our approach to Spring Week eats. It goes without saying that we’re all going to want our fair share of mozzarella sticks, cookies, and plates of onion rings, but how can we when flex points are a far-away dream?

My recommendation for you: do your Spring Week food shopping now when you have the time and energy to leave your apartment/dorm. Believe me, it’s better to walk to Eastside Marketplace this weekend before you have all sorts of social engagements than to find yourself with serious hunger pangs come Saturday afternoon. Here is my suggested grocery list for the upcoming week based on three years of personal experience. [Read more →]

Because we hope you’re as excited as we are about Spring Weekend, we’ve decided to up the anticipation even more. We’ll be hitting you with a snapshot of the food and drinks we’ll be consuming over the next 12 days.

Because you may know (or you can guess) that the amount of exquisite, delicate, flavorful sustenance about to hit your palate over the next few days can be too much to handle, why not prepare your stomach/body with a shot of nutrients?

To this extent, we suggest some Vitamin Water (like XXX or Power-C) and fruit juices with plenty of antioxidants and vitamins to reload once you finish all your assignments. We’re not sure what any of these words mean but they suggest health and responsibility, things we will soon be sacrificing in favor of free love beer music … well, paid-for fun. You’ll find these beverages in all the auxiliary eateries and neighborhood markets for fairly cheap prices.

And if you really can’t wait for the fun to start, they also make great mixers.

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After a lovely week of sunshine, fried fish, and endless mudslides (the yummy kind, not the scary kind), we all find ourselves back on College Hill greeted by midterms and 40-degree temperatures. As the end of the semester fast approaches (#SeniorSpring #whatclasses), students who are either on or off meal plan are probably finding themselves in similar rock-and-a-hard-place situations. For those reliant on the Sharpe Refectory for nutrition and Jo’s for naughty food unmentionables, that special time of the semester when meal credits are starting to dwindle and flex points are virtually nonexistent has now arrived. For those of us off meal plan, the funds that were allocated for grocery shopping, whether from one’s own bank account or from the Rentals’, are somehow frighteningly tiny. But, luckily for myself and for starving college students everywhere (#firstworldproblems), there are ways to make the dollar stretch without eating from a fast food value menu all of the time. [Read more →]

WTF is happening under Faunce Arch? We have the answer: a group of farmers from the New Urban Farmers, a collective of farmers based in Pawtucket, is handing out freshly roasted peppers to passersby. The group is using a giant-fire-spitting-turning-grill-thing to cook the peppers that they grew on their farm.

Similar to the award-winning Brown Market Share Program, the group aims to connect local farmers to the communities that they help feed. The group runs a market shares program that begins in late May and continues for the next 20 weeks. The price for a full share that feeds 2-3 people is $600, while a family share is $850. The program offers a payment plan that lets you pay per week. By buying into the share, you become a member of the New Urban Farmers. The money that’s paid to the program goes towards buying seeds, farming equipment, water and labor. And the produce that you get is completely organic!

So if you’re staying in Providence for the summer, consider joining the New Urban Farmers community. After all, “The community that grows together – grows together.”

Chocolate Bailey's Cheesecake? Yes, please!

This Saturday, March 17, is a momentous occasion in Ireland and America alike (though in few other places): the day we celebrate the Christianization of Ireland by Saint Patrick with copious amounts of green-dyed beer. Huzzah!

Lately, I’ve really wanted to make a cheesecake. Cheesecake is one of those desserts that seems really difficult to make, but is actually quite easy once you have a foundational recipe. But remember, not all cheesecakes are created equal. It seemed only fitting that this week I should test out my brand spankin’ new spring-form cake pans with a cheesecake. And due to the 100-year anniversary of Oreos, I wanted to incorporate the iconic cookie into my creation. To make this cheesecake even better, I threw in some cocoa powder (because chocolate only serves to make things better), made a dark chocolate ganache to pour on top, and added a whole lot of Bailey’s — after all, it is Saint Patrick’s Day! [Read more →]

Let me set up a completely not true at all but just go with it hypothetical situation: You’re an 18-23 year-old college student living in a dorm or an apartment close to a college campus. You are off meal plan, but many of your friends still eat dining hall food regularly. You enjoy food. You enjoy cooking. Sometimes, you don’t feel like cooking intricate and in-depth recipes for every meal because you’re usually cooking for one. You don’t want to buy food every day, but also don’t want to subsist on instant oatmeal and Easy Mac. What to do? Luckily for you this completely anonymous and hypothetical person with no connection to you at all, one woman has your back, through thick and thin, through cocktails and more cocktails: Sandra Lee.

Ms. Lee has made a career drinking vodka on television helping you make “Semi-Homemade Cooking” and “Money Saving Meals” on the Food Network by using a 70/30 attitude when it comes to cooking; 70% ready-made products and 30% fresh ingredients. In other words, you’ll learn how to trick others into thinking you slaved over a hot stove for hours!

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I haven’t really ever taken too much an interest in Sandra Lee, nor have I watched her show for more than a few minutes. Despite the fact that I have never made one of her Frankenstein concoctions before, I find her methodology to cooking very college-friendly. There are a ton of things you can do to improve upon ready-to-make foods. The Internet is swarming with “recipes,” or you can just figure stuff out with food you already have. So, in honor of this approach to gastronomy in college sans meal plan, I present you with some great ideas for cheating your way to homemade. [Read more →]

Shrimp, meet Tabasco.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that folks on practically every continent have been celebrating Carnival for the past two weeks in preparation for Lent. The culmination of these two weeks of vice and frivolity is known here in the States as Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday.

New Orleans is an amazing city full of life and culture, and no other place celebrates Mardi Gras like the Big Easy. Apart from the tales of nudity and reckless drinking in hopes of building one’s bead collection, New Orleans is famous for great food, great people, and a great atmosphere. Much to my dismay, I have yet to make it to New Orleans; despite this, I have tried my share of NOLA cuisine from Creole to Cajun, beignets to pralines, and beyond. Louisiana is one of those places that has about a million “original” recipes that could probably instigate some serious problems with the locals if done incorrectly. One of my favorite dishes is Creole jambalaya.  [Read more →]

Rocket Fine Street Food has landed on College Hill.

Hailing from Torrington, CT, “the rocket” (as the truck’s owners-cooks, Joe Meneguzzo and Patricia Natter-Meneguzzo, like to call it) first landed on Thayer near Charlesfield last Wednesday night. Whether they knew about our Whisko-induced drunchies hunger or not, the rocket was an instant hit among those who were up for a late-night snack.

The rocket will continue to return to campus for lunch (11:30 am-2:00 pm) and dinner (5:00-7:00 pm) several times a week. You can follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook to determine their whereabouts at any given time… or you could just track their location. Man, this rocket is just too high-tech.

The menu changes on a regular basis, but the rocket always serves hearty food made with fresh, natural ingredients: mac & cheese, burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and cookies are just some of the staples on this killer menu (Author’s note: the mac & cheese is out of this world. Also, this author apologizes for all of the space puns — they’re just too irresistible). 

According to its Twitter page, the rocket is touching down on Thayer TONIGHT (2/16) from 5:00-7:00 pm for dinner. Keep an eye out tonight and give Rocket Fine Street Food a try.

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