Changing of the Guard

With the new Sodexo contract for UWO, there have come some changes with food options on campus. The addition of a Pizza Hut Express has been great and I think students would agree that it is a vast improvement over the Stone Willy's pizza that was there before.

Recently, there has been discussion about some changes in the food options at the Union. Apparently Burger King is on the way out. This is probably for the best, as we have had a Burger King on campus since I was a student at UWO. The question becomes, what do you replace it with?

Well, Taco Bell, of course. There are rumors circulating that this was the original intent, but it did not work out. That is a real bummer because I was thinking for awhile of how cool it would be to have a Taco Bell in the Union. Panda Express is too expensive, but that would also have been really sweet.

So...the final decision? Kentucky Fried Chicken. *sigh* I was a little disappointed to hear about this choice. The menu will be decreased from the regular menu given the size of the space they would have to work with. KFC is not the most healthy option out there (as fast foods go) and it has a reputation for right animals rights violations. Students have already mobilized a petition to stop the KFC from coming in.

I will be curious to see how all this goes down. Students didn't seem dead set against a KFC, but nor did they seem super excited. Will student activism play a role as the year closes? We shall see.

A Dinner at Chili's

If anyone is a fan of fajitas, Christa and I would definitely like to recommend Chili's. We have come to appreciate their food, but have also been really impressed with their service. If only they had a Chili's frequent buyers card. We would have quite a few points racked up. ;)

On Mondays they have a special with their fajitas for two being only $12.99. In addition (for you 21+ folks) they also happen to have $2.99 margaritas in a variety of flavors.

We both look forward to Mondays...perhaps you can, too!

UW Oshkosh Dining Update

This past Saturday, I helped out in presenting the Campus Life component of the Odyssey presentations that we do for incoming first-year students. Also in this presentation, there is a discussion about food options available as well. I learned some new things along with the first-year students. A few things to keep in mind:

1. The Blackhawk To Go room will be open until 11 PM Monday - Thursday. I am a big fan of the chicken sandwiches offered here. I know there are other students that love it as well. I am glad to know there will be an alternative location to grab food later at night.
2. Scotty's (aka Stone Willy's or Stoner's) in Scott Hall will be a Pizza Hut Express. Pizza you can recognize! :) In addition to the pizza option, there will also be buffalo wings, bratwurst and subs. I can see this being a very popular options for college students. I also see this being an upgrade to the quality of pizza.
3. The 21 meal plan will have "flex" meals that can be used in the Clow Mi Tazas...I see this as an option that I will be using for lunches and Clow is right near by.

With a new food contract, I have already seen some positive changes. Let's hope they continue.

Other News: Saw Wall-E this weekend. Great movie! My only complaint is the big business/environmentalist/capitalism is bad messages found within the framework of the movie.

All This Cooking...

Curses! I really should have taken a picture of last night. The Breese Hall Government E-Board decided that we should have a bratwurst and hot dog fund raiser. We held it last night with the hall government office serving as the ordering room and my apartment as the food preparation room. For the majority of the evening, I served as the grillmaster, grilling the brats and hot dogs and putting them in the over to keep warm.

My kitchen was truly hopping with cooked brats and hot dogs, a baker's rack of buns, condiments (ketchup, mustard & onions). This came only two days after I cooked dinner for my staff which also left the kitchen somewhat of a mess. I managed to stink up the hall smelling both like Parmesan cheese and now bratwurst.

I won't be cooking for a little while...the kitchen should begin to smell like normal...whatever that is.

Cookies & Garrett

Due to various obligations, Christa needed to make some Christmas cookies. For those of you outside of the UW Oshkosh community, it is final's week here. So, Christa has been really, really busy this week. I figured the least I could do was make the cookies for her. I watched my mom bake cookies all the time growing up...I could make this happen. Regardless of my previous experiences, I was worried about the following possibilities:

1. I really have never baked cookies myself. I have watched cookies being baked, but I have never done it myself.
2. I don't have a mixer...I suppose it just means my arms are going to get tired stirring everything together.
   
3. I was worried that after I mixed everything together, it wouldn't have the write consistency and I would have no idea what to do aid with this problem.
4. Baking them also posed a concern. Would I not cook them through the whole way? Would I burn them? Would I forget about them in the oven?

Despite all the concerns, the cookies were made and I think they turned out OK. We'll see what Christa's class think of the cookies in class today. Hopefully no one dies...then the rest should be OK for distribution. Note to self, don't make the cookies so big. The ones that I made could constitute a meal each ;).

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In the mail yesterday, I received a package from the Garrett Theological Seminary at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL. It was an application for admission as well as other information about their various programs. As I think about the possibility of going into the seminary for ordained ministry, I am beginning to think about how it fight fit into the larger life picture.

They offer a full-time and part-time option. If I chose to go full-time, I could probably support a part-time job and Christa would need to find a teaching job. It would probably mean that we move to the Chicago area while I am in school. The full-time option would take three years.

If I choose the full-time route, it would be a five year process. I'm not sure how I feel about spreading out another Master's degree over five years. However, what I like about this option is that is offers some interesting options for employment. The part-time option is only two nights a week which means I could possibly live in Milwaukee or even Oshkosh. I could possibly take a position in the church or maybe work on campus part-time. I would like to stay in Oshkosh if I could. It would also allow Christa to utilize the greater Fox Valley area for possible teaching jobs. We'll see...I have a few weeks ahead to do some quality research!

Rationing the Nuggets

Usually once every other week, Blackhawk offers chicken nuggets for lunch. Over the four years that I have been here, the nuggets have changed, um, designs if you will and have gotten decreasingly tasty. Yet, nugget day is still treated with reverence and I am still excited to get my ration of nuggets for lunch.

You read that right; I can go up and get my ration. The lunch folks are only allowed to give us a designated amount of nuggets. It fluctuates, but it's usually around 8-10 nuggets. These nuggets aren't all that big, so for me it's not too much of a lunch. If you ask for more nuggets, they will not let you have any more. However, if you are willing to go to the back of the line and you go through again, you can get another ration of nuggets. How does that work?

Is chicken nugget waste that much of a concern? If it is, I have not heard about it. I suppose I am not familiar with the going price of the chicken nugget, but I am amazed that it is expensive enough that is the one food that we need to limit consumption of.

I'm not sure what it is about these nuggets that makes them so good that we need to ration them. Four years ago, I might have been able to make the argument, but now, they're not that good. They don't even ration bacon, which to me might make more sense. I can understand that good bacon might be pretty expensive.

I wrote this article in lue of creating a Facebook group about. It's probably for the best.