Cheesecake and Midterms

So, tragically it has been almost a week since the Cheesecake event of which I speak. Unfortunately, my culinary reflections and my midterms are not really on the same page.

Regardless, last friday night, I served Cheesecake a la Bartlett (or as my sister calls it– somewhat less romantically– “Prison Cheesecake).

In making this cheesecake, I mastered the art of dining hall grocery shopping. My dorm mates and I, at every meal, would stealthily grab creme cheese and sugar. In all, we got…

24 packets of Creme Cheese, 122 sugar packets.

Because, after all, food tastes better when you work for it (or at least steal the ingredients !

I made a chocolate swirl cheesecake from this recipe. The Chocolate wafer crust was especially fabulous. It reminded me of one really big Oreo! (One note: the recipe makes way too much filling. I made a whole pan of cheesecake “puddings” as well. I’m not complaining, but the filling quantities could probably be split in half).

However, unfortunately, I haven’t always loved cheesecake as much as I do now. When I was… probably six years old, my mother’s friend Wayne came to town. Wayne is a milliner (he makes hats) and whenever he would come he would leave Dia and me with countless goodies that would make any six-year-old girl go wild with joy. There were ribbons, flowers, butterflies, beads, buttons, glitter (which was strictly forbidden in my household. Wayne had our best interest in mind ), sequins, etc. But most notably, he would bring hat frames, so Dia and I could decorate our own hats. Dia and I would spend days with a hot glue gun and ALL of those knickknacks spread out in the basement designing the most bubbly, girly, six-year-old girl hats we could manage. At the end of this, my mom would always find some event worthy of a hat to attend: a tea party, a trip to the rose garden, etc.

Well, as we left for one of these events, my darling father looked at my feathered, butterflied, glittered, sequined, ribboned, and very very Pink hat, and said “It  looks like a cheesecake.”

I can’t say why, but this enraged me. For years after that, no one could as much as say the word cheesecake in my presence. I wouldn’t even think of eating it.

However, after many years, I have finally gotten past the trauma of my father’s comment about my hat. And its a good thing I did, because now I fully appreciate the phenomenon that is cheesecake.

So last Friday, late at night, about a dozen dorm-mates joined Kai (my roommate) and me in our room for cheesecake and Apples to Apples. T’was a perfect end of the week.

The Dry-Erase board on our door celebrating the epic event

Home Cookin’

7:30 pm: I had a dilemma. I could go to the dining hall, or cook for myself. The dining hall was closing in half an hour– meaning that the only things open would be the salad bar and the pizza. But…. I had work to do that should have taken priority over cooking.

Naturally, work lost this debate.

I threw some fettucine in a pot, chopped some onions and started to saute. Sauteing onions is my favorite job. I love the smell and the extraordinary amount of butter you can use (at least half a stick).

Here’s a question though: When chopping tomatoes, how much does it matter to get rid of the seeds?

In my opinion it’s silly. They give flavor and texture. And after all, I have to cook like I’m on a desert island (or dessert island– as my dear father called it),  nothing should be wasted.

My cooking buddy Graham (who was keeping me company), disagreed, and removed all the seeds from my tomatoes.

Speaking of tomatoes, they tasted like…. nothing. They had smelled ok, but they tasted watery and had that… mealy, slushy, texture. I still have 3 in my fridge. Any ideas of what to do with crappy tomatoes?

But regardless, my impromptu pasta and tomato sauce with tons of parsley, garlic, and well-buttered onions was delicious. Despite less than perfect ingredients, or a spoon to twirl my pasta, food cooked myself tastes so uniquely satisfying. I savored the tooth of the fettucine, the kick of the parsley, and the zest of fresh coarse pepper between my teeth.

Nothing better than Home Cookin’–or at very least, dorm cooking.

Hummus

Hummus appears to be the quintessential college (or at least UofC) food.

Every single event I have attended since coming here has featured hummus. What was served at the reception my History and Theory of Drama professor (David Bevington! for people (mmm…dad) who care to know) had at his house? Hummus. At the barbecue outside my dorm? Hummus. Inside my mini-fridge to eat with triscuits for nights I miss dinner? Hummus. occasionally the only edible thing in the dining hall? Hummus (which is especially good with pita bread that’s been put in the toaster). Why?  It’s cheap, easy, vegetarian, comes in many flavors, kind of (but not really) exotic, filling…

But regardless of the reason, it’s consistency is astounding.

Beef Stew

Since the dining hall is closed on saturday nights, I made my culinary debut at U of C last saturday by making beef stew. Stew seemed like a perfect homey, yet gourmet dinner. It feeds many people, saves easily, and keeps you warm and cozy (especially in increasingly cold Chicago). Since cooking is really my only way of making friends , I invited lots of dorm-mates to enjoy it. I took a trip to the Hyde Park farmers market with two friends to get ingredients. It’s a nice little farmers market (only about a dozen vendors, but all of them seem to have really good stuff). I got onions, grass-fed beef, garlic, and some spectacular “purple haze carrots.”

I also got various root veggies etc to roast on the side.

When I got back to the dorm, a wonderful upperclassman gave me some leftover lamb fat to make stock.

Making stock was thrilling. It was like I was on a dessert island– nothing could be thrown away. Carrot tops, onion and garlic skin, veggie peels– they were all thrown in the stock pot to flavor my stock even a little bit more.

It was a tricky beef stew because…. well I had no flour to thicken the stew or absorb the oil and I had no red wine. It was helped a bit by some balsamic vinegar stolen in a Tupperware from the dining hall.

But the stew, after simmering for 5 hours or so, came out just wonderfully. And, I believe It succeeded in its purpose: it made me some friends.

Foodie Goes to College

I’m now off to the University of Chicago, and amongst all the transitions and changes, the most difficult is by far is…

what to eat?

Amidst ramen, limited ingredients, easymac, a student grocery budget, and dining hall food, I will navigate cooking and eating at the University of Chicago.

Please follow my blog to see what i’ve been cooking and eating…