to pair with dumplings

can be made some dinners at McConnell Bistro
Pitzer College
Claremont, CA

illustrations by A. A. Milne

Pitzer now serves strange deep-fried “potstickers” with vegetable filling that’s pretty yummy on monday evenings.  i am not really a huge fan of sweet-and-sour sauces and much prefer hot and sour sauces my mom makes or that they give you at chinese restaurants.

to supplment my potstickers, i take Pitzer’s red wine vinegar at the end of the salad bar (alongside their fancy balsamic & olive oil bottles), chili paste that is being served at the stir fry “mongolian grill” Options section, sriracha, and a tiny bit of soy, and stir.

Pitzer also has some funky sweet chili sauce on their condiments shelf that’s worth a try.

*i blame any errors on the fact that i’m intoxicated while writing this.

 

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13
Studio Art and Biology
Claremont, CA

tanqueray makes everything better, even the dining hall.

illustrations by A. A. Milne

recommended dining halls to drink in:

Frary Dining Hall, Pomona College, Claremont, CA

classy orange soda + tanqueray

Collins Dining Hall, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA

pink slushie + tanqueray gin + sprite

khalua + hot cocoa + espresso from the nice machine (great in collins’ complimentary to-go cups)

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13
Studio Art and Biology
Claremont, CA

warm salad lunch

can be made most lunches at the Malott Dining Commons
Scripps College
Claremont, CA

the dressings that the dining hall offers are nasty.  but your salad dressings don’t have to be chunky and mono-flavored!

Bread and Jam for Frances, illustrations by Garth Williams

fill a bowl with mixed greens.

top your bowl with grilled chicken (usually available at the grill at pitzer, scripps, and cmc) or the yummy meat or tofu entree of the day  (a nice white fish, salmon, jerk chicken or thai chicken, carne asada from the taco line, pitzer’s yummy caramelized tofu etc.). make sure to add some of the juices and sauce from the meat dish.

add some toppings.  beans from the actual salad line, or better yet, warm black beans that are meant to be a side dish, mexican rice, or some other warm veggies.

to help wilt the salad and add flavor and moisture, pour a little bit of clear soup on top of your creation.  soup like chicken soup, beef broth, minestrone broth, vegetable stock…anything clear, and anything that you would enjoy the flavor of on its own.

add some salsa, sriracha, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, or malt vinegar. if you’re lucky and it’s a quesadilla or taco day, scripps will have some special salsas out that are great on top of salad.

finish it all off with a squeeze from one or two lemons (always available in the sandwich/condiments bar at scripps)

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13
Studio Art and Biology
Claremont, CA

spicy spice-y rice

Two Bad Mice by Beatrix Potter

can be made most lunches and dinners at the Malott Dining Commons
Scripps College
Claremont, CA

1. take a bowl and add any rice that is available (Scripps usually always has brown rice by the baked meat, or on special days you can get Mexican rice that’s already pretty flavorful)

2. add the spice of your choice to your rice:

* there is always salsa available in Scripps’ sandwich bar
* by the condiments at Malott, there is a rarely-used shaker of chili powder. pair this with your rice and some fish or chicken
* if it’s your lucky day, and there are toppings for tacos or tortilla soup, add some onions, cilantro, or pico de gallo

3. add a little lemon to freshen things up! (always available in Scripps’ sandwich bar)

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13
Studio Art and Biology
Claremont, CA

caldo de pollo with ri-i-ice

Chicken Soup with Rice, Maurice Sendak 1962

can be made most evenings at the
Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons
Harvey Mudd College
Claremont, CA

1. take a soup bowl and put in some rice (Mudd usually has a rice cooker by the vegetarian food)

2. add any fresh toppings that your salad or sandwich bar might have: from Mudd, i add corn, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro

3. if you’d like, add some spice: sriracha, cholula, red pepper flakes, or other salsas (i like to add Mudd’s salsa verde and mounds of pico de gallo)

4. over this, pour any chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth soup available

5. add some lemon to taste (by the soda fountains at Mudd)

6. crumble some mozarella cheese, some more cilantro, and tortilla chips to garnish

*adding fresh ingredients like tomatoes, or a little spice with sriracha, can really make your dining hall meal feel less stale (pico de gallo is my favorite fix to everything from steak to rice)  

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13
Studio Art and Biology
Claremont, CA

summer drinks

Wind in the Willows, illustrated by E.H. Shepard

can be made every day at McConnell Bistro, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA

italian soda

- put ice in a glass

- fill your glass 3/4 of the way with soda water

- add some sprite for some sugar

- finally, add lemonade, other juices, or flavored syrup to taste (pink lemonade at Mudd and raspberry syrup at Pitzer are my favorites). at Pitzer, the syrups are located by the coffee and tea

*for fun, add some malibu rum (transport into the dining hall via classy water bottle)

fizzy pink drink

(also available at Claremont McKenna’s Collins Dining Hall, Claremont, CA)

- fill your glass half way with that lovely baby pink slushie drink

- add equal amounts of sprite and soda water

- must drink with a straw

*an idea for taco tuesdays: add in some tequila, and dampen the rim of your glass and brush it with salt

mandy’s cafe con leche to-go

- fill your a paper t0-go cup with French Vanilla flavored coffee (at Pitzer, located on the North side of the dining hall)

- take it home and put it in your fridge

*better with some bailey’s irish cream or kahana royale hawaii macadamia

Malott Commons
Scripps College
Claremont, CA

arnold palmer

- put ice in a glass

- fill half your glass with rasperry Nestea iced tea (located on the one-room side of Malott)

- fill the other half with Minute Maid lemonade

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13
Studio Art and Biology
Claremont, CA

improving your quality of life

Bread and Jam for Frances, illustrations by Garth Williams

1. use ceramic and glass over plastic dishes whenever possible. as my friend Tasha says, it will make you feel like you’re a “real human being,” despite the dining commons’ hardest efforts to make us all feel small and insignificant
2. drink things with a bendy straw, says my friend Sumaiya.  Add a lemon wedge and a hint of lemonade into your ice water à la my friend Mandy, and you’re instantly transported to a much classier joint.
3. treat the dining hall like your grocery store. don’t eat what they give you straight– make things out of the “ingredients” they give you. “shop” and take some Lucky Charms, tater tots, or pretzels (at Pitzer’s salad bar) to-go in a paper coffee cup.
4. utilize the appliances given to you. use the microwave and the panini press creatively.
5. try to add fresh elements into your meal. top your soups and entrees with salad or salsa bar items like corn or pico de gallo to liven them up.
6. don’t feel like you need to eat the entree of the day. have cereal or a pb&j if you want it. that way, you eat what you want when you want, and you don’t get tired of dining hall cuisine (after all, that same orange chicken stir fry will be there next week).

-sarita c.
Scripps College ’13

Studio Art and Biology

Claremont, CA