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Posts tagged ‘dining’

Jan 27

Grille Delivery is back?

Penguin Delivery

In this cold, snowy weather the walk to the Grille for a Love-Me Tender can seem more like a snowshoe hike up Snake Mountain than just a stroll across campus. Which is why many students expressed outrage at the beginning of this fall when it was rumored that dining would end support for student-run delivery. In the past, student delivery had been used to help fund such organizations as club sports teams and MAlt trips.

Well Middlebury, sigh no more. A group of students, calling themselves Penguin Delivery has taken it upon themselves to resume the business of Grille delivery to the student body. This morning many students received emails advertising the group and leading students to their Facebook page. The emails were not sent as an all-campus email, but rather to individual students in alphabetic chunks. The email as well as the group’s Facebook page asks students to direct all inquires to the given phone numbers and not the Grille.

With a flat delivery rate of $3, the group is bound to stir up quite a lot of business.

Update: 1/28/2011 – In an email to me this morning, Matthew Biete expressed uncertainty in regards to the new delivery system. He did say that it is his hope that the new managers of the Grille will be working on a way to partner with organizations again in the spring to provide delivery as well as a source of student fundraising.

Jan 11

2 Comments

Asian Carp Invasion, Part I

Midd Students are generally unfazed by the obscure bayaldis, risottos, gratins, stews, and ragouts served at Proctor dining hall. Even those who can tell the difference between their quinoas and bulgurs were unsure what to make of a new series of dishes prepared by the Proctor staff this year. The main ingredient? Asian carp. Perhaps in anticipation of student uncertainty, the staff prepared handouts about a little-known crisis in America’s rivers. For those of you who didn’t get the details, I’ll start out this series about Carp on campus with a brief summary.

First things first, though. Want proof that this whole Asian Carp thing is serious? Don’t believe that people go bow-hunting for fish? Watch this and sing a rousing chorus of the Star-Spangled Banner. Only in America.

Now that we’ll all have nightmares about fish attacks, here’s some more background information:

Asian carp, a term referring to several fish of Asian origin, escaped from fish farms into the Lower Mississippi in the late 1970s and have been spreading northward ever since. These aren’t your average minnows, either; carp can grow to be 5 feet long and over 100 pounds (not just fish story exaggeration, I promise). Despite their size, carp pick on the little guys and eat plankton. This means they’re disrupting the entire food system, from the bottom up, threatening the vitality of all native fish species, and, in turn, America’s freshwater fishing industry.

The last barrier to the Great Lakes is an electric fence at the Chicago Canal. Fear of a Great Lakes breach is so strong that officials dumped more than 2,000 pounds of fish poison into the waterway just to do quick fence maintenance last year. Asian Carp hysteria even reached the President: in February, the White House hosted an “Asian Carp summit,” and pledged nearly $80 million to prevent the spread of these backwater bullies.

Not only do these invasive fish threaten to disrupt ecosystems, but they also pose a danger to unsuspecting boaters as well, as seen in countless Youtube videos.

The fence can’t hold these greedy human-sized fish out forever, and we’re in need of more creative solutions to eliminate them. That’s where Richard O’Donahue, Proctor’s head chef, comes in. O’Donahue has been exploring carp as a sustainable, low-mercury food source. His staff has prepared carp patties (plain, but a good start), Asian carp meatball soup (getting better), carp meatloaf (not half-bad), and carp tacos (dry, but worth the effort). Despite facing a lack of available recipes and carp’s formidable bone structure, Richard says his staff plans to continue experimenting.

The dining staff is eager for feedback. Leave a comment here and also let Proctor know what you think. Check MiddBlog for updates!

Nov 9

4 Comments

Aunt Des Dish Campaign Continues

Like she promised, Aunt Des pays Voter a visit:

 

 

Personally, I think this one is a big improvement from the previous two videos, all of which can be found here.  It includes some students, but more importantly, the communications department and dining services aren’t trying to relate to college students through weird cultural references like the Bed Intruder Song.  I hear Aunt Des is going to be making some more live appearances in the dining halls and more dorms so watch out!

Sep 29

3 Comments

New Grille/middExpress Hours?

Dear Middlebury,

I typed "sad" into google images

Monday night I was hungry.  Seeking to avoid doing the reading I was so desperately struggling though, fellow middblogger Audrey and I spent half an hour talking about various food items I could buy from Middexpress .  Seeing as the Grille/middExpress hours have been so fickle, we checked the website, certain that would give us some insight.  Armed with confirmation that middExpress was open, we walked over to the McCullough, eagerly discussing the cookie dough we were about to consume raw.  Alas, IT WAS CLOSED : (

We were very sad.  Update the hours on the website!  Or just resume regular hours?  I love food a lot.  Even on Sundays and Monday nights.

Love,

Unsated and Depressed About It

Sep 24

1 Comment

‘Panthers eating Rabbits’ – Granola bar giveaway

If you have found yourself wandering around MiddExpress with the late night study munchies lately, you might have noticed a small display of swanky new granola bars right as you walk in. This summer, Middlebury Dining Services bought in to products from 18 Rabbits, a San Francisco-based granola and granola bar company.

The backstory. Walking across campus earlier this summer, I ran into 18 Rabbits founder and CEO Alison Bailey Vercruysse who was looking for the place she would be meeting with Dining Services – Hamlin Hall (a.k.a. the Bunker). I was treated to a sample of their “Cheeky Cherry Chocolate” granola bar: it had the right amount of snap, the right amount of chewy – sweet and salty at its best. Yum.

Middlebury’s Executive Chef Bo Cleveland says that although Dining Services likes the product, shipping costs have limited their use outside of auxiliary operations sales (i.e. MiddExpress). “I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting to see them in the dining halls.” He confirms there are no plans to substitute or supplement our homegrown Granola Gang’s production with 18 Rabbits granola.

The company. Midd alum (Class of ’93) and 18 Rabbits board member Adam Greenburger Greenberger says, “I am especially proud of 18 Rabbits’ presence on campus! Great stuff – Panthers eating Rabbits!”

Adam came to the company after leading an exciting and varied post-grad life: NOLS and NGOs in East Africa, travel in Asia, grad school, and starting an investment firm.

Typical, right? A coincidence that a Midd grad ends up working for a granola company? Adam responds, “There is no doubt that Vermont influenced me.” He adds,

Even though 18 Rabbits is a West Coast company, it shares a lot of the same values and qualities that make VT such a great state, which in turn help make Middlebury such a great spot to spend 4 years.

18 Rabbits products include fun and funky granola varieties (“Veritas Granola” and “Gracious Granola”) and appropriately descriptive granola bar flavors (“Haute Diggity Date,” and “Nibble A Sultana,” among others), available for purchase online.

The contest. We’ve got a box of granola bars and an 18 Rabbits t-shirt to give away. Here’s what you have to do: in the spirit of loving all things Midd, we’re looking for the cleverest, funniest, most insightful tweet about Midd. Use links, use those innaGOpriate go/ links, use hashtags, use those 140 characters to characterize Middlebury as best you can. To enter, tweet it and tag your entry #Midd or email it to tips@midd-blog.com to make sure we see it. We’ll announce our favorites next Friday.

Results of last week’s promotion
Congratulations to Maddie Mailly ’14 for winning last Friday’s chocolate giveaway from Middlebury Chocolate. Here are the winning 17 syllables:

Decadent delight
Lifeblood flowing through my veins
Keeps me up at night.

Thanks to our other entrants, as well. Here are a couple of our favorites: Read more

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