A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.
The passing of Labor Day means back-to-school season is officially here. Many college students have already landed on campus. Hopefully, they have a bar like Stub & Herbs to help them lament the end of their summer vacation.
Located at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Stub & Herbs is a campus icon, opened way back in 1939 with the plan to serve great burgers and drinks. Though their cheeseburgers are still a staple, a lot has changed in the drinks department, especially recently.
"Over the last two years, I got creative freedom to pick whatever we wanted," says general manager Jon Landers. "Our taps are now 100 percent all-American craft beer." He pushed college standbys like Coors Light and Bud Light onto the bottles list and began using their 32 taps to focus on independent breweries, especially local and "blossoming" ones. "The Midwest has a reason to be proud," Landers continues. "They're turning out some great stuff."
Have a great beer bar at your school or alma mater? Fill us in in the comments! And see Stub & Herbs' complete draft list, as of Tuesday, after the jump. ...
Sodexo, a company that provides food services to more than 600 college campuses in the U.S. and Canada, has just released some of their long-term data monitoring taste preferences over the decades. Check out the list of students' favorite dining hall foods from this year, compared with the list from 1989. The results are pretty interesting.
Favorite foods in 2009:
1. Locally-grown fruits and veggies 2. Crispy garlic-ginger chicken wings 3. Mac 'n five cheeses 4. Vietnamese Pho 5. Green tea and pomegranate smoothies 6. Crab cake sliders 7. Mini samosas 8. Tilapia Veracruz 9. Goat cheese salad 10. Chicken Molé
Favorite foods in 1989:
1. Fruit and cottage cheese plate 2. Chicken nuggets 3. Turkey Tetrazini 4. Chicken Chop Suey 5. Egg, bacon and cheese English muffin 6. Half sandwich and cup of soup 7. Taco bar 8. Spanish beef and rice 9. Vegetarian bean chili 10. Algerian lamb stew
The "fruit and cottage cheese plate" strikes me as particularly '80s (this was the decade of aerobics and leg warmers, after all), and the "chicken chop suey" is as retro as it gets.
For those of you who got to partake in the delights of college dining hall fare, please spill - what were your favorite dishes?
It's no secret: Anyone who's ever seen a football game and is not blind to mass-marketing knows beer and football go hand in hand. And as much as the federal government would like to have us believe otherwise, beer and college go hand in hand too. Therefore, beer and college football are like a "perfect storm" of drinking. And (thankfully) football season is upon us again.
So it makes sense that someone would want to compile a list of "the 10 best beer towns in college football" as Joey Redner of the St. Petersburg Times attempted to do. What doesn't quite make sense is the ratio between football prowess and craft beer quality used to determine his official order.
With two national titles and "16 brewpubs or breweries" the Washington Huskies took #1. But when a South Florida Bulls team with a 1-2 postseason bowl record can take #9 over a six-time national champion Tennessee Volunteers team (#10), all I can think is, the Tampa Bay Brewing Company must serve one heck of a beer!
So sure, the list has some heavy hometown bias, but it's more about sparking some friendly football and beer-infused debate than compiling a definitive list. What do you say? Which college football town has the best mix of brewers and bowl expectations?
When I was in college, one of the best things about being on the food service plan was that every Easter, Bon Appetit (the food service company at Whitman) would go all out and put together a fancy brunch for everyone who stayed behind that weekend. It would be held in the lobby of Cordiner Hall and there would be tables of pastries, made-to-order omelet stations and an absolute abundance of fresh, gently blanched asparagus. I would go every year in large part to binge on the asparagus, eating it until I could hold no more.
For some reason, the moment I saw this image of a bouquet of fresh asparagus, this memory of Easter asparagus in college is what my mind immediately conjured up. I don't have much in the way of Easter plans this weekend, but I do believe that I need to add "buy asparagus" to my shopping list.
Recently I've found myself at events where, just as the evening seems to be winding down, games of beer pong spring from fully formed from the ether. For those of you not in the know, beer pong is a game in which two people stand on either ends of a ping pong table (or similar structure of rectangular shape) and set up a triangle of plastic Solo cups in front of them. Each cup gets filled to some predetermined level with beer. A player tosses a ping pong ball at their opponents cup, trying to land a ball into a cup. If the ball does make it into a cup, the player to whom that cup belongs must then drink its contents. It is amusing to watch and if you're looking to get drunk, this is a quick way to do so (not that I'm encouraging excessive drinking).
The people know don't seem to require much in the way of special equipment in order to play, but when I sent a link to the PortOPong to one of the regular instigators, he was thrilled and immediately placed an order. Apparently, it's always been his dream to play in a swimming pool and now that wish can become a reality.
Well, good morning, our favorite Slashfood friends! Did you finish that final chapter of the last book on your reading list? Did you put all your supplies safely into your backpacks? Most importantly...did you pack a healthy lunch?!?!
In case you didn't know, we here at Slashfood are headed back to school today!
We'll be taking the whole day to post about speedy breakfasts, well-rounded lunches, healthy after-school snacks, and dinners for kids and family that are easy to prepare during the hectic pace of the school year. But it won't just be about the little kids. For some of us, "Back to School" means heading back to the college dorms, so we'll have some tips on how to avoid the Freshman 15 (or 20, in my case), tips for late night study/cram session snacks, and how to cook in a dorm room.
As always, we love sharing, so if you've got suggestions, posts on your own blog, or just want to get a little something off your chest about anything related to going Back to School, leave us a comment, or send us a tip!
The freshman 15 may be a myth, but college students still face a lot of challenges when it comes to eating healthy. Greasy foods, especially pizzas, seem to be everywhere as clubs and other organizations try to lure students into their meetings. It is tempting, and myth or not, a student can still gain more weight than they would like if they don't watch what they eat. Just keep a couple of tips in mind and you should emerge from your freshman year no heavier than when you entered it.
Low fat yogurt is a great food to keep in the mini fridge. Yogurts come in so many flavors that you're unlikely to get bored with them, and they can be mixed with fresh fruits or even some granola for a change of pace. Yogurts also frequently go on sale, so stock up by buying at those times.
Trail mix, GORP or any other combination of nuts and dried fruits is a good snack to have around. The nuts are healthy and filling, while the fruits add a sweetness. A handful or two should put a stop to any candy-bar cravings you might have.
While some may have gained some weight during their first year at college, new studies are showing that the phenomenon known as the "freshman 15" doesn't have much more than word-of-mouth behind it. The term first appeared in the mid 1980s in the Chicago Tribune, where the fact that it was a large enough number to inspire worry, but not so large that it seemed unbelievable, kept it going. So will students entering college really gain 15-pounds in their first year? A study from Rutgers that was published last month showed that 25% of students (Rutgers students) lost weight during their first year, while 75% gained an average of 7 pounds. "Nobody gained 15 pounds," said the professor behind the study.
Of course, some students will go overboard and binge on pizza and vending machine snacks without any supervision but their own, but many students will not. College eating halls are offering healthier options all the time, so students are more likely to see organic, vegetarian and vegan options, along with lean meats and plenty of healthy veggies, rather than just greasy, fried fare.
Perhaps the "freshman 15" is really just a reminder to try to keep kids on a healthier track and, if so, perhaps the fact that most students aren't seeing that kind of weight gain is reason enough to keep it going.
Thanks to Sarah, we now know which universities the Princeton Review thinks have the best on-campus food, but most college students will be happy to tell you that off-campus food is almost always better. With schools starting up right and left, students need to be prepared to find those places because greasy pizzas and pb&j gets boring pretty quickly. CampusFood.com is a website that allows users to search for lists of off-campus eateries and order their food online from the menus published on the site. Their ever-growing database includes independent restaurants and chains. Delivery is up to the individual restaurant (some only allow pick-up orders), but not only is this a boon to college students who want to really streamline their days, it is good for small restaurants whose primary business comes from college student, making them more accessible to their tech-savvy (and hungry) customer base.
By the way, the services offered by the website are not limited to college students - anyone can order food online as long as they are near enough for either delivery or pickup.
The Princeton Review released its annual ranking of colleges for 2007, which includes individual lists for such things as parties, professors, and what we care about here, campus food (requires registration), which falls under a larger category called "Quality of Life." Bowdoin College in Maine tops out at the Number One spot - I wonder if they get lobster rolls? Here's the Top 20:
You can't go shopping anywhere these days without being bombarded by "Back to School" sales. Even my local grocery store has "back to school" type foods, like peanut butter and bulk cases of instant ramen, highlighted all over the store. Yes, it's August, and school starts in a few short weeks.
"Back to school" is also in the news, and an article I came across this morning talks about what colleges are now doing to help students avoid the dreaded Freshman 15 - the 15 or so pounds that newly-away-from-home students gain because they're too busy studying to pay attention to what they're eating. Either that, or they're just indulging in pizza beer because they were never allowed to at home.
My freshman year in college, my weight gain was closer to a Freshman 20. Decked out in sweats and overalls about 90% of the time, I didn't really notice the weight gain until Spring. Twenty pounds crept up on me over two semesters at Cal from a simple daily diet of sugar-laden smoothies, Zona Rosa Burritos (I went to Cal), Top Dog, instant ramen, and study break "dates" during final exam fever eating pan-fried noodles drowning in starchy, sugary sauce at late night Chinese joints. But I know that if I had to blame it all one one thing, it would be Fat Slice Pizza.
I've confessed - 20 pounds of fat gained from Fat Slice Pizza. Now it's your turn. What was the real Freshman 15 for you? And how did you get there? "Free" dorm cafeteria food, laden with starch? $1.99 bacon, sausage, and eggs every morning before Econ 101? Beer? Candy? Spill it.
As a full-time college student, I rarely had the time to devote a whole day to a meal. When I successfully defended my thesis a month before graduation, I decided that it was time to make dinner.
Throughout my four years at a small liberal arts school in Florida, I tried not to let the restrictions of dorm life hinder my ability to cook well. When I was getting ready to start school, I called the residence life office to see if my dorm would have any cooking facilities. They told me that the rooms had no facilities, but that there were communal kitchens in each of the dorm complexes. Whomever I spoke with assured me that I would be put in a room near one of these kitchens. Not totally satisfied with the prospect of leaving my room to make a grilled cheese sandwich, I e-mailed residence life and asked what their policy was on students using cooking equipment-hot plates, toasters, microwaves-in their rooms. The reply told me that microwaves were just fine, but that other electric cooking equipment, such as toaster ovens, fell under the category of "Oh, god no!"
After emerging from bankruptcy earlier this year, Gardenburger is looking to rebuild its brand. They turned to college students for help. A spokeswoman from
Gardenburger stated that college students were a good market for the brand because "college students tend to be
more aware ... about the environment [and] about health" - meaning that they are slightly more likely than the
average person to reach for the vegetarian option at the table.
The company has set up a program with advertising classes at five US universities, where the students at each
campus are to design a campaign for the company and at least one will be used nationally in the fall. The students are
not being paid for this work - and are more than likely being graded on their ideas - but the opportunity to work on a
national campaign for a nationally known brand is a chance that any college student looking to go into advertising or
marketing is likely to jump at.
The University of California, Berkeley just became the first US college to offer students
food from an organic certified kitchen. The
kitchen at the relatively new Crossroads dining commons was approved by the California Certified Organic Farmers, a
trade organization that issues certificates to state and local restaurants and businesses based on their compliance of
the USDA National Organic Program.
While some other universities do offer their students organic options, the certification of the Berkeley kitchen,
which is separate from the other kitchens in the dining hall, means that every item served in their new organic
salad bar is produced via environmentally sound farming practices. The certification process took about one year and
the produce offered costs roughly 10 to 15% more than traditional produce. Some students reported that the food tasted
the same as conventionally grown, while others
thought it tasted better; the majority of the students who were aware that the certification had taken place were
happy to see the change. Berkeley plans to offer more organic options in the future.
Having attended a small liberal arts college, I've seen my share of vegan potlucks. The other night, at a
dinner party thrown by some students and alums, I had a helping of some fairly tame looking black beans that turned out
to be palate-peelingly spicy. I said as much to someone else at the party and they replied, "Yeah, they're
hippie hot." That comment served to stir up a question I've always pondered at potlucks and dinners
throughout the years: why is it that vegan and vegetarian potluck offerings are often very heavily seasoned? Is it just
me? Please tell me that there are others out there that have experienced this. Is it perhaps that some inexperienced
vegan cooks fear that their food will be bland and sometimes overcompensate with spices? I don't know. I have nothing
against vegan cooking on the whole. Truth be told, a friend from college makes better vegan baked goods than some of
the non-vegan bakers I know. They made me a believer. I'm not suggesting that all vegans are hippies either. I'm just
wondering if other folks have had similar experiences with spicy silken tofu quiche and such.
It's no secret: Anyone who's ever seen a football game and is not blind to mass-marketing knows beer and football go hand in hand. And as much as the federal government would like to have us believe otherwise, beer and college go hand in hand too. Therefore, beer and college football are like a "perfect storm" of drinking. And (thankfully) football season is upon us again.
Recently I've found myself at events where, just as the evening seems to be winding down, games of beer pong spring from fully formed from the ether. For those of you not in the know, beer pong is a game in which two people stand on either ends of a ping pong table (or similar structure of rectangular shape) and set up a triangle of plastic Solo cups in front of them. Each cup gets filled to some predetermined level with beer. A player tosses a ping pong ball at their opponents cup, trying to land a ball into a cup. If the ball does make it into a cup, the player to whom that cup belongs must then drink its contents. It is amusing to watch and if you're looking to get drunk, this is a quick way to do so (not that I'm encouraging excessive drinking). 
The freshman 15 
While some may have 
Thanks to Sarah, we now know which universities the Princeton Review thinks 
The Princeton Review released its annual ranking of colleges for 2007, which includes individual lists for such things as parties, professors, and what we care about here, 
You can't go shopping anywhere these days without being bombarded by "Back to School" sales. Even my local grocery store has "back to school" type foods, like peanut butter and 
After emerging from bankruptcy earlier this year, 
The University of California, Berkeley just became the first US college to offer students
food from an 
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
