Poe-Tae-Toe.

I love potatoes! I love potato salad, too! However, by "potato salad", I mean the cliche vinager+mayo+American potato salad, with chunks of apple and celery, perhaps. Today I found out that I'm not too sure that I like any other type of potato salad.

Today, Commons had a field day - well, not really. They just obtained a lot of potatoes, presumably from a field nearby [since they always boast about how a lot of their ingredients come from within a 150-mile radius]. I've never understood why they always have tubs of raw food just sitting out there; the fruit is for people to take, but apparently they get irked when you take vegetables. Potatoes aren't that aesthetically-pleasing when they look raw and muddy [well, they're still cool, I understand], so why were they on display?

The only conclusion: STUDENTS MUST TAKE POTATOES!!

I am probably wrong.

To use up the huge surplus of potatoes [Seriously, they should have a giant bin that is labeled "free for all!" and dump in vegetables and fruits that they don't want to use to cook, but are perfectly edible - oh wait, those small tubs everywhere? Are those for us to take? I never know.], the fine cooks at Commons made one, I mean, two, no, I mean, seven potato salads.

Going anticlockwise:

The super-white potatoes on the left hand side tasted like coconut. They tasted super creamy, but not fatty or buttery [coconut milk?] and the potato chunks were not starchy; they were sort of raw and apple-like.

The slices were from a German potato salad. These tasted very much like vinegar-potatoes, and the potatoes, again, had an apple-like texture.

The next ones were normal, but not as tangy as cliche potato salad.

The ones without the dressing, and with the French bean, were just ok. Just potato.

The next creamy potatoes were...well, I'm sort of put-off by the idea of having apple-like-textured potatoes. I like potato salad with starchy potatoes that are almost mashed and have a nice, sweet, aftertaste [due to the amylose on our saliva breaking it down]. Most of the potatoes I had today were too solid, firm, and not too flavourful, save the dressing. So, this one would be an example of the potato salad that directly opposes what I envision in a potato salad.

Back up top: These were beautifully coloured and looked practically gourmet, and although the dressing was quite nice [perhaps I was deceived by the looks?], the potato itself wasn't ka-bang.

Centre: Wow. This one was amazing! I love purple potatoes now. The dressing wasn't sour enough for my liking, but the texture of these mini, irregularly-shaped, rainbow potatoes was just amazing! Fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth-after-you-chew, dense, and flavourful!

Overall, I'm surprised Commons decided to stick something at the "special stuff bar" of the dining hall. For the past few weeks, it's been either dips or apples/oranges. Oh, and for the last half of last semester, it was mainly just sandwiches. Except for the one time there were apple items on "Apple day" [which wasn't even that day!]

Artisserie Chocolate Café

I'm not really sure what "artisserie" means. It's not a French word. It sounds French, yes, but unless it's a misspelling of "pâtisserie" [which would make sense, by the way], it's not a word.

Either way, it's exactly how gourmet cafes/chocolate stores portray themselves. I wondered why anyone would buy a truffle for $1.25 but then I remembered that the Godiva chocolate was around $1 for one, as well. ...I guess I'm just one of the odd people who'd prefer to eat cocoa powder plain.

My HSOC professor has been having coffees with us students, 5 at a time, to get to know us better. This is amazing because it breaks the stereotype of professors just lecturing and not caring about people's names etc. He even grades 1/3 of the exams... which is pretty cool too. Actually, he reminds me of my high school APUS1 teacher, because he not only adds a sense of humour to everything we learn ["by "cosmopolitan", I don't mean "how to please your man", for example, is one of his jokes concerning globalisation of medicine...]

There was some spicy hot chocolate, and I nearly got that but I tend to like cold drinks more [yes, even in the winter] since hot drinks burn my tongue...well, I guess it also depends on my mood. So, I got the Extreme Chocolate [I think that was it?] flavoured frappe, without whipped cream. It was actually extremely SMOOTH. I don't understand how something with chunks of ice can feel smooth, but this probably had a litre of cream in it or something, since it was seriously like drinking mousse. I almost said that it wasn't chocolatey, but then I'd be lying. I just think that the creaminess masked the bitter chocolate flavour that I had expected.

Although I apparently had a shot of espresso in it, I didn't really taste much coffee. In truth, it was a nice drink except that the flavours weren't so prevalent. I blame it on the bucket of sugar in the drink. That probably masked all the flavour...

Or, I was just too focused on listening to my professor and the other 4 [well, mostly one since she, by far, talked the most] talking.

My first meal at Penn

I know that I should've updated this a LONG time ago [read: April] but I was so caught up in school and stuff... plus, the quality isn't great, due to the fact that I was using my camera phone, which does not have flash. On the other hand, my camera phone has served me really well, and is the most useful function on my phone. Honest. [I don't use text messaging]. So, for the Penn Preview Day, we all had lunch at the 1925 Commons place. I'm definitely going to be blogging about this cafeteria a LOT during the next... wow... four years [unless I get expelled or drop out or something...] so this post technically shouldn't be a big deal. It was a Friday, and the garlic bread/toast was really crunchy.

These are vegan wraps, filled with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tofu. The grilled tofu wasn't that great in my opinion, and the wrap itself was really dry. And bland. I suppose this is the cliche "diet" or "vegetarian" dish. It was sorta mediocre... I don't mind eating it, but its lack of flavour is rather disappointing.

The chocolate cookie was dry. I like chewy, soft cookies, so I can't really vouch for them... I suppose those who like dry, crispy cookies would like these, though. I also learned that I don't like pretzel Goldfish crackers. The tortilla chips, were very crunchy and aesthetically pleasing. I wonder if they actually make these from scratch?

Okay. The marshmallow and rice cereal square is amazing! As you have noticed...I ate at least three of them. [I actually ate more than that. This reminds me of a day two summers ago, when I ate at least 10 packets of Kellogg's Rice Krispie Treats. In one day. Yes, I was obsessed that one day. I've yet to do such a thing again...] They were soft and gooey, and NOT stale, even though they'd been sitting there for ages...[trust me, stale marshmallow squares, like the ones at Borders, are dry. And not sticky. And lack the marshmallow texture]. These ones were really moist and I could literally "sink" my teeth into them and have them stuck there perpetually... except that sugar is polar and my saliva is polar.

I don't think anyone knows what I'm talking about when I mention the pizza crust from the Pizza Hut pizza [mini, cut into 4 pieces] at Penrith Plaza in 1999, or 2000. However, if you consume the pizza crust at 1920 Commons... you get a nearly identical taste. And texture. And smell. Oh nostalgia...This would be the only reason I'm going to be consuming pizza at Penn. Well, the topping was nice, too :), but the crust was a reminder of childhood. Which is ironic, since I haven't had "American" Pizza Hut pizza, ever.