Desserts on a deserted campus (and more!)

While it seemed like nearly everyone I knew went back home for Thanksgiving break, a handful of us actually stayed on campus and took the chance to do absolutely nothing productive. No, we didn’t get to see our beloved pets and family, but we did get to run all over campus and climb on Blueno without any other witnesses. And with no one else using the community kitchens and with zero motivation to do work, my friends and I decided to bake a ton over break and get involved with some shenanigans.  WEDNESDAY - FIRST DAY OF BREAKThis was our first off-campus adventure this break. We walked down a Walmart—a freezing cold, calf-strengthening walk—and bought baking dishes that didn’t have chunks of month-old cake still on it as well as baking ingredients that our Thayer Street CVS didn’t have. The product of our first day of baking was a peach cobbler and a pumpkin roll. As always, we had to constantly stop working in order to wash the single spoon or fork in the cardboard box of random utensils in the communal kitchen (Seriously, Andrews people. Y’all are disgusting. Clean the damn pots, pans, spatulas, knives, forks, or literally anything you’ve used. It’s not that hard.).Our adventures for the day were not over. Everyone says that campus events are kind of lame, and yes, they can be. I’m still regretting those $3 I coughed over to that Halloween party. I did not need to pay to go back to middle school for ten minutes. But this night, the Vice President of Campus Life, Estes, hosted a dinner for everyone who stayed on campus for break. We got completely lost on the way there, since we don’t spend much time in South campus, and this led to us attempting to jump over a wall and led into a twelve foot trench, but eventually, we found the way to his house. I think he lives in a Tardis of some kind, because he was able to fit at least a hundred people in the house, all shuffling around and eating delicious gumbo and pie. At the dinner, we met other undergraduates who were spending Thanksgiving break here, but also some German medical students who were here for the semester. They were so friendly and we connected with them right away. Bless VP Estes for hosting us. THURSDAY - THANKSGIVING DAYWe learned something crucial over this break: Walmart actually closes on Thanksgiving. We made the entire walk to Walmart in 20-degree weather, which, with wind chill, ended up as 5-degree weather, only to find that our pants had frozen and our faces had dried out for nothing. Other families made the same mistake, but they had the luxury of pulling up to the empty parking lot in cars instead of in worn boots and a good old case of the shivers. In hindsight, we could’ve just used RIPTA instead of nearly contracting frostbite. But trusty old CVS was still kicking and sold exactly what we were missing. I’d been binge watching the Great British Bake Off for the past week, and had never thought about how it would go if they didn’t have electric whisks. Making buttercream was a breeze with a KitchenAid mixer, but with a hand whisk? We all got a good shoulder workout without even going to the gym. There’s a reason people don’t make soft or stiff peaks by hand, and don’t beat buttercream without some help from the modern world. Poor whisk; you served us well, but can you imagine how ripped bakers from the past must have been from doing all that labor? At least it tasted and looked great.

Was it worth six hours to make a decent batch of macarons? Uh, in GBBO terms, no, this was no showstopper. But in Thanksgiving low-tech terms? An absolute success. I think we contracted Type 2 diabetes that day.We also went down to the Ratty for the friendsgiving they were hosting. Even if it was really empty, there was so much joy in just talking and relaxing with chosen family. The food was great. But even greater? The workers who worked at the Ratty on Thanksgiving to feed the handful of us that stayed. Yes, they are also a blessing every day when classes are in session, but we were especially grateful for them over break. FRIDAY - BLACK FRIDAYWhen it reached midnight on Thursday and we were still in the kitchen making the macarons, one of us suggested going to the mall to do some Black Friday shopping. Sugar high and sleep deprived, we all agreed to this and walked to the mall in 15 degree windy night. We made our way around the few stores that were actually open at 1:30 AM. And yet, despite having come out all the way to the mall, the only thing that someone bought was a pair of socks.   It was interesting that everyone seemed to feel bad that we were “stuck on campus” for break . And while I would’ve liked the chance to see my family, going back home is very difficult for a large number of people as it’s not the best environment for them. Not everyone wants to deal with their racist and homophobic family, extended or not! I was happy that I got to spend quality time with people on campus, especially those I hadn’t spent a significant amount of time with before. Even if we were just sitting around in the middle of the hallway, doing absolutely nothing, simply getting to enjoy a stress-free environment with wonderful people was exactly what we needed at this point. Chosen family is a valid family too. 

Now with our last midterms and our finals looming over our heads, we return to the everlasting grind of college life, turning off the oven and running to the laundry room to make sure you get a dryer before that one asshole who leaves it in there for hours does. But once finals end and there’s a couple days before the flight home, you bet the communal kitchen is going to get wild again.  Images via, and via MJ Lee '22.