2008 Woodie Awards
'Death' dessert amazes, main dish marginal
Andrea Vasquez
Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Features
Students are shuffling down the sidewalk in their American Eagle mules and flipping up their hoodies against the chilly autumn breeze. As the weather gets cooler and students find it harder to go to class, fall is clearly upon us.
For this edition of Micromeals, the appetizer and main dish will help comfort slipper-bearing students and get them ready for winter hibernation. The dessert - though just as appropriate for slippers and cool weather - is in celebration of Jamie's upcoming birthday.
By far, this meal took the longest - the microwave was nearly smoking by the end of the long, strenuous run.
I started out with chili, a classic I thought would warm us up and help us remember the end of summer and non-microwaveable chili cook-outs.
Annoyingly, the recipe specifically called for two cans of chili without beans, as well as two cans of kidney beans. I don't know why a can of chili with beans couldn't have just consolidated the two requests and, as I scoured the shelves of labels that read "CHILI WITH BEANS," I considered cheating. But for the sake of the column and my readers, I complied with the nit-picky recipe.
When it came time for the cooking - or zapping - I dumped the chili without beans, the drained cans of beans, a can of condensed tomato soup, a cup of water and a half teaspoon of chili powder into a massive Tupperware. I recommend cutting the recipe in half.
I microwaved the medley for about nine minutes, stopping to stir about every three minutes, or when I heard a loud pop.
The chili was decent with crackers or chips, but lacked something. The chili powder gave some flavor (though it was probably unnecessary if students don't want to buy a whole container for half a teaspoon), but it was missing... kick. The chili was good enough to eat, but I was hardly scooping second and third helpings.
The main dish - and the one with the longest cook time - was macaroni and cheese. There was no cheating here: I started with uncooked macaroni pasta, butter, milk and a block of cheese.
For this edition of Micromeals, the appetizer and main dish will help comfort slipper-bearing students and get them ready for winter hibernation. The dessert - though just as appropriate for slippers and cool weather - is in celebration of Jamie's upcoming birthday.
By far, this meal took the longest - the microwave was nearly smoking by the end of the long, strenuous run.
I started out with chili, a classic I thought would warm us up and help us remember the end of summer and non-microwaveable chili cook-outs.
Annoyingly, the recipe specifically called for two cans of chili without beans, as well as two cans of kidney beans. I don't know why a can of chili with beans couldn't have just consolidated the two requests and, as I scoured the shelves of labels that read "CHILI WITH BEANS," I considered cheating. But for the sake of the column and my readers, I complied with the nit-picky recipe.
When it came time for the cooking - or zapping - I dumped the chili without beans, the drained cans of beans, a can of condensed tomato soup, a cup of water and a half teaspoon of chili powder into a massive Tupperware. I recommend cutting the recipe in half.
I microwaved the medley for about nine minutes, stopping to stir about every three minutes, or when I heard a loud pop.
The chili was decent with crackers or chips, but lacked something. The chili powder gave some flavor (though it was probably unnecessary if students don't want to buy a whole container for half a teaspoon), but it was missing... kick. The chili was good enough to eat, but I was hardly scooping second and third helpings.
The main dish - and the one with the longest cook time - was macaroni and cheese. There was no cheating here: I started with uncooked macaroni pasta, butter, milk and a block of cheese.
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