She's going to be the "Martha Stewart" of the dorms!

I know this is bitter/sweet for you.

Wow! That fridge is gigantic compared to what we are allowed. I think meal plans differ by school, but the new point plan makes sense. The old style plans were probably based on what athletic young men need. The points plan sounds like it is more in line with the way average college students actually eat, whether it's sleeping through breakfast or going out to dinner, and noshing through the day, especially if the apple from the bookstore is also on the points plan. (When I was in college it counted as a whole meal, so people filled out with chips and sodas (for their rooms) so as not to "waste" a meal when they just wanted an apple.) Also different is what's allowed. We weren't allowed the multicooker, but some of the guys had sabers and cutlasses. :)

I'm impressed by the way your daughter is peopling her network, or networking her people.

Thanks for the report on the butterfly wings!

So interesting and much better than I was. She needs a hotplate and frying pan or griddle.
I'd go with the single burner and pan. I love browned foods.
And you are hardly old or even middle aged, John!

John - I'd be really interested to get continued reports on (and pictures of) what she's able to whip up in her dorm room.

That's a nicely equipped little kitchen, John, far better than mine when I first got married at 18.

She's got her "network" all figured out, but I'm betting something will happen to throw a wrench in THOSE works, things never seem to go that smoothly, LOL.

Good luck to your daughter on this new adventure, and good luck to you. You are definitely not old, BTW, but it's an adjustment when your kids go off to school.

Annie

I'm thinking about a single hob induction cooker, now that I see they are as cheap as $60. Some dorm rules to read through, electrical issues to think through (capacity of the outlet, etc), and I think we'll see how the RA feels about her little kitchen (if she cares at all) before expanding it.

We still have her little brother. He does a minimal bit of cooking - eggs, ramen, etc - when his cruel parents don't provide dinner, but is hardly ready to fend for himself, in the culinary sense. I'm going to start training him!

As far as cooking appliances go, the kettle is probably allowed and the multicooker is for warming towels, right? And drying sock? It's an overgrown hair dryer, agreed? I don't think there's any way to double talk any kind of hotplate.

I was researching dorm fridges for someone offline, and also small fridges for the outfitting game, and learned something I hadn't known before. Those weird fridge/microwave combo units, which are the only ones they allow in some dorms, especially in the Midwest? They're combos because they're made so the fridge can't cycle while the microwave is running, so they won't blast the circuits. Ingenious, no?

I hope your daughter is fully recovered. How's the boy doing on the snack front?

John, I'm impressed with your daughters dorm room kitchen. But even more impressed with the wonderful relationship you have with her.

A Thermomix which does everything including cooking would be the perfect little appliance in a dorm room.
Too bad they are so expensive.

~Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermomix

It sounds like your daughter is very resourceful and will make the most of her college experience. It is wonderful that you have this relationship with her. Just wonderful.

I saw one of these combo hot plate toaster oven things at the grocery store once and wondered why someone would buy such a goofy appliance, even for a dorm. I figured why not a hot plate and toaster oven and I make pour over coffee with hot water. But I could definitely see it coming in handy if you were just getting lunch and dinner out and doing breakfast in a tiny apt. efficiency type of place. Or dorm room. Not sure about the electric draw though, I imagine a toaster oven is a pretty big draw.
Three in One Breakfast Center

I've been working at colleges for the past 15 years and I am amazed at how far food service has come since I went to Michigan State Megaversity. So many more options and lots of healthy ones too! The latest is college gardens and locally sourced foods. We'll see how long that trend lasts. My former community college connection has a college garden that provides food for the day care center kids, culinary program and a farm market the students run. They also have short courses in various garden techniques and also offer community plots. I think quite a few colleges are going this route. It would be harder to do at some colleges where the population drops precipitously just as the gardens get going. It's easier for a community college due to the fact that many students are still around in the summer either taking courses or working locally and can still volunteer.

That is a very minimal and deficient cooking setup. Definitely not qualified as a kitchen.

That said, the entire sophisticate cuisine in Chinese cooking really came out from only four implements, namely a stove, a wok, a cutting board and a cleaver.

In a way many modern appliances are no more then training wheels for a bicycle. They compensate for the need to acquire some forms of cooking skills.

It is well-known that constrains promotes creativity, given the fact that your daughter is a very smart lady, we may be very surprised by what amazing dishes that will come out from that, all right, lets call that a âÂÂkitchenâÂÂ.

dcarch

My son's nutrition/snack situation seems to be getting better. The dance students have little cubbies. We put a basket in his cubby and stock it with non-perishable snacks, usually some variety of nutrition bar (Luna bars are favored). I just installed fenders and a rear rack on his bike, and a wire basket/pannier on the rack. He'll be able to carry a snack bag. So between lunch in the school cafeteria, then a an afternoon snack (sandwich, fruit, yogurt, or other semi-perishable food) in the snack bag, and the bars/etc in his cubby, he should be okay.

It also helps that he's become more acclimated to his new activity level. He says the cycling is good for his legs (something about improving his plie).

Now I'm trying to figure out his raingear situation, since the rainy season is fast approaching. I doubt he'll want to wear head to toe bike rain gear like I do, since that is pretty much the height of uncool. The "bicycle rain cape" has been suggested. Like the link below. Hardly anyone uses them in the US, it is more a UK thing, but I've ordered one and we'll see how he likes it. And there is always the bus or the MAX (light rail) or the mommy taxi.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rain Cape

This post was edited by johnliu on Sun, Sep 28, 14 at 19:42

Apparently some rain capes turn into kites in windy weather though that one doesn't look too bulky!
When they first leave home you just want to hold them close, don't you? Always a difficult time for the parents!

AAH, memories of college and food!?! Back in 1492, when I was in college, no such thing as MINI anything (like fridge or microwave) when it came to appliances. There were a few totally TABOO things that about everybody had but HID for fear of confiscation... hot plates and "stingers" (metal coil on a cord for boiling water).

Dorm did have a kitchen in basement. Fridge and stove (along with minimal tools) were almost always cruddy. And if you left anything in fridge, chances are it would disappear!

No such thing as food "plans" back then. You either ate breakfast, lunch & dinner at ASSIGNED times or that $ was gone. We'd have to SNEAK stuff out of cafeteria. We always had enough packets of condiments & S&P around. Had to use powdered coffee "creamer" unless it was winter... dorm window sills in the Poconos at least kept milk chilled!?!

Jr & Sr years were off-campus. It was then that I realized I had a LOT of very ill-prepared friends?? Out of 16 girls in a big old house with up/downstairs kitchens, I was maybe 1 of 2 people who actually had basic kitchen chops? One set of room mates LITERALLY ate plain spaghetti with Ragu sauce EVERY dinner for a whole semester! They became convinced others were "stealing" their milk from a gallon jug... OK, I'm sure I wasn't the only one to sneak a SMALL splash for my INSTANT coffee!?! They started putting a mark on the jug! Once, when jug was pretty much full, I added just enough water to RAISE the level ever so slightly... was last time jug got marked!?!

If I could go back in time, would do some major yard sale & thrift store shopping. With mini fridge and microwave as a given, would want a smallish crock-pot, coffee maker or electric kettle, electric skillet, toaster and whatever else I could fit... or HIDE if necessary!?!

I understand that many towns have problems during Superbowl. When the half-time comes, the entire town goes to the toilet, and that would overwhelm the town's sewer system.

I played a nasty April Fools joke when I was in college. Knowing how things work, I had a whole bunch of pranksters timed to flash all the toilets in the building at the exact moment. Flushometer Valves need water pressure to reset. The toilets were flashing all day until the plumbers came to reset each one.

College dorm kitchens have to limit electrical appliances, If everyone cooks dinner at the same time, it is not possible to size the wires heavy enough to take the load.

dcarch

This post was edited by dcarch on Sun, Sep 28, 14 at 9:55

Enjoying your family stories -- good girl to cook, and love that she has her alcohol connection. :O)

Re your son's "rain gear" problem, I'd just try to find a lightweight Gortex jacket and hat (golf gear). Some jackets even have a hidden hood in the collar. It takes a SERIOUS/LONG soaking to get through good Gortex.... or maybe you know that. :)

Yes, I really don't want her to trip the circuit breaker for her room! She has all her "kitchen" stuff plugged into a power strip with a surge protector. I *think* that surge protector should also have overload protection that would trip before 15 A or 20 A or whatever the dorm's circuit breaker is. This is a brand new building so it probably has a fairly beefy electrical capacity. Surely they anticipate two college girl roommates using 1500 watt blowdryers at the same time.

Colleges are in a competition for students, and food quality is a differentiator. At many schools today, the dining halls are impressive for the variety and quality of food. She could eat just fine without cooking at all. But, like us, she enjoys cooking. Her next project, I'm told, will be a chowder. She has the stock made already.

But first things first. Classes start tomorrow!