March 31, 2005:
Q: The pasta salad with the tuna and peas is delicious!!! If this could be
offered more often as a side order at the den, that would be wonderful!
Keep up the good work!
A: Thanks for writing.Let me see what we can do about offering it more often in the Den.
Q: is cottage cheese low fat? how about honey mustard sauce?
A: The collage cheese is low fat and are you talking about the Honey Mustard Dressing? Thanks for writing.
Q: I have a couple of comments..First, I loved the different flavors you had in the soft serve machine (irish cream) they were delicious!!! Second, I LOVE the crab bisque.. is there any way to get the recipe? Third, I get out of practice and to dinner by 7ish and the FroYo machine has usually been dissembled by then.. Can it stay working for a little longer? Last, Some of my friends and I are a little disappointed that our real napkins never get responded to when we post them outside of commons..That is all..
A: Thanks for writing. I can make sure that the Fro Yo is kept open later . In
terms of the napkins, I have a student who writes the witty responses and
this individual has been no where to find as of late. I guess all will just
have to put up with my non witty responses until I can locate my clever student responder.
Q: Is there any possibility the rasberry vinagrette salad dressing could make
a more frequent appearance in the salad bar? It's YUMMY!
A: Sure can.
Q: Hi, I was just wondering if there's any way that you would be able to
offer a chocolate-raspberry cake for dessert sometime? Perhaps chocolate
cake with raspberry sauce on the side, or with raspberry icing? It's
delicious! Thanks!
A: Should be no problem. Thanks for writing.
March 29, 2005:
Q: Can we please have more fish patties? I have only had them twice this semester.
A: Sure can. Thanks for writing.
Q: Please no more chicken patties on Saturday... Please!
A: Do you realize what would happen if we did not serve chicken patties on
Saturday morning. I have tried and almost lost my life. For those few who
Chicken Patties do not appeal to, there are other menu choices as well. Thanks for writing.
Q: A friend was complaining over dinner tonight about how everything at
commons has so much cheese. While this was an exaggerated comment to make a point, I do have to agree that cheese is indeed over-used. Cheese is put on fish (!!), all kinds of meat, many other 'hot food line' dishes and so
on. We all know that too much cheese is not healthy. Could Bates Dining
please try and cut down it's use of cheese (and cheese substitutes) to the
bare minimum ? Also, could they also try and cut down on cheese and
fat-cased items on the menu. For instance, I think serving mac & cheese at
lunch can be easily avoided. As can the cheese toppings on baked fish.
My response to my friend's comment (after agreeing with him) was that it's
Common's attempt at making things taste better and that many dishes would
taste pretty bland without the cheese. I also added that using cheese to
add flavor is probably the worst way to go about it.
By the way, the salmon has consistently gotten better at Commons. It is no
longer over-cooked and is served 'just right'. Kudos to you all for taking
care of that.
However, I cannot say the same for the tuna. While the salmon is
absolutely delicious, the baked/seared tuna isn't quite as exciting. Given
on the texture of tuna, and the lack of inherent flavors in the meat, I
think it's best left at the sandwich bar or in the hands of sushi rollers.
Please do continue the salmons.
Lastly, I was very impressed with the meal that Commons prepared for the
Eritrean event at the Multicultural Center a couple of weeks ago. I was
surprised to learn that the meal was prepared by Commons. Apprently, the
Eritrean girl had supplied the recipe and commons had prepared the dinner.
It was delicious ! Maybe Commons can try preparing dishes using such menus from the international dinner cookbook, internet recipies, etc. That way, it won't have to resort to cheese to add flavor.
Please do remember that I think Commons does an amazing job at serving all of us three times a day. I appreciate all the hard work that goes into
preparing the range of options and the quality of food that Commons
offers. Thank you for that.
In addition to thanking you for all that, this email is to bring to your attention how Commons can improve it's standards even further. Thank you for your attention to these issues.
A: First let me say thank you for taking the time to craft this e-mail. It is
the interest and input of individuals like yourself that keep us continually testing and honing the menu.
I understand your concerns, but it is important to remember that we cannot
impose our preferences or dietary choices in food on the student population. However it is our responsibility to provide sufficient variety so that all constituents can for fill their personal choices. The fact of the matter is that cheese is a very, very popular ingredient and we have actually reduced the number of dishes that include cheese as a component. We can not however eliminate such staples as mac and cheese , grilled cheeses, pasta bakes etc... as this would reduce the variety greatly and the acceptability rate for these items is very high.
When looking at alternatives to cheese offerings every night there are four
vegan bar options that never include cheese , three plain pasta and the
salad bar just to name a few. In addition, many individuals, myself included, use cheese as a source of protein in place of meat.
In terms of using cheese as a flavor enhance this is not the reason at
all it is included in the menu choices and in fact there are only two
fish recipes that actually include cheese. In looking at todays menu there
are no main entree offerings that include cheese over lunch and only one
over dinner when there are four vegan options offered as well. In addition
the bulk of the marche station offering do include cheese as an ingredient.
I understand your concerns and will review the menu to ensure that we are
not serving a " cheesy" meal and will look at including more cheese
alternatives in the cycles. In fact we are going to replace the veg.
moussaka ( which has cheese) with a stout barley- one of the recipes
featured last night.
Thanks for your update on the salmon and we will work on the tuna.
I really appreciate our input.
March 24, 2005:
Q: It's funny... everyone at bates is so hyper-sensitive to Jewish holidays,
especially in commons. When passover rolls around, Matzah is everywhere,
and special food is usually made. However, Bates dining has paid
absolutely no attention to Catholic dietary restrictions during Lent. I am
not Catholic, but my friend who is Catholic cannot eat meat on Fridays and
happened to give up non whole grain foods for Lent. This left her
struggling to find an adequate meal every friday. How hard would it be to
ensure that fish is served on fridays during lent?
A: You are exactly right and this was a horrendous oversight on our part. Thank you for pointing this out and you can be assured it will not happen
in the future. Thanks for writing.
Q: Is it possible to have either Westsoy smoothies, soy shakes, or soy
slenders? We already have Westsoy soy milk, and I think those boxes are
recycled, and these other kinds come in the same boxes as well...so there
wouldn't be a problem with recycling.
A: This product is not available to us. We will keep trying. Thanks fro writing.
Q: It was the winter. The cold winter. I lay in my bed, awaken by a cold
draft passing through my room. My peaceful dream world interupted. I had
dreamt of Fiji, Bali, or somewhere I had been in my travels, thoughts of
birds, gentle primates, and marsupials prancing through the gently wooded
beach. In my hand, I dipped my spoon, what reached my lips was the most
blissful taste, a sweet pina cola frozen yogurt, made by the indigenous
memebers of a local tribe. Back in my lonely dorm room I thought to
myself, would it ever be possible for me to encounter this same taste at
the Bates Dining Facilities? Please tell me, shall this forever be a
dream, or is it possible to make that dream a reality...??? Pina Colada
Frozen Yogurt, an ambrosia, please one day let its gentle yet sweet taste
touch my lips... I would be forever indebted.
A: This is not a dream.....
March 21, 2005:
Q: I loved tonight's wine-roasted pork, I would love to have it again...but
what I would really love to know (if possible) is the recipe for the
cous-cous with walnuts and raisins, it is my favorite thing in commons!
Thanks so much for everything!
A: Can do. Thanks for writing.
Q: My friends and I Loved the coffee and Irish Cream soft served ice cream
... Could we have them more often? it was the first time we saw them!
A: Glad that you loved it. You will be seeing it more often. Thanks for writing.
Q: Is there any way we can have french dressing more often at the salad bar?
A: Sure is. Thanks for writing.
Q: Thank you buying so many different kinds of yogurt. Is it possible to
have new flavors, such as "Apricot Mango" and "Chocolate Underground?" If there is no room to put it, could we have them on a rotation? Thanks.
A: What we purchase is dependent upon availability which is driven by the
commercial market trends in this area. We will check to see if those
flavors are available and if so add them to the rotation. Thanks for writing.
March 18, 2005:
Q: Can we have the spinach dip in the salad bar more often? It's amazing!
A: Sure can. Thanks for writing.
March 17, 2005:
Q: It would just be swell to have some yummy Pina Collada Frozen Yogurt one of these days... It's my favorite and I haven't had it since leaving
Montana for college 3 years ago... PLEASE?!?!?!
A: Let me see what we can do.
Q: Is there any way we can get cranberry sauce in the salad bar more often? I love having it on the nights with roasted turkey and stuffing, but I would
love to be able to use it in sandwiches more than once every couple weeks.
Thanks!
A: Can do. Thanks for writing.
Q: The smoothie at the marche station were really good, can we have those
once a week?
A: Glad that you enjoyed them, but we probably will not be doing them every week. Thanks for writing.
Q: Have you discontinued posting the Den's weekly specials on the web. Today is March 17th and your web site still has the listings for the week of
February 14th.
A: No we have not and thank you for bring this to my attention. Thanks for writing.
Q: I was very happy to see today's soups (french onion and potato cheddar)
labelled to say that they have a beef base and contain bacon, respectively. but i would be even happier if there were one truly veg-friendly soup offered cevery day! it would be especially cool at lunch since we don't get the extra selections we do at dinner from the vegan bar. the potato cheddar in particular sounds and smells incredibly good, could we have a baconless variety sometime? (you could even make *all* your soups with a vegetable base, the carnivores probably wouldn't notice, heheh) thank you!
A: I hear your concerns and we will take corrective action. Thanks for writing.
March 15, 2005:
Q: The clam sauce at dinner tonight was great! -- and new, I believe. Would
it be possible to have it more often? Thanks!
A: It is actually not new, but when it was on the menu last semester it was
not a big mover. Glad you liked it and you certainly can see it more often.
Q: I don't know if you changed distributors or something, but the honey
lately has tastes amazing! As someone with kind of a sweet-tooth, I also
appreciate that you are now using the larger bottles with wider openings
to dispense it...it's so much faster and less messy to get lots of honey :)
A: Same honey as always....
March 14, 2005:
Q: Hello-I just have one minor complaint...in the turkey vegetable soup you
always use these cubes of heavily processed "turkey" that are very salty
and fake tasting. Can we get some real turkey please? The soup would be
sooooo much better.
A: That is real turkey. You have hit on one of my pet peeves, I have "fake"
turkey - the pressed rolled kind. You will never find us using that kind
here. Perhaps if we change the way we cut it , that would solve the problem.
March 13, 2005:
Q: The vodka sauce is DEEElicious. It's a nice break from the monotony of
marinara. Is there any way you folks might be able to add just a bit more
cream to the sauce?
A: We will take a look at the recipe. Glad you like it.
Q: Im very interested to know if the new cereals from the cereal survey are
going to be provided. Im looking for some new members to the cereal
collection, especially waffle crisp!
A: As I indicated in an earlier e-mail, we are in the process of collating the
information we received from the survey, comparing that with availability
and am going to have final decision later this week. We anticipate to have
the cereals changed over to the new ones not later than the start of short
term. Thanks for writing.
March 10, 2005:
Q: Two things: The turkey burgers at dinner on March 9th were fantastic, and
I absolutely LOVE the tofu miso soup. Well done -- Please have them both
more often!
A: Those turkey burgers wee yummy weren't they.....Thanks for writing/
March 9, 2005:
Q: The smoothies tonight were amazing!! can we please have them again, maybe once every 2 weeks? SOO GOOD!
A: I'm so very glad that you enjoyed last night. I hear it was a blast. As for
smoothies every two weeks, as long as they go with the adventure no problem. Thanks for writing.
Q: stonyfield farms makes a very good soy yogurt. could we possible have that in the cooler?
A: We did carry it and no one eats it. Thanks for writing.
Q: Um, you forget to let the participants know WHEN the Iron Chef was
happening. You never specified that it was only during certain hours...
so I showed up at 7 and missed it. I was looking forward to the
competition since Friday.... GAHHHH!!!
A: I'm sorry that you missed the competition, but the time was clearly posted
on the material we sent out about the event. Thanks for writing.
March 8, 2005:
Q: I am a big Commons fan. I am also a person with a routine. I love having
a big salad at dinner, and for some reason, we are having a major big-bowl
crunch this semester. I understand that you can only wash so many at
once, but is it possible to buy more? I am so disappointed every time I
come to dinner and have to make a salad on a plate, and this happens far
too often. (On that note, the yogurt cooler is empty at dinner far too
often, such as last night 3/7/05).
Despite these few issues, however, I thank you for all of your hard work
and great food!
A: Keeping salad bowls on hand is a perpetual problem. Peoples take them and do not return them. I have tried everything I know, and my colleagues in
the industry know, to get students not to take them and if they find them
to return them. Presently we have an agreement with the custodians that
should they find any plates etc. in the dorms and return them to Dining
Services we give them a free meal. More bowls will be here tomorrow
As for the yogurt, the problem is very similar to that of the bowl .
Individuals take multiple containers back to their rooms, though there is a
policy about taking food out of Commons, with little concern about their
fellow students. I can not count the number of calls I have received this
semester from the custodial staff about out of date, full yogurts they find
in the dorms. We have increased the order par twice and will do so again.
To sum it all up, it would make things better for all and save money if
everyone would treat Dining Services operation as if they were at home.
Would you throw away dishes at home? Would you take more than you can eat and them let it spoil?
Thanks for taking the time to write and we will endeavor to correct the
situation.
Q: This week I have noticed that 'chunky chicken salad' has been in the
salad bar. I'm so glad that it is no longer a Den exclusive! Make sure to
have it often! Also, the chocolate mint soft-serve was delicious - please
put it on a regular rotation!
A: Can do. Thanks for writing.
Q: I was disappointed when I went to dinner at 7pm on Friday 3/4 and the
only cheese pizzas left were the tiny ones. Later on, all the pizzas
were this size. On a night where the main course is pizza, it would be
nice if they were all the larger sizes! Also, what happened to the
results of the cereal survey? Thanks!
A: I totally understand your disappointment and we are correcting the
situation. The results are being tabulated and the final results will be
posted soon. Thanks for writing.
March 7, 2005:
Q: I'm abroad and figured I would catch up on the online napkin board. I
read about the taco bar controversy. I was saddened and angered. If I
missed anything from commons (and trust me i miss a lot), but I especially
miss the Taco Bar...my suggestion to those who don't like it, is that they
dont have to eat it...I dont see why this is so complicated. Its not like
when we have the taco bar all other stations are closed...there are PLENTY
of other options. one of the great thing about commons is the incredible
selection..sometimes, even with taco bar, I dont know what to
choose. Please keep the taco bar. don't let a few health nuts ruin a
good taco for the rest of us.
A: Thanks for keeping up on current events back here. We appreciate your support . Thanks for writing.
Q: Would it be possible to have spinach available in the salad bar everyday for those of us who perfer it opposed to lettuce for salads?
A: We put spinach on the bar when we can get it an it is of good quality. At
this time we are having problems finding it.
March 5, 2005:
Q: Just wanted to say thank you for the Kielbasa on Saturday 3/5 - it was
delicious and made the Polish side of me very happy :o) I'd like to
suggest getting it out on the grill when the warm weather comes and we
start having BBQ's ... do you know if we could get turkey kielbasa?
A: Thanks for writing. We can not get Turkey kielbasa, don't I just wish we
could.
March 2, 2005:
Q: Thank you for a great dinner tonight (March 2)! I loved the cod with shrimp, please add this to the rotation!
A: Glad you liked it! Thanks for writing.
Q: I know Westsoy makes smoothies that come in the same boxes as the Lite Vanilla and Plain Soymilk. Also, the brand of yogurt that we have now also make smoothies in individual bottles. Is it possible to add this to Commons' menu or maybe have it appear on certain days (like omelet bar Tuesday and Thursday mornings)? I think this will be really popular.
A: We have looked at adding this item to our menu, but at this point the
packaging- which is non recyclable, as well as the purchase point makes it
impossible for us to provide this item. Thanks for writing.
Q: You are doing a wonderful job in commons, and i dont have many
complaints. I was wondering though, what kind of paremesan cheese you put out in commons...I have talked to a few people about this and the cheese is awfully sweet. Is there any way this can be changed? my friends and I
are pasta eaters, and we are always reluctant to have the parmesan
cheese..thanks
A: The parmesan cheese we use comes from Muccuci and is packed under the Anastasi's label. This is the same produce we have been using for the past five years with no issue. We are in the process of checking with the
manufacture to see if they changed the product in any way and I will get
back to you. Thanks for writing
Q: Would it be possible to have the sandwich bar, which is out at lunch everyday, put back out for dinner. Often if I am in a hurry or just plain don't feel like eating the main course, it would be nice to have a sandwich. I've talked to a bunch of people who feel the same. Thanks.
A: At this point, the operation cannot support the addition of the deli bar
at night, though it is something we are looking to possibly incorporate
next year. Instead, a sliced meal and cheese is provided on the salad bar
every night for those who would like a sandwich. Thanks for writing.
Q: There are so many different types of breads in the bread basket: 12
grains, whole wheat, potato, oat, etc... I know wheat is better than white, but which kind is the healthiest?
A: Either the 12 grain or whole wheat. Thanks for writing.
