Macroscopic Bits
Daily adventures, from OPERS to the dining hall.
Photo by Celina Chen
7/17 Dinner
Over the course of COSMOS, I quickly found out that I looked forward to our lunch and dinner breaks because 1) I like eating and 2) I am addicted to the soft-serve ice cream machine the dining hall has. Anyway, here’s what I had for Monday's dinner:
From the first look, the mac and cheese looks a bit crushed and mushy. When I took a bite, it was indeed mushy and bland but not as cheesy as I expected, which I liked. I really liked the pork that I got along with the mac and cheese. It was soft and very well seasoned so it balanced out my dish, making my dinner pretty tasty! I added some cheese and greens myself.
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I just realized that I mostly have pictures of dinner, which is why I am reviewing more dinner meals than lunch, but that just means that dinner is usually better than lunch! Anyway, the dining hall served Indian food again so, of course, I had to get a plate.
They served a whole piece of chicken this time around. The outer parts of it were fairly juicy and tasty, but the insides were not as good. The brown masala curry wasn’t good as last time because it was a bit more bland, but it was still well-seasoned enough to eat with the white rice. As for the green food next to the masala, I really can’t remember the name, but I remember thinking it went well with my entire dish!
Overall, I rate this meal a 7/10. Indian food is always good.
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For this meal, I was everywhere. For one, I wanted to tap into my American side of my Asian-American identity and eat fries and chicken nuggets for lunch, but I also wanted to eat rice. To settle this dilemma, I ate both. On my plate, there was Mexican rice, either chicken or pork, like seven total fries, and one chicken nugget. I actually asked the staff for “a little bit of fries and chicken nuggets,” and I think they took that too literally. Anyway, you can’t really mess up fries or chicken nuggets, so those were good by default. As for the chicken or pork dish, it was sort of bland. The Mexican rice had bits of tomato in it and was a bit too soft for the rice I’m used to and like, but it wasn’t bad at all.
Overall, I rate this lunch a 7/10. I really like fries and chicken nuggets.
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Here, we have penne, Bolognese sauce, BBQ beef, and some cilantro/greens I added for the smell. The beef was a bit underseasoned but, combined with the Bolognese sauce and some hot sauce I added after taking the image, it was actually good. As for the penne, it was fairly tasty with the Bolognese sauce. To be honest, I think the sauce carried everything. In the corner, you can see a bowl of soup. Overall, I have had good experiences with the dining hall soup, but this soup was pretty alright–not the best, but also not the worst.
I rate this lunch an 8.5/10. Good Bolognese sauce.
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Common Raven
Common ravens are one of the most abundant species at UCSC. They’re opportunistic feeders and thus have a wide array of food sources: mammals, insects, grain, fruit, and human trash. You can often find Common Ravens gathering in crowds in the redwoods or foraging in grass meadows. While trying to identify common ravens, beware of American crows, which have a similar appearance. However, common ravens are generally larger and boast spikier throat feathers and raspier voices than American crows.
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Wild Turkeys
Wild turkeys are hard to miss and often forage in flocks in open grass fields. Their diet in the summer mainly consists of seeds from grasses. During the breeding season, the males have red and blue heads and red fleshy appendages called wattles to attract mates. While the males are displaying, they often puff up and appear spherical.
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Western Bluebird
Western bluebirds are common in the OPERS field. The breeding males have reddish-orange chests and blue heads and wings. During the summer, bluebirds mainly feed on insects like caterpillars and grasshoppers. You can find bluebirds perching on posts or tree branches, surveying the ground for any opportunity to catch some worms.
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Acorn Woodpeckers
Acorn woodpeckers have red crowns and white foreheads and chins. They are famous for drilling holes in trees like redwoods and storing acorns they find in those holes. Other than storing acorns, acorn woodpeckers also feed by catching insects and sometimes eating the eggs of other acorn woodpeckers. You can follow their loud, squeaky calls and drilling sounds to find them.
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