Now that I’m back from my second R&R, it’s almost down to the wire. I still have another – looking at Iceland in August – but for now, it’s just the regular routine. And routine it is. With rare exception, such as today – Juneteenth – it’s the same old thing.
Nowhere is that more evident than the cafeteria. Bless those who work there; they bust their butts and I really do appreciate them, but the menu doesn’t exactly vary. Even though today’s a holiday, the snack bar closest to my office still has Reuben sandwiches. There’s no special snack bar menu for the holiday.
Sometimes, though, there is a special menu for holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas are awesome. We also occasionally have a cake for one reason or another. This past week, there was an Army birthday cake as well as a Father’s Day cake. So while it changes it up a little bit, that’s mostly for the dessert. And the two snack bar menus are pretty much stagnant.
Tuesday nights for me are pretty brutal. We do the whole Taco Tuesday, which begins at my close snack bar with quesadillas and then the taco thing at the main cafeteria. The larger snack bar always has a chicken tortilla soup and then the non-soup option is a Buffalo drumstick. Not TexMex, but still not my favorite. (Wings would be different, but Wing Night is another time.) Essentially, I don’t look forward to Tuesday meals.
Except.
Alongside the drumsticks, there are raw carrot and celery sticks. While we have a salad bar with shaved options, this, at least so far as I know, is the only time to get straight-up carrot and celery sticks, and I love them. It’s really the only time I can get a veggie that’s not steamed to death. It probably doesn’t sound like much of a meal, but honestly, it works, especially when I also get a cornbread, which is something we always have.
And, since it’s healthy, I allow myself to get a soft-serve ice cream. Our larger snack bar has a machine, which is quite popular. On Tuesdays, since I do a light dinner, I allow myself soft serve. And, since I am trying to cut out sweet treats (of which there are so, so many always available), I look forward to it.
This week, tragedy struck when the machine broke. I have no idea what happened, but I’m clearly not the only one to miss it, because they’ve had to put a sign up outside the snack bar, announcing it’s out of service. It heads people off at the pass, because there are so many who only come in for their cold treat. It’s been dejecting. Hopefully it won’t be long, but man, I really wanted some soft serve after my carrot and celery sticks the other day.
The only redeeming factor after that dejecting Tuesday evening was the comfort of knowing Waffle Wednesday followed. This is an extracurricular day, when, outside of the cafeteria, one of the offices in my building makes waffles for whoever wants them. I have no idea when or how it started, but one day a week I can take the stairs down a floor and be overwhelmed with the smell of waffles at around 9 a.m.
At first, I thought this was an inter-office thing but eventually I realized that it’s open to anyone hungry who passes by. And these are not just plain waffles, or they don’t have to be. The waffle team prides itself on stuffed waffles, and they stuff those things with things it never occurred to me went with waffles. (Note: I don’t even think chicken goes with waffles, though that’s not an option since it’s breakfast. But, for the record, Chicken and Waffle Night is every other Saturday.) These guys – and they are all guys who serve them up – have all kinds of stuff available. It’s just too much and grosses me out. I can handle a chocolate chip, but oh man, they have everything from gummy bears to Twinkies and M&Ms. The guys take orders and make them up special.
It's really a morale boost for those who partake, I normally don’t, but the other day, one of the guys from church was the one cooking them in honor of his departure and I caved. I went light and only got a chocolate chip one but was absolutely astounded at the possibilities. Oreo-stuffed pancakes, really?
Now, Oreos crushed up in soft serve, that I could handle.
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