Nothing beats a warm grilled cheese and tomato soup on a cold and rainy March evening.

I recently attended a Gourmand dinner club night. It was incredible (and much better than any dining hall, might I add). We made grilled cheeses with mild cheddar, gruyere, and some weird but delicious fancy soft cheese, the name of which is very long and which I immediately forgot. We also made tomato bisque (is bisque just a fancier way of saying soup? I don’t know.) and raspberry lemon bars. All in all, it was a 10/10 night. But what do you do when you don’t have access to a full kitchen to make all of these dishes? Well, you cook with Bwog, obviously!

Grilled Cheese

• Go to the dining hall of your choosing, preferably in the morning when all of the breakfast items are still out, and get some toast.

• Next, confide in the chef making the omelets that you are auditioning for Masterchef and that you desperately need some cheese for your audition dish. If that does not work, go to Hewitt at lunchtime and get some of the American cheese slices opposite the grill station.

• Before you leave, take one of the little packaged butter squares.

• Once in your dorm kitchen/floor lounge, make a cheese sandwich and butter the outside of the bread. Heat up your pan and grill the sandwich until the bread is ASMR-worthy. These instructions may not be very comprehensive, but they are written under the assumption that you already know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. If not, google it. I promise it’s not that hard.

Tomato Bisque

• Go to a Hewitt and get tomato and onion slices (also opposite the grill station) and a cup of milk.

• Heavily sprinkle the tomato and onion slices with the garlic powder shaker that is next to the pizzas.

• Also, get a takeout cup and fill it with chicken noodle soup, but try your best to just get the broth and none of the chicken pieces or noodles.

• Once in your dorm kitchen/floor lounge, use your immersion blender to blend all of the tomato and onion pieces together. If you don’t have an immersion blender in your dorm room, then feel free to just smush everything together with your hands.

• Once everything is smushed and/or blended, place the mixture into a pan and add some of the chicken broth. 

• Add a splash of milk to make the soup a bit thicker.

• Mix it until the soup is simmering and let it cook down for about 15 minutes.

• Add some salt and pepper to taste.

Raspberry Lemon Bars

• Okay, so I don’t think I have ever seen raspberries or lemons on campus, so we will be substituting strawberries for raspberries and oranges for lemons.

• Go to Ferris and find a way to get some of their permanently displayed strawberries.

• Pick up an orange on your way out.

• Go to Hewitt and get some of their heavenly blondies.

• Go back to your dorm kitchen/floor lounge and zest the orange using your lemon zester. If you do not have a lemon zester, just peel the orange and rub the orange peel on the blondies.

• Then, cut up the strawberries and place them decoratively on top of the blondies.

Well, there you have it, folks. Your one-page guide to (probably) the most delicious campus meal you’ve ever had, and it only costs a minimum of three meal swipes! 

Soup via Bwog Archives.