University Eats

What you are about to read has been a long time coming and heralds a very sad day in the history of this prestigious publication. Get your handkerchiefs ready: It’s my last column in the last issue of WEEKEND that I’ll ever edit. 

Now, before I leave this job and this school to join the great wide world of the unemployed, I want to leave you with some fond memories (food-related and otherwise) from my time behind the desk where I’m writing this column.

I started out at the Indiana Daily Student as a copy editor and moved into writing reviews for WEEKEND when I was a sophomore. However, things didn’t get personal between me and WEEKEND until I became features editor in fall 2008. Things were pretty hectic that semester, seeing how I was a total amateur when it came to every part of my editing duties except actually reading copy.

However, we still managed to put out some good issues, many of them dealing with food. I bet some of you remember the “fall brews” issue that involved then-reviews editor Cory Barker posing for the cover photo wearing a freshly carved jack-o’-lantern on his head and brandishing a bottle of wine. Those were good times. We haven’t had as many issues specifically dedicated to food since Cory and I took over, but I like to think my weekly musings make up for that.

I wrote my first column the next semester, with the first topic being macaroni and cheese. I tackled my favorite food again at the beginning of this year, adding a more sophisticated spin with Gouda cheese and smoked paprika. At times it’s been hard to come up with ideas, especially as I spend increasingly more time focusing on finishing school and finding a job and less time in the kitchen. But I still have plenty of ideas left in my head and I’m sure they’ll show up on a blog somewhere in the future. 

My first column also coincided with WEEKEND’s transformation from a tabloid to a broadsheet. While I was nervous at first that the switch could lead to a loss of autonomy for the publication, that has turned out not to be the case at all. I’ve never had as much creative freedom as I’ve had with WEEKEND, and there have been very few instances (mostly during finals weeks) when I’ve regretted agreeing when my co-editor suggested we pilot this thing together. 

But now it’s all over, and I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be up to next. I am sure of one thing though: I’ll be spending a lot more time in the kitchen.