…Is the fancy university cafe fixed price lunch. Only on Tuesdays, Math and Physics grad students get half off the normally pricey (though utterly delectable) the cafe lunch, and a small group of my friends have started going every week this semester. For around $10 you get an entree, either a soup or sampling of salads, and a drink – which, quite frankly, is the most reasonable deal on campus (but only on Tuesdays!)

This Tuesday for the low, low price of $10 I got stuffed quail. I’ve never had quail before, and it was quite the treat! It was stuffed with Brussels sprouts (a new favorite vegetable of mine, because they’re so simple and quick!), pomegranate seeds, chorizo and merguez (two different kinds of sausages – I had to look them up). And it was sitting on a bed of spinach, which, Mom, you know is also a favorite of mine.

I also got the salad smorgasbord: fresh greens with raspberry vinaigrette, couscous with peas and carrots, and a roasted red pepper hummus.

YUM.

After lunch, we grabbed an espresso in the lounge and headed to a talk given by my Cosmology professor which explained the exciting results released by the BICEP2 collaboration on the detection of primordial Bmode polarization! Which is a big deal, if it turns out to be true, but there’s a lot of results that need to be reproduced first.

BICEP2’s map of primordial B-Modes – Click to read the Wired article!

Tuesdays also have the weekly colloquium at 4:15, which includes free coffee, tea, and cookies. Luckily the cookies are those sugar cookies out of the tin, so I won’t be tempted. But I’ll never say no to a free coffee!

P.S. – I left a note on your banana bread to try a slice, and it’s practically gone! You’ll have to post the recipe soon – maybe the coconut flour & chia seeds edition!