Black Pepper Mayonaise

So yesterday I went to the cafeteria bldg 3 and I was immediately disappointed when there was a sign on the International Meals section that said there was no international meal today but to return the next day. There was no explanation as to why, so I was force to just accept the sign's declaration. As usual, the regular chef's feature's options were not satisfying, so I had to choose between the Deli and the insanely slow grill. I selected the deli, and decided I would try one of their new specialty sandwiches, the Parmigano Peppercorn Roast Beef Ciabata. It boasted succulent roast beef, lettuce, romano tomatoes, caramelized onions and of course the deluxe black pepper mayonnaise all on a premium ciabata bun. This sounded great to me (hold the tomatoes) so I went for it. Well my hopes quickly turned to a nightmare when she split my ciabata bun and began spreading regular run-of-the-mill mayonaise all over my ciabata bun. Internally I was full of angst and decided whether to unleash my rage verbally or just observe and deliberate my options further. Well, I should not be surprised, but after spreading the mayonaise she grabbed a standard peppershaker and sprinkled about 5 shakes all over the maynoise she had just spread. Hence, the black pepper mayonnaise, which ironically is just what they had advertised though it was a complete deception to what the average customer would expect. I just shook my head in disbelief, I could not complain because I got exactly what was written on the walls, it was very pathetic. So remember my friends, do not be tricked by the cafeteria, if they offer black pepper mayonnaise that is what you will get, mayonnaise sprinkled with table pepper.

Chicken Caesar Wrap

I was glad to see the Bucks made a post Saturday as I suddenly had the urge to also update the blog with an experience I had back on Tuesday October 7th. You see, Christopher Rasnick was getting a Chicken Caesar wrap at the Deli and I was right behind him trying to decide what to get myself. Nothing was particularly striking my fancy so I was intrigued by his selection of the Chicken Caesar Wrap, it did look pretty good and since I hadn't tried it I thought I would give it a go. Well, all I did was simply tell the Deli lady that all I wanted was the exact same thing she just made for Rasnick. So of course the first question she asks is, "What kind of tortilla do you want on the wrap?".
Clearly I was mis-understood, so I repeated myself "Exactly whatever kind the last guy had"
She replies "Well he had a wheat wrap and normally we give a flour wrap"

I answer "Ok well then I will also have a wheat wrap"

As the lady is pulling the wheat wrap out of the bag it gets about a 1 inch tear in the tortilla (its about a 12" tortilla in diameter) and she looked at it and pondered it for a few seconds. Quick as lighting she made up her mind and crumpled the whole thing up and threw it right in the trash, though I would have gladly accepted the slightly flawed tortilla. Anyway she then goes back into the bag to retrieve another wheat tortilla, and big surprise, it is the last one in the bag. Initially I am thinking that its my lucky day, but alas, this tortilla is far more damaged than the previous one, likely due to it being on the bottom of the bag for its whole life. I think I saw the lady smirk with a glint of joy for a moment as she crumpled that one up also and threw it in the trash. Then she just looked at me and said "Guess your gettin' flour"

Where is my CHICKEN!?

I'm pissed.

Why do I pay the same price for the Fried Chicken Tenders with fries now that I get HALF, thats right HALF, the chicken that we used to get???

This was the ultimate comfort grill meal and it's been cut down to nothing.

This is a sad time for NASA folk everywhere.

The Conspiracy Grows

I ate at the cafeteria every day this week, and for the most part it was pretty good. Still, no cafeteria experience comes without its price.

1. On Tuesday I got a roast beef sandwich, normally I would get the pepper (chili) mayonnaise but I was actually somewhat embarrassed for some reason to ask for it, I don't know what came over me. I decided to try a mayonnaise / spicy mustard combo, it wasn't thrilling. What was thrilling, was that I saw a couple pickle spears remaining in the bucket, a great treat no matter the occasion. As usual though, my spirits were shattered when I discovered that they combined the pickle buckets for the butter chip pickles and regular pickle spears, by simply placing the pickle spears on top of the butter chips and soaking in their distasteful juices. When I went to consume the pickle it tasted like some weird butter chip vinegar hybrid, it was so vile I could not finish it. The sandwich was still good enough though I had to scrape some of the spicy mustard off, it was simply to over powering.

2. On Wednesday I witnessed a humorous situation. Now as my experience has been, the salad dressing carafes have always been placed in metallic cylindrical canisters which were all surrounded by ice. Since a week ago, it seems they are now also putting ice in the gap between the metallic cylinders and plastic dressing carafes. Somebody probably had this bright idea, but in reality it is a terrible plan. As most of you know, I always arrive to the cafeteria promptly at 11am (when it opens) whenever possible. This means that often when I get my salad I am the first one to use the dressing for that day, so it has now become a struggle to reach back and pull the carafe out of the cylinder which is jam packed with ice, which often results in ice chips flying all over the salad buffet when it finally releases. This exact thing happened to somebody in front of me in the salad line, they grabbed the blue cheese carafe and after its forceful extrication 4 or 5 ice cubes flew into the bowl-thing which held some kind of sauce or yogurt or something, I have no idea what it was. The person stared at the cubes now tainting whatever substance was for a few seconds likely trying to decide if they should attempt to remove the cubes or hope no one noticed and move on. They chose to do the later, though I of course had noticed. I could not blame them, for I would do the same thing in this scenario, in fact, I chose to also just pass by and pretend to not notice the melting ice-sauce slowly become inedible. Ask yourself, what would you have done?

3. Finally, on Thursday I got the St. Louis Chicken wrap. This delightful wrap contains chicken, cheese, bacon, tomatoes (yuck), onions and lettuce wrapped in a flour tortilla. They also slather fat-free ranch dressing all over it (everyone knows all fat-free ranch dressings taste like mildly acidic Emler's glue) so I wasn't going to be outsmarted by the cafeteria. Or was I? It turns out I almost was, luckily a good Samaritan was watching my back. You see, I requested the dressing not be placed on the wrap to the cafeteria spy er, lady. She confirmed with me twice during the construction of the wrap that I did not want the dressing, just everything else (construction of the wrap takes approximately 45 seconds per customer). The second confirmation was just prior to her closing the wrap and I briefly turned my head to fill a small cup with jalapenos, apparently as I did so, she swiftly scooped a huge amount of fat-free ranch into her ladle and spread it all over my wrap then quickly closed it back up when I turned my head back towards her. I would have been none-the-wiser except that the guy behind me heard my pleas for no ranch and then called the cafeteria lady out on it. She laughed menacingly and then confessed, I was horrified. The guy behind me ended up getting the wrap while I waited for her to build me a new one, which this time I was not naive and I watched every step very carefully. It turned out to be quite good (bacon was a bit to chewy but acceptable)

Shifty Fridge

You see, when we are in the middle of a Joint STS/ISS mission we have little to no time for the cafeteria. Moreover, the majority of us are working bizarre night shifts which eliminates the cafeteria as an option completely. Therefore, we are essentially forced to bring in our own food.

Now, bringing in your own food is typically a healthier/cheaper option, BUT there is always the possibility of great disappointment when it becomes time to feast on your homespun meal.

Take the following for example:

We'll never know the real story, but we do know this. This refrigerator is playing tricks on flight controllers and it has to be stopped. It is systematically tearing our MPSR apart.

We must destroy this Fridge now before its to late..

Philly Cheese Please!?

Today at the cafe I placed my order at the grill. Not feeling in the mood for a burger I decided to try the Philly Cheese steak sandwich with onions, mushrooms and Curly Fries (of course). It took approximately 10 minutes for my order to be prepared and the over all quality, I would have to say was above average. It was very hot, the cheese was nice and melty and the mushrooms were an excellent choice. Also to my surprise, the curly fries that I ordered were there making the meal even better.

My only complaint would be the after taste of the meal. As I am writing this I have the lingering taste of over cooked onions and stale bread in my mouth. I did not taste this as I was eating my meal but, right now I'm not enjoying the cheese steak as much as I did when it was going down.

Smell 5/10 Just smelled like French fry grease like everything from the grill does.
Taste 8/10 During the meal 2/10 after taste
Appearance 8/10 Looked like a tasty heart attack

Overall 7.5/10 I would eat it again, but have a piece of gum ready for after. (Cost 6.21 w/ no drink)
(Not an average)

Can the Cripsy Onion BBQ Burger save the day?

The short answer is yes, yes it can. The Crispy Onion BBQ Burger is a hidden gem. We are talking two patties of beef, two cripsy onion rings, classic BBQ sauce, American cheese, all on a toasted bun.


Oh yes. Top that off with a soda of choice and some CURLY FRIES and you'll be singing the theme from Full House for the rest of the day. Ahh Ahh Ahh Ahh Chity Chi bob botta!

Yes, I went there.