Final Draft: The Perfect Meal

College meals are a late-night greasy pizza and a marathon of Girls.  They are coffee and an all-nighter.  Chocolate and conversation.  When I think of what my perfect meal is, it is a college meal with a touch of sophistication.  This is what I had set out to do. 


I should first clarify that my version of 'sophistication' is equivalent to 'homemade.'  I am a college student, don't judge.  As I am a college student, I also have some awesome research skills, so I looked online and found a recipe for artisan white pizzas.  I LOVE carbs.  I also LOVE chocolate, especially in liquid form, so I decided to make a batch of 'sophisticated' hot chocolate to go with the pizza.  College meals tend to be thrown together without any thought put into them;  I wanted this one to be different- special.  So, a couple days before I wanted to have my meal, I sent out a fancy invitation to my suite-mates (okay, my version of 'fancy' is also equivalent to 'Facebook').  The date was set.  It would be Friday night and because I wanted to preserve the late-night ambiance of typical college meals, we would eat at 1:00am. 

On Friday morning I woke up early ('early' is '9:00am'), and got to work making the crust for the pizzas.  After an hour of flinging flour, mixing ingredients, dropping utensils, and kneading dough, I finally had a nice floured mound of dough that I put in a bowl to rise for the day.  Later in the evening when I came to make the rest of the meal the dough ball had doubled in size and the residence hall kitchen smelled like warm yeast. I went to work on preparing the pizzas and hot chocolate.

At 12:37am on Friday night, my phone timer went off, indicating that my small white cheese pizzas were ready to come out of the oven.  I opened the it and a fresh wave of roasted garlic, crushed red pepper, and perfectly-baked (if I may say so myself) homemade pizza dough.  It was some of the best dough I have ever made.  I placed the hot mini-pizzas on some paper towel and took the boiling hot chocolate off of the stovetop, which I had added a pinch of cayenne pepper to in order to give it the slightest kick. 

I haphazardly carried all of my ingredients plus my final product from the basement all the way to the third floor.  After nearly dropping everything down the stairs on not one but two occasions, I arrived to my room sweating and tired.  I went to work setting out plates and cups, lighting a few candles, and putting the food in the middle of our tiny dorm-room table.   

Emma came out of her room yelling, "FEED US WE'RE STARVING!"
Natalie followed jumping up and down, and Suyeon perched on one of the chairs looking at the food in awe, "It's beautiful, honey!" 

We were all settled around the small table, looking greedily at the garlic- and red pepper- infused pizza dough topped with Spartan- brand mozzarella and a pre-shredded blend of Italian Cheeses.  I poured everyone a cup of the hot chocolate and we waited for our last guest to creep from the confines of her room.  "SARAH!!!" Emma yelled.  She has always been good at being loud and persistent.

There was a stifled yell from behind Sarah's door, "I have to finish this assignment!"  Knowing her, it probably wasn't even due for another couple of days, so I got up and dragged her to our dinner.   Once she smelled it she seemed a lot more willing to take a break and eat with us.

I sat down and told everyone to start eating.  Everyone dug in, moans of delight mixing with clinging of glasses.  I took my first bite of the pizza, and indeed it was delicious!  The hot chocolate was a little overbearing, the kick of the cayenne pepper searing the back of the throat rather than giving it a smooth burn; the pot of hot chocolate went untouched for the rest of the night, but at least everyone tried it. 

I looked around at my suite-mates.  Everyone who had been with me through the ups and downs of this past year was here with me, mouths full of food that I had prepared especially for them.  The concept wasn't anything special-- it was cheese pizza and hot chocolate, a typical college meal.  The difference was in the preparation and in the intention.  I had wanted this meal to be about the defining aspect of college meals-- the people that you eat them with.  The pizzas reminded us of every other night we had spontaneously decided to order pizza after a long week of work and school; the hot chocolate brought back all the times that our conversations started with relationship advice and ended with life aspirations.  This touch of 'sophistication' brought back all of our memories together.