Molly Redden
Amuse-bouche: Please drink irresponsibly
Day drinking is awesome. I don’t need to tell you that. You’ve experienced Georgetown Day, or you’re eagerly looking forward to your first. You’ve turned any old weekend afternoon into the most idyllic afternoon you can remember with nothing but a loaded Nalgene, two friends, and a portable speaker set. Maybe you did it on Monday, when all of Georgetown spilled onto Healy Lawn like it was covered in candy.
By Molly Redden April 13, 2011
New boathouse stalled by Park Service delays
Georgetown University’s efforts to construct a boathouse on the Potomac River, which have attracted millions of dollars in alumni donations and cost more than $1 million in lobbying fees, have come to a halt as the National Parks Service continues to delay a report critical to its progress.
By Molly Redden April 7, 2011
Amuse-bouche: Whole Foods, entire budget
When I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma for a class last week, I violated one of the few rules I live by: eat in near-complete ignorance of where your food comes from. As a rule, I don’t want to know how my chicken was treated before it became a component of my McNugget, which species of fish are farmed unsustainably, or which vegetables are still awash in pesticides when I buy them at the supermarket. I don’t eat any foods specifically for its locavore … ness, and I just barely can argue that I eat healthy.
By Molly Redden March 31, 2011
Amuse-bouche: Green beer, black out
Between a boyfriend and boyfriend-wannabe is not a comfortable place to sit. But about two years ago, I had just that unfortunate experience. The former hailed from Beverly, Chicago, the last Irish stronghold of the Chicago South Side, the latter from Breezy Point, a Queens neighborhood so Paddy it may as well be Galway. And that was pretty much the meat of their conversation. “We’re 95 percent Irish,” my boyfriend said. “We’re 99 percent Irish.”
By Molly Redden March 17, 2011
Amuse-bouche: Living on a shell-tered diet
Today’s kitchen kingpins really bust their thesauruses to describe eggs. In various cookbooks and TV segments, I’ve heard eggs lauded as rich, hearty, creamy, savory, decadent, delicate, firm, tender, runny, flexible, lively, interesting, versatile, vibrant, fudgy, super-loose, zesty, fatty, buttery, brothy, foamy, piquant, nutty, inspired, and spirited. Egg descriptors have even bordered on the sexual: arousing, tantalizing, voluptuous, titillating. Self-proclaimed eggophile Wylie Dufresne once told New York Magazine that he would like to rub Hollandaise sauce all over his body.
By Molly Redden February 24, 2011
Aramark workers at GU push to unionize
Aramark employees at Georgetown University announced to their management on Feb. 9 that they intend to unionize, sparking negotiations between Unite Here, a union that represents 80,000 foodservice workers nationwide, and Aramark, one of the largest foodservice providers in the country.
By Molly Redden February 17, 2011
Amuse-bouche: The joy of popping
There are some foods that America’s giant, faceless, agri-beast processed food industry can make just as well as the average person. The Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layer Butter Tastin’ biscuit, for example, is a thing of beauty. Frozen pizza and Stouffer’s macaroni and cheese are both mostly high-fructose corn syrup, and not coincidentally both delicious. However, there is one processed food that is an affront to all that is good, right, and beautiful about eating: microwavable popcorn.
By Molly Redden February 10, 2011
Amuse-Bouche: As long as it’s not in a box
This past December, I resolved to graduate to big-girl wine. I was growing tired of buying bland, acrid magnums of Little Penguin and Barefoot, and with Safeway just four blocks away and stocked with hundreds of wines at decent prices, there was simply no excuse not to upgrade. This posed just one problem—the Georgetown Safeway sells hundreds of wines. The three solid rows of bottles are foreboding and seemingly without an entry point.
By Molly Redden January 27, 2011
Amuse-bouche: Don’t try this at home
Earlier this year, my access to Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything convinced me that I could, in fact, cook everything. And when it comes to pasta, potatoes, fish, chicken, and a few fancy things like risotto, I’m not half bad. In July, inspired by this confidence, I undertook a more ambitious project—French fries.
By Molly Redden December 9, 2010
Surviving: The Reality of Sexual Assault
In the week before her spring semester finals in 2009, Helen, a senior, got a call from her ex-boyfriend asking if he could come down for a visit that weekend. He was a Georgetown alum who made frequent visits to D.C. to see friends who were still living in the area, so it wasn’t unusual for him to call her or make the long drive into the District.
By Molly Redden September 16, 2010