Dining Hall Thanksgiving

Ever wish you could celebrate Thanksgiving more than once a year? Then the Michigan dining halls have answered your prayers – serving their own rendition of Thanksgiving dinner.

As a Thanksgiving enthusiast, I was thrilled to get to gobble down an extra round of the holiday feast. Not having a meal plan of my own, I convinced my little, Lauren, to come with me and swipe me into East Quad. Obviously I had to get the full experience by going to the new "best dining hall on campus."

Even at 5 p.m., the place was packed and getting a table was harder than getting into Rick's on a Saturday. We resorted to standing with several plates in hand.

I don't enjoy turkey, but my little, Lauren, tried it and said it was weak. I went for green beans, mashed potatoes and stuffing. The stuffing was a little dry, but improved when I added gravy. So far our experience hadn't been anything special.

Considering how long the lines for food usually are in East Quad, I was thankful (in true Thanksgiving spirit) that they had several different stations serving the same thing, helping to keep the wait times low.

I wasn't particularly interested in trying the monkfish (and I don't really know why that was part of the Thanksgiving menu?), but it was served with baked sweet potatoes and cranberry apple chutney, which were both pretty good. They also had butternut squash ravioli with a pumpkin cream sauce, which isn't a Thanksgiving classic but it still kept with the fall theme. I thought the classic ravioli was the best entrée of the night.

Finally came the part I had been secretly looking forward to the most: dessert. The dining hall offered THREE, count 'em, THREE different flavors of pie: Dutch apple, pumpkin (complete with a dollop of whipped cream) and pecan. I double-fisted with Dutch apple and pumpkin. Both were great, but if I had to choose a favorite it was hands-down the Dutch apple.

Overall, I was impressed with the number of options. For anyone sticking around for the holiday, the University will be serving another Thanksgiving feast on Thanksgiving day in the early afternoon at Mojo. There will be buses from every dorm so you don't have to freeze your toes off on the walk. Check the dining hall website for more info.

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