Mount Hood

Scrumptious Student Suggestions

Written by: Jude Bokovoy

Show some love to local businesses by grabbing a bite to eat this week. Switch things up and try another student’s order at any of these restaurants. 

To participate in the next student survey, follow the Western Howl on Instagram @thewesternhowl.

The Sippery 

Vanilla latte — espresso, milk and vanilla syrup.

Iced white mocha with oat milk — espresso, oat milk and white chocolate over ice.

Green Peter — matcha, milk and peach syrup.

Blended chai latte — chai tea base, milk, ice blended.

Dirty chai with white coffee — chai tea base, milk and white espresso. 

Pendleton — chai tea base, milk and espresso.

Pendleton with brown sugar and almond milk — listed above with the addition of brown sugar syrup and substituting regular dairy milk for almond milk. 

Pendleton with oat milk and toasted marshmallow — a Pendelton with oat milk and toasted marshmallow syrup.

Pink Lotus with strawberry and pomegranate — Pink Lotus, strawberry and pomegranate syrup over ice. 

Smoothie —  strawberry, peach, blueberry, marionberry or banana are offered, along with a variety of milks and juices. 

Scone — gluten and dairy-free baked goods are supplied by Crumble & Glaze.

Veggie bagel —  choice of bagel toasted with hummus, cucumber, roasted red bell peppers, pickled red onions, arugula and their house peppered honey.

Signature bagel —  choice of bagel toasted with cream cheese, avocado, tomato, bacon and everything bagel seasoning. 

BTA bagel sandwich, substitute pesto for mayo — choice of bagel, bacon, tomato, avocado, mayo and arugula. 

Ham, egg and cheese sandwich — choice of bagel with ham, egg and cheddar cheese.

Bugles

Monthly menu — each month the Bugles staff comes up with a special drink menu that will be served throughout the month.

Cheese bagels — cheddar cheese bagel toasted with cream cheese. 

Iced French Kiss — espresso, milk, French Vanilla and coconut syrup.

Apple crumble muffin — a big muffin filled with thinly sliced baked apple, crumble and drizzle over top. 

Grain Station

Cinnamon roll french toast — original french toast with cinnamon roll toppings.

Grilled Turkey and Bacon Sandwich — turkey, bacon, swiss cheese, tomato and mayonnaise with grilled sourdough bread. 

Patty melt — smashed patty, cheddar cheese, tomato and grilled onions between two slices of marble rye. 

Chicken fried steak with chorizo gravy — this student adds a side of bacon and makes it a breakfast sandwich.

Pulled pork fries — pulled pork, cheddar cheese, bacon and jalapenos over fries topped with apricot barbeque sauce.

Grilled chicken wrap with no bacon, add avocado — Grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado and Sriracha ranch wrapped in a flour tortilla. 



Starduster Cafe

Country skillet — eggs, chicken fried steak, cheddar cheese topped with gravy.

Anything on the light eaters menu — their breakfast menu with smaller portions for a cheaper price.



Casa Burrito

Carne asada street tacos — carne asada on two corn tortillas with build-your-own toppings, including cabbage, lime, cilantro and a variety of homemade salsas. 

Taco Tuesday — each Tuesday four kinds of street tacos are $1.50 each.

Chicken quesadilla — a blend of cheese and chicken between two grilled tortillas. 

Al pastor tacos –- Al pastor on two corn tortillas with build-your-own toppings, including cabbage, lime, cilantro and a variety of homemade salsas. 



Koyotes Tacos

Carne asada fries — carne asada, beans, sour cream and a blend of cheeses over crispy fries.

Carne asada tacos with rice and beans — carne asada street tacos with a side of rice and beans.

3 mini chorizo tacos with a horchata — two mini corn tortillas filled with chorizo, white onions and cilantro, with a horchata, a drink made from rice, milk, water, sugar and cinnamon.

Momiji Sushi 

California roll — cucumber, crab salad and avocado.

Edamame — steamed soybeans, topped with salt served in the pod.

Bento 3 — Chicken katsu, six piece Salem roll, tempura shrimp, house salad and white rice. 

Salem roll — avocado, cream cheese, surimi, deep fried and topped with spicy mayo eel sauce.

Blackened ahi tuna roll –- seared tuna, avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, sesame seeds, black pepper and ponzu sauce.

Vegas roll — smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, spicy sauce, eel sauce and sesame seeds. 

Gyoza — Japanese dumplings filled with vegetables and chicken with gyoza sauce on the side. 

Sesame balls — Japanese pastry filled with red bean sauce covered with white sesame seeds.

Gilgamesh Brewing: The River

Pepperoni and pineapple pizza — pizza topped with pepperoni and pineapple. 

Gilga-Burger — cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, sliced dill pickles, and IPA aioli on a brioche bun. Served with fries.

Caesar salad with grilled salmon — chopped romaine lettuce, shredded parmesan cheese, house croutons, Caesar dressing and salmon. 

Metolius pizza — tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella cheese, topped with garlic-infused olive oil.

Yeasty Beasty

Drunken Goat — house pesto, mozzarella cheese blend, artichokes, wine-marinated mushrooms, fresh basil and goat cheese.

Pepperoni and pineapple pizza — pizza topped with pepperoni and pineapple.

Baked potato pizza — garlic olive oil base, mozzarella cheese blend, bacon, red onions, green onions and mashed potatoes.

Margarita pizza — tomato sauce, dollops of mozzarella cheese, grape tomatoes and fresh basil, topped with a balsamic reduction.

Build-your-own: this student orders their pizza with pesto, chicken, mushrooms, spinach and balsamic glaze.

Build-your-own: this student orders their pizza with pesto, sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, chicken and mozzarella cheese.

Habebah

Chicken plate — grilled chicken, garlic sauce and seasoned basmati rice, along with two sides.

Gyro plate — marinated lamb and beef drizzled with house Tzatziki sauce over seasoned basmati rice, along with two sides.

Student’s favorite sides — house hummus, house baba ganoush, pita bread and fries.

Baklava — phyllo pastry filled with crushed pistachios and honey.



Greece Lightning

Gyro — beef and lamb with tomatoes, red onion and Tzatziki sauce wrapped in warm pita bread.

Greek fries — fries topped with feta cheese, beef and lamb, greek seasoning and squeezed lemon juice.



Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Romen Recipes

Written by: Jude Bokovoy

If one doesn’t have at least three packets of Top Ramen in one’s cabinet, are they even a college student? Here are a few recipes to switch things up in one’s weekly ramen venture.

TOP OF THE MORNING

Start to finish: 15 minutes

Yields: 1 serving

1 pack of Top Ramen (discard seasoning packet)

3 cups water

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 egg

2 slices of deli ham

½ teaspoon everything but the bagel seasoning

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sriracha 

Start by boiling water in a small pot with a lid. Once boiling, add noodles and cook for three minutes. While the noodles are cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet and fry the egg. Once noodles are cooked, strain and set aside. Chop ham into small pieces. Scramble the egg and add seasoning. Place ham into skillet while separating egg into small pieces, this should take about a minute. Add noodles, stir until combined. Plate and add sriracha. 

SUPER SIMPLE

Start to finish: 12 minutes

Yields: 1 serving 

1 pack of Top Ramen 

3 cups water

1 egg

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sriracha 

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

Start by boiling water in a small pot, then add the noodles. While noodles are boiling, fry an egg sunny side up with olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. When noodles are cooked, add to a bowl along with the seasoning packet, stir till combined. Place the sunny- side- up egg over top and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Drizzle with sriracha then serve. 

SOUP LOVERS

Start to finish: 12 minutes

Yields: 1 serving

1 pack of Top Ramen 

3 cups water

1 egg

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon chili oil

1 tablespoon green onion, chopped

Start by boiling water in a small pot, then add the noodles. While noodles are boiling, mix together the egg, garlic, mayonnaise, chili oil and green onion in a bowl. When noodles are cooked, add ¼ cup of the water to the mixture to cook the egg. Stir the mixture then immediately add the noodles in and enjoy. 

GETTING FANCY

Start to finish: 15 minutes

Yields: 1 serving

1 pack of Top Ramen (discard seasoning packet)

3 cups water

½ of a shallot, dice 

3 cloves of garlic, minced 

1 ½ tablespoons green onion, chopped

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons of soy sauce

Start by boiling water in a small pot. While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the shallot, garlic and green onion. Once the water is boiling, cook noodles for three minutes. Add the shallot, garlic and green onion into a small saucepan along with sesame oil over medium heat. After a minute, add soy sauce. By this time the noodles should be ready. Give the sauce a final stir then add in the noodles. Stir till combined. Plate and serve. 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Don’t go baking my heart

Written by: Jude Bokovoy

Valentine’s Day — a time for gatherings with friends or with one’s partner — is just around the corner. Either way, the heartfelt holiday calls for a delicious dessert that requires minimal ingredients, skill and time.

ABSTRACT HEART COOKIE SANDWICHES

Start to finish: 35 minutes

Yields: 12 servings

1 roll premade refrigerated sugar cookie dough

6 drops red food coloring

¼ cup all purpose flour

½ cup strawberry buttercream

Rolling pin

Parchment paper

Heart-shaped cookie cutters

Baking tray

Start by preheating the oven to 350℉. Unwrap the sugar cookie dough from the packaging onto a clean surface and knead in the flour. Cut the dough in half, then cut one of the halves into two quarter-sized pieces. Put the bigger portion off to the side and keep smaller pieces separate. Add two drops of red food coloring to one of the quarter-sized pieces to make it light pink, then set aside. Take the other smaller piece and add four drops of red food coloring to make a bright red. Roll out the light pink and red dough separately and cut out with heart-shaped cookie cutters. Then roll out the uncolored bigger portion of the cookie dough from earlier. Slice roll into desired cookie size, then layer all of the colored hearts on top of the uncolored dough. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top and softly roll out the dough to press the hearts down till the dough is ¼ inch thick. Take off the parchment paper and cut out hearts in a random pattern to create abstract colored hearts inside. Bake for 8-11 minutes. Let cool, then add a thin layer of strawberry buttercream to the backside of half of the cookies, then place an unfrosted cookie atop creating a sandwich. To watch a video tutorial, visit @thesqueakymixer on TikTok. 

Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Authentic Mexican-Style Horchata

Written by:  Mirella Barrera-Betancourt

Horchata is a popular Latin American drink consisting of milk, water, cinnamon and white rice. Sweet — but not too sweet — creamy and flavorful, horchata is the perfect partner to go along with traditional cultural cuisine. It is important to note that the ingredients of horchata vary by region. This recipe is inspired by Mexican-style horchata, which is traditionally served in the United States. 

HOMEMADE MEXICAN HORCHATA

Start to finish: 4 to 8 hours

Yields: 5-6 servings

1 cup of uncooked, long grain white rice

4 cups of water

¾ can of 12 fl. ounce evaporated milk

¾ can of 14 ounce condensed, sweetened milk

Sugar (optional for sweetness) 

1-2 cinnamon sticks

½ teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)

Ground cinnamon

Wash the rice. Combine the soaked white rice, 4 cups of cold water and cinnamon sticks in a bowl. Leave the white rice mixture to soak for a minimum of four hours to a maximum of eight hours; it may be best to leave it overnight. Refrigerate, then remove most of the cinnamon sticks. In a blender, blend the mixture until it forms a thin paste. Strain the mixture into a pitcher — ideally, using a cheesecloth or a very fine mesh sieve — to separate and remove the solid chunks of rice that may remain. In the pitcher, stir in the evaporated milk and condensed milk, vanilla extract, if used, and sugar, if used. Balance out the preferred level of sweetness by adding more water, vanilla or sugar. Garnish with 1 cinnamon stick, or ground cinnamon. Serve with ice and enjoy.

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu

Senior Stress

Written by: Jude Bokovoy

Senior year brings a whirlwind of emotions — including excitement to be finished with college; finding a place to move and starting one’s career. At the same time, each of those things can be equally as stressful. Applying a few of the tips below can help ease one’s mind and prevent some potential headaches as graduation grows closer.

Start thinking about the future now — Think about jobs, destinations, living situations, relationships or whatever else that could come into play when starting the post-college journey. Narrowing down one’s career field of choice can be the first step that will determine one’s next destination. What comes into play when picking a place to move to? Is it one’s job, being close to family or a spouse, weather or cost of living? Figuring that out now can help establish what’s important when searching for the perfect place.

While still here, take advantage of opportunities — The lull between now and graduation is prime. The diploma will soon be in hand, but for now, one can sit pretty focusing on coursework, figuring themselves out and exploring what they might want for their future. This is the optimal time to gain some experience and add to one’s resume. Whether that means working a full-time job, an internship or even volunteering in the field of work one is striving to enter, every bit of experience helps. 

Soak it all in — For most of us, this is the end of the long road of education. No more general education credits, math classes or filler courses to take. This last term and a half is it. Take this time to work hard in the final push, put oneself out there and most importantly, make memories that will define one’s college experience. Don’t sweat the small stuff and spend these last few months doing the things one will be pleased to look back on.

Looking for assistance to help one figure all this out? Go on Handshake to make an appointment with one of the Center for Professional Pathways staff members. They offer resume reviews, career counseling, career assessments, internship/practicum advising, job searching mock interviews, graduate school counseling and much more.

Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Valentine’s Day writing prompts

Written by:  Jude Bokovoy 

No matter what one has planned for Valentine’s Day, there is always a reason to write. If inspiration strikes, pick out one of these prompts and write one’s heart out. 

VALENTINES DAY WRITING PROMPTS

Personal prompts

  • What are a few ways I can show love to others?
  • If love was a color what would it be?
  • What does love mean to me?
  • What does love feel like?
  • Describe your best Valentine’s Day memory.
  • How do I show love to myself?
  • What/who do I love more than anything?
  • Who are two people that I love?
  • What do I bring to my relationship/friendships?
  • Do I prefer to receive love notes or gifts?
  • I deserve to be loved because…
  • What have I learned from love?
  • Write about the person you admire most.
  • Explain whether animals do or don’t feel love.
  • Do you think parents should give their children valentines?
  • Make a list of all the things you have put your heart into.



Fictional prompts

  • You are on the hunt for the person who left the peonies and heartwarming card at your front door.
  • You create the most successful dating app. What makes your app different from all the others?
  • What would the world be like without love?
  • You are the final girl left on The Bachelor, he gets down on one knee and proposes. You get a gut feeling that he isn’t the one for you. What do you do?
  • Write a valentine for your future spouse.
  • Create the ultimate Galentine’s girls day out.
  • Write up a class plan for a fourth grade class for Valentine’s Day. Will they make Valentine’s mailboxes, what will they learn about, will there be games?
  • You’re a wedding photographer but have yet to find your match.
  • In the attic of your new apartment, you find a small red box tied with a bow with a love letter attached to it.
  • Write out the most elaborate proposal you can think of.
  • Write a love story about a couple who’s been together for over 50 years.
  • Plan your future wedding without a budget. 
  • You’re cupid for the day, who do you set up?
  • You own the local flower shop in town. It’s Valentine’s Day, what customers will be popping in?
  • You travel to a place that doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day. What will you do to explain and celebrate with them?
  • Write a movie that revolves around Valentine’s Day.
  • Who was the first person to associate the shape of the heart with love?

Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu

Students Watercolor Show

Written by: Gretchen Sims

Jan. 20 wrapped up the most recent student exhibit in the Instructional Technology Center. The works from the student watercolor show showed off the incredible talent of Western’s student artists. 

The exhibit was an exciting first for some students. Quinlan Wedge, an artist displayed in the show, said, “It felt rewarding to have my art displayed in the ITC gallery. I have had a couple pieces displayed in other places, such as a show in my hometown and a winery show, but it’s special to see my art made at WOU in an official WOU gallery space. I’m not graduating this year, but it feels full circle, you know?”

An interesting tidbit about this exhibit is that these pieces were curated from the same class assignment.

“My favorite aspect of the course was how much artistic freedom we were all given,” said Jude Bokovoy, a senior with a major in communication studies and a minor in art & design. “As you can see throughout the exhibit everyone’s artwork is drastically different from one another, can you believe we all had the same assignments?”

This exhibit was Bokovoy’s first show. 

Bokovoy added, “Honestly, it was a little intimidating having my artwork displayed at first. I originally took this course for fun, unlike the incredibly talented art majors that were the vast majority of the class. Therefore, I wasn’t too focused on the final product, instead, I was devoted to applying all of the techniques that were being taught. At the end of the day, I am very happy that I was able to have my work displayed in a gallery for the very first time.”

This exhibit was not only a vibrant display of the talent in the Western community, but it was also a chance for budding and experienced artists alike to convey heartfelt messages through their works.

“I’m regularly reforming my ideas about my art and what I want it to be, but something that has always remained true is that I want the viewer to find joy in it. Art can mean anything you want it to, and I’d rather look for things that make me feel happy and remind me of childhood than things that make me scared or uncomfortable. Of course, that type of art has value too, but I’m just not one of those artists!” said Wedge. 

Be sure to look out for future upcoming exhibits to check out the incredibly skilled artists that Western galleries are so incredibly honored to host. 

Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu