When I was studying abroad in Belgium, I lived with a local host family. Staying with a local family allowed me to fully immerse myself in the culture and live like a true Belgian. When the time came to travel back home to finish my senior year at Stony Brook University, where I went to college, I wanted to thank my new family for opening their home and hearts to me. The way my own family always did that was through cooking — so I decided to show off my American culture and cook chili and cornbread, a meal I had plenty of experience eating but no experience cooking myself. Rookie mistake.
After a slightly stressful trip to the grocery store with my host mom (I vigorously Google-translated corn meal, corn flour, and cornstarch to triple check I was buying the right things), I came home with all the ingredients and started cooking with way too much confidence. (Can you see where this is going?) I chopped up onion, added ground beef and spices, mixed together the cornbread batter, and threw beans into the pot. It was going to be great.
It wasn’t until a few hours later when I tasted the final product that I realized I made an irreversible error — I completely mixed up the paprika and cayenne. The chili was spicy, like really hot. Luckily, I had a very kind host family who quelled the spice with Belgian beer. The great cayenne-paprika mixup of 2017 taught me my first well-earned lesson in cooking: taste along the way and maybe learn the French words for spices. But I was a college student learning how to cook for the first time, not just for me, but a whole table of people — I didn’t know any better!
This is exactly why Spoon University was born. Back then, no one was teaching college students how to navigate the kitchen (and perhaps the difference between paprika and cayenne). And so, Northwestern students Sarah Adler and Mackenzie Barth founded Spoon University, a publication where students and kitchen newbies could learn how to eat and cook in college, without any expectations of experience and absolutely zero judgment.
In the 12 years since, Spoon has grown to be a network of thousands of student writers and contributors at college chapters across the nation who create the delicious content you see daily, from trending food news to hosting and entertainment guides (I could’ve used this spice guide all those years ago). Serving college students has always been at the core of Spoon, and will continue to be — but after more than a decade, we decided it’s time for change. It’s time for a new look.
We are unbelievably excited to share with you the new Spoon University. For the past year, we’ve been working hard to give the site a new look, one that matches the content we’ve been cooking up for the last several years. You’ll notice major upgrades to our recipes, more interactive elements for you to engage with (huge fan of the Spoon Feed which brings our Instagram to you), videos, quizzes, and a whole new ~vibe~!
This makeover is designed to better reflect our content, but also communicate what Spoon is — a place where pop culture, Gen Z, and food news meet. Expect to read up on all the latest food trends (I’m currently obsessed with this massive guide to spritzes), find out what viral products are worth it (we try, you buy — deal?), get hungry with the best recipes (this copycat Cava salad recipe will save you so much $$$), discover inspiring college students doing amazing — and delicious — things (like this Brandeis senior who runs a boba shop), learn how to be the best host on a budget (target audience: me in college), and drink up the newest pop culture food moments. (I’m personally celebrating this launch with a Brat summer cocktail.).
We’re also celebrating with some pretty cool people. Let me introduce you to the Spoon University Supper Club, a curated list of eight must-follow food creators who are changing the game when it comes to influencing the way you eat. From Gen Z chefs to food reviewers to people who just straight up love food, these creators are just *chef’s kiss* and we’re so excited to have them be a part of the new Spoon.
And while these impressive creators are headlining the Supper Club, it is by no means exclusive. We invite you to join in on the fun by subscribing to our brand new newsletter of the same name. Every month, a new food creator will take over the Supper Club newsletter and dish on their go-to meals, share recipes and entertaining hacks, give insight into a career in food influencing, and sorry to your wallet, but there’s going to be a lot of product rec you’ll want to add to cart asap. You can sign up for Supper Club (the newsletter) here.
As you can see, we’ve been cooking up a lot — so we hope you’re hungry.
Cheers,
Felicia
Executive Editor