Summer 2015 NACUFS Internship!: Michigan State Week 3

This week began with preparing for an RHS picnic and culinary challenges. I made about 20 half sheets pans of coleslaw for the picnic in a steam jacketed kettle. I had to put all the cabbage and ingredients in the kettle and then mix it all together... What a task! After it was panned up there were other kitchen tasks to complete and then off to lunch. Following lunch Lary, Dorothy, Sonny and I went grocery shopping for all the mystery baskets for the two culinary challenges taking place. After getting back Sonny and I bagged all the mystery items and put them in the fridge.

Tuesday Sonny and I were able to observe a town hall meeting. This is where the entire RHS department comes together and the head of each division shares the highlights and coming goals. I was shocked when I read that residential dining completed 10.1 million meal transactions. (I am not sure if this is within six or nine months, but either way...that is incredible!) After the meeting a large picnic is held to thank the staff for everything they do. The food was fantastic and there was music, a photo booth and the best ice cream sandwiches. The rest of the afternoon was spent setting up the Gallery, a dining venue at MSU, for the culinary cup to take place the next day.

All day Wednesday was spent observing the culinary cup and assisting with tasks as needed. There were a total of 18 teams and five flights and then a finals round. There was also a bake-off with 14 different desserts. During each flight the teams of two were given a mystery basket of four items that had to be incorporated into an appetizer. They could also use "the pantry" which was various common kitchen items as long as their four mystery items were utilized. The winner from each flight competed in the finals to prepare an entree for the judges. The full-time cooks from the different kitchens around campus competed in this challenge.

Thursday morning was spent observing the chef challenge. This is an event held for the executive chefs and sous chefs of the different kitchens. There were two flights this day and then the final round. Each event was inspiring to watch because the dishes were all crafted with passion and looked amazing! The afternoon was spent in the kitchen with various tasks from making salads to prepping chicken to analyzing the ingredients of a salad to make sure the recipe was being followed.

Friday was spent making a buffalo chicken salad. This is a new recipe that was being tested. The first idea was to make a buffalo ranch that would top the salad. After much debate it was decided the salad should have a chicken coated with buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. A buffalo sauce was made and coated the chicken and then the salads were made and stored to see if the salad would still look appeasing after refrigeration. Sonny and I observed the flow of students through Green Carpet Days. This is event MSU hosts for prospective high academically achieving students of local high schools. They filter hundreds of students and parents through a venue in a short amount of time and the layout flowed very well for the amount of traffic. After lunch Lary showed Sonny and I the NACUFS head quarters and we were able to meet a few people within the office. We also were able to see the 4H Children's Garden and Rose Garden on campus. Sonny and I cupped up a total of about 300 dressings to round out the day.