University of Kansas: Week Two

My second week here at KU allowed for a great deal of project planning time and relaxation, at least in comparison to week one. Talia and I spent our project planning days in the kitchen testing recipes for our upcoming banquet and we even had a field trip day! Let's get into the details....

Monday: Recipe Testing and Finalizing our Banquet Theme

One of our major projects this summer is the planning and implementation of a special event meal for roughly 500 people. Myself and Talia are responsible for everything from the decorations, to the menu, and even staffing requirements. Monday was our day to finalize our theme and luckily both of our visions for the meal came together quite seamlessly. Talia had the idea of doing a nutritionally conscience menu, featuring healthful substitutions on classic dishes and lots and lots of veggies. My idea was to do a farm to table theme featuring local fare and highlighting the backstory of each farm. Together we combined our ideas and came up with the theme entitled "Mother Nature's Menu: A Locavore's Delight". 

We took advantage of our first assigned project planning day by testing some the recipes we had on the menu for our banquet meal. Desserts first, of course.

Applesauce Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Talia and our Chocolate Beet Cake

Vegan Chickpea Cookie Bars

We decided to stick with two out of the three recipes we tested. Although the vegan cookie bars got some great reviews, overall the consensus was mixed so we decided to scrap it from our menu. 

Tuesday: Hot Foods at Mrs. E's

Tuesday was my last shift working in the kitchen at Mrs. E's and I spent the day working in the back kitchen preparing hot foods. The day consisted of lots of recipe prepping, service line stocking, and pork butt pulling (definitely my favorite activity). 

Smoked Pork Butt

BBQ Sauce

In addition to pulling pork butt and making BBQ sauce I also got the chance to assist in preparing a cashew beurre blanc sauce to accompany butternut squash raviolis (a delicious pairing). 

Spices for the Cashew Beurre Blanc

Butternut Squash Ravioli & Beurre Blanc

Wednesday: Sysco Tour

On Wednesday Talia and I got to take our first field trip with our internship coordinator, Dave. We got the grand tour of Sysco and it was quite and interesting experience. To see a distribution center operating on such a large scale was very impressive. Our tour was completed in the test kitchen where the Sysco chef prepared us a wonderful meal for lunch. Our meal began with a fantastic field greens salad with crispy fried shrimp, garnished with fresh berries, almonds, and tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette. The main course consisted of grilled chicken breast with a dijon cream sauce, roasted potatoes, and green beans. A large chocolate chip cookie completed our meal and everything was absolutely delicious, the perfect end to our tour. 

Course 1

Main Course

On the way back to campus Dave treated us to a special pitstop at Pendleton's Country Market. Talia and I were both very excited to be able to pick out some succulents to decorate our dorms with. When we got back to campus Dave let us sit in on a staff meeting at Oliver Dining and we enjoyed see our internship coordinator in action in his role as dining manager. After the meeting we headed over to the student union to meet with the marketing department to discuss some of our needs for our special event. This meeting was very informative and we made a great deal of progress in regards to project planning and defining our marketing needs. 

Pendleton's

Succulent Heaven

Thursday: Inventory and Ordering

On Thursday I had an early morning short shift learning about the ins and outs of placing orders and tracking inventory with Nicole Beatty at the Oliver Dining Hall. A short but very informative shift, we covered the ordering process, tracking inventory, and inputting new recipes.

Friday: More Recipe Testing

On Friday we had our second assigned project planning day and Talia and I again decided to make the most of our time by recipe testing some of our savory recipes. We tested a creamy cauliflower alfredo sauce, cauliflower mashed potatoes with a marsala mushroom gravy, cajun baked sweet potato fries and roasted root vegetables. For the most part, recipe testing was a success. We hit a couple snags with undercooked potatoes and over steamed sweet potatoes, but overall the flavor of each recipe was on point. With some minor changes made, each recipe made the cut for our final menu. 

Alfredo, Mashed Potatoes, & Gravy

Cajun Sweet Potato Fries

Next week I'll be beginning my time working in Oliver and Talia and I will meet with our project mentor in order to gain a better understanding of our second major project, designing a food truck business plan. I'm very excited to break ground on this project and also begin my work in a new dining facility. 

Great things to come!
Until next time.....