Week 8 at UGA

So it has finally come to this, the last full week of the internship. Let me tell you what happened.

Monday, July 20th

     Time for another road trip. This time we found ourselves in Gaffney, South Carolina to take a plant tour of Stouffer's (nothing comes closer to home). When we arrived, we outfitted with contractor badges, paper lab coats, safety goggles, ear plugs, hard hats, and steel toe shoe covers. We were then taken to a conference room with the plant manager to go over safety rules and learn more about the company and the plant. The plant in Gaffney has its own water treatment facility and produces product to service the Southeast in particular. Majority of the products produced by Stouffer's are freshly made everyday and has less preservatives than if you bought all the ingredients to make it yourself. When the presentation was over, we went to partake in a mock taste test/product evaluation where we evaluated three different products, mac n' cheese, stuffed bell peppers, and glazed chicken, based on company standards and customer expectation/concern. The ranking system for it was a tad but confusing for everyone, but made more sense when we applied it to food instead of just listening to the explanation. Then came the fun part, we had to sterilize ourselves to go walk the food production. As you could imagine, it takes a lot of space and people to produce such large quantities of food.It seemed like every room was larger than the next and each line required more people to operate, but none larger than the line the produces the stuffed bell peppers. At the conclusion of the tour, we took a few pictures and made a dash to lunch and the giant peachoid in the sky, which is just a water tank painted to look like a peach. Side note, it holds about one million gallons of water. Also, the plant use to use about that much water a day but has now cut their water use in half.

In the conference room

"Official" Contactor

It's much larger in person

Trust me, I am a professional 

Look!! A floating peach

"Feed me Seymore!"

The peach and I

It has its own road

Kirti in the trunk

Tuesday, July 21st

     So the Grab n' Go recipe is finally done and these last recipes were okay. The vegetables in the salad held up over the weekend but the flavor was almost non-existent. There needed to be more salt and the dressing should have been put on the side. The roasted veggies in the hummus obviously did not hold the crunch, but the flavor was delicious. We all agreed that there needed to be some sort of crunch because otherwise there is nothing really different about it. Although, the wrap itself had a great flavor. After the tasting was done, I had lunch with the commissary crew. Paul came over and we all started talking about how the day before they had liquid nitrogen and froze so many cool things. So obviously we had to go get more and see what else we could freeze. As you can see from the pictures, we found a few things.

Cucumber, Tomato, and Red Onion Salad

Roasted Veggie Hummus Wrap

What happens when you have liquid nitrogen and grapes

We should use liquid nitrogen more

Wednesday, July 22nd

     I had the absolute pleasure of shadowing Adam Rainville, one of the opening assistant managers at Village Summit. Things are a little different at the Summit because of the management styles that are there. Adam showed me how confusing it could be to someone who is just starting there to understand how the schedule works. He had to explain it to me a few time but I can say that he tries to make it as simple as possible by color coding the three different schedules and having them posted three weeks in advance so that the employees could plan ahead. I was also exposed to how difficult it can be to approve leave time with such a difficult schedule. I suppose the other dining commons do not have those types of problems because, unlike the Summit, they all have steady closing times. The most important thing I witnessed there was how they handle an employee that has an issue with management. They let the employee calm down before they try to address the situation any further with the employee. Oh, I almost forgot. That morning, there was a cheerleader camp coming in so I had to jump on to the flat top an make some of the most beautiful whole wheat apple cinnamon pancakes I have ever made. For the record, the last time I was at there, I made the exact same thing. They were not as pretty as these were though. When the lunch rush came in, I had to jump behind the deli counter to make sandwiches and wraps. It went by pretty quick and I believe that I made some of the best sandwiches I have ever made for other people. It is not uncommon for the managers there to get behind the counter to help the employees that are stationed there, which I can say I saw across the board at all the other dining commons as well.

The most perfect pancakes in the world

Thursday, July 23rd

     Banquet prep is, what can I say, very calming. It makes it easy when you have a list of things to do that you check off as you see them come to life. Before Rob came in, Chef Don had us separate eggs for crème brûlée. Once Rob got there, we sat down and talked about what was expected to get done by the end of week as to not stress ourselves out. Cole should us how to do a line diagram for the food and how to make a diagram for room placement. To be honest, I have loved the process of getting this all together. From the initial meeting to this point, I have not been able to think about anything else.

Separated eggs for Chef Don

Friday, July 24th

     It is getting closer to the big day and things are started to look more than fantastic. I cannot wait to show you guys the final product. The center pieces are all put together and the photo booth backgrounds are ready for all the selfies and usies those freshmen can take. I am so happy that this is coming together so nice. For a minute. I was a little worried that theme was too over done to be great, but as it became tangible, I felt so much better. I hope you guys enjoy the theme once I how it to you. Who am I kidding? You guys are going to love it.

The Weekend

     I stayed in Athens this weekend just to let it all soak in that this is my last weekend in Athens. I just relaxed and watched a few movies and pack a little. I be back to give you the final wrap up in a few days. Until then my friends.

Flo