Belated weeks 6 & 7 in NH

Hey y'all, I know this comes nearly four weeks since my last day in Durham, but moving to a new apartment, starting a new job, and catching up with my Texan friends and family turned into a bigger time sucker than I anticipated!

The Work Stuff

My last two weeks included everything from working with FoodPro, visiting UNH Manchester, performing supervisory duties, to speaking with various members of the dining services team to gather advice and wisdom from their years of experience.

One of the highlights of the last two weeks was going on a a tour of the non-Durham campus that is a part of UNH located in Manchester, NH. I learned about the history of the campus, its growth, and we toured every floor of the not yet fully renovated main building. The main purpose of the tour was to visit the Wildcat Cafe located inside the campus building. The cafe is brand new and relatively small but caters to the student population as well as people outside of the campus who want to come in for a delicious lunch.

I gotta love health promotion, right? 

The cafe, its so clean and unscathed!
(I just love new kitchen equipment)

I also spent a day working with the lovely Rochelle again to update nutritional info for the Serrano's menu. A few of the recipes changed as did the portion sizes offered. That info hadn't been updated in FoodPro yet so I went to work on it. I recreated many recipes, weighing each ingredient before adding it, and noting when ingredients differed from the original recipe. For instance, this year the supervisor decided to switch to a 10 inch tortilla for quesadillas instead of the 12 inch tortilla that was being used. Once I updated the recipe, I was able to send it to Rochelle so she could update the nutrition facts and allergen information. 

One of my last days included acting as a supervisor of the Union Court. I performed the opening duties at the location, delegated tasks among the student employees, and counted the cash. drawers at the end of the day. I knew from the start of the internship that its difficult for me to feel confident if I'm given any responsibility over other employees, but I'm told that it is something that gets easier with time.

One of the biggest take-aways from this internship for me was seeing how large and integrated university dining is! There are so many individual bodies involved in the process of getting food onto a students plate. There is procurement, vendor relations, ordering, recipe creation, execution of the recipe, assessment of a recipe's nutrition and allergens, IT to ensure the FoodPro system is working in order to pull up recipes, serving food and ensuring it meets sanitary requirements, and so so much more! College food service is dynamic, its one giant moving part composed of many smaller moving systems. 

P.S. I owe many people thank you's including Rochelle for all the time she spent with me to learn the ins and outs of working as a dietitian in a university setting, Jon and David for having lunch with me and giving me different perspectives into the world of university dining from their years of experience, Patty and Florence for meeting with me and sharing their knowledge and advice, Rick for teaching me about sustainability and building relationships with vendors, Jane for taking me under her wing for two weeks, answering any question that popped into my head, and allowing me to aid in the reorganization process of the Dairy Bar.... and many more! I met so many wonderful employees at the grand ole UNH, and I'll be forever grateful for the opportunity to work with each and every person!

The Play Stuff

I went to Maine for the first time! There was something surreal about standing on York Beach, knowing I was over 1800 miles away from the town I was born and raised in. 

The grand finale for this whole internship experience was the ability to spend fourth of July weekend in NYC with my big brother! We ate some amazing Italian food, he showed me some of the highlights of New York night life, and introduced me to all of his big city living friends.

Hey Times Square

I'm highly pleased to say that I was able to leave this internship with ZERO regrets. I knew what I wanted to do and what I wanted to learn when I came in, and Dahlia and I assured that that's what happened. I miss New Hampshire so much, the friends I made, the beautiful campus, and the whole experience.

I owe the wonderful two months I had to these people right here. Dahlia, Richard, and Kathy, I can't thank you guys enough for all the time, patience, and enthusiasm you showed me each and every day. Dahlia - I wouldn't have had anywhere near as rewarding of an experience if it wasn't for you being my director. I can't wait to see you all again someday! 

Bonus pic - My first meal after landing in Texas - the best
brisket tacos in all of  Dallas!