June 4, 2010 Bakery

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for your comments on how good our blogs are, they really mean a lot to us...as for the day’s events the girls and I got to intern at the bakery and we had such a good time. We even wanted to go back after a short run in with the campus bees (will talk about that later). Today I worked with Chef Steve, who allowed me to make several batches of cookie dough for the campus dairy bar and I mean really make the dough not just assist in making it. Using those big mixers sure was something else. After the dough was mixed up in the mixers, I had to use a scraper to mix it all in so it was evenly distributed which was like moving stones. I think at one point I even broke a sweat while mixing lol. After four huge batches of cookie dough, it was time to move on to the pecan pies we had to make for South. The recipe for the pecan pies only called for seven pies so Steven and I whipped those up quickly. I had never used a pie dough presser before (not too sure that is what you call it) so that was a learning experience. We had to fill the pie shells in the coolers and that took some guts because those huge freezers in the bakery are super cold. The coolers in the commissary were actually made to hold the entire food supply for the campus back in the day when food was only stored at one place on campus. I kind of wish the freezers at Mcmahon Dining Hall were that big. During my trip to the bakery I also got to practice making flowers out of frosting and was told I was a natural.
I did make several messes while working with Steve but he was cool about it after all, it was not my fault the chocolate chip bag had a hole in it lol. I think after the second time I spilled the chocolate chip pieces on the floor he must have thought I was on drugs or something. Brittney summed up the whole ordeal best, my epic failure at putting chocolate chip pieces in a pan without spilling them. Anyway, I managed to be mess free for the rest of the day and learned something about myself, I am too much of a nervous wreck to work in a bake shop. My hands shake too much when I have to be careful with something. I am happy about the day though, it went really well for all three of us.
During lunch time, we were driven off campus to tend to some new bees we ordered here at UConn. The other interns and I had to go pick up the bees with Carol Cronin and Steven Anthony and transport them back to campus. I was so scared of lifting up the things that held the bees but I had to man up a bit and just take them to the car. I got to see what bee larva and even a queen bee looks like so that was nice. Bees are fascinating creatures; I recommend visiting our bee farm here on campus if you haven’t done so already. You will be amazed at how efficient bees are at sustaining themselves. After our time was up with the bees, I was a little sad because I wanted to hang out with the bees a little more…lol hang out with bees, never thought I would be making that comment. Anyway it's bye for now.

Mahalia

By the way, Gretchen will be posting picture of our bee trip because my camera decided to die when I needed it the most.