Strike That, Reverse It

I just realized that I haven't told you about my last weekend, and skipped to all the fun details of our meal from this past week, soooooo....in the words of Willy Wonka "Strike that, reverse it".

For those who have been following me like die hard Smiley fans, you may be wondering about the wine passport I mentioned many some blogs ago. I accepted the challenge of getting at least 16 wineries visited and stamped in the passport so I could enter to win a trip to Spain. Well, in the game of I win, I WIN! I completed the challenge this past weekend. I officially have 17 stamps, and will be submitting my passport in the near future. Fingers crossed that I win the drawing in December. A trip to Spain would be a great graduation present! :)

So, Brittany and I visited a total of 12 vineyards from Friday to Sunday. We hit up different areas of the state and made the most of each area. We vineyard hopped, and even met some new friends along the way that we just happened to run into at every vineyard we were at. Looks like we aren't the only ones who had the bright idea to vineyard hop. :)

All in all a great weekend, and a great idea (thank you Carol for telling us about the passport)! Visiting the vineyards was a great way to see many areas of the state and get to sip on some tasty vino. And in the event that I don't win the prize to Spain, I have 14 new wine glasses to show for my efforts (as most vineyards give you a glass with a tasting).

It's Luncheon Time...

Wow....this week went fast! Time flies when you're having fun...and preparing a meal for 775+ people. Our meal was a SUCCESS!!!! We had a great turn out and everyone gave great feedback to us. Let me paint a picture for all of you of how things played out to make everything come together.

Monday, I spent the day finishing up any odd and ends planning for the luncheon. Labels were printed, cut, and laminated. Decorations were picked up. Ingredients started to arrive for our meal so we started prepping. We had a couple of very labor intensive prep recipes. The roasted root vegetables all needed to be peeled, cut, and chopped (in total 300 lbs of vegetables, yowsers!). It was time to break out the knives, pull up our sleeves, and get down to business. It was a great relief to find our butternut squash already peeled. We got hopeful that maybe all our veggies would be partially prepped for us. Our hopes were soon shot down Tuesday when we switched over to the parsnips, the onions, the beets, and the turnips (and our hands have the blisters to prove it). We did catch a little luck in the end with the carrots because the recipe called for baby carrots, all we had to do was open the bags and dump them into our containers.

Just when I thought I had seen a light at the end of the vegetable tunnel, it was time to start on the peeling and chopping of 94 lbs of sweet potatoes. We finished up the prep by 5 pm and headed home for a bit. We returned to the dining hall at the close of dinner so we could decorate for our luncheon. We gussied the place up, Brittany hung flags (I was about a foot too short to reach the ceiling on the ladder), and then we headed home for a short night's sleep.

The morning of our meal came quick. Our minds were going a mile a minute of all the things we were going to be doing over the next few hours. We got to work and immediately threw ourselves into the hustle and bustle of the day's prep work. I started with making falafel patties, moved onto gyro meat, and then salmon. I had to take care of some front of house things, and then came back to the kitchen to help with panning up the food items. Lunch got started and I switched out of my kitchen clothes and into a more appropriate (and clean) outfit for lunch. Everything ran smoothly, and the customers loved loved loved it!

I have to give snaps out to everyone that has helped us along this journey. We have lots of pictures from the event. Here are just a few that we would like to share:

Drumroll Please....I'd Like to Present...Our Menu

For all of my followers, here's what you've been waiting for. Quick reminder, our luncheon theme is A Taste of Nations....Enjoy!

Bread

African/Middle Eastern

African Honey Rolls

Egg and Onion Matzo Bread

Soup and Salad

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Salad Bar

Assorted Specialty Salads

Deli

Assorted Deli Meats and Toppings

Assorted Sandwich Breads

Wok

Thai

Vegetarian Pad Thai with Rice Noodles

Shanghai Shrimp with Miki Noodles

Dragon Rice (Vegan)

Mini Spring Rolls

Hot Mustard Sauce

Grill

Middle Eastern/Mediterranean

Build Your Own Gyros and Falafel Pitas

With the following toppings:

Shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, grilled onions, grilled peppers

Dressed with: Tzatziki or Tahini

Carving Station

Brazilian

Gaucho Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

Comfort

Islands/Brazilian

Coconut Rice

Cuban Black Beans

Bahaman Vegetables

Jerk Chicken with Caribbean Glaze and Pineapple Mango Relish

African

Whipped Sweet Potatoes

Pork with Eggplant and Apples

Warm Cornbread

Scandinavian

Roasted Root Vegetables

Salmon with Dill Butter

Blueberry Crisp

Smoothie Bar

Islands

Tri-Berry Smoothie

(Strawberry, Raspberry, Blueberry)

Tropical Smoothie

(Pineapple, Mango, Banana)

Whole Fresh Fruit

Desserts

Baklava

Fruit Tart

Almond Butter Cookies

Holiday Weekend and Some Managing

I keep giving my readers empty promises....I keep saying I'll blog more frequently, but I always seem to fail miserably at this.

Holiday weekend was a blast. Saturday, Brittany and I slept in and then we decided to head out on the open road and work on our Connecticut wine trail passport. We hit up three vineyards in total for the day, and then headed back to Storrs. Somehow or another, we forgot to eat dinner Saturday night, so Sunday morning when we got up we were Starvin Marvins.

We had decided to hit up a beach for the holiday, so we got an early move on. We hit up a Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a bagel and then off to Rhode Island. We had an original e.t.a. of 11:45 at the beach. Hahaha, not so much. As we were merging onto the RI beach highway, there was a sign that said heavy beach traffic, seek alternate routes. Here's where being an out-of-townie does not pay off. I didn't know alternate routes. We decided to stick it out on this route, and see where we ended. Two plus hours later in stop and go traffic and we arrived at the beach at 2 pm. We found a place to put our stuff down, and headed straight to the water (it was near 90 outside). We cooled off and then laid on the beach till we were hot again, and then repeated the cycle. The drive home was much quicker than the drive down. We made it back, and found a place to eat. Here we were again, starving. We really need to remember to start feeding ourselves. :) Being the holiday, there wasn't much open. We found a pizza place, and grabbed a bite.

My week was spent shadowing different managers in three of the different dining halls. Monday and Tuesday I worked at McMahon. Basketball camps had started and were all the hype at McMahon. One of the biggest concerns, food allergies. There were 30 some camp attendees with severe food allergies. Everything went off without a hitch, no issues. Everyone got fed, and no one had a reaction. :) Wednesday and Thursday, I was off to Northwest to shadow Dave, the area manager for that location. Dave showed us a lot of what he does as a manager, and let Brittany and I forecast for the week that needed to be completed. He verified what we did, based on history, and we only made a couple errors due to piece size. :) Friday, we headed to South to work with John, the area manager of that location. He gave Brittany and I a couple of tasks for the day. The main one, we needed to decorate the international bar for a pasta dinner they would be having on Sunday evening. Great practice for us, as our luncheon is right around the corner and we will be needing to decorate the same area for our meal (only a different theme).

Speaking of our luncheon being right around the corner, I still haven't given you the menu for our meal yet. I've strung all of you long enough...check my next post and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you'll find....

Ducks, Lobsters, and More Bee's

Last Monday was A-mazing! We had a tour of Foxwoods Resort and Casino. We met our tour guide and we got asked what we were interested in seeing throughout our tour....we all agreed on back of house :). We definitely got the red carpet treatment while we were touring the facility. We saw so much....it was like we were celebrities who get to go places you normally wouldn't be allowed to go. We got to see the many different kitchens, the bake shop, the butcher shop, the coolers/freezers, the ballrooms, the vip players lounge, and then finished off the tour with a meal on the casino in one of the employee lounges. Here are a few of the many pictures that I took during the tour:

After our tour we were done with work for the day so Eric, our director, took us to see some sights we'd stressed interest in seeing. Our first stop, a winery. We all went to one of the vineyards, walked around the vineyard, and then went inside for a tasting. From the vineyard, we headed out to Mystic, Connecticut. We walked the strip of shops and took some pictures. I even got one of the famous Mystic Pizza that the classic 80's movie was based on. :)

When I first arrived in Connecticut, one of the first things I asked Eric was about the fresh seafood available out here. I am just starting to like seafood, and crab is one of my new found loves. He told me that while you can get fresh crab here, the lobster is where it's at. I have never had lobster, and told him I was willing to give it a go. He had mentioned this place called Abbott's Lobster in the Rough. It's in a town right outside of Mystic, and they serve fresh lobster and you eat at picnic tables. So after Mystic, we headed over to Abbott's so I could have my first lobster. I did my first experience right, and ordered a whole lobster dinner. I got a tutorial on how to eat the lobster, and then went to town. My mom always taught me not to play with my food, but as you can see in this video, I just couldn't resist. As far as my final verdict on lobster....not my first choice (I'll stick to crab as my first choice), but not too shabby at all.

What better way to finish a great day than to end it with a nice swim at the pool. It was a hot day, and it was so refreshing to relax!

Monday set the tone for the rest of my week last week. Tuesday we had another date with the bee's. We went back out to the hives to check up on our little buzzing friends. They were all doing well in their new homes, and many of the hives were going to be ready for additions to the hives. We helped feed the bees by giving them sugar water, and then we got to check on one of the more successful hives. I got to see a whole insert filled with honey. It was incredible how much it weighed! We then got to see the kitchen where all the honey is extracted when it's ready. The extraction process was explained to us, and then we got to take a couple of samples of last year's harvest home with us. Below are pictures of the comb filled with honey and the extraction equipment.

Wednesday, we got to hang out in the student union. We worked at the Union Street Market, the food court in the union. We got the grand tour, and each of us got to work at different concepts during lunch. I worked at the FireSide Rotisserie. I helped customers as they went through the line, plating up their meals. After lunch, we all got to hang out in the coffee shop at USM.

Thursday and Friday were my first management training days. I worked at Northwest Dining Hall with Carol, our assistant internship director. Thursday we got a feel for the dining hall, as it was my first time at this location. We got a last minute catering order, and Carol had Brittany and I locate all the items needed to put the catering order together. We also got to help one of the chef's prep crab cakes for that day's lunch. Carol let us have some project time at the end of our shift and we ironed out some of the details to our dinner that is coming up right around the corner. Friday, I spent most of my day handling the catering event that came in on Thursday. Brittany and I got all the beverages, pastries, and bagels around. I then drove the big catering van over to the catering site, to check out where we would be delivering to later on that morning. After the breakfast delivery, we prepped the four pizzas for the catering lunch. We delivered the pizzas, and returned to have more project time until close. At close, everyone pitched in with clean up so we could all go home and enjoy our holiday weekend.

No Time Like the Present

Hey Everyone,
The last few days, heck last few weeks have gone by so fast, the summer is ending shortly and my time in Connecticut is coming to a halt. However, I am not letting this get the best of me and I will keep enjoying my time here. With the almost good-byes out of the way, now it is time to get down to business. Last week, I and the other interns had the opportunity to tour Foxwoods Resort and Casino. This was an interesting tour for me personally because prior to applying for the NACUFS internship I was in the process of having a backup internship and well Foxwoods was my backup plan. So being able to tour a facility I almost worked at, was really ironic to say the least. When we first arrived at Foxwoods we were introduced to Chef Mark, who is an Assistant Executive Chef. Once introductions were done, he asked us what we were interested in seeing along the tour, our answer was back of the house. We walked around the resort to the different kitchens that produce majority of the food for the guests at the casino. While we observed one of the prep kitchens, we were able to see hanging Pekin duck in one of the prep coolers, and then as we walked by a prep table we saw cooked Pekin duck fresh out of the oven.


The production kitchens that we visited were Garde manger, the butchering area
the bakery, and other prep kitchens. Along the tour we say the large industrial size equipment that helps mass produce the food for the restaurants. Chef Mark talked about how there are more than 30 restaurants at the casino and how they feed anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people in a day. We were able to meet with James who is a banquet chef, and he showed us one of the ballrooms, which is very large. This tour was useful because it gave us an idea of more career options, meaning if we wanted to branch out and do more large volume food, but with fineness. The tour was the extent of the educational part of the day, the remainder of the day was spent as “laid back casual intern time”. With that said, we conducted a wine tasting at a winery down the road, then went to Mystic, walked around the little shops, and finally made it to Abbott’s in the Rough. Abbott’s is a seafood restaurant that we had lunch/dinner at, because one of the interns has never had lobster prior to the internship. I think it was a great day and a lot was learned.

Another adventure that the interns and I participated in was feeding the local bees that the university harvests throughout the summer. We learned about the different boxes, the bottom box contains the queen and most of the bees, the upper boxes or supers contain the honey. We also learned about the honey extraction process. Once the honey has been collected, jarred, and label it is then distributed throughout the dining halls on campus, they collected about 700 pounds last year, and that was only with 10 bee hive bodies, this year they have increased the number hive bodies to 20. Harvesting starts in August.

Towards the end of the week, Gretchen and I were involved with Area Manager training, with Carol Cronin, who is the manager at Northwest Dining Hall. We did a little bit of everything during our training. Such things as ICA, catering an event for twenty five people, worked on our project, drove a huge white van (well Gretchen did anyways), and we even help shut down the unit for the weekend. Oh and I almost forgot, we made roughly 400 crab cakes for lunch on Thursday, this was fun.

Brittany