Mizzou Livin' Week 6

       My special event week was finally here and gone just like that! This week brought to an end one of my biggest tasks of the summer: planning a special event and preparing a menu to be served during dinner at the Plaza 900 Dining Facility. The days leading up to my event, Tropical Tour 2012, were filled with last minute preparations and checking that the food tasks were getting accomplished. Like any event there were a couple of complications along the way. The major one was having to go to the grocery store on Monday since a couple of my food items that we had ordered never came on the truck. Luckily the local grocery store had all the items needed to complete my meal including 275 King's Hawaiian rolls, 5 lbs of Panko crumbs, and lots of papaya. Marian, the manager working the night of my event, was able to help me get discounts on the food since we were buying the items by the case. Besides this, all the food items were prepared on time and made really well. The recipes I created, including the Coconut chicken turned out really well in my opinion, and it was great to hear other people say so too! The coolest part of the event was definitely the decorations which included giant Tiki posters, hula skirting around all the stations, and a fruit display with palm trees made out of pineapple. All of the staff was more than willing to help me decorate and offer ideas of what would look cool.     
        Being able to organize an event from start to finish really helped me see some of the behind the scenes aspects I never think about. One example of this is having a back up item for each item on the menu in case you run out of something. Of course this is an important aspect, but I never thought of it before! I am amazed at the quality of food Mizzou is able to produce for the cost they do considering my items ended up being nearly twice the cost items usually are. I was told all Special Events end up costing more but it was interesting to me to look at the costs of my items and try to figure out ways to make the recipes less expensive. For the meal of my event we forecasted 401 people but ended up with around 450 which mean't more people to taste the foods and see all my hard work! Overall this week was really exciting and I loved getting to organize an event. The next two weeks will go by really fast I know but now I kind of wish it would all slow done since I have been enjoying the internship so much!!!

Tropical Fruit Display!

Desserts

My Coconut Chicken and Orange Rice recipes!

   

Giant Tiki wall guy!

Mizzou life

Hey everyone! I'm having a great time here at Mizzou! I'm learning so much and it's fun to actual see the things I've been learning about in class in practice. Everyone we work with has been so nice to us! They've certainly kept us busy here, we've been working on all three of our projects and still learning about the different operations on campus. For the most part we've been at retail locations and seeing how those run as opposed to residential dining.

Let's talk projects now. So we have three projects to complete by the end of the summer here at Mizzou. First we have a mini special event that we're planning which is actually going to take place in about two weeks! Mine is superhero themed! We've been testing recipes and meeting with different people to get our recipes into CBORD and forecasted. We're putting a lot of work into this, I can only imagine how much they have to do for a full blown special event! Our other project is a business plan for a renovation of the Emporium, a little market attached to Plaza 900 the main residential dining hall. We've been going to meetings with the higher ups to see drafts of the new building from the contractors and talking about what they want to see in the renovated Emporium. We're going to write out a business plan and present it to everyone later in the summer. Our last project that we started is writing six months worth of safety tips to be shared daily with the staff in all the dining locations in their Daily Lineup. They can be more than just safety tips in the kitchen, so we've got some holiday safety tips, hot weather tips, etc.

Mizzou Livin' Weeks 4&5

     The last two weeks have been super busy and packed full of activities.

Week 4:
       During this week I finished up my work rotation by going to Rollins Dining, the Student Center, and the other cafes on campus. That Monday was my first day at Rollins Dining where I helped work the salad station. The morning was all prepping the salad ingredients so lots of cucumber slicing and pepper chopping. I then learned how to set up the salad cold wells and where all the ingredients belong, there are a lot of them! During lunch I was in charge of keeping the items stocked with the extras stored underneath in coolers. Lunch was fairly busy since Rollins in the summer is only open for prospective students and his/her parents. Because everyone is on the same schedule that means they all come eat at once. So for about an hour I was nonstop stocking items as person after person wanted salad! I enjoyed being this busy and really like how the salad bar is set up for the customers. The Student Center is much different from the residential dining facilities as all the restaurants in the Student Center are run like retail. Mizzou is unique in how they don't contract out any of their restaurants, except Sunshine Sushi, and all the concepts on campus were created specifically by University of Missouri. The Student Center encompasses Infusion for coffee, Kate & Emma's for wraps, Do Mundo's for barbecue, Pomodoro's for pizza and pasta, and Mort's for burgers and fries. Each concept has it's own area but some are connected through the back. What I really liked about these is how unique each one is in their design and staying committed to their concepts so students have more choices; it is nice to see a campus without Burger King, Taco Bell, or Chick Fil A. I really enjoyed working at Mort’s since it was the busiest at the time and a type of food, burgers and fries, which I haven’t worked with much before. Mort’s uses a steam fryer for the chicken fingers and sandwiches which helps reduce the amount of fat in each piece, something I think gives students an option of being slightly healthier while still getting to eat “junk food”. While working at the Student Center Alan, the manager, took us to visit the Mizzou Sports Complex and we got to toured around the facility, including their dining area. As a football and general sports lover, I found this to be really cool!
       That Friday we took our first field trip to Bradford Farms and The Meat Lab.At the meat lab, we were explained, luckily not shown, the process a pig or steer undergoes from the time it arrives to the time the meat is sold. The lab only processes animals for educational purposes and then sells the meat out of the front of the building twice a week, bringing in quite a bit of many for such a small facility! After touring the meat lab, we traveled to Bradford Farms, which is an 880-acre University of Missouri farm run by a nice man named Tim.This farm doesn’t grow just regular crops, but mostly has different experimental areas and projects that university students work on. A large project from the last few years was composting, which is students have now gotten to the point of being able to take the composted food from the university, mix it with manure, turn it into great soil, and then grow more crops, a full circle.


Week 5:
       This week I started my supervision rotation, that will last for the rest of the time I am here, along with meet with Julaine, the Director of Campus Dining Services. This is the part I have been looking forward to the most since it is an area I haven't had as much experience in. The supervisors all have to work very hard to keep the dining halls running since there seem to be issues coming up constantly on top of their usual tasks and paperwork. Much of this week was also spent preparing for my Special Event which is this coming Tuesday! The managers helped me prepare a prep sheet so all the staff knows what days things need to be accomplished for my meal. Anna and I also got to go decoration shopping and I was able to use many items they already have from previous special events, I can't wait to decorate on Tuesday! Meeting with Julaine was something I had really been looking forward too since she seems like a celebrity in the University Food service world! She explained the importance of dietetics in the food service industry along with gave us some excellent advice on possible jobs when we graduate and how matching your core values to those of the company can help you love your job. Julaine has an extensive food service background, along with being the NACUFS President for a year, she is definitely someone to admire
       During this week was Fourth of July so I was able to see some awesome fireworks along with go shopping at the mall in town, a nice midweek day off! Now that all the preparations for my event are complete, along with my poster hanging out front already, I am really excited to start this week and get my event underway.


Pictures of the last two weeks (Really cool stuff)

All the composted material turned to soil, Amazing!

The left is oil from the food facilities, the right is the same oil turned into
bio-diesel fuel to power some of the farms equipment!

  

Mizzou Livin' Week 3

I cannot believe the internship is almost half over! This week went by extremely quickly and was a lot of fun. The main focus of this week was starting our retail experiences along with working on the recipes for our upcoming theme meals. This week was a lot less structured time and more work on your projects time.

Working at two different cafes this week, Catalyst Cafe and J Cafe, was second nature to me since I worked at the cafes on the Penn State campus. We got the chance to make espresso drinks, smoothies, breakfast sandwiches, and salads all while here along with helping to grab other items for customers such as muffins and cookies. Both these cafes are small in size but during the school year can do a lot of business so everyone has to work hard and smart in the small space provided. Because of the limited space the prep work for the cafes is done at Sabai, which has a kitchen for them to use. This means transporting all their prepped items from Sabai to the cafes, which isn't very close for either. And if they run out of something then someone has to go get it or it has to get delivered to them, an inconvenience I can't imagine! Both cafes serve Kaldi's Coffee, a coffee brand exclusive to the state of Missouri but I wouldn't be surprised if they expand since the coffee tasted really good! I keep hearing the cookies are amazing as well so I will have to break down and try one soon.

Besides the cafes early in the week I also had a few days to test recipes in the Plaza 900 kitchen and finalize the menu for my themed day. This was especially exciting since the recipes were my own or ones I found online. Recipe testing sounds like all fun and games but a lot goes into making each recipe perfect. Because the recipes have to be increased to feed hundreds of college students instead of just a family of four, most the ingredients need to be weighed in ounces and even to the tenth of an ounce. Remembering to weigh each ingredient I needed was difficult and there were a few items I had to go back and weigh. Besides each ingredients weight, I also needed the total starting and ending weights in case there is gain or loss during the cooking process and the exact times the items take to cook. The recipes I tested were for coconut chicken, orange rice, and jalapeno lime sauce. The rice took a second try to get the product I wanted but all my recipes tasted good and turned out right, something I wasn't expecting! All the cooks gave me many helpful hints to improve the recipes and I am glad they did since it did make each item better. While we were recipe testing Chef Eric, the executive chef, would pop in to offer suggestions or answer our questions. He also let us sample some cookies and desserts that they were considering ordering for the dining halls, my favorite being a Cookies and Creme Rice Crispy Bar!! After recipe testing and taste testing, Chef Eric then helped me put the recipes into the correct format so we can enter them into the recipe database, CBORD, before my big theme day, which is July 10th. And in case you couldn't tell from the recipes, the theme I chose is tropical!

Friday was spent at Mizzou Market Central, one of three Mizzou Markets on campus. These convenience stores vary in size but this one, being the smallest, carries many types of drinks, candy, snack foods, some frozen items, and some health and beauty items such as aspirin or band aids. While here I got to run the register for a while, help put items away that came in from the vendors, and learn how to put an order in, although it was a fake one since it was Friday! After working at the market in the morning the managers took us to lunch and we got the chance to discuss their jobs along with how the markets are run. We also looked at the reports they can print out from the computer system, Micros, and how they use the reports. The coolest part of their job, in my opinion, is getting to see the new items on the market and deciding if they want to carry the items in their stores. I don't know about you but I would be okay with having to test candy every once in a while!

As I said, I cannot believe the internship is almost half over already and I know the remaining time will continue to fly by. I love reading all the other posts as well so keep blogging and enjoying your internships!

Pictures of the week:

 Dessert tasting. 
Yum Cookies and Creme Bars

                     Orange Rice and Coconut Chicken testing for my theme day!

Mizzou Livin' Week 2!

This second week went by much quicker than the first (maybe due to not having to sit in soo many meetings)! The focus of this week was production production production which I found to be really fun, especially since I like to cook. During the week we also worked on the service line which was a nice change of pace, and by that I mean it was a really fast pace!

Monday was a bright and early one, starting the day at 6am to help with AM Production. As soon as I arrived they put me to work cutting up ingredients for recipes to be made later that day or some items for the following day. The one thing I learned quickly was you never want to be preparing something last minute, and since cutting foods up is the most time consuming that is what fills most days. I got to use what I called the chopper, and dice many pounds of bell peppers. The chopper is my new favorite kitchen tool since you simply place your pepper onto the flat grid, which is sharp, and slam down a top part with a similar grid design that dices the peppers into nice even pieces. Besides using this contraption I also practiced my knife skills by cutting up onions, celery, green onions, and many more vegetables. After a long morning of dicing, the AM crew let me switch it up a bit and use the slicer. This machine is very user friendly as I simply had to turn it to automatic and watch my perfect slices of ham and turkey appear. All of this seemed pretty monotonous but it was still fun to me and is something the employees have to do every day. Also during this morning I got to make strawberry and blueberry syrup to be used the next day for pancakes!

The next day Anna and I met with Tod Fudge, the Facilities Manager, to learn about the importance of machine and building maintenance along with safety concerns faced everyday. Something that I found especially interesting is that Mizzou is working on using a computer program that will help them monitor all the different equipment. This program will allow them to track each item and log when any work is done to it. This will also help with preventative maintenance and knowing when certain items need worked on. After this meeting  we headed to Sabai, which is an Asian restaurant during the school year but is transformed for 3 weeks in the summer to feed a camp of high school juniors, the Missouri Scholars, who come from all over Missouri to take classes for 3 weeks, a way to learn what college will be like. I worked the entree line and scooped plate after plate of chicken, rice, broccoli, and rolls. Luckily I wasn't alone since the line was never ending!

Wednesday was back to Plaza 900 for me to do more production, this time working with the PM crew. This day was more of the same cutting and slicing but I also got the chance to make Vegetable Lo Mein and use the fryers for egg rolls, both items I had for dinner and thought were delicious! I had made Egg rolls and Lo Mein before but never in the quantity we needed to here. During the day I also sat in on an Operations/Support Meeting, where all the managers discussed the department goals and objectives, some of the events that had occurred in the last month, some of the conferences people were attending or had already, and some important issues such as student employee pay raises. I thought it was great that the whole department got to sit down and brainstorm their goals and specific objectives to help make sure they are accomplished throughout the year. Many of these meetings had previously occurred so this one focused more on re-wording objectives and then making sure each objective actually fit into a goal category. I think sitting down as an entire group is a great way to keep focus within the department along with recognize the hard work everyone has been doing, and both of these were definitely accomplished during the meeting.

Thursday and Friday were also spent at Sabai doing production and counter. Here we helped with production and Anna and I baked pies and also made Pasta Primavera, Hummus, and Tabbouleh, all of which I thought turned out really well! We worked with Shelly, the production guru, who let us help with any and everything. Friday for lunch Anna and I got to help set up the deli station and dessert station and keep them filled throughout lunch. Between lunch and dinner I got to prepare pasta with peas and edamame, a dish I can proudly say was completely put together by me! It was really fun to do an entire recipe start to finish and then also get to serve the pasta that night! The true challenge came on Friday during dinner when Anna and I were assigned the entree line alone, along with being in charge of refilling our pans from the hot box as needed. Our line consisted of pasta primavera (left from the day before), rice, onion rings, the pasta I had made, and Tiger rib sandwiches. And who knew high school juniors loved onion rings and ribs so much?! We had a nonstop rush of people wanting this combo, completely ran out of tiger ribs, and were continually running out of onion rings, which couldn't have been made fast enough! Although this few hours was chaos, Anna and I were able to team up and get everyone served, a true accomplishment in my mind.

So as you can see it was a crazy busy week here at Mizzou and the weekend couldn't come fast enough! One extra cool part of the weekend was going to the local farmers market where they are known for their honey ice cream, which I thought was delicious! The market was really cool to walk around, with a variety of items from vegetables to meats to baked goods. I have never seen zucchini so large!

Well that is all from Mizzou for now, I hope everyone enjoys their weeks!

Pictures of the week:

                       

                  Soooooo much pasta primavera!

Just baking some delicious rolls.

Week 1 at Mizzou

Hi everyone! My name is Anna, I go to BYU and I'm going to be a senior in the Dietetics program this fall and I'm from Richmond, VA. I'm interning at the University of Missouri with Audrey. We've been here about a week and a half now and we are in the full swing of things now.

I'll try not to bore you with a post identical to Audrey's because we have an identical schedule. There are some exceptions, some days Audrey works at Plaza 900 and I work at Rollins, and we'll switch later on in the summer. I'm having a great time and learning so much, and there's so much more to look forward too!

Some of my highlights include

• seeing fireflies, which we don't have in Utah
• experiencing some good ol' Southern hospitality
• trying bacon sushi downtown, it was pretty good
• walking around campus without a map
• working our way around campus trying every dining facility
• right now I'm 7/15, and there are way more open during the fall and winter that I didn't even include

Here are some pictures from our scavenger hunt around campus. 

 Isn't this campus gorgeous?

Just sitting with the Beetle Bailey statue

Mizzou Livin Week One!

         Hi everyone! So a little about myself, my name is Audrey New and I am interning at The University of Missouri for the summer. I am from Colorado but go to school at Penn State. This fall I will be a senior there and am a Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Management (HRIM) major with a minor in Spanish.

        This was my first week here in Columbia, MO and it was a busy one! The day I arrived our internship coordinator Debbie and her husband helped me move my stuff in and took Anna, the other intern, and I out for dinner. Debbie also gave us big bags full of dorm room food like microwavable easy mac and candy! Our first few days were mostly meetings and getting to know all the different people who work for Campus Dining Services. Our first morning they had a reception for us so we could introduce ourselves and meet many of the employees. We then had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Simpson, the Associate Director of Campus Dining to discuss the history of dining here at Mizzou along with some of the aspects of his job. That afternoon we went on a campus scavenger hunt so we could see the many sites famous to Mizzou such as the tiger and the pillars along with most of the dining facilities and retail locations. Something interesting about Mizzou is that they got rid of all the retail locations they had to contract, except Starbucks, and established their own locations such as Mort's for burgers or Kate and Emma's for sandwiches and wraps.

        On Tuesday we had many more meetings and went through the same orientation all new employees do with the orientation director Kim. This orientation helped us to understand the goals of Campus Dining along with their focuses. One of their acronyms is PRIDE- Practices Resulting In Department Excellence, and the whole department tries to live by this along with by their mission statement which is simple and concise: Nourishing the Mizzou Spirit through good food-happy people-comfortable places. After our morning orientation we got to drive over to meet with the sanitarian Dick Fancher. He is one busy man, being in charge of sanitation not only for food services but also all the athletic buildings and pools on campus! Part of his job is going to the dining facilities and taking samples of their plates and glasses. He showed us some of his testing swabs, how he tests them, and explained that the bacterial level on the swabs has to be under a certain amount to know the dishes are sanitary. Our final meeting was with the Marketing Director Mike Wuest and he showed us some of the marketing things going on currently as well as some past promotions that have been successful.

        Wednesday was two more meetings, one to go over CBORD, the system used for recipes, with Susan Dayton, and the other to meet Executive Chef Eric Cartwright and discuss his job along with what our project will be! Finally on Wednesday afternoon we started our work at the dining facilities. I am at Plaza 900 and Anna is at Rollins. The first two days we worked in the dishrooms and learned all that job entails. I found it to be kind of fun but we were only dealing with about 300 people while during the school year they usually see anywhere from about 1200 to 1900! I can only imagine the amount of work that would be. After dishroom I was a stock clerk on Friday and helped to check in all the food deliveries and put all the boxes away. There are different coolers for each item and I learned it is important to look ahead at the menu to know how early frozen items need to be pulled to thaw in time to be used the day it's needed.

       During the summer we will be working on three separate projects. We each get to plan a themed meal to be served at the Plaza 900 dining commons and get to test recipes for this as well as decorate and come up with a poster with the help of the marketing team. Our major project is creating a business plan of how Plaza 900 and specifically The Emporium (a little convenience store in Plaza 900) could be remodeled. The building is starting an expansion this coming fall so this project fits in perfectly! And lastly we will be creating 6 months worth of safety tips to be presented every morning in what they call the morning lineup. Busy busy busy!

       Besides all the working we did this week we also have been going to their fabulous rec center! It is across the street from our dorm and is an amazing complex with even an outdoor pool and lazy river! We also explored downtown and I ran the MKT Trail, which circles around all of Columbia. After only a week I am already loving this internship, the people, and the town so cannot wait to see what week two brings! Good luck to everyone this week!

     Pictures of the week:

My fancy name tag!

      

Me at the tiger!