Week 5:

This week I am continuing several projects, including a recipe development, as well as a plan to improve the consistency of salad serving sizes in Cate Center, where they serve salads made to order at O'Henry's.  The salads are made fresh and exactly how he customer wants, and I worked with Jamie Palmer to come up with a plan to standardize the portion sizes by weighing items into the salad using a food scale.  We are testing our new system this week. 

Additionally, I am going to be working in Couch Restaurants on the final run through of a Vegan Enchilada recipe I have been developing.  We made the first round last week using corn tortillas, and they had some benefits and some drawbacks.  They tasted great and were gluten free, but didn't hold their shape well.  In order to hold better shape, they would need to be dipped in oil, which adds extra fat.  Instead, I am going to try the recipe with whole wheat tortillas instead.  It will still be vegan, just not gluten free.  I'm excited to see how they turn out.

Here's a look at last week's batch:

 
 

It's Monday!  Here's a recap of last week.  I had a chance to chat with Robert Weaver about the work involved in managing Couch Restaurants, Cate a la carte, and Wagner dining.  I also got to meet with Shawn Henry and learn about how she manages the Union restaurants, Couch Express, Bedrock Cafe, the Bookmark, Amicus Cafe, Elements, the Redbud Cafe, and the Flying Cow.  I also got to spend Wednesday at the Flying Cow observing/helping Rhonda Winkelman and her team work their magic and learning about the detail work that goes into supplying Cow on the Fly sandwiches to multiple locations throughout campus.  Thursday was spent visiting the Union, where I got to see how the Laughing Tomato is run.  TJ Carter encouraged me to send her my recipe ideas, and Carren Welch answered any and all questions I had about how she manages the food inventory and keeps everything fresh.  Thanks to everyone who gave me their insights this week.  I have gotten the impression that rotating at OU Food Services for my internship is a unique opportunity to see many sides of food service management with a variety of different types of food service operations all functioning as a team to bring a quality food environment to students. 

Blast from the Past

I am back!  That's right.  This intern has been here before.  My name is Hannah Presley, and long ago in the years of 2007-2011, I was a student, food service worker, and Housing Center Student Association member at the University of Oklahoma.  Returning to Norman has been a lot of fun, as I got to catch up with quite a few familiar faces last week.  That was my first week here, and I was pretty excited to be back at my alma mater for a nine week rotation.  Now that I've settled in, I'm working on several projects as part of my internship requirements.  I need experiences that give me a good background in major aspects of dietetics.  Here at OU Housing and Food, I'm getting a chance to see the food management side of things.  The first project I started was developing recipes for enchiladas, one reduced calorie version and the other vegan.  I've created one recipe and tried it out at home, and in a few weeks I will get to test them both in the kitchen of Couch Cafeteria with one of the chefs.  Additionally, I've been working on pamphlets for nutrition awareness weeks for Couch Restaurants, the Weather Center, the Union, and Cate Center.  They look great thanks to some help getting stock photos courtesy of the Housing and Food marketing department.  Another project I'm working on is an employee in-service presentation teaching managers about ways to make their food offerings healthier for students.  The idea is to make changes that the students will hardly notice so that they don't find healthy eating choices to be challenging.  One of the great things about the University of Oklahoma is the President's Associates dinners that they host.  This Thursday, February 6th I will be helping to set up and work the catering for a President's Associates dinner featuring Sandra Day O'Connor as the main speaker.  Here's hoping the snow stays away so we can all enjoy that night!