This week was one of the busiest yet!
On Monday I worked on preparations for my Microwave Madness event. Made a poster with a ton of information about microwave cooking as well as began gathering up all the supplies I would need on Wednesday.
Tuesday I went over to the elusive Headington Dining and met with manager Curtis Gregoire. He explained what the dining hall is all about and how it differs from Couch. It mainly caters to athletic students- so most of the recipes used there are healthier versions of popular foods. They keep a close eye on fat, sugar and calories, but not salt since athletes are basically sweating that out (which is different from Couch as they don't salt anything). The only sweets that Headington offers are cookies (no Sweet Shop). It's a really nice dining hall and the food is delicious!! Afterwards, Curtis had me help with prepping items for lunch service. The staff was very nice and welcoming to me! Too bad I only had one day there, everyone was so great!
Wednesday was Microwave Madness! It was an event held in the social lounge of Walker Tower for a few hours at the end of the day. Students learned how to cook safely with their microwaves (the only cooking equipment in their rooms). We also provided a free dinner of enchiladas, Mexican rice, nonalcoholic Sangria, and donated cheesecake from La Baguette. I'd say it was quite the success as we ran out of enchiladas by the end :).
Thursday and Friday I worked at Couch! Thursday morning I went straight to the bake shop and was in charge of baking a million cookies. OK- it was probably only a few thousand but still. I literally baked from 8am-2pm, just cookie tray after tray. I don't think I will ever forget that a cookie take 12 minutes to bake at 325 F. I didn't ruin a single one, and only got one burn on myself towards the end (I'm now branded so I've joined the club I like to think). I then went to the weekly managers meeting where a vendor was visiting and we taste tested new products- not sure if I'm allowed to say what they were.. Anyway, after that I went and checked out the Tasty Tweets event. This was yet another HFS event that this time showcased products from our own operations like Crossroads and Flying Cow. It's hard to say which food was my favorite, but I really liked the pancakes from Oliver's- they were blueberry pancakes with a lemon cream cheese topping YUM. Friday morning I worked at 6am at Couch and helped make sandwiches for the boxed lunches at Saturday's football game. I think we made over 1000 sandwiches but the crew is so efficient that we finished in a couple hours. Then I started helping in the assembly line of boxed lunches (I was in charge of apples)- but after about fifteen minutes Chef Gary pulled me out and sent me to the stock room to learn how inventory is done. The supervisor there, Christian, walked me through the whole system and then gave me a blank sheet so that I could audit them for one section. He tried to leave me in the dairy fridge but I told him I would freeze so he mercifully let me do inventory on dry goods. It was easy using their system and I passed. Then I met with Marcia Musser, the assistant manager, and we spoke for about an hour or so about how Couch is run and the projects that she works on. Thanks to everyone for spending time with me and answering all my questions!! I then met with Robert Weaver and we had lunch at Headington and then headed over to the west side suites at the stadium to set up the buffet tables and suites.
Another awesome week. AND NEXT WEEK IS MY LAST ONE. How did that creep up so quickly??
