Covered in Bees!!!

We had the amazing opportunity of going to see the UCONN beehives. We learned all about bees and saw the different kinds that all work together to produce delicious honey. Luckily it was a bright sunny day and the bees came out to play nicely and there were no casualties (stings). We got to wear the netted hats for protection, I think they are quite stylish as well :) This was a neat experience to see the process and learn more about local food.

Rolling VIP at the BJC!

Today we had the luxury of exploring the Bryce Jordan Center, which is a 400,000sq foot multipurpose building that can seat 16,000 people, and is a huge source of entertainment here at Penn State. It has been the host of numerous events, including circuses, commencement ceremonies, basketball games, various family shows, and even musical guests such as Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Keith Urban, Elton John, and more. Our main focus today was on the background of the concessions and foodservice that help to launch these shows and truly make them a memorable experience for both the audience, as well as many of the stars. 

Possibly the best part of this tour was hearing stories of past singers who have performed here and have given Penn State high demands ranging from very specific floral arrangements, to caviar delivered from another state, and even things as bizarre as M&M’s, but only the blue kind. It's obvious that vast amounts of work goes into preparing for these large events and mass quantities of people, with much credit owed to the BJC’s catering team, who we actually had the opportunity to work with last weekend. After receiving a guided tour through the concessions area, we also became more aware of how much forecasting and research is needed to determine the amounts of food necessary to make the customers happy. We were also very impressed to learn that the concessions floor of the facility is working hard to become a zero waste area within the next year or so. Penn State not only cares about its students, but its customers as well!

Penn State the Green!

The campus of Penn State is very green! There are large, well-maintained lawns where students sunbathe or play Frisbee in the afternoon. Parks with old trees, tucked away gardens with benches, and lot of blooming plants make the campus a truly beautiful place. Cute little bunnies, squirrels, and chipmunks are all over the place, and we even saw beavers and a skunk the other night.

Penn State is also a Green campus. People are very environmentally conscious - there are recycling bins everywhere; the buses run on 100% natural gas; the used oil from the dining halls is used to make bio- diesel. The campus has its own composting facility that takes the organic waste from the dining halls and turns it into mulch that is used on campus. The kitchen of the Bryce Jordan center that can host 16,000 people generates a handful of waste – everything else is recycled. It’s great to see that Penn State is Green, not only on the outside, but also on the inside.  

How sweet it is...

Of the many university campuses around, an on-campus bakery is a diamond in the rough. We had the great opportunity of working at UCONN's bakery with the amazing Chef Minn and other extremely talented people like Donna. We made many delicious items including German apple strudels, cookies, apple crisp, and danishes. We also had a blast working with fondant :) Check out our amazing fondant pirates and stay tuned for more updates on our Pirates of the Caribbean luncheon extravaganza!

Mount Nittany

On our first day off the crew climbed up Mount Nittany not far from campus. This is a typical must-do thing for Penn State students and visitors so we figured we'd knock it off our checklist. Penn State's mascot - the Nittany Lion - comes from the lions that once roamed this nearby mountain. Penn State happens to be located in a beautiful valley thus it's nickname of "Happy Valley". The name fits too since the people here are very friendly! There's a great lookout point of State College, PA from Mount Nittany as seen in the picture above.

Hanging With a Celebrity ...No Big Deal

Testing recipes for our themed dinner requires only the best of the best. It just so happens that UCONN has a chef famous for his gluten free cook book. Chef Robert Landolphi led us through testing some very foreign recipes including: Plantain Au Gratin, Bahaman Vegetable Stew, Avocado Soup, Haitian Short ribs, Sauteed Callaloo, Pumpkin Risotto, and Guyanese Crab Cakes. The theme for our dinner is Caribbean hence the different menu offerings. Don't be intimidated by the odd names all of the recipes actually turned out to be quite tasty.
The interesting thing about recipes is that they aren't always correct. One recipe typo, tsp rather than tbsp lead to a roux to weak to thicken our sauce for the plantain au gratin. Another recipe discovery was for the bahaman vegetable stew. It only called for a total of 1 cup of water for a large pot of stew. We ended up changing each recipe a little to give it even more deliciousness.

And of course the most important part of testing the recipes is to taste what you've made. I am proud to say all of our dishes turned out delicious (except the avocado soup that was only kind of good).

This is going to be a wonderful event and a most enjoyable meal.

First classes

Our first session was team building with the assistant program director who specializes in team building. The session helped us get to know each other better and opened the channel of communication. We learned that the four of us are very different and, because of that, we have a lot to learn from each other. Also, focusing on the similarities rather than the differences can make us a great team. At the end of the class, we built a very tall tower of mouse traps without snapping our fingers.

We discovered in our Native American Medicine class taught by the special programs coordinator of campus dining that there are three East eagles and one North bison in our team. Eagles are visionary people with strong spiritual awareness who appreciate information and possibilities, and who can adapt to changes easily. Bison are courageous, decisive, assertive and active people who are quick to act and who cannot take “no” for an answer. What a team we make!

The leadership class made us realize that we are all leaders with strong characteristics. We will get to practice these skills during our management experience through July. We learned that “if you push the string, it will go nowhere. But, if you pull it, it will follow you!” Meaning, if you push people, you can be the boss. If you lead them, you are an effective leader.