Anna- KU Week 7 !!!

Wow! I can not believe this is almost my last week. Time has gone by so fast and I have learned SO much. This week we were very busy getting ready for our Wizard of Oz event. The most time- consuming part was the monkey wings! But they came out great. We had some confusion at first with recipes and had a little issue with the plantains but all the food came out wonderfully. I got to be Dorothy so that was a lot of fun. Lots of people wanted to take pictures with me, I felt like a movie star. My favorite part was how everyone came together to get everything done. I really had an amazing time planning and managing the event and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as Lanie and I did.

This week we also had our final presentation to the managers and directors at KUDS at the leadership meeting that takes place once a month. It took up a good chunk of the meeting, but it would have been impossible to fit seven weeks into a short presentation. We were sure to make a few jokes here and there to keep everyone interested and awake! I hope that our presentation got the main idea across of how thankful we were for everyone's hospitality and knowledge they were willing to share with us.

For our last weekend Lanie and I took it easy and we are certainly going to try and squeeze as much out of the last week as possible. Can't believe its almost over, I am certainly going to miss everyone and everything in Kansas.

University of Kansas Week 7

Wow, this week was a whirl wind. This week we had our Break the Monotony event where we had a themed event of the Wizard of Oz. It went so well. This entire internship from the first week to this week we have been preparing for our event, choosing recipes, testing them, deciding on the décor, it was really awesome just seeing it all come together.

We also had managers, directors, supervisors and employees dress up to make the Land of Oz come alive. Of course Anna and I also dressed up as Dorothy and Auntie Em. Everyone dressing up was really the touch that made the event awesome.

Without everyone’s help we really would not have been able to do it at all. I learned that it really takes team work and everyone being on the same page and knowing what is going on to get it all done.

One of the things that I most enjoyed during the event was taking the reins and being one in charge where people would come and ask questions and I got to be the one who steered them in the right direction. It was a new experience and a great opportunity to grow in leadership on a scale as big as this.

Part of preparing for the event we had to help other people with their costumes, especially the supervisors, so we made their “Evil Monkey” wings for them with hats, and came up with idea to have their tails as shapeable balloons, it was really a fun touch and really simple and cheep, so we could make it into mass quantities for the multiple supervisors.

When preparing for the event we had planned on making cookies that were shaped like Toto’s and red slippers, but as the week neared we saw that that was going to be too time consuming to produce that many cookies and still have them fresh. So we changed our plan the week of the event to make a few cakes and ice them to look like the yellow brick road. The baker also built a house out of Rice Krispies.

It turned out way better than any cookies had and it really was one of the best touches to the event. It was a lot of fun pulling it together because I had never piped a cake and I got to pipe one of the cakes myself. It was a lot of fun. Maybe some cake decorating is in my future ;)

The menu for our event included a lot of fun dishes like Munchkin Empanadas, Evil Monkey’s favorite Baked Plantains, Our own Seafood Carbanara which we called Glinda’s Carbanara served over angel hair pasta, Quinoa and Millet stuffed pepper for our vegan dish, Beef Fajitas, Roasted Mushroom and Artichoke Bisque, Auntie Em’s Kansas BBQ, Vegetable Kabobs, a Apple bar with a lot of fun toppings because you can’t forget those angry apple trees, roasted potatoes, and tofu with pesto for our vegetarian dish. It really was a full menu, and looking back on it I’m glad that we got to have a nice balance of healthy and multi cultural food. Anna and I also talked with some of the customers who did not know we created the menu and asked them how they liked the food and all the comments we that they loved it and they were so surprised that there was such good food. So this made us really happy.

We ended our week by giving a final presentation of our time spent in the internship to the directors and managers of KU dining services. This was a big deal and it went really well. For our presentation we also made a short video to show them the event at Mrs E’s. It showed preparing for the event and walking through the whole dining facility to show the decorations. Everyone enjoyed the presentation and said that they loved having us here this summer. It truly has been an awesome experience. It is crazy to think that next week is our last week here in Kansas, it has just flown by.

Anna- KU Week 6 !!!

This week in catering I learned a lot about service and a lot of neat new ways to fold napkins! We got to help out with a bunch of different events, including new student orientation. I was a little crazy how long it took to get ready for NSO and then within about 15 minutes everything was a mess. I also learned, from working a bridge club event, that out have to serve from the right and pick up on the left. These were some awesome things to learn since they can help me in my future as a caterer. I also got to meet some other catering people close to my own age, they were really nice and even invited us to go to the lake with them on Sunday. Thursday was a very exciting day for us! We got to use all the skills we learned in catering to run our own event. We got to take care of the reception at the Dole Center for an event put on by politician, Barbara Ballard. It was a lot of fun setting everything up and then helping out later with the dinner. I was nervous about doing the event but it was exciting to have the opportunity to do it.

On Friday we got to go to the Roasterie!!!!! It was awesome, they are so passionate about their coffee. My favorite was the coffee ice cream!! I think I must have eaten almost the whole pint! I got some cute little presents there, including two burlap sacks that the coffee comes in!!! I plan on making a purse or something out of them! This week is our Wizard of Oz event, it should be awesome!!!

Lanie-6th week at the University of Kansas

This week was our second and last week in catering. We helped out with a lot of events, including New Student Orientation, Women’s Bridge Club lunch and a Youth Leaders Banquet at night where we had the privilege to do the entire welcome reception and test our skills of packing everything we needed for the event and serving customers.

We had a lot of fun, but the best part of the week was a personal tour through the Roasterie which is the supplier for all the coffee on KU’s campus. We got to see everything from them testing the coffee that comes in daily to seeing their air roasting machines for the beans and we got to drink a lot of delicious coffee.

We also got to try their very own coffee flavored ice cream where they only sell it at their factory. So we got to try some and it was the best ice cream I have probably tasted in my life. I will never go back to anything like Starbucks! They now have me sold for life! It was a great way to end the week. Some cool things that we learned how to do this week was doing multiple napkin folds to make a table look exciting and glamorous. Now we can use these folds to make any table look good.

Next week is our big event, and we are so excited. All the planning is well underway and with the help of the supervisors everything is in motion and ready to happen on Wednesday! Anna and I are both excited and there will definitely be some good pictures to show off this exciting event! Can’t wait!

Fireworks and Catering

This week was a great week and I learned so much in the kitchen. This week was our first week in KU Catering which is a really well run catering business that has excellent food and high quality food that they take pride in, and they should because it is excellent and they make everything from scratch with cooks that know what they are doing. The week consisted of us learning more about what their work in the kitchen was and to see all the workings of making it to serving it to the customer. This was really cool to see, and we even got to have a chance to work in their new restaurant Impromptu that serves their award winning recipes and is a very successful restaurant. Looking back I think the most that I got out of this week was learning how to produce food with quality. I don’t have the much experience working with food, I just want to help people with their food choices, but being a dietetic major we are expected to be the food experts so lacking in the production area was not beneficial. Before this week I had never even made bread from scratch. So this week gave me a ton of experience doing things in the kitchen, I learned how to make bread, bake meat so it does not lose its flavor, make chicken stock and much more. I would have never had this experience unless I did work in a high class restaurant and I really loved every minute of it. If I didn’t have such a desire to be working with people in order to help them I would definitely go for a job in food production. Besides the production side we also got to see their roof top garden, which was really fun and inspiring. I’m feeling like my dorm room this year can support a few herbs ;).

At the beginning of the week I had the chance to drive 3 hours to Omaha and visit my family. It was so great to see them because I only get to see them once maybe twice a year. It was a great time with the family and it was nice to watch all the fireworks on the 4^th. Definitely one of my favorite holidays! Overall this was a great week and its crazy to see what has all happened, but we are now looking forward into our 2^nd week of catering where we will get to do serving.

Anna- KU Week 5 !!!

My first week in catering has been absolutely wonderful! As much as I have loved my last four weeks in the various areas of KUDS, catering has been my favorite. This probably has to do with the fact that I want to be a caterer in the future. Also, I got to meet with the executive chef, Janna Traver, who is an amazing person! Her passion for food was really inspiring and I hope that I can be as knowledgeable as her some day. My first day in catering we made a lot of sandwiches for the New Student Orientation lunches. I have never seen so many sandwiches and wraps made in such a short amount of time! The teamwork was great. For the most part everyone in the catering kitchen has gone to culinary school and they are all so smart and passionate about food. I got to use some really cool equipment like the buffalo chopper and the tilting skillet. I really loved every minute of it, even chopping onions! We also bacon wrapped about a million shrimp and put them on skewers for another event. For the New student Orientation dinner we made 24 trays of chicken enchiladas and they were all eaten except for maybe half a tray! I could not believe how fast the food went during the dinner! The servers just kept coming in and asking for more enchiladas, vegetable, rice and beans like every two minutes for an hour!

This week I also got to work in "Impromptu". This is the only full service restaurant on campus and it is just wonderful. The menu is very reasonably priced for the great quality the customer is getting. Also, most of the menu is vegetarian or can be made to be vegetarian. I got to work in the front of house in "Impromptu" and I learned a tremendous amount from Kim, the manager. She started as a busser just like I did so it was cool to see how far she had come. While in "Impromptu" I got to try some of there famous dishes. My favorite was the Top Shelf Grilled Cheese. It had cheddar, gouda and provolone on sourdough bread with chipotle mayonnaise and tomato. It was to die for!!!

This weekend we are going to what should be an awesome BBQ. Jim, our supervisor is gonna show off his smoker skills. It will be great to have some good authentic Kansas BBQ! Next week we are going to be in the front of house in catering. We even get to manage one the events. The event is for a really important politician, Barbara Ballard. Im nervous but I know it will go great. I look forward to learning a lot from those in charge of the front part of catering.

It has just been an awesome week!

Anna- KU Week 4!!!

Wow! my time here has been moving so quickly I can not belive it is already half way fininshed. This week was very interesting and I got to meet a bunch of new people and learn a ton of new info. It was also a holiday weekend so I got to see some cool fireworks.

For most of the week I got to work at the busiest retail establishment at KU, The Underground. We got to check out the construction for a small but much needed seating expansion. I hope it will be finished before I leave cause I would love to see what it will look like when its all done!

The folks at The Underground are very cool people, like everyone else here at KUDS. We met with Jason Arnett the manager and discussed what his job is all about and we also talked a bit about the social media project we get to do in order to help KUDS have a better social media presence. We also got tot meet with the assistant manager, Andrea. Later we followed around the different supervisors and saw what their jobs were as far as purchase order, forcasting and handling front of the house operations. We got to work at the Pizza Hut and Chick Fil- A there!! I was so excited to use the pressurized fryer.

Later this week we headed on back to Mrs.E's and tested out two last recipes for our special event, Quinoa Stuffed Peppers and beef empanadas. They came out very good and we only had to make a few adjustments. On friday we also got to attend two meetings. One involved the housing department and one was for the administrative KUDS staff. It was a very full week but very fun and informative as usual. I can honestly say that I have not been bored and I have learned at least three new things about the industry every day!

During the weekend Lanie went to go see some family and I decided to hang back and get some work and studying done. On Saturday I hiked and swam a bit at Clinton Lake. It was awesome to see all the boaters out there! The 4th was a pretty lazy day for Lanie and I. After an afternoon of chilling and relaxing we got some frozen yogurt a Three Spoons and headed on down to see the Lawrence fireworks.

This week has started of great in catering and I cant wait to tell y'all more about it later!!!

Testing Recipes and fun of week 4

This week started out with a great start of getting to run a 3 mile race in Kansas City with one of my favorite runners Dean Karnazes. He was with North Face for a fun run and he actually ran with us and I got to talk to him while running with him for a little bit. It completely made my week. Anna and I then got to get a book and a poster autographed. I never would have had this chance if I was not here for this internship. So that was very exciting. The rest of the day in Kansas City we went to the Art Museum near the Plaza and saw their amazing art display. There was so much that there was no way to look at everything in one day. But we got to see most of it. This was a lot of fun. For the remainder of the week we were in the KU’s Underground. We learned all about the production, ordering and front of the house in KU’s biggest retail operation. It was fun learning all about the operations in the underground. Some of the main focuses were the contract operations in the Underground, Pizza Hut and Chick Filet. We had the privilege to learn how to work a pressure fryer in Chick Filet and we were able to learn the process of making Pizza Hut’s individual pizzas. It was a good experience. For the rest of the week we were in Mrs E’s testing recipes for our big event on the 20^th. All the recipes are turning out great and as the event draws near we are excited with planning everything.

Anna - KU Week 3

Wow so much to talk about this week! Well, on monday and tuesday we got to work at one of the retail locations here at KU... The Market. We became "Brellas Sandwhich Crafers".It was pretty intense being thrown into the line but it was a lot of fun. Then we got to do a little cashiering. Also, we were given the opportunity to rearrange the organic section of the market to make it look more appealing to customers.

Wednesday was AWESOME! we got up super early and went to the Sysco building in Kansas City. We all got on a limo bus and went to go visit an Amish farm. I t was incredible to see the ingenuity and hard work of the farmers. I loved their jam making house. It had a huge steam kettle and tons of freshly topped cans of jam! We got to bring home some veggies that we picked out, so I look forward to eating those! Later we went to a park and a local Amish market provided lunch for us! the food was incredible. Especially the pie and home made ice cream! We even got to see the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile on our way back!

Thrusday and Friday were somewhat stresssful days since we were learning to be Baristas. We were tested on Firday and had to make 4 coffee drinks and 1 smoothie in about 10 minutes. It was definitly a lot harder than it looks at Starbucks! It was interesting to see and learn so much about what goes into making those fancy drinks, especially since I am not really much of a coffee drinker.

Earlier today Lanie and I headed over to Kansas City, Missouri and ran a 5k. We got to meet ultramarthon man, Dean Karnazus! Later we went to the Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art. It was Gigantic and took us most of the afternoon to get through.

It has been another great week at KU!

Week 3 at KU

This week can be summed up in 4 words: sandwiches, coffee and amazing sights. It was truly a great week. Anna and I started the week out in residential dining at the Market in the Union making sandwiches.

We learned how to make KU’s famous “Crunchy Chicken Cheddar Wrap” and a bunch of other sandwiches at their self branded operation Brellas. This was a lot of fun and it was great getting a different aspect of serving people with making sandwiches to order. Hopefully everyone liked the ones that we made because we were thrown into the process fast and it was a lot of fun being on the production line. Next after the market we woke up bright and early and got to go on an Amish farm tour with Sysco. It was really great experience, Anna and I both got to drive the horse drawn wagon, we got to see how they lived life without all the electrical and gas operated advancements we are so lucky to have today. It was humbling just to see how content they were and how much we just take for granted. They truly could serve up some great food. There is a lot to say about fresh produce.

I had the best lunch I had in a long time. It was all made with all fresh produce from that area and for dessert we had my favorite, blackberry pie and homemade ice cream! It was so delicious! The entire country side was beautiful and there were some truly amazing sights between the landscape and the uses of horses. When we were headed back to Lawrence we saw the Oscar Meyer Winner Mobile.

It was really awesome. So once we got back to the dorm we made sure that we went back to take pictures by it. We were so excited that we got to see it! Not many times in your live do you get to see such a famous vehicle :). We finished our week of with coffee. Today we were trained as barista in KU’s pulse coffee shop. We both learned the art of steaming milk and how to make their amazing smoothes. It was intense and we have the certification test tomorrow. Hopefully we will pass! This week every day has had its own adventure and it has been great to meet new people and to see new ways of life. It has been a great week.

University of Kansas Week 2

Our second week in dining has been good. It

started bright and early with a 5am truck delivery so we could see all the receiving processes.

The next day was just as early, but we worked the front of the house with Sergio. It was a lot of fun, and we even got to plate up a presentation for the entrance.

Throughout the rest of the week Anna and I had the privilege of getting our hands dirty with some serving, back of the house food prep,

and we also spent some time working in the dish room. It was all a lot of fun. Last night got pretty late, and as the crowds dwindled toward the end of the meal period it was really slow. So some of the days were long, but there is no way to avoid that in food service when all the prep work is done and you are just waiting on the customer. Our favorites were definitely preparing recipes and working in the dish room. I just loved the atmosphere of cooking and getting things done and accomplished. It was fun being able to prepare food in a professional kitchen outside of the classroom. It is nice to be getting hands on experience in an area that I could see myself working in sometime in the future.

Anna and I also have been able to see more of the sights around Lawrence and I have been able to check out some of the bike paths that they have right in town. It is truly a beautiful town with a lot of great shops and restaurants. I love having the access to nice bike paths too, with a few to choose from too, it is a completely new experience to be in a town like this.

We have been developing some recipes for our event in July, Anna and I are really excited about it and are going to do some recipe testing tomorrow to try some of the entrees that we designed.

Anna- University of Kansas Week 2!!!

My second week has been incredible! So just a little bit about my weekend first. We were invited by our advisor here, Jim, to a "Get To Know You" bbq with a bunch of folks from KU dining services. It was a lot of fun. On Saturday, Lanie and I went to the Plaza in Kansas city which everyone kept raving about. It was a bunch of city blocks filled with stores and restaurants. The architecture was incredible. It was all Spanish style. After a busy day of window shopping and eating at a GREAT restaurant, The Classic Cup, we returned home. Sunday was a pretty laid back day.

On Monday we had the cool opportunity to go in at 5am and see how receiving shipments from Sysco goes at KU. I was really impressed with the receiving employee and her skill at keeping track of everything coming in. I was also really impressed with the driver!! He brought everything in SO fast. Next, we helped put everything away. Later we met with the head of the department and she further discussed their operation and how management works. She also gave us some great charts that helped illustrate the chain of command for us. After, a great lunch we continued to work on our recipes for the special event we get to put together. We should be testing them soon, which will be pretty cool! On Tuesday we went in a bit later, 6:30am, we got a front of the house tour from the supervisor. We got to work the breakfast line a bit, which was really intense and fast paced. Next we sat down with the supervisor and debriefed a bit. Next, we worked a few of the lunch stations. The grill was pretty awesome! It got VERY hot. Next, we got to discuss some of the questions that were going to be asked of a job candidate the next day. They were some pretty intimidating questions! On Wednesday, I got to work in the back of the house. I started out in chill foods and made a creamy spinach salad. I got to use a HUGE bowl called a bird bath. Next I got to work in bakery, which was definitely my favorite. I got to use the giant mixer and make pumpkin bars. They came out great! Next I working in hot foods, which was very intense and quick paced. I had one mishap which took a while to clean up but everyone was very nice about it. Today, we got to go in a bit later, 9am, and I got to attend a meeting with a bunch of the managers and director. It was very interesting to see how everything gets decided and the responsibilities people have for each specific part of the operation. Next, I got work in the dish room!!! It was truly unbelievable how fast everyone works in there! It was hot and the machines go so fast. It was really a lot of teamwork. It was hard to keep up with the plates coming in but I eventually got the hang of it. After lunch I got to work chill foods again and got some grapes ready for tomorrows' breakfast. I also circulated in the front of the house a bit to make sure everything in the salad bar stayed full and looking good. There was a bit of a shortage with chocolate cake, so I got to whip out my bakery skills and quickly frost some chocolate cakes. It was all very rushed but it was exhilarating! I look forward to the weekend and next week. We are going on a farm tour!!! Until next time...

1st Week at KU!

This week has been a whirlwind of information. KU Dining services has made it a point to inform us on all the levels of their dining services. We have been able to talk with many of the Directors, Managers, and Dietitians in KU’s Dining Services and Union. This has been great and I feel like I have a deep understanding of how their management system works and what all has to happen to have a good dining service. We also received the foundation for all our projects that we are going to be doing this summer. Anna and I are really excited for all the events that we are going to be able to help with and run ourselves. We also get to be trained as Baristas and in their sandwich making brand, Barellas. These projects are going to really establish us in a lot of experience that we have never had and help us grow in the area of management, meal and event planning. Besides our days with the internship we have been able to explore Lawrence. Lawrence is a beautiful town with a rich history and Hills! I never thought that Kansas could have hills, but the entire city is beautiful and has a rich character that extends through the University into the main street of the city where we have had some time to go and explore all unique and fun shops.

First Week

My fist week at KU has been amazing! The looooonnnngggg drive from New Jersey was totally worth it! I have learned so much in the four days I have been here, not only about the industry but the quite adorable town of Lawrence. On my first day here I met with my advisor here, Jim and the other intern, Lanie. Jim was great and very welcoming. Lanie and I get along great!! Which is awesome because I could have gotten stuck with someone who was not so awesome. Also, I saw my room!!! I have never lived away from home so having my own dorm room feels pretty cool!!

During the first day of work Lanie and I met with Jim so he could go over what our two months would be like and the fun projects that were going to be expected of us. Then we met with Lisa K. who showed us all about the SHOWTIME program and the CBORD system. Lanie and I also had a chance to talk about the special"Break the monotony" night we get to put together for the Mrs.E's dining hall. We came up with a pretty awesome theme... but I am not going to share it just yet. Later, Lanie and I took a two hour walk exploring some of campus and Lawrence and we also got to know each other a bit more. The following day was very busy and filled with meeting the amazing people of KU dining services who work so hard to make KUDS the best it can be. Later that day, Jim took Lanie and I for a tour of beautiful Lawrence. We quickly discovered that the two hour walk we took barley covered all the things we could do and see here. Thursday we met with several people in the Union building and Alecia took us to see all of the retail locations around campus. After work, Lanie and I went to Noodles and Company!! We also walked around Mass Ave (the main street here) We found the coolest bookstore called, The Dusty Bookshelf, (and it certainly was) that was chock FULL of books. Lanie got a GRE book :/, and I got a book from around 1930. We also checked out a video store and the Gap (and got some awesome deals).

Today, was a pretty laid back day but still very productive. We further worked into the recipes we want to do for our "Break the Monotony" night. We also met with the marketing department and learned a lot about how important marketing is to KU dining.

Oh and also somewhere in there we watched Some Like It Hot and The Wizard of Oz.

It has been an incredible week!