Week four was another busy one that included lots of
hands-on food prep and rain! Sunday night I worked an overnight shift in the
bakery from 9:30pm—5:30am. I have never worked a third shift before, so it was
a brand new experience. It was surprisingly easy to stay awake all night, but I
do not think I could adapt to a regular schedule of overnight shifts. I
assisted in making and rolling raised donut dough, doughnut frying, doughnut
filling and frosting, cookie prep, muffin making, pizza dough making,
assembling carts for transfer, and baking homemade cinnamon rolls. I loved
comparing equipment, procedures, recipes, and products to my UWSP bakery! The
rotating ovens in the UNI bakery looked very shiny and new, and had digital
temperature and timing controls. I was amazed by these ovens because the one I
am used to working with is highly outdated. By the time was shift was done on
Monday morning, the sun was just starting to rise and the campus was extremely
peaceful. I had to take advantage of the beautiful morning and go for an early
run before heading home to crash for a few hours.
Tuesday began bright and early with a 5:30am
shift at the central commissary. The Fresh Beginnings commissary is responsible
for fruit, vegetable, meat, and cheese slicing for all other dining venues on
campus. I spent the day slicing, weighing, and packaging vegetables, as
well as assembling catering orders and kits for retail. It was fun to actively
prepare items for a full eight hour shift. The day went quickly because of the
diversity of food items that I got to work with. Tuesday night brought another
evening of sand volleyball, even though the court was essentially underwater
from the previous day’s torrential downpours. It was pretty messy and yucky,
but that didn’t stop us!
Wednesday was a very relaxed day that involved quite a bit
of office work and planning for my African Safari Lunch that will be held in
two weeks. I worked with Mike, one of the dining managers, to pre-cost the menu
for my event which required adding and deleting items from the cycle menu to
reflect my special menu. This process allows for production schedules and food ordering
to be completed prior to the event. On Wednesday night, I volunteered at the Northeast
Iowa food bank for a few hours with a church group. The food bank serves 16 counties
and serves as a food distributing center for surrounding area food programs.
The food bank site also has an on-site food pantry that offers shelf-stable
items as well as perishables and produce donated by local grocery stores and
other donors. My volunteer shift involved filling orders for food for other
local food programs and stacking the bulk items on labeled pallets for
delivery.
Thursday was my day off, and it rained pretty hard all day.
I spent the day relaxing, running a few errands, and tying up a few loose ends
with my special event menu.
Friday was my catering food production day. My day was spent
rotating around the kitchen completing various tasks as needed. The busy
weekend of catering events required a large amount of food production, so the
catering cooks were happy to have an extra set of hands to help. I began the
day by slicing buns and rolls for sandwiches with an electric knife—a tool that
I have not used previously. After slicing, I was tasked with trimming the ends
off of 21 pounds of pea pods that would be steamed for a wedding the following
day. This duty took almost three hours to complete because each pod needed to
be trimmed individually on both ends. These two tasks alone took up my entire
shift leading up to lunch. After lunch, I worked on pre-prepping a filling for stuffed
potatoes, measuring ingredients for a roasted potato medley, slicing fruit for
a fruit tray, and assembling cold roast beef sliders. Through completing this
variety of tasks, I had the chance to work in both the hot and cold food areas
of the kitchen which are separated and contain equipment specific to the type
of prep completed in the area. UNI Catering prides itself on providing
customers with fresh, high quality, visually appealing food items and I
experienced this dedication to quality first-hand on this shift. There was an
art festival going on a few blocks away on Friday evening that I had to attend!
The rainy week had finally turned to sunshine, making for a perfect evening for
browsing through some amazing art. There was live music and over 70 different
artists that had work for sale ranging from paintings to pottery to sculptures
to blown glass. Each artist had such a unique style and detailed work that was
reflected in the price tag. The best part about the event was being to ask the
artists about their methods and inspirations.
Saturday was dedicated to catering service. I worked a full
day serving at a wedding in the union. The venue was set up very nicely and
service went very smoothly. I was assigned three tables to serve for the
evening was dedicated to these particular guests for the duration of my shift. The
food was extremely delicious and the guests seemed to enjoy it as well!
Tomorrow starts my fifth week in Cedar Falls, can’t wait to see what this week
has in store!
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