Week #7 at MSU....coming to an end

The last few days were shocking when we realized how fast this internship went. However, this past week did not let us down. We stayed busy doing yet another new round of jobs!

Monday-

Each year, the Residential and Housing Services holds a Golf Outing event on one of MSU’s golf courses. It is a community building and relaxing day for the workers. Kelsey and I worked the event with the sustainability team. At each tee off there was a trashcan and recycling bin. As a sustainability team, we monitored what was thrown away and tried to educate the golfers how little really needs to go to the landfill. When the golfing was done in the early afternoon, the clubhouse hosted a lunch so we cleared tables and made sure all the plastic, paper, and food waste was sorted correctly. It sounds like a dirty job, but I really enjoyed it!

Tuesday was fun, flexible day to work on our projects and see some areas on campus that we had not been. I worked on a breakfast brochure in the morning, and we spent the late morning touring the dining halls that we had only heard about. It is outrageous how big each one is, and I can now see why some employees never even make it across campus to visit another dining hall. Each operation is so unique. My favorite part was seeing the newest dining hall renovation, Landon. It is slated to open in the fall, and the employees are all really excited to move in. The décor is beautiful, because they were able to preserve some old fire places, rafters, and carpets. It is multi-leveled and has a wonderfully warm feel. I wish I could be around to see it packed with students and food! Our lunch was in the test kitchen, so we got to do an evaluation of a mac n’ cheese bar, strawberry spinach salad, and roasted fingerling potatoes to name a few. One of my favorite activities is to evaluate tastes and flavors, and it is such a blast to be around other people who enjoy it, too! The rest of the afternoon we spent in the Eli Broad Art Museum on campus and rounded out the day with a stop at the MSU Dairy Store. They make all of their own ice cream and cheeses with the help of their very own dairy cows on campus. The flavor selection is phenomenal, as well as the texture. 10 of their flavors are dedicated to each of the Big 10 schools, and I was tempted to try the Nebraska Husker’s Sweet Corn. Instead I had a scoop of green tea and a scoop of Minnesota Golden Gopher Smores. No regrets!

Wednesday-

Our day started around 6am when we boarded the van for a 2 ½ hour trip to South Bend, Indiana. When we arrived at Notre Dame University, we jumped right into a tour of their food stores. They had a lot of freezer and storage space, but they also did all the baking and some pre-cooked foods in the facility. After their products go through their food stores, they get sent to either of the two dining halls on campus. We toured both and had lunch at South. It was interesting to see how they stressed community style eating with their big tables, no personal seating, and promotion of dining hall eating versus convenience store. Also, we took a walking tour of the whole, beautiful campus. The Basilica, Dome, and The Grotto were highlights for me. During lunch, Kelsey and I were both very excited to see their extensive salad bars, including tofu, edamame, beets, beans, whole wheat pita, and quinoa. Those are all foods that we miss! In the afternoon, we visited an on-campus restaurant/bar, convenience store, and food court. It was great to see all the “behind the scenes” of those facilities and very interesting to compare a smaller, private school to MSU.

Thursday Kelsey and I spent our day in the test kitchen. We met the Corporate Chef, Kurt. He gave us the run down of what his role is, as well as the test kitchen’s, for the university dining services. When new halls are testing recipes with their team members, they take over the kitchen for the whole morning and then serve lunch to anyone on campus who is willing to fill out an evaluation form. We got to help out with the preparation, and of course, eat lunch. Kelsey and I rolled a lot of smoked salmon spring rolls. The theme of the day was using up leftovers, so the smoked salmon was used the day before. Some other items on the menu that I enjoyed were the panzanella bread salad, sweet potato mash, homemade tortillas, and the peach and berry cobbler. Also, the new hall is going to have a meat grinder, so they were testing multiple homemade sausages. After lunch, we helped the food truck team prepare for the next day. I panned up over 300 hamburgers while Kelsey baked 1000 cookies! After I finished, I helped her individually wrap each one. A thousand cookies may not sound like many, but if you ever get the opportunity to wrap all of them, I suggest you bring some good music to listen to!

 Also, Thursday evening was another Residential and Housing Services event. It happened to be a Lansing Lugnuts Baseball game. Kelsey and I attended and had a good time on a perfect summer night. It was cool to see a lot of people we work with in street clothes, relaxing, and hanging out with their family. 

Friday-

Each summer at MSU an event is held for junior students in high school to come look at the school. It is a very large event, and the university sets up an area of food stands for them to choose from at lunchtime. One is the popular, MSU Food Truck. Kelsey and I went into work at started prepping for a day on the food truck. After assembling a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and loading the truck, we set up the site. There was so much organization that went into the day, and it required a lot of teamwork. Kelsey’s job was to bring the food tickets to the truck and yell “Order up!” I worked in the truck by making sure the order matched the ticket then handed it to the expeditor. We had a steady rush of people for most of the shift, but we were all able to take a lunch break towards the end. Back in the main kitchen, Kelsey and I got to tally up how many of each item was sold and witness the banking happen. The whole process was really impressive and such a rush! I will never take a food truck for granted again, because a lot of work goes into everything for it.

Michigan State Week 6

This week, we began to feel how quickly the time has really gone. Our days in Brody were mainly over as we entered our sixth week; we began to move into more behind-the-scenes management and operations.

Monday
 We had a fun day learning about retail and concessions, working in Starbucks and Sparty's (MSU's coffee and convenience stores). We worked with the human resources manager; she told us about her job as a Starbuck's manager and showed us how to make quite a few specialty coffees (which we then got to drink!). There are three Starbucks on campus, so we visited all of them, spending a little time working and making coffees in the busiest one. Making lattes and cappuccinos to Starbucks' standards definitely takes experience, but we had fun practicing!

In the afternoon, we worked at Sparty's. It was consistently busy, so there was plenty for us to help with. The manager gave us a quick but thorough training, and then we got to make coffee drinks and smoothies, and heat up and serve sandwiches. In contrast to Starbucks, speed seemed to be more important than precision, as many of the drinks were simply "eyeballed" instead of being made with a specific number of syrup pumps or a carefully measured amount of milk.
I'd always wanted to try working in a coffee shop, so it was a fun day. It was interesting to see yet another side of food service.


Tuesday
We spent the morning talking with Betty, MSU's food safety and health inspector. She told us about her role here inspecting various dining locations, teaching people about food safety, and working with the managers to create the best solutions to safety issues. She was really interesting to talk to. We also shadowed her as she did a follow-up inspection of Brody. Having known that many food operations dread the day a health inspection comes, it was fun to see the respect that is clearly present between her and the employees at Brody.
In the afternoon, we worked on our project, finishing the breakfast brochure and nearly completing one on vegetarianism.

Wednesday
Wednesday was our Human Resources day, so we spent the day in Sparty's HR office. We learned about different roles within the office, from front desk assistants who call out to make sure each Sparty's employees have come in, to scheduling, which was like a giant puzzle of names and shift times. It felt funny to sit in an office all day after being so accustomed to active work, but it was good to learn about all that goes on behind the scenes that makes everything runs smoothly.

Thursday
We went to Grand Rapids to tour Gordon Food Service, a food distributor that services dining locations across the Midwest as well as an ever- expanding area south and east of Michigan. It was the coolest, most impressive place we've seen all summer. They have an automated warehouse, so when items are delivered, they enter a conveyor belt.

They are then are scanned by cameras along the way, which direct the items further and eventually place them, by crane, somewhere in the huge storage room. The crane can then pick items back up when they are ordered by customers. There are only four flours of storage from which employees hand-pick items to be sent out. These employees start their day with calisthenics, followed by 10 hours of running along the shelves picking items and dropping them onto the conveyor belt. As our tour guide described this job position, two employees jogged past us, one hopping over the belt to get to the shelf on the other side. They certainly wouldn't need a gym membership with that job! The whole warehouse felt unreal, with its high ceilings and automation; they are successful for a reason.

We got to see their office building as well, which was just as impressive as the warehouse, with beautiful art, spacious areas, green roof space, and all the latest "green" technology. We went to a presentation by Gordon's dietitians, who told us their role in developing educational material for customers and being available for questions on food products. We keep learning more and more jobs that dietitians can take.

Friday 
We got the day off to go to the Cherry Festival in Traverse City. We love doing food-related activities even when we aren't working! It was a beautiful area of Michigan, and we enjoyed the fair as well as our drive home along Lake Michigan.

Michigan State Week #5

Kelsey and I started off our workweek on a Sunday. This was unusual for us, but it ended up being really busy in the dining hall with all of the public for Sunday lunch. I rolled a lot of sushi and for dinner I worked in Boiling Point (the pasta station) for the first time. I have now flipped omelets, stir-fry, and pasta! Also, we worked on a pickled garden vegetable salad using radishes from the student organic farm.

Monday was our day to shadow supervisory so we were sent to do some new jobs. We got to sell advance meal tickets to parents attending the orientation program, and then during lunch, Kelsey and I learned how to swipe IDs for meals. It was fun since neither of us had done it, but we both decided we like being with the food a lot more!

We have been really excited to visit Ferris State University, and we finally got to on Tuesday. It was a great mid-week field trip. Although the campus is much smaller than Michigan State, it was very up-to-date, balanced, and quality. The dining hall was so much fun to see and compare to MSU’s. They had a similar set up to Brody but, because of the size, it had a more intimate feel. Other areas we toured included the hockey arena, optometry school, and Starbuck’s! My favorite part was meeting with their Director of Dining Services. She is currently designing a new dining hall facility that will open in January 2015. It was so interesting to have her explain the architect’s drawings, show the décor she has purchased, explain the differences in tableware, and feel her passion for the entire project! It just made me realize how much work goes into every little detail of dining services, even before the facility is running.

Wednesday was a normal workday at Brody for us. Kelsey and I dished and garnished our Herby Pickled Garden Salad and served it at lunch in the Veg Out station. We both really liked the taste, and the people who tried it did, too. We both really enjoy working with such fresh and local produce and are really proud that we have had an opportunity to do so.

We finished off our week with another management shadowing day in Brody. One of the student supervisors spent a lot of time showing us the “behind the scenes” of some of the machines. For example, the never-ending condiment dispensers are fed from bags in the cabinet below, the pop syrups are kept in huge closets that somehow lead to the machines in the halls, and the juice dispenser does not have to be filled as often as we think, since it is loaded with concentrates! The dining center started to feel the effects of the holiday with pretty slow business, so Kelsey and I got to spend a lot of time on trivia questions and brochures for the dietitian. In the afternoon, we met with the Operations Manager who gave us some helpful hints for our futures involving management.

Luckily, Kelsey and I have the 4^th off of work. We are spending it in a small town on the coast of Lake Michigan. We are really excited to explore a new area and hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

Michigan State University--Week 4

It’s been another busy and exciting week at MSU.

            Coming straight from a weekend on Mackinac Island, we began Monday with a tour of Paramount Coffee Roasters in Lansing. We had heard much about this company (their coffee is served in all campus dining halls and many local shops), so it was great to see the facilities and learn about the coffee-roasting process. Having studied abroad in Costa Rica, I always thought more about growing coffee, not the roasting process. This tour showed me that precise roasting is just as important for creating the tastes we like; the roasting machine, the temperature, and the time all greatly influence the taste. I also learned that flavored coffee beans are processed with flavored chemicals; hazelnut coffee, for example, has no trace of nuts in it. I’m not sure what I expected, but I think I’ll be more likely to stay away from flavored coffees now. The tour was very well-done and informative, and we enjoyed learning while taking in the delicious aroma of coffee. We spent the rest of the day serving dinner at Veg Out.   (images: left-storage room of raw green coffee beans; center- the roasting machine; right-the packaging machine) 

 

            On Tuesday, we went to a presentation on sustainability and a tour of MSU’s recycling center. Their main goal is to divert as much waste as possible from the landfill. The recycling center takes paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal. Functional items such as old dorm furniture, clothing, bikes, computers, and kitchenware go to the Surplus Store, which can then resell items to a new home. We were among many university food service employees at the presentation, and I thought it was great that MSU takes the time to education its staff on environmental/sustainability policies.

            In the afternoon on Tuesday, we got to meet with Gina, the dietitian. Macy and I had been looking forward to this meeting because, as dietetics students, we wanted to find out about her experience in the field, and what a job here as a registered dietitian entails. We learned that Gina has spent a lot of time on allergen safety, and she has created an extensive online meal management program; anyone can go on the dining website and find the ingredients and nutrition facts for a meal they might eat that day at a dining hall. Gina also gave us some ideas for our internship project—we will be helping create educational tools for monthly nutrition events.

             

            On Wednesday, we worked at Holmes, a dining hall that is only serving to camps over the summer. This week was Grandparents University—a chance for alumni to stay on campus with their grandchildren and do fun activities. Macy and I alternated “directing traffic” (sending people to specific food lines to keep any one from becoming too crowded) and serving in the line. It was fun to chat with the families and hear about their experience on campus.

            In the afternoon, we left Holmes for a bit to go to a pizza crust tasting. A new vendor wants MSU to use their dough, so a crowd of chefs and dining executives gathered in Case (another dining hall) to evaluate the pizza. We did a side-by-side comparison of our currently-served pizza, the new dough that came frozen and ready to be topped and baked, and a new dough that came pre-topped and ready to be baked. We ate and then filled out an evaluation sheet to comment on the acceptability of the taste, appearance, and texture of the new crust. I personally enjoyed the new pizza but thought it tasted too uniform and pre-frozen. I prefer the more homemade taste that comes from proofing and docking the dough in-house.

            Thursday was a fun day, because we got to meet the NACUFS interns from Ferris State University. We toured the football stadium and basketball arena, both a source of great pride for MSU. Then, we showed them around Brody and ate lunch there, talking about what we’ve been doing and comparing our various tasks and projects. It was nice to learn about the differences in each school’s program. With theirs focused slightly more on management, I’m glad I’m at MSU learning more about culinary. It will be fun to go tour Ferris with them next Tuesday!

            On Friday, we worked at yet another dining location on campus—Shaw. Like Holmes, it is only open for conferences and camps during the summer. On Friday, it hosted a Green Carpet day lunch—a meal for rising high school seniors in the area. Parents and students included, it was a crowd of 580, and we served them all in under 20 minutes. With pasta, rice, chicken, veggies, and sandwiches prepared ahead in the kitchen, it was very different than the cook-to-order style I love in Brody. Each server put one food on the plate and passed it to the next server to complete the plate—an assembly line meal. It was very efficient, and I think I would have really enjoyed the rush if I had felt more established in my position. As it was, I just tried to help as much as possible without getting in the way of the seasoned Shaw servers.

            After lunch, we went to an intake meeting, where we listened to staff from culinary, building facilities, and operations go over specifications for a group coming to campus. I never realized how much went into planning camps and conferences; little things like snacks on a table at night--and the placement of that table--have to be planned well in advance. It was interesting, but we were glad to get outside afterward and enjoy the beautiful summer day at MSU’s outdoor pool. 

A Busy Week 3 at Michigan State...

Although Kelsey and I have stayed very busy the last two weeks by working at Brody, a dining hall at Michigan State, the activity of this week was taken to a whole new level. It seemed like a typical internship week since we were gathering loads of information every day from new areas. Each day, we worked and/or toured a different place on campus. Below I have summarized some of the main and exciting topics of our week, along with pictures.

Monday-

We toured the Food Stores on campus. It is a place, as we soon learned, that most campuses do not have anymore. Instead of getting food solely from a distributor, like Sysco, Michigan State does their own purchasing. They estimate that 70% of the food comes directly from manufacturers and the other 30% from distributors. We walked through the large dry storeroom that resembled a bulk purchase store (Sam’s Club), and we also (more quickly) walked through the 32 degree fridge room and – 7 degree freezer. A main point that the workers really stressed was the timing of buying. For example, they don’t plan to buy ham right before Easter or it will be way too expensive. Also, they don’t bother buying the cheap products that are not as well-liked or will not be used as readily by the chefs. Even though it is cheaper, it is wasted money. Overall, I think it is amazing how well the system works, even with so many chefs in each of the dining halls having the freedom to use so many products that the food stores will get for them. The web and efficiency of communication is truly amazing. Interestingly enough, one of the purchasers that we talked to actually graduated with a dietetics degree and completed the dietetic internship. This just opened Kelsey’s and my eyes to another whole level of dietetics in food service!

 The area we first walked in was the dry storage. It looked just like a very organized bulk foods store.

 We did not spend very much time in the -7 degree freezer. We felt our nose hairs freeze!

 I liked looking at this rice that is ordered in from Thailand because of the giant nutrition facts.

Tuesday-

Our exciting schedule continued with a 12pm start time on Tuesday! It was nice to have the morning off, and we took advantage of it by trying out a local dive for breakfast that is usually packed on the weekends. It was well worth it! Our job from 12-8pm was to do a catering event at the Cowles House, the home of the President of the University. Although she does not reside there, it is treated like her home and she hosts many of the parties. During the afternoon, we toured the facilities, talked with the manager about a lot of hospitality/event management-type topics that were new to learn about. The event began at 4:30, we so did last minute garden and table set up before we got dressed to work. Kelsey and I got a kick out of it since neither of us had worn ties before! When the guests started to arrive, Kelsey bussed the bar and tables while I watched over the buffet and refilled all of the dishes. Around 6pm, the crowd left and all the workers were allowed to eat the delicious meal (consisting of caprese tortellini salad, shrimp cocktail, MSU dairy cheeses, veggie pot stickers, and espresso chocolate mousse to name a few)! That was also the time when Kelsey and I chatted with the house’s chef, and the soon-to-be house manager, Kirsten. We really got the feel that the house was part of the university but was completely separate at the same time. The few main employees are a close group that work well together, and Kelsey and I were both happy with all of the information we took from the day!

The breakfast that the 3 of us enjoyed at the Golden Harvest. If you are ever in Lansing, this is a definite experience for the taste buds!

 The first time Kelsey and I had worn ties...also the tree in the middle of the living room impressed us!

This is just a taste of the fancy foods and decor we were working with while catering at the Cowles House. 

Wednesday-

Our day at the bakery began at 5am. Kelsey and I split up for the day but shared a few jobs throughout. I worked with the bread baker and did a lot of bread loaves for sandwiches in the dining centers. We made sourdough, garlic, and artisan. I also helped with making the most brownie batter I have ever dealt with, rice krispie treats, and raspberry dark chocolate muffins. Kelsey worked on cheesecake, no bake cookies, carrot cake, banana cake, coconut cream pie, and lemon meringue pie. Overall, both of us deeply enjoy baking and had a fun day witnessing the amount of work that goes into providing the dining halls with a quality assortment of yumminess everyday. However, both of us agreed that baking with commercial equipment and in mass quantities is not quite as relaxing as baking at home! Our shift lasted until 1pm and we really felt that we learned a lot by comparing how differently things have to be run when cooking versus baking. Also, just seeing the giant equipment (bagel maker, loaf roller, walk-in ovens, huge fridges named after the Beatles, roll maker, and walk-in proofer) was worth the visit!

 I had to take a picture of this dishwasher, because it reminded me more of a small carwash! 

 Kelsey practiced her cake frosting skills and had a lot of fun (and patience) while doing it.

 At the end of our shift, Kelsey and I had to top all of the Orange Poke Cakes with orange candies. 

 Kelsey and I topped these cheesecakes together and spread different cherries and berries on top. It was fun seeing this dessert on the menu the next day!

Here are some of the loaves of bread I helped make for sandwiches the next day.

Thursday-

At the crack of dawn Kelsey and I arrived at the Student Organic Farm on the MSU campus. Right away, we both started harvesting for the 72 CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shares and a farmer’s market for later in the morning. I picked the arugula and Swiss chard, while Kelsey helped with spinach and turnips. To continue the morning, I helped work some ground and planted the clean beds with Valencia tomatoes, Yaya carrots, and E-Z Pick beans. I felt so at home and comfortable! Kelsey worked in one of the hoop houses all morning trellising bell peppers. Then, she got the fun job of chopping vegetables in preparation for our community lunch with all of the workers. Of course, working in a garden all morning will likely make anything sound delicious, but our lunch really was amazing. Freshly picked greens, choy, and carrots dressed with homemade vinaigrettes, quinoa, hummus/pita, and hard boiled eggs was a meal nothing short of perfection to Kelsey and I! After lunch we toured around the farm to see the compost, aquaculture, vermiculture, endless beds of produce, chick house, mushroom farm, and multiple hoop houses. Overall, I was just so impressed with the organization, production, and passionate volunteers at the farm. This was my favorite day in the internship so far, and Kelsey and I both plan on attending another workday in the next few weeks!

 This is the giant compost tent that the farm uses. It was such an impressive operation!

 I had never seen mushrooms farmed before, and this thrilled me!

 This is Kelsey feeling proud after trellising these peppers for so long. 

 Kelsey and I both thought this lettuce was even more beautiful than roses!

 Here I am with some of the tomatoes I planted in one of the hoop houses.

The strawberries growing on the farm were so tempting to eat but such a pretty sight, as well. 

Friday-

We had a “normal” workday today but in a new place. We shadowed one of our schedule coordinators at his manager job in a dining hall. The hall was actually hosting a 4-H camp for a few days so it was a different service than being open to the MSU students/public. The menu had been chosen in advance so our job was to serve the food to around 800 people in a 2-hour block. Kelsey and I traded off working in the food line and blocking the door while directing the masses of kids to food lines to avoid congestion. It was interesting to see a dining center cater to a whole group’s needs. For example, it was surprising to see no nuts or nut products, since so many kids have nut allergies. The menu in general seemed different since almost every meal offered hamburgers and hot dogs to keep the young population happy.

On another note, we are now officially part of MSU with our functioning ID’s. Kelsey and I took advantage of this by checking out the library, bike rental, and the recreational facility on campus. We are so powerful with our cards! Also, we packed for our trip to Mackinac Island this weekend. Overall, we are tired from a busy week but so glad we had the opportunities to learn so much in a wide variety of areas! 

Thanks for teaching us so much MSU! 

~Macy

Michigan State Weeks 1 and 2

            Our internship at Michigan State is flying by so fast we've forgotten to blog! We arrived two weeks ago, but after our initial day of tours, trainings, and introductions, it’s felt like we've been here all along. We are staying in wonderful on-campus apartments, about a ten-minute walk from Brody Dining Commons, where we do the majority of our work. Brody is the biggest, most impressive dining hall I’ve ever been too; sushi, pasta, paninis, and stir-fries made to order are only a few of the options. We were excited to jump right in and start learning how each station was run. As dietetics/nutrition majors, Macy and I discovered we had many of the same goals for the internship, mainly involving learning how things are cooked, and trying to make healthier versions. We also wanted to set up a day to talk with Brody’s dietitian, to find out more about MSU’s nutrition initiatives.  

We started out working in the back of house at Brody, where we learned about hot and cold prep. I thought this was a good place to start, so that when we did go out to cook at the stations, we knew the work that had gone into preparing everything. While vegetable-chopping in Brody’s sunny kitchen was relaxing, we found the lunch rush of the stations fun too. Everyone here says this is nothing compared to the crowds that come during the school year, but it still gets quite busy.  Here a few things we've done at the stations so far:

·         Boiling Point—the pasta station. I got to watch homemade pasta squeeze out of the pasta machine, and then I learned the methods of making pasta stir-fries for people.  

·         Pangea—omelets and Asian stir-fry. I proudly mastered the omelet flip in the morning. During lunch, I learned how to use the wok, and enjoyed the heat and speed of stir-frying, keeping up with the rush of orders.

·         Sushi—Macy and I learned how to roll sushi, another relaxing task.

 

·         Cayenne—the Mexican-style cuisine. We got to fry tortilla chips in the deep fryer, and make tortillas in a machine that cooks them fast at a high temperature and spits them out at the bottom.

·         Ciao—the pizza/sandwich station. We got to make and serve pizza; we learned that pizza-making can be a pretty slow operation over the summer, until elementary school field trips come for lunch.

·         Veg Out—the vegetarian station. We helped prep and cook veggies, quiches, and pierogis.

In addition to these stations, we’ve gotten to do some of our own creations. When the chefs discovered our passion for nutrition and farm-fresh foods, they started bringing us produce from the student organic farm at MSU. We made up a recipe for a quinoa salad with beans, avocados, and pickled radishes (from the farm).

 We also created some delicious herbed pickles with fresh cucumbers. It’s been fun working together and having the freedom to use our creativity. We are excited for all the opportunities still to come as we settle in at MSU!