Last day as a MSU NACUFS Intern!

Our LAST day today!!!

Woah!  I can't even begin to explain how fast these last eight weeks have gone. 

In these last few days and last week Carla, Sam and I have been working on our final project.  This consisted of planning and executing a formal dinner for 12 people.  Sam, the culinary intern, was working on the menu and all of the back of the house stuff and I was working on all of the front of the house business.  My job consisted of planning out the table setting, researching service styles, gathering all of the table settings, arranging the flowers, napkin folds, designing the invitations, designing the menus for the table, among many other tasks.  It was a lot of work but a great learning experience!  I had a lot of help from Martin, the executive chef.  He was SO helpful and I was thankful he was there to guide us with this project.  Everyone else involved with food service at MSU was helpful also.  

This is the invite that I designed for the dinner!

We had our dinner last night (7/22) and it turned out awesome!! Sam did an amazing job with the food, everyone seemed to love it.  She is an amazing cook and the work she put in developing the menu definitely showed in this dinner.  She served a bacon blue cheese salad, homemade spinach pasta with a baked chicken breast and homemade cheesecake. Carla and I were serving the dinner!

And believe me, everything tasted as good as it looks!! :)   Here are some more pictures from the evening!

 

 

This is the table setting!

Sam, Carla and I before the dinner

This was Paul's first ever selfie!

 

 

So this concludes my time as a NACUFS intern at Montana State University!  This has been one of the most amazing experiences!  I have learned more than I ever thought I would have when I started my adventures in Bozeman.  Not only did I learn so much about food service management and College and University Food Service, but also so much about myself and my capabilities. We got to meet some pretty amazing people that provided us with great career advice and so much encouragement.  I am beyond lucky to have had this experience, and I would encourage anyone who is thinking about applying to DO IT! I will never forget my eight weeks at Montana State University and I am already getting excited to come back and visit Bozeman (and I haven't even left yet)! :)

 

Thank you to everyone who has given me advice, encouragement and taught me so much at MSU.  And a special thank you to Paul Mineau, who has taught us SOOO much.  He has showed us the ropes of College and University Food Service and made us feel so welcome for the last eight weeks.   Also thank you to everyone in the NACUFS organization that puts time and energy into this internship program.  It is a great experience that I was lucky to be apart of!

 

 

Katie Olson



Montana State University

Tuesday (7/8):  Carla, Sam and I were on our own this day! Paul and Martin are at the NACUFS conference and Rose is on vacation in Alaska.  We worked on entering pan spray to every recipe that uses it at the bakery, because it contains soy and they need to have it listed as an allergen.  We also worked on our remodel projects.  I was working on making copies of all of the small appliances that will be used in the deli section of the remodel.  I did this so I don't have to flip through the book that has all of the small appliances for the whole building every time I need to look something up.  For the rest of the week I will be planning out the deli area and deciding what we need and where everything is going to go.  I also am going to meet with Toots, the sanitarian, so she can tell me what needs to be kept at room temperature, what needs to be kept hot and cold.  I will also be working on finishing up the bread bar/cereal area.  After work, we went shopping for a little bit and then I went for a run.  It was much cooler than the day before!  Then I worked on one of my projects for school and went to bed!  It has been very hot in our rooms, even with the windows open and fans on full blast it is still uncomfortable.  I have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible! 

That's all for now!  Have a good rest of your week!

Katie Olson

Montana State University

So much to catch up on!!!

Last weekend (June 28-29):  On Saturday Sam, Carla and I went whitewater rafting on the Yellowstone River!  It was really cool!  We went about 14 miles and hit 4 rapids, it was intense.  No one fell off but we did get a lighting storm for a while.  I really want to go again sometime!
On Sunday, I competed in the Bozeman triathlon.  I did the sprint triathlon which consisted of  a half mile swim, a 12.4 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. Paul had a team that did the full triathlon.  He had a former intern that did the running, he did the biking and Rose, our administrative assistant was supposed to swim but she hurt her back just before the race.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a triathlon.

After the triathlon Carla, Sam and I went to Chico Hot Springs.  It was really relaxing! 

Week of June 30th:  On Monday, we spent the day preparing for our annual meeting with Food Services of America (our prime vendor).  We got our notes organized and make some spreadsheets and other documents that would help the meeting go smoothly.  We also went through the whole meeting and figured out who was responsible for which topic. 

Tuesday (7/1): This was a big day, the FSA meeting day!  We have been talking about and preparing for this meeting since we arrived at MSU!  And it is finally here!!  We woke up early and had breakfast at the Western Café in downtown Bozeman (so good!).  At breakfast Paul answered any lingering questions we had about the meeting.  After breakfast we departed for Billings, where FSA is located, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Bozeman.  When we got to Billings we got a tour of the FSA warehouse, which is huge by the way!  And then we started our meeting.  The meeting took about 4 1/2 hours, we had a lot to talk about.  I talked in the meeting about; fall start-up plans, I communicated when the dining centers will open in the fall and what FSA should expect when we open.  I also talked about how many students will be on meal plans this year. This is important for them because they need to be able to estimate how much product increase we will be needing for the year.  I also talked about concessions for the football stadium.  There are four home football games in a row, so FSA needs to have more inventory than normal because it is important that the concession stand doesn't run out of anything.  I then talked about our system of receiving nutrition information and sub ingredients for products that we are getting from FSA.  We were hoping for a better method but it doesn't seem that is possible this year.  Also for the meeting, I made a spreadsheet of the new products that MSU will need stocked for this year and the items that we will no longer need stocked.  FSA needs to know this because they only have so many slots.  So if we discontinue an item it is likely that another customer of theirs will also have to switch to the product we are switching to.  After the meeting we went out for lunch with a few people from FSA.  We got to talk to them about their careers and how they got into food service.  One of the men, Bob, was a University of North Dakota alum (GO SIOUX).  He had some really good career advice and interview tips for us.  This is helpful as we finish up our last year of college. 

Wednesday(7/2):  This day was spent following up on some of the stuff that was discussed at the meeting.  Also I typed up the notes that we took during the meeting.

Thursday (7/3)- Sunday (7/6): This day was spent traveling to Glacier National Park!  It was nothing short of amazing.  It is a really cool park!  We got there Thursday night and set up our tent and got settled in and then we took the shuttle to Logan Pass.  There was SOO much snow there!  It was about 80 degrees and there was still ten feet of snow in some places, I have never experienced anything like it.  There were people hiking to the top of the mountain and skiing down! It made me excited for winter, I can't wait to ski!

 

After we explored Logan Pass for a while we headed back to the campsite and made dinner over the fire.  We had black bean burgers and asparagus, it was so good!  I am convinced that anything tastes better over the fire.

On Friday we traveled the whole "Going to the Sun" road.  Let me tell you, if you ever have the chance to experience this I highly recommend it!  It was so beautiful!  We made a few stops and did a few hikes.  We spent some time on the West side of the park at Lake McDonald, we kayaked and had lunch here.  The lake is realllllly clear! You could see down really far.  Which is so different for me because they lake I grew up with (Lake of the Woods, in Minnesota) is really murky.  There were a lot of people water skiing and tubing, this is one thing that I really miss about summer in Minnesota!After this we headed back to the campsite and got cleaned up, had supper and relaxed.  The sunsets at our campsite were amazing!

When we woke up on Saturday we headed to Flathead Lake, which is just outside the park.  We spent some time here before we headed to Rose's parents house, who we were staying with for the night.  They live in Whitefish, a really cool town on Whitefish Lake.  We hung out there Saturday night and made kebabs and played board games, it was so nice of them to let us stay for the night!  They were great hosts.  We headed back to Bozeman on Sunday, but believe me I could have stayed there forever!

Monday (7/7):  We went over what we are going to be doing for the week because Paul will be gone at the NACUFS conference.  He gave us some projects to work on and then we went to the bakery to help out because they were short staffed.  We helped scoop cookies and then packed some baked goods to send to the dining centers.  After we helped them catch up I worked with Sam on a special meal project that we are working on.  After work I went for a run and it was really hot out.  I had to stop for a bit because I was so hot! Then we had dinner and went and got frozen yogurt across the street and took it to the park to catch some rays! 


I cannot believe we only have 2 weeks left!  I still think they are going to have to drag me out.  I love it here and it has been a really sweet experience!

Katie Olson


Montana State University- End of Week 3 and week 4

I just realized I don't think I introduced myself in my first posts.  So now after the third week..  I am Katie Olson!  I am from Northern Minnesota but go to school at the University of North Dakota.  I am studying dietetics.  I will be a senior in the coordinated program!  I have been to Montana once before, my roommates and I came for spring break this year to ski at Big Sky!  Montana is just as great in the summer!  I am thinking that they are going to have to force me to leave at the end of the internship :)

Anyway...

Thursday (6/19/2014): We had a another meeting all morning with Randy from Stalk Market.  At this meeting we were discussing the products that we decided on the day before and making sure we had all the right pieces.  We also discussed the prices of the products compared the prices we are currently paying for similar products.  We talked about a possible bill-back and a few other topics.  We then had lunch with one of the NACUFS interns from last year!  She loved it so much here that she couldn't leave :)  It was fun to talk to her and talk about her experiences at MSU!  In the afternoon we worked on our other projects.

Friday (6/20/2014):  We worked on updating order guides with estimated usages that we will present at our meeting with FSA next week.  We printed off the menus for each dining center and had the dining hall managers go through them and change the usages to what they thought was appropriate.  When they were finished, Carla and I went through and updated these on Filemaker so that we can give FSA a good estimation of how much of each product to have in stock!  Also, we went through the FSA order guides and compared it to the dining centers copies.  We had to mark each item that was missing and add it back in so that the dining center managers are able to order every product when they need it.  We also had a tasting at lunch time where we tried about 5 different meatballs!  It was so much meat!  We also tried some corn queso that catering was testing, it was amazing!  They do a great job! 

Friday evening we left for our camping trip!  Me, Carla and Sam (the other interns), Paul (our boss), Rose (our administrative assistant) and Martin (the executive chef) went to Pine Creek for the weekend!  It was AMAZING.  On Friday night we got our campsite set up.  Carla, Sam and I rented a tent from the Outdoor Rec Center and they forgot to put the steaks in the bag!  So we had to use twigs to try hold our tent down.  It was interesting to say the least.....  But it worked out!  After we got our tents set up, we made burgers over the fire! They were so good.  It seems like food always tastes better over a campfire.  Maybe because it reminds me of Minnesota summers!  :)  After supper we relaxed around the fire and made some smores!

Saturday:  We woke up early and Rose made French press coffee while I helped Martin with breakfast prep and he cooked!  We had scrambled eggs with sausage, onions and red peppers, we also had bacon.  It was a great camping breakfast.  After we got cleaned up, we got our stuff together for a hike.  We made sandwiches and got some other snacks and water together.  We hiked 5 miles up to a BEAUTIFUL lake in the mountains.  The hike was really long and steep, but so worth it!  We had to cross some rapids on logs and rocks.  Martin, Rose and I made it to the lake but the Sam and Carla stopped short of the lake and waited for us down the mountain a ways (Paul went back to the campsite after the first waterfall to hold down the fort). It was such a great day and i don't think I will ever forget it!  Here are some pictures!

 

 

 This was on the bridge at the first waterfall!

 This is me at the top!

From left to right this is Paul, Carla, Sam, me and Martin!

 

After we got back to the campsite (7 hours later), Paul's wife came for the day to make us dinner.  She used Dutch Ovens to make us short ribs, fingerling potatoes and corn bread.  She also brought salmon and veggies that she cooked over the fire.  It was one of the best camping meals I have ever had!  She made a berry cobbler for dessert in the Dutch oven and it was just as good! 

 

On Sunday we had another great breakfast and then cleaned up the campsite and got our tents put away!  We also got a game of cribbage in, I hate to admit it but I did lose. 

 

 

(I am just going to continue into this week because it is already Wednesday- I have been slacking)

 

Monday (6/23/2014):  I worked on the order guides for almost the whole day on Monday... I know it seems tedious but definitely necessary.  I also updated our meeting agenda for the FSA meeting and that's about it for Monday!

 

Tuesday (6/24/2014):  I worked on the order guides again for a lot of the day.  We were having some difficulties with computrition so we had to find some other things to do.  You really realize how much you use something when you can't use it!  But we still got stuff done!  I also added some dining center menus into Filemaker.  After work Sam, Martin and I went to an event at the Museum of the Rockies that was called "Hops and History."  Every month a local brewery comes in and you pay a $5 cover charge and they give you a cup and samples of their micro brews.  They do a presentation about the history of brewing in Montana! It was a really cool event! 

 

Wednesday (6/25/2014):  Today I worked on a National Food Group order.  I went through the items that we currently get from them and figured out what we need to order for this year.  To do this I looked at the usages and our in-stock items and also contacted the managers to ask about what products the students like and what products they would like to have this year.  I also asked how much of each product they usually go through every week.  I took the amount of each item we have in stock and figured out how long it will last us and then figured out how much we need to order to last us the rest of the semester!  We purchase cookie dough pucks from them, so I also had to pick the flavors that I thought would be popular with college students.  After I figured all of these details out I contacted the National Food Group representative for our area and told her what products we will need to order and when we need them delivered.  After that I updated all of our files and let the store room worker know what and when to expect these orders!  This pretty much took me all day!  In the midst of this project, we had lunch with one of the dining center managers who recently attended the NACUFS food service management institute.  She had an awesome experience and it was really cool to hear about!  After work I worked on one of my projects for my class and now Sam and I are going to Shakespear in the park!  They are doing Romeo and Juliet! 

 

 

For now,

 

Katie Olson

Montana State University- Week 3

Tuesday: 

We started out our morning with a procurement meeting with the chefs and some managers.  We discussed samples that have been tested and products that we had decided on.  After the meeting I continued to work switching out our old tomato product with the new tomato products on computrition and filemaker.  I did this for most of the morning and sent some emails for some of my other projects.  At lunch chef Martin made some new recipes for the food truck.  He was working on the Asian menu, it was so good!

 This was the layout of all of the food we tried!

 This is an Italian Griller Rope that they are thinking about having at the carving station in their dining center remodel

This is vegetable fried rice and general Tso chicken for the food truck! 

After lunch we came back to the office and threw a surprise birthday party for Rose, one of the ladies that we work with!  We got her a piñata and the bakery made her a cake! It was really fun! 

This was Rose's birthday cake! It was soooo good!

From left to right this is Sam (the culinary intern), the piñata :), Rose, me, Carla (the other food service management intern) and Virginia (a student employee)

 

I finished up the tomato product switch and it was time to go back to the dining center to try pizzas with the new pizza sauce chef Martin is developing!  So much food!  After this we went out for dinner for Rose's birthday!  When we came out after dinner, we had this view!  So sweet.

Wednesday:

In the morning, Carla and I got our payroll stuff worked out.  Then I worked on some of my projects until a meeting at 10. We had a meeting with a broker for Stalk Market.  MSU is looking to get more  sustainable paper products.  They have a pretty cool line of stuff!  For lunch chef Martin was trying some other Asian recipes for the food truck!  He had a few different fried rice recipes and some chicken curry and two different hot sauces. 

After lunch, I have been chipping away at some of my projects.  I am working on figuring out what products we will order from National Food Group, which is a distressed broker.  I didn't know what a distressed broker is until I got here! 

After work I went for a run and then Carla and I did yoga!  I think we ended up doing more laughing than yoga poses though, which is fine! :)

Montana State University- 6/16/2014

The start of another week at MSU! 
I can't believe we are almost half way done!
It cannot be real... 

Monday morning I did a CURE report to find out what Blue Bunny products we are using most and at what location.  I typed up the notes from our meeting with Bob Burrows at the cook-chill operation.  I also tied up some loose ends with some of my other projects. Not a very exciting morning!

At lunch we had a few products to sample!  We were going to compare many different kinds of veggies burgers but the samples went missing, so we ended up just trying two!  We had a black bean burger and a lentil patty.  The black bean burger (pictured below) was really good!

 

 

We also tried two different kinds of gluten free chicken strips, one was chopped and formed (right) and the other one was a whole  muscle (left).  I think everyone agreed that the one on the left was much better, but much more expensive!

 

 

Chef Martin was also trying recipes for the breakfast menu for the food truck!  It was a mix of seasoned potatoes, pico de gallo, beans and over easy eggs.  There was also one with sausage and one with chicken!  They were all sooo good.  He was going for the garbage plate concept.  I can't wait to try the rest of the food that will be sold on the truck. I think they are going to develop an Asian menu next.  Yum!

 

After lunch I worked on making changes to all of our files for the tomato product switch.  There is so much detail involved when an organization as large as this one switches a product!  I will be finishing that up today and starting to make changes in the files for some of the other products we are switching!

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

Katie



Montana State University- End of 3rd Week and Weekend

Some highlights from the last few days:

We had a meeting with a broker that was a UND alumni!  It was really cool to talk to him, he had some really good advice for when we start looking for jobs and as we start our careers!  He is also a huge Sioux hockey fan, he was just as devastated as I was when the Sioux lost to the Gophers in the playoffs!

We also had a Kronos representative come to the dining center to do a sampling.  The food was really good!  We are considering switching to their products so after the presentation we talked about prices and the bill-back that we could get from this company if we choose to switch. 

We toured the cook-chill operation where the Bozeman schools get their food.  This was an AMZING facility!  They are just finishing a remodel and we got to see all of the new equipment.  The cook-chill machine is so fascinating.  They have a large pot where they cook the food, it has a rotating paddle that stirs the food.  Once it is cooked, it gets sucked through a tube that takes it to the packaging machine.  It gets pumped into a plastic bag, gets vacuum packed and sent on a conveyor belt into a tub of cold water where it is rapidly cooled.  They then store their food in a cooler that is about 30 degrees.  The machine wasn't in use when we were there but it would be cool to see it in action!

After the tour, we had a representative from Franz Bakery come to the dining center to do a sampling.  They brought many different breads and pastries!  It was really good! 

On Friday evening one of my best friends, Amy, was in Bozeman to visit.  Amy, her boyfriend and I went for a hike and then us three and Carla and Sam went to Norris Hot Springs.  It rained the whole time but it was still really fun!  On Saturday I went road biking with MSU's executive chef!  It was fun, we went about 20 miles.  Saturday evening Carla, Sam and I went to the movie, "The Fault in Our Stars."  Such a good movie!

And on Saturday we hiked the "M" again!  It took us less time than the first time we did it.  It was a beautiful day.  We have a really busy week ahead of us, a lot of products to sample and some big decisions to make!

 

6/9-10/2014 Montana State University

Happy Tuesday!

On Monday, I worked on my tomato project a little bit more and found out we will save $7,800 by switching to the new company!  I was very surprised!  I also continued to work on my part of the dining center remodel.  I never would have imagined how much work it is to remodel a dining center! I am working on planning out the bread bar.  This entails figuring out what bread products and condiments we need, how much of everything we need, whether the product needs to be kept hot, cold or room temperature, what to put the product in, and where it will go on the counter!  Uffda!  It involves so much visualization.  So far I have only determined what condiments we need. I have a meeting scheduled with the sanitarian tomorrow to get the down low on what temperature these products need to be held at.  Then I can move on and start planning out the placement of all of the products.  Until then, I will be starting planning out the deli part of the remodel! 

It is so cool to be able to think that the concepts I am planning out will affect the kitchen staff and the guests of the dining center for so many years!  We are really lucky to be a part of such a rare opportunity! 

This morning we had a procurement meeting with some of the dining center managers and chefs.  We talked about what samples have came in and when we will be testing them.  We have a busy week of sampling next week!  Today I have been working on getting things straightened out for the big tomato product switch, we called the representative of the company and asked about receiving a bill-back and about some of the other products they offer.  I have also been doing some nutrient and cost comparisons on two granola products. 



Last night, Carla, Sam and I went for a walk on the painted hills trail that is right by campus. It was a beautiful night and it is nice to get outside and enjoy the views after work.  We are planning on going to the farmers market tonight! 



Katie Olson

Week 2 Recap- Montana State University

Week 2 was a busy one at Montana State!

We have been working on some ongoing projects, but I will touch on some of the highlights! 
I am working on switching all of our canned tomato products to a different brand.  I did some price comparisons and found that we would save a lot of money if we switched to the new brand.  I helped arrange a cutting of these products and we decided to make the change!

Also, I have been working on preparation for a meeting we have with a bakery in town later this week and also a meeting with the food service director of some of the schools in Bozeman. I started working on planning out the bread/breakfast bar for the remodel of MSU's largest dining hall. We got to sample some recipes that chef Martin is testing.  We tried three different rotisserie chickens, some sandwiches, a few different salsas, among other things! 

It is so cool to see what happens behind the curtains of a College and University food service operation.  I am learning so much! 

Sam, Carla and I went stand-up paddle boarding on the Madison River on Thursday!  It was much more intense than paddle boarding on the lakes in Minnesota, but it was really fun! 

Also, we went to Yellowstone to camp during the weekend! We got to see a bear and her three cubs, a lot of bison, and a coyote.  It was a lot of fun, Yellowstone is beautiful! We rented a tent from the outdoor recreation center to sleep in.  It rained all night long on Saturday night and it was 30 degrees but we still had a great time!

 





- Katie

Montana State University- Day 5

6/3/2014

Day 5 as a NACUFS intern!

Today we had a meeting right away in the morning with some of the food service managers about the samples that we are getting in to test for possible inclusion in the menu for next school year.  It was really cool to learn about the process of getting a new product and replacing old.  After the meeting we got to work on some follow-ups that needed to be done regarding some samples.  I made a spread sheet comparing the difference between the pizza crusts that we are currently using and the pizza crusts that we are thinking about switching to, I also did cost comparisons on out tomato products and  on garden burgers.  I contacted some brokers about some products.  I also did some investigating of prices and compared the brand of salad dressing we are using to the brand that we might switch to and found a large price difference.  Then I contacted the broker and discussed these differences.

During lunch today we got to sample some recipes that chef Martin is testing for possible inclusion in the Food Truck that will be arriving at MSU this summer!  He made chipotle beef sandwiches and beef Verde sandwiches on white barrel bread, he also made jalapeño cheddar bread, guacamole, avocado salsa, Pico de Gallo, and some Asian coleslaw.  It all was very delicious!

After work I got to play golf at Bridger Creek with some of the guys that work for MSU.  It was a really fun round but we got rained on a little bit! I was glad to get out and play, I didn't know anyone in Bozeman that played golf so this was my first time playing since I got here!


Katie Olson

Montana State University- First week

Hello from Montana!

We just finished our first real day of projects! Last week we had orientation Wednesday through Friday so it is exciting to actually get started.  We have been in Bozeman for just over a week and have already had some great adventures. Since we got here we have:

1) Hiked triple tree trail: This is a beautiful trail that we thought was only 1.1 miles, it ended up being 5.5!  It was a great workout and there were beautiful views.

2) Visited Bozeman Beach: It was a really nice day, we all got burnt, Carla and I jumped in and the water was freezing!

3) Hiked the "M":  This was also a great hike, we got to watch the sunset and someone jump from the top with a parachute, which was really cool!

4) Visited Hyalite Canyon:  This is a reservoir up in the mountains just outside of Bozeman, we hiked around the reservoir and had lunch with a beautiful view!

5) Soaked in the Norris Hot Springs: this was very refreshing and relaxing! They served great food and the water felt great!

Last week we took tours of campus and the facilities, and learned about management, purchasing, internship expectations, softwares and everything in between!  Today we had some technical difficulties but we were able to get a bunch of little tasks done that will save us time in the next few days! The people I am working with and the other interns have been so awesome, I can't wait to spend the rest of my 8 weeks with them! Can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings!


For now,
Katie Olson