We had the pleasure of working with Travis, a chef here at KU Dining, working on recipe development. Who knew 1 little ingredient... like adding a hot pepper, could completely ruin and change an entire recipe? The Wiscandians didn't, that's for sure.... Travis brought in recipes for us to make modifications to in order to make them taste better and be an overall better recipe. Some of the recipes we tested were stuffed pork chops, bbq mac and cheese, breakfast calzones and veggie fried rice. Its truly remarkable how much one little ingredient can change the texture, appearance, and taste of a recipe. Let's just say we didn't need lunch or dinner after this day at work.

Who said men can’t bake???? The Wiscandians proved that baking is one of our natural past-times dating all the way back to the 90’s learning from our easy-bake ovens. We baked things like mudslide cookies, pizza dough, polynesian bread, and the famous dreamsicle cake (All of which were gone minutes after being set out for the customers). I think the Wiscandians can proudly say we can give Betty Crocker and Aunt Jemima a run for their money...... Just check out the bad boy we made ourselves!

In order to truly appreciate KU Dining, the Wiscandians rolled up our sleeves and got down

to work.This week we spent a lot of time at North College Cafe; shadowing employees and truly acknowledging how much work they do day in and day out. A successful organization like that of KU dining all begins with its employees and all the work they do behind the scenes. We shadowed employees that were in charge of baking, recipe development, line service, cashiering, dishroom, and inventory. It's amazing how much work goes on at KU Dining! The Wiscandians want to sincerely appreciate and acknowledge all the work these employees do, as well as thank them for how helpful they were in showing us how each of these procedures operate. It was a good hands-on learning experience of real-life food service management.

THE WISCANDIANS WENT AMISH.....

Yeah you heard us right, we're amish now eh?

The highly anticipated and highlight of week three for us was going to visit an Amish farm. Talk about some serious horsepower..... literally.... no seriously all they use is power from the horses. They used 11 horses to run the farm. The farm itself supplies Sysco, KU’s prime vendor, with an assortment of stellar fruits and vegetables. Similar to sharks these horse are just raw power.

When we were there they demonstrated how they packaged cucumbers. Their wash plant was powered by horses...on a treadmill. Yes a treadmill. Here's video evidence!

The Amish are very resourceful people and use just about everything they can and take advantage of simple concepts that are often overlooked by others. For example for their cooling system they have an ice chest. Simple right? Well to get their ice they cut it out of their pond during the winter months. Then store it in a 16 inch thick insulated house to keep out of the wonderful Kansas heat. The ice lasts them nearly till November! Talk about saving on utilities...

It's truly amazing how hard the Amish work and how little they need to operate their farms. It was a humbling experience and I don't think the Wiscandians will ever complain about working too much ever again.... Here are some pictures of the farm and our trip to Amish country... Hopefully you enjoy them as much as we did!

Refrigerated truck ready for produce

Cucumber wash plant

horse exercise machine aka treadmill

Fresh cucumbers

Our transportation for the day

Our rides.... is that a hemi?

The famous ice box

MAJOR and CAPTAIN

Home sweet home

Rain water collector

Anyone need a taxi?

Is that a 3 buggy garage?

The best apple pie in Amish country

You know what was the cherry on top.... the chocolate sauce on the vanilla ice cream... the turkey on thanksgiving dinner... KU sent us in a limo and sent us to a smokehouse for a lunch we will never forget. We went to Trent’s BBQ and he made us a buffet of some of the most succulent meats known to mankind... talk about pulled pork, ribs, baked beans, smoked cabbage, potato salad, and the list goes on..... Lets just say the Wiscandians love the Kansas BBQ even more now! The Wiscandians would like to thank Sysco and KU dining for a business trip we will truly never forget! (Oh and a big thanks to Trent for showing us his own personal smoker and giving us some life saving advice...NEVER cut an empty propane tank for your own personal smoker)