Summer 2013... NACUFS Intern Style!: Week 2 at the University of Oklahoma !

Day 6:

After an amazing weekend filled with relaxing, shopping and tanning by the pool we returned to work on this wonderful Monday. It has been such a temperature change already since last week, we used to walk to work and be sort of chilly in the mornings and now we walk to work and we’re sweating by the time we reach Walker Tower! The mornings are getting warmer, the sun stays up longer and it is reaching temperatures in the 90’s; break out the shorts and tanks because it’s getting HOT!

So today on this wonderful Monday we spent the day over at Couch. I enjoyed the last 3 days at Couch because the atmosphere is so relaxing and everyone is so friendly (they tell me it’s not always this relaxed, only because it is summer)! Kayla and I spent the morning helping to get everything ready for the lunch rush; cleaning the lines, prepping the lines and helping to prepare the dining area. The staff tossed us to the wolves today and made us servers for the main line. We served I don’t know how many camp kids and after 2 hours it felt like my wrist was going to crack off! It looks like a simple job but those plates get heavy, the station gets warm and not to mention when you refill the station those pans are hot! I chickened out a lot when it came to refilling the pans so thank god for Kayla being the brave one!

In the afternoon Sam gave us a job using their OU Housing and Food Hiring website to allow us to get more acquainted with their hiring process. We had to look at each application for the specific jobs available and determine which applicants seemed to be the best fit for the job. We narrowed the applicants down to the top 6 based on their computed score, past experiences, job lengths, reasons for termination and specific qualifications for the job. The system is neat because it gives the applicants a score based on their qualifications and past job experiences in the area of foodservice. Kayla and I reviewed the applicants not once but twice and we think we had excellent judgment when it came to the best candidate for the position. Later we asked if we could oversee production and how everything/everyone operates during the supper rush. It was surprisingly less hectic than I thought it would be, everyone was so on the ball! All the food was ready by serve time and they never ran out of options, ever. They served over 1300 camp kids and everything went smoothly. The runner has it rough in my opinion because they have to touch the hot pans all the time! Tip of the Day: as a runner double glove, and if you’re a chicken like me triple glove and move fast! J

Day 7:

Well hello beautiful Tuesday morning! For those who are wondering why I’m so obsessed with the weather, I begin my blogs with weather updates to tease everyone who is reading back home, Cape Breton is still dealing with 11-15 degree weather and rain, rain, rain (Id gladly send them some of this heat though)! We started our day off with a visit to Rachael who works with the computer database ‘C-Board’. When it comes to technology it all seems like a different language to me and just as I suspected this program was wayyyyyyy over my head. Rachael explained that C-board does many things for their operation including inventory, receiving, transfers, purchasing and computing nutrition data. This I understood but the processes to do all of these things, terribly confusing. Rachael is so passionate about this program and knows almost everything about it, it amazed me! After 3 hours of her trying to explain the program to Kayla and I (god love her) we concluded that we’d be back tomorrow for another lesson!

After lunch we went with Shawn Henry who runs retail for Housing and Food. She explained to us some of the projects she’s working on which include the implementation of Einstein Bros Bagels on campus, the Union Market project and the revamping of Headington Hall Dining Hall. Shawn has 7-8 managers that report to her on a daily basis. She allowed us to sit in on one of their retail meetings where they discussed new possible products of interest for the departments. All products being introduced to the university focus on the safety of employees and safety of the food. One upcoming project is to replace all manual dispensing paper towel and soap dispensers with self-automatic dispensers. This will help to improve food safety and cleanliness in the workplace.

Happy Tuesday Y’all J

Day 8:

Hey Y’all, today has been a pretty relaxing day for Kayla and I. We started off our morning with Rachael once again so she could continue teaching us about C-Board. We learned today how to develop a recipe with the program and after 2 hours it was finally complete! This may seem like a long time and in fact it is! Haha. Today just happened to be a bad day for C-board and US Foods and we encountered a lot of crashes and freezing. Rachael said on average it only takes about 5 minutes to input a recipe, a little longer depending on the ingredients and weights. It stills seems so confusing but I am sure with a little practice I’ll figure it out!

We ate lunch at The Flying Cow so we could experience their ‘Indian Taco’. What makes this taco so special is the bread they use as the base, it’s a type of Indian fry bread and the people here rave about it all the time. It’s an open face taco with all the ingredients piled on top of each other so you have no choice but to eat with a fork and knife. Overall my opinion on the ‘Indian Taco’, I LOVED IT! J After lunch we stayed at the Weather Center to get a full tour of the building. I’m not going to lie, everything the lady was talking about in regards to what the meteorologists do at the weather center was WAY over my head! One thing I did learn is that meteorology requires about 2 full years of just math courses and that this is not the job for me; thank goodness it wasn’t one of my dreams in life! The weather center is huge and there is not one point in the day or night that someone isn’t working. Since the weather here is forever changing and a storm can happen at any time of day meteorologist are watching their screens 24/7. Work shifts go from 8-4, 4-12, 12-8 and repeat to ensure there are always people at the station keeping a close watch on the weather. Great tour, great day, now to face the smoldering heat outside (wish me luck)!

Day 9:

Alright y’all, today we started off our day with a visit to Robert Weaver who is the Assistant Director of Board and Operations. Robert is responsible for restaurants in Couch, Cate, soon to be Headington and the Bio-center. His main responsibility is to keep up with the on-going changes in the foodservice industry and ensure his restaurants are keeping up with the times. The big project happening right now is the construction of Headington Hall; a residence hall that will house Wagner Dining Hall. Headington Hall is a huge, gorgeous building that will house over 300 students come fall. Its main focus is on the housing of athletes and the dining hall will be serving food options tailored to their specific needs. So this morning we put on our fancy hardhats and vests and went to Headington for an inside tour. The dining hall is still in its construction process so it’s pretty neat to see it before it’s all up and running. For one the open dining area is huge, expecting to seat 200 students or more. Although there seemed to be a couple of concerns regarding the layout and plans for the dining area, I think this has to happen and will inevitably happen no matter what operation it is. This dining hall is brand new, with a whole different concept than the others which is that it will tailor more towards athletes, meaning it needs experience before it can be perfected. If these concerns become problems then they can be addressed and fixed, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, and therefore it might take some time. The football teams Dietitian also came by to discuss the layout for food options. She showed such passion for the team and only has their best interests in mind when it comes to their diet. OU takes great pride in their football team, as you can see from their 83,000 seat football stadium which can be seen from miles away!

Day 10:

Its Friday, its Friday !! It was sunny and highs of 95 all week and the weekend is calling for thunderstorms and rain, how unfair! So today we were at Crossroads, one of the restaurants in Union Hall. First thing Gary the general manager did was take us on a full tour of his restaurant including all their many storage areas. Storage for the restaurant is just so spread out all over the building it seems crazy. They have storage fridge’s and freezers in the main kitchen itself, a dry storage area around the hall, another dry storage area even further down the hall and more frozen storage downstairs in the basement of the building. Gary had to do a lot of rearranging with his storage areas because going all the way to the basement for something during a rush hour is just not possible, it’s too far away. We then stepped into the kitchen to observe the breakfast rush (which we were told is not a rush at all in the summer) but instead of just watching we were put straight to work! Anthony showed us what we needed to do and even let us call out the order numbers. I loved this part, I enjoy being involved in the action and seeing how everything falls into place. PS: the food at Crossroads is delicious; I eat there almost every day! After breakfast Gary showed us his job with C-board and what he uses it for. He uses C-board itself for purchasing and inventory, EMC to design the registers and make any changes, RMC for company financials such as labor and sales, and WOR to input all his data from C-board so it is accessible by everyone in Housing and Food. WOR is an all access system that shows each restaurants sales, purchasing, waste, monthly numbers and more. After hearing Gary explain C-board and WOR I have more of an understanding of the systems and what they are used for. Crossroads offers a Fitter Foods menu which includes healthier meal options lower in calories, fat and sodium. Gary went through this menu with us and asked if we had any ideas regarding this menu; seeing as we are dietetic students. We gave him a few ideas a big one being to possibly substitute regular cheese with low fat cheese which will cut both calories and fat. This menu offers a lot of options and I’ve tried some of them and they are delicious. Crossroads is one of my favorite places so far, Gary and his team are just so awesome to be around. We learned so much today and told Gary if he ever needs taste testers for new menu items we’re the girls to call! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend, I am definitely catching up on some sleep! Happy Friday J