Wyoming Week 3: Washakie

Work:

Last week was spent in UW’s Washakie Dining Hall.  We’ve been eating there every day, so it was nice to get to know the people there better and learn more about how it runs.  We started the week off with Tom, the front of the house manager, to learn a bit about scheduling and timekeeping.  Then we got to dive into back of the house operations, helping get baguettes and pizzas ready for the lunch crowd.  We worked with the chefs and learned about the rhythm and operations of their workday.

Tuesday was my favorite day of the internship so far.  Claire and I got to go to a food show in Denver with Mark, the executive chef at Washakie.  For anyone who doesn’t know what a food show is (like I didn’t until 2 weeks ago), it’s basically a venue where vendors display different brands of food in order to persuade companies/restaurants/schools to buy new products.  Think Costco or Sam’s Club samples times ten.  It was fantastic!  I felt like kind of an impostor as an intern with no buying power, but it was fun to tag along and see what it was all about.  I found it interesting how much the vendors threw out buzzwords like, “healthy,” “all natural,” and “no preservatives,” especially when they found out Claire and I were dietetics students.

Claire at the Food Show 

So gorgeous! Those avocados made me miss California.

My very favorite sample of the day: vanilla Greek yogurt 

over super ripe berries, topped with nuts and granola.

Wednesday was another back of the house day, replete with chefs’ coats and hairnets.  It was good to see more of what a day in the life of a chef is like.  I felt very inexperienced as I helped scramble giant servings of eggs and handled French fries in the deep fryer.

I really enjoyed spending Thursday with Becce, the back of the house manager.  It was the most educational day of the week, and all of the procedures in Washakie started to make sense as a whole system.  We learned how serving line worksheets are filled out by the chefs to record how much food is made and how much is left over.  We got to try entering the data from these worksheets into the computer so that the information could be used for ordering food and forecasting.  We also learned more about how they track inventory and how their HACCP plans and standard operating procedures work.

Friday was a fun change of pace.  Claire and I got to volunteer on Acres, the student farm.  I couldn’t believe how great the soil was.  Apparently it used to be pretty sandy, but their composting efforts have really paid off.  We had fun getting to know the people (and adorable dog, Salem) there.

Fun:

On Thursday, Claire and I visited the local farmer’s market.  There was everything from homemade mustards to apricots the size of tennis balls to buffalo meat.  It was great!  I walked away with some delicious local honey and a bag of the reddest cherries I’ve ever seen. 

My Haul :)

On Saturday, I got the chance to go with a group of church friends down to one of our temples in Denver.  It was a peaceful, fun day. 

LDS ("Mormon") Temple in Denver, Colorado

When I got back, Claire and I hit Sweet Melissa's, a delicious vegetarian restaurant in town.  They have some of the best hummus I’ve ever had!

All in all, it was another great week.  The more I learn, the more I learn how much there is to learn.  I like the challenge of it all, and I'm enjoying my time here.