Summer 2013... NACUFS Intern Style!: MSU Week 7

Well 7 weeks down, 1 more to go here at MSU. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by! As always, it was another great week here in the beautiful state of Michigan. It was a great week and a HOT week. I think this was the most hot/humid week yet in East Lansing while we've been here for NACUFS, or at least it felt that way.

To start the week off on Monday, we met with Dan from human resources. He, another employee, and one of their interns met with us for about an hour and half. They talked to us about what HR does, hiring, unions, student employees, etc. I haven't had much exposure to human resources in the past, and this meeting showed me that there is a lot to be learned. HR is an important part of any organization/company, so it was nice to be able to learn from Dan and his coworker's experiences. After meeting with them and eating lunch, we took a trip to Kroger's with Lary to pick up a few more food items we needed for some recipe testing. Then we spent the afternoon testing some recipes for our fish tacos that we're planning to serve from the food truck. We tested a few different marinades/rubs for the fish and a couple different sauces/salsas to go with it. After all of the tasting, we decided to go with a blackened tilapia topped with a mixture of tomato, avocado, and red onion, with cabbage in a flour tortilla. We'll also be serving it with a yummy tomatillo salsa and chips.

Just tasting some fish tacos in the test kitchen

I've really enjoyed having the opportunity and free reign to test recipes while we've been here. The test kitchen is a really fun place to work and the people there are all so great!

MSU has this big agriculture expo every year. I believe this year was the 34th? Anyways, it's been going on for a long time. Just picture a huge carnival, but instead of games and rides, there's tons and tons of farm equipment and demonstrations. Pretty good mental image right? I'm no farmer myself, but it was really cool! Bill picked Jeanette and I up bright and early Tuesday morning so that we could help concessions with a VIP breakfast. Jeanette and I helped serve the plates to all of the lovely people there for a meeting. It was really fun to interact with the guests. At this meeting, the MSU president spoke and I believe it was a state governor or senator also spoke. I can't remember which it was, but it was definitely an important government representative of Michigan :) We also got to hear a live auctioneer auction off a really cool set of model tractors. He had the cool, fast voice and everything!

Ag Expo

Jeanette ready to serve some breakfast

The concessions tent

I love serving breakfast

After breakfast was over, Jeanette and I took some time to explore the ag expo. It was way bigger than I was expecting. They had everything, from tractors to a guy dressed up in a corn costume, and much, much more. It was really fun to explore the huge area and see what demonstrations they had.

They even had baby chicks that we got to hold

Alpacas came for the occasion too!

I'm not sure what this piece of equipment does, but it looks awesome, right?

After exploring, we made our way back to the concessions tent. Jeanette had to head out, but I was able to stay and help with lunch. Before I move on, did I mention that this was one of the hottest/most humid days we'd been at MSU? I had the job of working the fryer for the french fries. Just picture the hot, humid, sun blaring, hot fryer environment. It reminded me of summers growing up in Houston. It really wasn't that bad, but I'm convinced my body was born to live in the heat. It was fun working with the concession employees. They were all so nice and friendly! Despite the less than ideal weather, I really did enjoy working at the ag expo!

Wednesday Jeanette and I went back to the ag expo. This time we were working with the sustainability people rather than concessions. We were a type of recycling police, not in a bad way! We just helped the guests of the expo properly sort their trash into the recycling and trash bins. You'd hate to have someone throw half of a hot dog covered in ketchup into the recycle bin and contaminate all of the recyclables, right? That's why we were there. It was another hot one, but I enjoyed being outside again.

Thursday Jeanette and I were back in the test kitchen. We were helping with prep for the food truck. We helped chop and prep some things, taste some food :) and Nick even gave us some tips for caramelizing vs. sauteing onions. I also helped Jeanette make the "pot-hole patch cookies." These things are delicious! One of the employees told me she thinks they were originally inspired by a recipe called diabetes cookies. I don't know if that's accurate, but I believe it. They were packed with all things desserty and yummy.

I think I'll just take this pan home....

Jeanette and I also cooled off with a trip to the pool on Thursday. It was a great way to end the day. The outdoor pool at MSU is pretty nice.

Friday was our last day in The Gallery. In the morning I was able to fill in for a missing host. I really enjoyed this. I have this weird love of talking to strangers, so it really was perfect for me. After that, Hilary (one of the managers) showed me some of the HR stuff that she does. Most of it had to do with payroll, which I've never done before. It was nice to hear about some of her responsibilities. During lunch, I helped on the floor making sure everything was stocked and working. It was definitely a busy day. There was a big group of middle school kids on campus for a music camp that came through. They sure do make their presence known. By watching the way they rushed in, I would've guessed they hadn't eaten in days! It was fun to talk to a few of them and see what instrument they played. They seemed to be enjoying MSU. I was sad that this was our last day in The Gallery because Jeanette and I have really come to enjoy the staff there. They're all very nice, and all of the managers were really accommodating and willing to answer any questions that we had. I really enjoyed meeting and working with all of them. The Gallery has a solid group of employees running the place.

Since it was our last weekend in East Lansing, Jeanette and I decided to take a nice trip to Holland. Holland is this cute little town on Lake Michigan. It was only a short drive from MSU, and worth every second. The beach was beautiful and the water felt great! Jeanette and I spent a few hours enjoying the beach and soaking up (too much) sun. We also briefly walked through the downtown area. There were lots of cute little shops to see. I was really glad I was able to see one of the lakes before I left Michigan!