I am back! Here is a recap of the past 2 weeks :)
Week 6
Throughout week 6 we spent more time working on our final
project and putting together more artwork. We made some new memories throughout
the week as well… One day on our way back from our lunch break, we got caught
in a rain storm and arrived back at the office sopping wet. Earlier in the week
I had been bringing my umbrella every day, so it figures that it would downpour on the day I decided to be “optimistic.”
Bianca and I also did some more recipe testing! In theme
with our seasonal urban farmers market event, we decided to try Butternut
Squash and Kale Mac and Cheese (which turned out fabulously!) Being dietetics
majors, we thought it would be fun to hide
some vegetables in this tasty dish – with its vibrant orange color, the mashed
butternut squash blended right in. We ran into one minor dilemma while
preparing this dish. After sautéing the squash, we either had to mash or puree
it; however, the food processor and masher were nowhere to be found, so Bianca
resorted to the combined efforts of a whisk, fork, and egg slicer to get the
job done! We didn’t have a camera handy to get a picture of our final product,
but this is essentially what it looked like.
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| Hidden Harvest Pasta Bake |
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| We stopped on our drive to the farm to take pictures of the wind turbines. Driving with the swirling all around is like being in another land. |
Now for the highlight of week 6 – Fair Oaks Farm! Ever since
Mary Ann had mentioned the possibility of visiting the dairy farm earlier in
the summer, we had not been able to contain our excitement. We got to tour the dairy operation and went on the Pig Adventure :) Fair Oaks – boasting 20,000 acres with over 32,000 cows – is one of the
largest dairy farms in the United States. With an operation this large, about
80-100 calves are born per day, so Fair Oaks can pretty much guarantee that
visitors will see a live cow birth. It was pretty funny to hear little kids’
reactions when a calf was being born. We also took a tour of the milking
parlor. The process is extremely sanitary and very efficient, so all the cows
can be milked 3 times a day with 500 going through each carousel per hour.
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| We're just kids at heart |
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| The milking parlor |
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| Baby Cow! |
And I can’t forget the piggies! The Pig Adventure tours are
a new attraction at the farm. You can see that they’ve got that operation down
to a science as well. After our visit, we enjoyed fresh grilled cheese
sandwiches from the on-site cheese factory and homemade ice cream. I can’t
think of a better way to support such a wonderful local operation!
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| Grilled Cheddar and Ham |
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| Fair Oaks vegetable garden and birthing barn |
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| Wandering through the garden trails |
How to get to the other side??
Just like this :)
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| Nopalitos = sliced cactus leaves. They tasted like green beans |
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| White River State Park was beautiful! |
Week 7
Last week, we realized that our time here at Purdue will be
coming to an end very shortly, so it was time to kick it into high gear! We finished
up another poster for nutrition education focused on managing stress and
emotional eating. Bianca also assembled some cute “stress relievers,” which was
essentially a small sheet of bubble wrap with a little note attached: “To
reduce stress, please pop 3 capsules every 4 hours (as needed).” These were a
hit around the office, so hopefully the students enjoy them in November!
We also spent some more time helping out in Hillenbrand
Dining Hall. A conference group of abut 6000 people came to the Purdue campus
from Tuesday through Saturday morning for the Presbyterian Youth Triennium
(PYT), so the dining halls needed all hands on deck. We also braved the 100-degree
heat on Friday afternoon to help out with the PYT picnic and concluded our
shift by running through one of Purdue’s fountains. The walk home was a little
wet, but we were content and ready for a relaxing weekend.
This next Friday we will present everything we’ve done this summer. Wish us luck!
Holly
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