Summer 2013... NACUFS Intern Style!: Say What?? Week 7?! University of Wyoming

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Say What?? Week 7?! University of Wyoming

Hello! Oh my goodness. I have a hard time believing we are about to venture into our last week here in Wyoming. It has gone by so fast, faster than I imagined!

This week was retail, retail, retail! We arrived Monday morning to the Student Union ready for anything, and still a little tired from the week before. The union offers a variety of retail food service operations including Panda Express, Pita Pit, Snowy Range to Go (a hot dog/ice cream operation), S'Pokes (a pizza joint), Rolling Mills Cafe (offers coffee, made to order sandwiches, and quesadillas, and to-go items), The Gardens (a bar located in the lower portion of the union, and serves lunch), and Cj's, the market on campus. There is also Book N' Bean which is located in the library right across from the Union. The three of us got to try working in the 3 locations: Panda Express, Book N' Bean, and Rolling Mills Cafe.

The Book N' Bean!

My first location was Book N' Bean where I got to work with Lauren, the inspiring Barista. Lauren worked with me on showing me how to make espresso shots, steamed milk, and other speciality drinks. Lauren also had a lot of fun facts about coffee. For example, did you know that lighter roasts of coffee are higher in caffeine than darker roasts? That's because since the darker roast is roasted longer some of the caffeine is diminished. Who woulda know?! I got to spread this piece of news to a customer later on at Rolling Mills. Book N' Bean was fairly quiet and relaxing for the first day but I learned a lot.

Day two! This day I was Rolling Mills Cafe and excited to try to put my barista knowledge to use. There were a lot of students to work with and they were very kind showing me around. Kelsey the student manager explained how the hiring process worked there. Having some food service background in retail helped me pick things up right away. I mostly learned to use the cash register and learn how to make drinks for customers.

Day 3 was Panda Express. We started off doing vegetable prep and doing temps. One of the other students taught me how to make chow mien and fried rice in the giant wok. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy. Panda Express is the most popular location in the union so it kept pretty busy during the shift. The students and formed an assembly line to serve the food and it was a lot of fun.

Thursday the three of us met with Marta, the head manager for the retail food service operations. She had us work on a recipe development project for The Gardens. We were to come up with some new sandwich ideas that could be used. After doing some research and picking out a few recipes we wrote out recipe forms for each sandwich idea. Later that afternoon we joined the rest of the dining staff for a culinary meeting. We discussed the finishing details of their new retail location, Rendezvous, and some yummy bread options. Marta took us on a little tour of Rendezvous and we got to see the progression it had made since the last time we visited.

Friday, I was unable to come into work due to a case of pink eye. Of course, it comes at the very end of the internship. Thankfully I will be fully recovered and non contagious for Monday. I got my self to the urgent care center in Laramie and got myself some antibiotics. It was really a bummer since we were to be going to work with the kids that receive packed lunches provided for Washakie, and helping in the photo shoot of some menu items. But I obviously couldn't bring my pink eye around the kids or food. I am happy to say I am pretty much fully recovered now!

This weekend, Emily and I were determined to go to the Snowy Range Bypass. It was amazing. We got to see the Snowy Range Mountains, Mirror Lake, and Lake Marie. All gorgeous spots. It was wonderful way to spend our last Saturday in Wyoming. We also got dinner at our favorite place Sweet Melissa's. SO GOOD. You must go if you have the chance! I also went hiking at Veedauwoo again Sunday morning. Now time to pack, and get ready for our last week!