The University of Oklahoma Week 5!

This weekend we went to Oklahoma City to see Tarzan the Musical at the Civic Center Music Hall, and it was FANTASTIC! I absolutely love musicals, and this one was no exception! Plus, it was only Nova’s second time ever seeing a musical, so that was super exciting. Everything else we did this weekend paled in comparison to Tarzan. However, on Sunday we tried this cool restaurant called Local. Naturally, everything (or almost everything) they make is locally grown or produced. They serve Sunday brunch, which consists of 3 different dishes, and you can eat as much as you want! To finish off the weekend, my car tire popped L and we saw a skunk!!

Dish 1- assorted cheeses, fruit, some
type of scone, banana walnut muffin,
and chocolate chip bread! YUM!

I forgot to take a picture of the main entree, sorry!

A Week in Catering- Since Dot is on vacation this week, we were with the Catering department. So I am just going to give you a general synopsis of what went on.

       Day 1- Nova and I sat in on the weekly catering meeting to make sure that everyone was on the same page about the upcoming events. Catering is much different than housing & food because the hours are not necessarily set in stone. They depend on when the events take place, how long it takes to set up, and how long the specific group decides to stick around. We catered a dinner for the football players. We took all the food to the training center, set up tables with fancy table cloths, and laid out the buffet. As the players ate, we simply refilled the buffet as needed and cleared their plates. Tiffany, the sports dietitian, ordered burgers, sweet potato fries, corn & bean salad, zucchini & squash mixed veggies, baked beans, a huge fruit tray, brownies, and ice cream. It was funny to watch her stand right by the buffet table and stare down these huge football players until they put a vegetable on their plate. Some of them tried to argue, but it was a lost cause.

       On Day 2 we worked with Steven (one of the catering chefs) to develop the menu for an important event happening in 2 weeks. Steven brought us a ton of cookbooks and basically set us free to plan. We had to find 2 main entrees- one with meat and one without, a salad, a vegetable dish, a starch, an “action station”- where they prepare the food in front of you, and a dessert. After a few hours, Steven came back and listened to what we came up with, told us what he liked about each meal, then took our suggestions to the event host to see what he thought. He also let us be the taste-testers for a stuffed apple dessert that he was developing. It was delicious! I never say “no” to being a taste-tester in this place! J

Baked apple filled with peaches, blueberries, and brown sugar!

       On the 4^th, we had most of the day off just to chill. Since none of the restaurants were open on campus, Steven made us a picnic lunch! He is so nice! In the evening, we helped Allan cook and serve 400 hot dogs at the public pool. That would have been a simple task, had we not run out of buns at the last minute. We ended up borrowing form Couch, defrosting them partially in the warmer and partially in the microwave, and frantically wrapping them in aluminum foil. In the end, everything worked out and the people were appreciative. Once we finished, we sat outside our apartment and watched the fireworks! J 

Our fancy picnic lunch! :)

It looks like a tree on fire, but it's not ;)

      

      On Friday, we helped the concessions department set up for the Toby Keith Benefit concert this weekend. For 8 hours, packaged huge bags of popcorn, put them on a cart, and walked all over the ginormous football stadium delivering them to the concession stands. It took a really long time, and I sweat a lot! But we got to work with a bunch of different people and meet some more of the catering department, so that made it fun.

       This weekend, we worked the Toby Keith Benefit concert. For me, it was 12 hot hours of making nachos, filling cheese cups, scooping popcorn, and stocking water. It was insane! By the end of the day I was completely exhausted, sweaty, messy, and beyond ready for a shower! 

A panoramic view of the stadium for the concert!