Week Two: Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty!

Hello world! After a fun and relaxing week adjusting to Purdue University's campus, we hit the ground running and just kept going. On Monday, our day off, we hunted supplies for our nutrition education programs and began to do the layout for our presentation boards concerning occupational wellness, spiritual wellness, and environmental wellness. We combed through bargain outlets to find boards in addition to the RA supply room in Earhart, gathering markers, scissors, glue sticks, and tons of ideas. 

We divided for the first time on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, Kristen and Alice went to Pappy's, Purdue's iconic burger joint, to learn the ins and outs of the business- including how to make hand-spun milkshakes! Meanwhile, Mary Frances and Jeanine went to Windsor Dining Hall to learn what goes on, manning the dish-room and learning the layout of the dining hall. On Wednesday, Alice and Kristen stayed in Pappy's while Jeanine went to Urban Market, a convenience market, while Mary Frances went to Third Street, also convenience market. This was a valuable introduction to retail dining, learning how to effectively meet the needs of customers while keeping supply consistent. 

On Thursday and Friday, we went to the most exciting place yet... the catering kitchen! Here we learned how to prepare food, valuable chef skills such as breaking down meat and holding knives properly, and how to plate properly for large events. Under the watchful eye of Jared, an executive chef, we prepared our own Italian style banquet, cooking enough food for a hundred people and plating it as well. Of course, taste-testing was an appreciated perk.  

Kristen and Jeanine grilling some yummy pineapple
"If you cant handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen"

Alice prepping some chicken and
Mary Frances posing (our boy Jared in the background)

Thumbs up for knife skills 

Stuffed portebella mushrooms in the works by Mary Frances 

All the food for an Italian feast made all by K-JAM

On Saturday, we catered two weddings. The experience was intense: it was not only our first night shift, from three p.m. to midnight, but the first opportunity to combine our serving skills learned on Tuesday and Wednesday with our culinary skills learned Thursday and Friday. We tried to keep up amid the chaos, setting tables, plating both dinners, expediting orders, and clearing tables. Getting to eat leftover wedding cake definitely made the experience worth it... we made it home at around one in the morning after walking a mile plus home. 

Beautiful place setting for one of the weddings

Cute little tuxedo strawberries served with the cake

After a long night of work,
we felt like a selfie was much needed

Later in the day on Sunday, we met again to work on our projects and to begin the final layout of our September board. It was a relaxing end to the week after so many long hours on our feet... getting to cut and paste text boxes and pictures was certainly a welcome change of pace. 

Till next time! xoxo K-JAM