UGA Week 8

The big week has finally arrived! It was time for our New England themed menu take-over project to finally come together. But before that, I am going to tell you all about the days leading up to the event, starting with last Sunday.

On Sunday, I decided to take a spur of the moment trip to Stone Mountain with one of friends that I have made during my time down here. Stone Mountain can definitely be seen as a tourist destination, having a little village at the bottom of the giant rock, filled with shops and adventure games for kids to partake in, but what I really liked about it, was the view from the top. We took the gondola up to the top of the mountain, which gave you a great view of the carving on the face of the mountain. Once at the top, you get an amazing 360 degree view of the surrounding area, which includes a beautiful skyline view of Atlanta. It wasn't until then that I realized how massive Atlanta really is, spreading out for miles and miles, and constantly growing in size.

A view of Stone Mountain from the gondola

A view of Atlanta from the top of Stone Mountain

 After hiking down, we found a spot on the lawn in front of the mountain face, and watched the lazor show! It was a very cool way to end an awesome day.

Stone Mountain lazor show

 Our day on Monday began a little later than usual. We met with Allison from the marketing department at 1pm to discuss marketing and advertising for the Dining and Auxiliary Services. We were able to see her office, discuss the many projects she is currently working on, and we also got to see the work space where all the magic happens. After that, we had a short break before reporting to O-house for the Freshman College opening banquette. We were working with the catering team on this event, and helped set up for the event, plate salads and desserts, and then helped clean up afterwards. There are a lot of moving parts for an event this big, but it came out looking amazing, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

Setting up for the banquette!

The table set ups

I had the pleasure of helping plate the desserts (Yum!)

And of course, a little Georgia spirit!

What is a better way to start a Tuesday morning than visiting a coffee roasting facility?! Today, we took a quick field trip over to the local Jittery Joe's coffee roasting facility, which I never would have guessed by looking at the outside was a place that they roast coffee, until I stepped close enough to smell it!

The local Jittery Joe's coffee roasting facility

We were able to watch the roasting process happen, and even got to look at, and smell, the beans as they went through the different stages of roasting. After getting the low-down on how coffee roasting works, the different stages, where the coffee comes from, and who they sell and ship it to, we got to do a little taste testing! The guy who was giving us the tour was extremely educated on the science behind coffee, and explained to us why the different coffees has different fruity notes, or why one had a bolder flavor than the other. Visiting the roasting facility was a really fun and interesting experience!

Releasing the beans from the roasting machine to be cooled

That's a lot of coffee beans!

Just a few of the different levels of roasting

What the dry coffee beans look like before the husk is removed and the green coffee bean inside is released

Wednesday was a long day full of decorations, decorations, and more decorations! Maura and I spent almost 9 hours putting together decorations and making the place look like a little piece of New England. Some of our decorations included 3 main large displays with light houses, shells, lobsters, crabs, netting, and more (each display was different), sailing flags hanging as you walked up the stairs, rope spiraling up the railings, fun facts about each dish, and 6 pictures hanging behind the main line, each one representing one of the 6 New England States.

The next day, was the big day. Maura and I spent the beginning hours of the morning making sure all the decorations were in order, and then spent some time in the kitchen with Chef Sam and his crew, working on some of our dishes. I assembled summer squash lasagna, while Maura helped make the Boston baked beans. Once 10:30 hit, we resumed our management roles, and helped with meal change over, and ensured that everything looked good and tasted even better! Over all, I think that the event was a success and the food was delicious!

Lobster & Shrimp rolls garnished with micro-greens

Chef Sam was such a great help!

Maple & Chili Glazed Pork Chops

Cape Cod Chopped Salad

Boston Baked Beans (left) & Summer Squash Lasagna (right)

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

By Friday, we were revealed to have gotten one of our major projects out of the way, and very excited for it to have been such a success. Friday included a quick resume work shop with Craig, another brief discussion about strength finders, and project work, where it was time to focus back on our customer service presentation that we will be giving this coming Tuesday.

I cannot believe that these 8 weeks have gone by so fast, and I am very sad knowing that next week concludes our final days here in Athens, GA. This has been such a fun and educational experience, and I am so grateful to have been able to participate in this amazing program!