Week 5 at CSU

This is a rather long post that includes Fourth of July festivities and this past weekend's fun.  Enjoy!

Saturday, July 2: Today was full of handstands at yoga class, kombucha on tap at the farmers' market, coffee and a five ingredient "magic muffin" at Bindle Coffee at Jessup Farm, and a very strange screening of The Lobster at Lyric Cinema in Old Town.  The muffin was made with peanut butter, banana, chocolate chips, eggs, and honey.  I make similar treats at home, but I think this is something the Bakeshop at CSU could easily make.  I can’t wait to suggest it to them next week!  

Sunday, July 3: I recently found out one of my classmates from Scripps lives in Fort Collins, so today I met her for lunch at Alley Cat Coffee.  We ended up getting lunch from Dam Good Tacos downstairs, but the two restaurants/cafes share space, so we were able to eat our tacos (I got an amazing kale salad) and order housemade chai at Alley Cat.  It was really nice to catch up with her and get some more insight on the Fort Collins area.  I’m so glad we were able to get in touch!

Lunch from Dam Good Tacos

Monday, July 4: Six of my cross country teammates and I met bright and early this morning in Boulder to run the Star Spangled 5k.  After the race, there was a bounty of free food, including Noosa yogurt and Tillamook ice cream.  Who can pass up ice cream at 9 in the morning, especially on a holiday?  It was delicious! 

Most of us headed up to my friend’s cabin the mountains for the rest of the day.  We walked around the land, found a field of wildflowers, jumped in a stream, hung out, and had a small cook out.  We made the most of a small fire in the rural woods!  It was quite a relaxing way to spend the Fourth.  Nothing is better than running, eating good food, and being with friends!

Post Race Team Picture

Tuesday, July 5: This morning I reviewed the ServSafe Manager Book for the upcoming exam in August that many of the Dining Services employees will take.  It covered HACCP rules, preparation, storage, service, etc.  After taking the practice quizzes and getting a good understanding of the material, I helped out with lunch.  I worked with a student employee at Cactus Junction, which serves Mexican food.  I also learned the process for taking temperatures, restocking, and other tasks that occur during mealtime.  Most importantly, I learned folding a burrito is harder than it looks!

Wednesday, July 6: I spent today with Ann, the dietetic intern at CSU.  It’s hard to believe, but we are halfway through the Health and Wellness Challenge for the Dining Services staff. 

The prize button

Every Wednesday Ann inputs data and makes graphs for each person’s weekly progress.  All of the participants who have filled out logs for the entire four weeks got a pin in their envelope as an extra prize.  At night I met my friend at the Lagoon Concert Series.  It’s hosted by CSU, right across from my dorm, and there are different groups that play each week as well as a few food trucks.  The music wasn’t great, but it was still a nice way to spend a summer night. 

Thursday, July 7: I was back at the Bakeshop bright and early this morning.  I started out with Lauren making 40 pans of flourless chocolate espresso cake, then braided challah for a Kosher event tomorrow night.  I am part of Challah for Hunger at Scripps, so it was exciting to experience the braiding in a different environment!  The rest of the day was spent helping everyone in the kitchen with other tasks. 

Unbaked, 3-strand braided challah

Friday, July 8: Lori and I took a nice two hour drive to CSU Mountain Campus at Pingree Park today.  In mid-August, the Dining Services employees are going to Mountain Campus for the day for a team building/retreat.  Lori met with Leslie, the conference services director, to go over the schedule, activities, venue, and meals.  Afterwards, we walked around an outdoor “museum,” which consisted of small cabins and sheds that belonged to a family who lived in Pingree Park in the early 1900s.  It was quite a jump back into history!  We had lunch at the dining hall, which is much smaller than the facilities in Fort Collins.  It was interesting to see the difference in meal check (a roster instead of swiping cards) and limited menu options. Despite the size of the facility, they still produced a great meal.  One option that surprised me was “trowder,” which was trout chowder!  

Mountain Campus Dining Center

Trowder

After lunch, Lori and I hiked Cirque Meadow.  On the way up, we found a Geocache on the side of the trail.  It was really cool to look at the log book and all of the unique little items in the box!

Holding a tool from the museum tool shed

Geocache box on the trail

At the top of the trail

Two of my friends came up from the Denver area and met my former teammate and I at Restaurant 415 for a delicious spread of shared plates.  Luckily we saved room at dinner so we could fully enjoy dessert at the Chocolate Café.  I ordered the Chocolate Trifecta, but the best dessert of the evening was definitely the peanut butter mousse pie.  I’ll have to go back to order one for myself!

Dessert from Chocolate Cafe

Saturday, July 9: After a great yoga class last week, I decided to sign up for an inversions and arm balances workshop at the yoga studio.  I met my teammates for a post run, post yoga class late lunch at Tasty Harmony.  We walked around Old Town during the afternoon before they headed back to Denver for the night.

Sunday, July 10:  I spent the afternoon cooking up a storm at the Cooking Studio in Old Town.  I have always wanted to take a cooking class and I finally found one!  Coincidentally, the chef instructor used to work in Dining Services at CSU.   There were six of us in the group and the meal consisted of recipes from the Food52 cookbook, Genius Recipes.  We broke into groups of two and my partner and I were tasked with Watermelon, Mint, and Cider Vinegar Tonic, Ratatouille, and Salt-Crusted Potatoes with Cilantro Mojo.  We also had roasted chicken, Caesar salad, and molasses cookies with corn ice cream and blackberry sauce.  It was a delightful way to spend the afternoon and evening!

Dinner at the Cooking Studio