Our Final Week at Purdue University!

The final countdown, the days of lasts….. w e e k 8. I am cringing as I’m typing this. We are all overwhelmed (I know I don’t speak for myself here) with feelings of sadness, nostalgia, excitement, and maybe even a little bit of eagerness to pack up and head home. But I know one thing is for certain, we will all be shedding tears for these emotions in the presence of those who have made our experiences possible. So, we will shed our tears loud and proud for our Boilers- also in hopes that this is just a “see ya later” and not an official “good-bye”.

Monday, Monday. Today brought new experiences that I know some of us wish we could have had sprinkled in throughout the eight weeks, but we’re so thankful we got a chance to have them! Alice and Kristen spent the morning and afternoon helping out in the food truck, the Daily Bite, while Jeanine and Mary Frances continued to clear up loose ends on their final projects. We rejoined in the late afternoon to meet the two sports dietitians on campus. All of us were stoked at this opportunity because we all have sports interest and wanted to see this new and up-and-coming side of nutrition. It was a neat experience to get a glimpse of how Purdue’s sport nutrition and athletic training programs communicate and work together to ensure their athletes get the best quality care. We were able to tour the athletic facilities, check out the fuel stations, and all the various tasks a sports dietitian does- quite different than your food service dietitians! We all had a great afternoon, and were inspired to do something of that nature!

"The Daily Bite" Food Truck where we all worked selling mac and cheese!

Alice hard at work!

Josh, the manager at The Daily Bite! (he wanted to be in the blog)

Tuesday, Tuesday. Yet another full day. In the morning we got the opportunity to check out the Central Production Kitchen at Purdue and a future addition to their residential dining (a place where students would be able to get a whole pizza to-go for a meal swipe!) Then we drove out to the Purdue Research Farm to pick some Indiana sweet corn! It was our first time doing this so we made sure to get lots of photo-ops. It was a fairly quick and painless process and the weather definitely treated us right (not too hot!) After our morning in the farm we got to go to a staff retreat where we participated in a workshop to develop and discuss our top five strengths. Being in a leadership position, this was a valuable session for us to be a part of. It was also exciting getting to see the management team outside of work and get to talk with them. After the retreat, the fun continued at Town and Gown Bistro where we had a social hour with yummy appetizers. We made it a point to take a picture outside of the restaurant because it was the place we had our first dinner together before week one- so unreal! It was a full day of fun.

Fresh Sweet Corn we got to pick from the Purdue Student Research Farm (and later taste tested)!

Mary Frances, Kristen, Alice, Jeanine showing off their corn picking skills!

We had to get a picture with Kristen O. (pictured in the middle) who was our mentor through our whole experience!

From Week One to Week Eight (starting to get teary eyed)

Wednesday, Wednesday. In the morning Jeanine and Mary Frances got to experience the prep work to run the “Daily Bite” food truck while Alice and Kristen got the morning off to recharge for another full day. We have to shame our student worker on the food truck for messing up one of our beautiful Nutella sandwich cookies and letting us try one. If you are a chocolate lover… beware, you have been warned from this tasty treat! For the remainder of the day it was off to Prophetstown State Park where we had a yummy catered lunch, got to see some farm animals, continue discussions from the retreat during our week one, and do various relaxing activities. I know it was a well needed break for all the staff members to be outdoors and spend time with one another outside campus.

Mac and Cheese balls in the process of being made (if you love cheese this is for you because its made with 4 different types of cheese)!

Finished product of the Mac and Cheese balls after they were breaded! Now they just have to get fried up!

Nutella stuffed chocolate chip cookie!!!  This cookie was about as big as my head (for a size comparison) 

Our staff retreat ventured out to a farm and we met this little guy! He did try to bite me when I pet him:( 

Just trying to get cool on a hot sunny day

Thursday, Thursday. Our last day of Recipe Testing—wait, what? Well, we never got to actually do any recipe testing, but we got word that the hours of inventory we did paid off! Hooray! It was sad to say goodbye to our awesome catering chefs because that definitely was some of our favorite memories from our time here.

Friday, Friday.  Our very final day at Purdue University and last day as a Boiler.  By now our once cluttered dorm rooms are now being confined to loaded suitcases and boxes ready to be sent home. We started the day off by going out to brunch at "Another Broken Egg" Cafe with Alice and Mary Frances' families! I wish I did not find this place so late because it was absolutely AMAZING!!

Later in the day we presented our final projects about the 8 Dimensions of Wellness to the directors of dining and catering (no pressure there).  It was also open to our friends and family to see what we have accomplished during the last eight weeks!  The presentations went phenomenal and everybody was very pleased with our work; but then the goodbyes started to come.  We were overwhelmed with so much love from people we respect and have grown to be attached to over the course of our time at Purdue.  We have truly met such amazing people and had such a wonderful experience gaining knowledge in the field of nutrition that we love.

Picture of us with our boss, Mary Jo!

Picture of us with fellow registered dietitian Carrie, who is in charge of the 8 Dimensions of Wellness throughout the dining halls!

Today is the day we officially say adios to the campus, our leaders, our new friends, each other, and to you all, fellow bloggers, who have been following our journey. Our journey would not have been the same without each piece and this blog is something tangible that we will be able to look back on and reminisce on all we did.  This is not the last time Purdue will see us.  It is not a goodbye, it's an I'll see you later.  Boiler up!

XOXO K-JAM

Week Seven At Purdue University- So Close to the Finish Line!

Today marks the beginning of the end. It is honestly hard to believe that we only have one last week (5 DAYSSSS) here at Purdue.  We have become so familiar with the campus and close with all of the faculty and staff that we are working with, it is going to be very hard to say goodbye- somebody grab the Kleenex.  However, we did have a busy week to help keep our minds off the fact that our days here are dwindling down.

To kick off the work week we had a project day on Monday with all four amigas.  We successfully completed the April board for the 8 Dimensions of Wellness which deals with sustainability! For all those Purdue students out there, this is your cue to follow the trend.  Now all we have left to do is come up with talking points about every board we have made and an activity to go along with it so we can present them to the directors of dining and catering- no pressure there!

After we finished working/crafting, we all decided to go around campus and take pictures with the famous statues that are around, such as John Purdue, Amelia Earhart, and Neil Armstrong! This is a famous tradition to do and can even bring you good luck!

Our final board IS FINISHED!

Famous Statue of John Purdue, the founder of Purdue University!

Neil Armstrong who allegedly got both his bachelors and masters degree at Purdue!

Jeanine, Kristen, and Mary Frances had to get a selfie with Neil and I think Neil even gave us a smirk for the photo!

On Tuesday Jeanine and Mary Frances did the same routine of working at Ford Dining Hall while Kristen and Alice had another project day. The only minor (but pretty major) difference about this week at the dining halls was the Presbyterian Youth Triduum (PYT) that was on campus for the week. PYT consisted of about 5,000 high school age students and leaders that come to Purdue every three years. For the dining halls, this means that there are lots of mouths to feed! We quickly found that the “Sugar Hill” was a popular place to be out at Ford Dining Hall. It was also pretty neat for us to see the campus so alive… a small glipse of what it might look like with 40,000 students during the normal school year.

Wednesday was an exciting day because we were able to work with catering one last time!  We had the opportunity to cater the food for the Summer Concert Series event that was going on that night on the front lawn of the Purdue Memorial Union lawn! This event was just a little different from the Weddings that we are used to working! We came to appreciate all it takes to run a successful event after that! From organizing how things will run to setting up tents and wheeling carts all around, the catering staff is pretty amazing!

The band playing at our summer concert series, we had a good crowd!

Fresh fruit slushies on a hot summer day! (We warned not to drink this one too fast)

Gourmet Corn on the Cob

BBQ pulled pork and quinoa side (with microgreens from the student farm!)

Thursday and Friday Jeanine and Mary Frances continued at Ford (Friday was our last day ever working in the Dining Hall and it was very hard to say goodbye to the staff that we have become so close with).  Friday and Saturday Kristen and Alice had their final days working at Hillenbrand Dining Court, where they worked the dish room and the grill.

 After work on Saturday all of us decided to go and relax at the pool after a hard week of work, and with the weather being 95 and humid, we couldn't resist!  Later that night we celebrated our final weekend here and that we made it through our internship alive by going to an upscale French Restaurant called Bistro 501.  From the words of Parks and Rec, everyone needs to have a “treat yourself” day!

Delicious French restaurant we had to try before we left Lafayette!

We all celebrated our last weekend here by dressing up all fancy!

On Sunday, we decided to indulge in the great outdoors on an eight mile hike at the Battlegrounds at Tippecanoe.  The heat and humidity may have been against us, but we had a fun time tracking through the mud and warding off the bugs. Afterwards we decided a shake from Sonic was necessary and it being half price happy hour was an added bonus.  Later Sunday night, after we freshened up, we went to a BBQ that the director of Dining, Greg, and his wife threw for us. There’s really no way to explain the night without using any clichés, but it was truly a perfect night. There was wonderful people, a baby, a dog, a cake with our names on it, games…… and oh yeah LOTS of delicious food! Let me tell ya’, people in the dining and catering business know how to cook! We were overwhelmed with so much love from people we respect and have grown to be attached to over the course of our time at Purdue. Not to mention, spending a night out at a home versus a residence hall was a treat in itself. The “host with the most”, Greg, taught us a new game called “Farkle”. If you have never played, we all would highly recommend it! All you need are some dice, luck, and a little bit of math skills! (I think Alice had the math part covered for us). When the night finally wound down Greg sent us off with Ziploc bags full of food, and it was time to head back to good ole’ Harrison Hall. Fortunately we didn’t get completely lost on the way home, and made it to start our FINAL COUNTDOWN.  

Our Thank You/ Going Away cake (I might or might not have cried)

Had to get a picture with some of the staff that we have become so close with!

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of K-JAM. We hope you are enjoying the ride with us. Remember to TUNE IN FRIDAY FOR OUR FINAL BLOG POST…… We hate saying that but don’t you worry we will soak up every last hour of fun together.

From Purdue to beyond,

From week seven to heaven,

  

We will all stay in touch,

 We thank you very much!

XOXO K-JAM 

Week Six at Purdue- Winding down to the end!

Welcome back to yet another installment of K-JAM's adventures! This week we were separated yet again, with Kristen and Alice ruling the roost at Hillenbrand Dining Court while Jeanine and Mary Frances manned Ford manor. This week, Kristen and Alice worked seven days straight instead of Jeanine and Mary Frances, who had Tuesday and Wednesday off. Of course we had a fabulous time (per usual) learning a wide variety of new skills both in the kitchen and the workplace.

After we finished our shift, we decided to make a farewell sushi run to help say goodbye to one of our supervising interns, Kristen "Biscuit" Bischoff as she prepares to enter the real world as a first time teacher- congratulations Biscuit! We went to Yummy Time, a Korean-Japanese restaurant that specializes in sushi rolls. It was a great experience for everyone involved, and a ton of fun teaching newbies (aka Jeanine) how to use chop sticks!

Kristen got the "Boiler Maker Roll"- a specialty roll named after Purdue!

Jeanine's Manhattan Roll, representing back home!

Alice's "Sweet Potato Roll"- YUM!

Jeanine had a little trouble using chopsticks, but luckily Kristen carried around a spare "chopstick cheater" for her!

On Tuesday, after yet another exciting day at the dining hall, we made a trip to a darling bakery just over the bridge in Lafayette called Something Blue Bakery; a specialty bakery shop that works primarily in wedding cakes and cupcakes. We picked up half a dozen cupcakes to say a proper goodbye to Biscuit and gave them to her at the semi-final softball game... which was quickly rained out by thunderstorms! We managed to dodge the rain and lightning, but the first semi-final had to be rescheduled for Thursday for an exciting double-header,

Delicious mouth watering cupcakes, it was tough for us not to eat them ourselves!

Wednesday was more laid back due to more rain, preventing us from taking a trip to Battleground Park. Instead, Alice downloaded Pokemon Go and ran out in the rain with friends from Hillenbrand to catch them all, getting soaked in the process.

On Thursday the gang checked out Happy Hallow Park where we went on a beautiful scenic hike.  At the end of the hike we got to be kids for the day when we frolicked around a playground and had a grand ole time!  That night we attended the semi-final double header... it was all on the line after losing the first game, as double elimination is needed to keep from progressing. Suddenly, Robert hit it out of the park (metaphorically) and brought everyone home in a nail biting grand slam! Of course, we had to go out to Jake's for classic bar food and drinks to celebrate.

Some scenery from our hike, nature is so beautiful! 

On Friday, Mary Frances and Jeanine had their first day back at Ford (where they also worked Saturday and Sunday) and were kept very busy; especially with the volleyball camp going on that had over 600 players!  They worked at Legal Grease, International, Sugar Hill, and Thyme Square!  They got a variety of experiences: from making pancakes for over 1,000 people for breakfast to making fried rice, grilling hamburgers, and frying up some chicken, egg rolls, and mini corn dogs for lunch.  Mary Frances also learned how to make pizza and became a professional dough roller!  Jeanine had the opportunity to make a lemon tart recipe from scratch all on her own! (They came out delicious, if I do say so myself).  After work, Alice and friends went to Lafayette to try and take down some rival gyms and failed miserably (#teammystic).  Kristen drove to Lake Champaign, IL, to meet her family for the weekend for their annual girls trip! 

These sold out like hotcakes, people were coming up and asking for more when they were all sold out!

On Saturday, Kristen's family took us out to Triple XXX for the classic peanut butter burger and famous root beer. We finally got to try this famous place that we have heard so much about and it was worth all the rave!

If you don't get the root beer in a frosted mug, you're doing it wrong!

Banana split that all the girls split! Delicious! 

Kristen, Mary Frances, and Jeanine enjoying their sundae and having good conversation with Kristen's family!

The Duane Purvis All-American burger, a 1/4 lb. of 100% ground sirloin with thick creamy peanut butter on top.  A MUST TRY IF YOU GO TO TRIPLE XXX!!!!

That's all we have for this week folks, tune in next week to hear our latest adventures as our internship winds down to the end!

XOXO K-JAM!

Week Five At Purdue University!

Hello All! It is crazy (and a little sad) to think that we just completed our fifth week of our internship and that there are only three weeks left!

We started our week off by having the joy of celebrating our independence by working the fourth of July at Hillenbrand Dining Court.  This is the dining court that we all normally eat in, since it is so close to our dorm, so it was interesting to see how they run their operation; and how different it is from the other dining courts. However, after our eight hour shift, we did have some fun and watched all the surrounding fireworks from Slater Hill (the only hill on campus). The Downtown Lafayette Fireworks gave us a nice show and luckily we survived the night with a limited amount of bug bites.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, Jeanine and Mary Frances went to Ford Dining Court.  They only served lunch this past week, mainly to the STAR students that were checking out the campus.  On Tuesday Mary Frances worked at Sugar Hill baking cookies and manning the desserts; the remaining days were spent in Legal Grease aka the grill station. Mary Frances even got to light up the grill on Friday and make all the hamburgers, pineapples, and French fries for the day. Now she knows why they say “If you can’t stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen”.  Jeanine tackled the salad station, Thyme Square, all three days, where she had the opportunity to prep final produce items for every station in the dining court.  She also prepared signature salads such as the pecan and feta salad and strawberry kiwi salad-YUM.  Both girls worked the front of the line at their station.  (Working the front of the line takes a couple months experience for new workers, so we felt special being able to do that our first days in!) 

Below is the salad bar that Jeanine set up, look at all those yummy vegetables!

Meanwhile, on Tuesday Kristen and Alice continued to work at Hillenbrand.  Alice worked the dish room, putting away dishes to keep the machine from backing up. On later days, she worked the salad bar, taking temperatures of foods and struggling to keep up with the high demand for kale.  Kristen manned the dessert bar, keeping the delectable treats stocked up.  They had some well-deserved time off on Wednesday and Friday, and the best thing they did was visit Jeanine and Mary at Ford for lunch! Alice also continued with her marathon training by logging miles and doing functional fitness routines.  Later Friday night we all went to Steak n’ Shake for dinner.  It was Alice and Jeanine’s first time going and they were blown away by the delicious shakes!

Picture of Jeanine's first meal at Steak n' Shake!

Close up of Kristen's peanut butter cup shake! Would highly recommend!

Thursday rolled around and it was no surprise that we continued with the usual recipe testing at the Purdue Memorial Union Kitchen.  We think are getting closer to actually testing these recipes (keep your fingers crossed for next week!)  At this point, we had to write down all of the ingredients for each recipe and their inventory number so they can then be imported into the C-BORD system.  All our scripting of numbers and ingredients will provide the ground work for the cooks to rewrite their recipes in a way that the not only will the “average Jo” will be able to reinvent the menu item, but also that a standardized recipe with nutrition information can be established. So our fellow cook friends have reassured us that all our “recipe testing” work will come in handy.

On Saturday all four of us were together once again, where we had a day to finish working on our wellness wheel projects.  We successfully completed our December wellness board where we talked about antioxidants! The theme is intellectual, so we are hoping our superhero board will help students make healthier choices to “Power Up” their brains! Side note- we were inspired to spice up our board with some glitter while listening to Ke$ha Pandora.  Only one board left to go!

Our antioxidant board for December! Our superhero is fighting off those harmful free radicals!

On Sunday, Kristen and Alice were once again at Hillenbrand while Jeanine and Mary Frances had their first day off in a week! They celebrated by going to the Loving Heart Animal Shelter in Lafayette where they got to play with some puppies! Because who doesn’t love puppies?! (Dear Mom, they are having a clear the shelter event on July 23rd… don’t hate me it’s a good cause!)  They also visited the Battlegrounds at Tippecanoe where they became one with nature!

If the dorms allowed pets, Mary Frances would have adopted these kittens in a heartbeat!

So photogenic!

Bella was a happy pup playing with Jeanine!

Monument remembering all of the soldiers that passed away on the battlefield.

Some beautiful scenery we captured while exploring!

Until next week! XOXO K-JAM!