Foodservice Day 1 & My Favorite Food

Today I started my foodservice internship at a local high school.  It was a good first day, and actually better than I had imagined.  I'm still very uncertain about which path I would like my career to take, but today surprisingly left me feeling way more interested in foodservice than I ever thought that I would be.  I should probably keep in mind that it was only my first day, but who knows!

I met with my preceptor, and she gave me a tour of the facility, told me her educational and career background, and then we spent some time doing a question and answer session so that I could answer some of the questions on my list of objectives.  Two things that I love about her job: she gets summers, holidays, and all school vacations off but gets paid for 12 months (!), and she gets to design menus, search for new recipes, and directly influence what kids are putting into their bodies for 2/3 meals per day!

This high school actually has a pretty impressive school lunch (and breakfast program).  The director (my preceptor) has been in her position for 11 years, and has really made some great changes to their program.  They have a main entree, hot sandwich, deli sandwiches (made-to-order), salad bar and various other options daily.  I get lunch for free when I'm interning (score!), so today I tested out the salad bar.  It's great!  There are over 30 toppings and also several options for protein, like teriyaki chicken, spicy chicken, hummus, sunflower seed butter, etc.

I got home and had a good portion of the afternoon available to get work done.  November is going to be a very busy and very stressful month.  I have 2 internships going on simultaneously, plus 3 projects, 3 tests within 20 hours of each other (and another test a week or so later), at least 2 papers, work, and other weekly school work.  Phew.

On the menu for tonight? My fave, pizza.  I think it's safe to say that we have pizza every week in this household.  It's good for the soul.  Tonight I made chicken, broccoli, and spinach pizza on this awesome pizza dough from Shaws. It gets all bubbly and delish.

When I was in kindergarten, each student was "star of the week" for one week of the school year.  This involved you making a poster of all of your favorite things, and bringing in a treat for the class.  My favorite day of the week used to be Tuesdays, because that is when I had dance class.  Um, let's just say that now, any days that start with an "S" get a thumbs up from me.  My favorite food in kindergarten was pancakes.  I still love those, but I really think pizza has taken the top spot.  I really like the trend of brick oven, artisan pizzas.  All of the different unique toppings and delicious crusts are fabulous.

As usual, back to the books!