New Year 2013

G'day Mates welcome to 2013, as we surpassed the Mayan calendar we are fully engaged into a brand new year. To kick off the new semester Moraine Park Technical College had new student orientation. Students were able to tour the college and get a glimpse for the new semester ahead by talking with faculty, staff, and current students. I helped out by volunteering for the student club segment of new student orientation. I represented the culinary club to talk to future students what the culinary club has prepared for the semester ahead. I was able to meet some people, answer any questions they had about club, and any questions related to Moraine Park. I felt the new student orientation turned out well and I am looking forward seeing some familiar faces at school. Remember to stay tuned for some unique fun event’s sponsored by Student Life. Catch you soon! Cheers, Lee IV

Fondue Fest 2012

Recently I had the opportunity to participate in my second Culinary Arts fundraising event at Fondue Fest. Being part of the Culinary Arts Club we sold fondue to help fund our educational trips to the Chicago Food Show and the German exchange program. This event was a lot of fun because I was able to work with friends and fellow classmates outside of class. This event allowed me gain more experience in the food industry, and talk to community members about Moraine Park and our culinary field. Although I had to wake up early, every moment was well worth the effort and time. During the day I was able to take a break to check out Fondue Fest and see what the other businesses were doing to promote their business. I saw a lot of familiar faces, and people were enjoying the beautiful weather. After my break I got back to work to sell the remainder of the fondue. We did well selling all of our food, but since our line was constantly busy we did run out of bread. People kept buying the fondue because it was so delicious. Overall we all put in over 10 hours of volunteer work to have this event become successful. I believe we raised over $4,000 and majority of the money will go into our fundraiser account. I am looking forward to pass on the torch to the new members next year, and show how the production line works at Fondue Fest. Hopefully next year you will check out the fun activities at Fondue Fest, and make sure you buy some fondue, otherwise you are missing out. See you next time in my next blog! Cheers, Lee IV

Culinary Club

As the semester is in full gear clubs around campus are kicking off to set up fun events for the new semester. I am currently involved in the Culinary Club at Moraine Park, and we are excited for the fun events ahead. Our first, big fundraiser of the year is Fondue Fest, and each year people have a great time eating food and learning about Moraine Park. This year we already have new members joining and we have our events lined up. Our second fundraiser we are doing this month is the Human Race. The Human Race is a fundraiser that allows clubs to raise money for their club or for a charity they choose. The Human Race is also an event where club members can participate in a 5K run at Lakeside Park on September 29 at 8:00 a.m. This year I signed up our club as the shake and bake crew, and we are pushing to raise $5,000 as a group. We are asking for any donation amount in person or online. If you want to donate online you can click on the link here http://humanrace2012.fdlvolunteer.com/2012/fdl/shakeandbakecrew/shakeandbakecrew/ to checkout our donation graph, and help us to reach our goal. I will keep you posted on our group, see you soon! Cheers, Lee IV

Culinary Club goes bowling

Ahoy Mates! For the annual end of semester activity, the culinary club went bowling at Ledgeview Lanes. For all the hard work we put into fundraisers, going bowling was a great way for us to enjoy the end of the semester. There were twelve members of the culinary club who attend the event. We had a great time bowling and dancing the evening away. Although I haven’t gone bowling since March my scores were pretty good, and each game my scores went up. My highest game was a 174, and I was satisfied with that score. Hopefully in the near future I can be consistent with a score like that. We bowled four games and didn’t want to stop. Of course all good things come to an end so we all headed home. I am looking forward to next semester for a fresh start and meeting new culinary students. If you are looking for some fun and tasting great food, join the culinary club, I guarantee you will have a blast!

Cheers,

Lee IV

MPTC Culinary Club goes to 2012 Chicago Food Show

G’day Mates! Recently, members of the culinary club and I headed down to Chicago for the 2012 National Restaurant Association at the McCormick Place. In order to participate in this trip we had to volunteer forty hours throughout the school year as part of our club dues. The National Res

taurant Food Show in Chicago is similar to Wisconsin’s Food Show, but is triple the size and I mean literally super massive. We stayed at Hotel 71 which is a prime location in downtown Chicago and minutes away from the food show. I was excited to stay at this hotel because this is the same spot where the film “The Dark Knight” was filmed. As we checked in I found out my room was on the top level on the 39^th floor, and the views were amazing.

After checking in we got on a shuttle bus to attend the Food Show at the McCormick Place. When we entered the building my eyes got huge because I realized how big the Food Show was. Numerous food companies were everywhere including food products, drinks, and even marketing firms. There were so many things to see that I didn’t know where to start. We decided to divide and conquer to see all the attractions and sample the various products. Throughout the show I talked to different people and networked to hopefully find a potential career in the near future. After awhile I got tired because of all the walking. We were there for seven hours and we still didn’t see everything. I recommend if you have the chance to attend the Chicago Food Show to attend at least two days so you don’t have to rush through things and can enjoy the time there.

When the food show came to an end we headed back to our hotel to change clothes for dinner. We attended a restaurant called Vermillion, which is located a block away from Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. Vermillion is a fusion type restaurant that specializes in India and Mexican cuisines. I was excited to check out the restaurant because I love both styles of cuisines, and combining these two was amazing. There were eleven of us and we basically tried everything on the menu. The food was amazing. For the entrée I decided to try a Red Fish mixed with vegetables. Although the waiter said this was the spiciest item on the menu, I didn’t believe him because I love spicy food. When my food came I dug right into my food and the waiter was not lying this dish was beyond spicy. It had great flavor but the spice behind the meat was so overwhelming I began to sweat. After that I could barely finish my meal, but I kept going because the flavor was delicious although the heat kept coming back hotter. As we finished our entree we ordered desserts and they were beyond amazing. The flavors were out of this world, and the decorations were fantastic! Once dessert was done we were full, but a healthy full since all the ingredients were freshly made. We decided to walk back since the weather was nice. We even saw a super nova moon, which is when the moon is closest to the Earth’s atmosphere than any other time of the year. I wish I had a better camera because this moon was beautiful, and I couldn’t get the quality picture I wanted. After a successful fun day it was time for bed. Until next time, ciao!

Cheers,

Lee IV

Windhover Dinner

On October 25, students from culinary arts helped prep and serve food for the annual Windhover Center for the Arts Dinner in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. This annual event is a scholarship dinner to help raise money and $1,000 is donated back in the culinary arts department. People from local schools and art departments attended this elegant dinner. Participating in this event was fun because I was able to interact with my fellow classmates and friends outside of school. We had a good time prepping and getting the food out for the dinner. For the appetizer, we made a salad with romaine lettuce, salmon, red peppers and topped it with a red vinaigrette dressing. Afterwards, we quickly put together the main course meal with chicken en cruet and a Wisconsin pilaf made with potatoes, wild rice, and cheese, steamed carrots and broccoli topped with a Dijon mustard sauce. The main course was quite tasty and I heard nothing but good remarks about the meal. For dessert, we put together a variety of mousse flavors ranging from raspberry, chocolate and vanilla. These tasty treats were a great finish to the hearty dinner. Overall we had a great time laughing with one another and enjoying a fun event that benefitted the Culinary Club. I’m looking forward to more events like this to get hands-on experiences working with people in different settings. Don’t forget to check out the pictures below to see us live in action! Until next time, Ciao!
Cheers,
Lee IV