From the farm to the dinner plate

For a final end of the semester trip, our class decided to tour the Student Organic Farm-Cornercopia and the Campus Club at the University of MN on Wednesday, May 1. I have never heard of either of them when I started school here. However through this class I have made a relationship with Cornercopia with my service learning opportunity and I learned about the Campus Club when we toured the club and celebrated with a final dinner as a class. The Campus Club is more of a gathering place for social and business meetings as well as receptions and dining experiences. The kitchen at the Club, who is headed by Beth, the executive chef, is committed to using locally sourced and organic ingredients when possible. I learned that the food that I will help grow at Cornercopia this summer, about half of it is sold to Beth at the Campus Club.She shared her story with us about her philosophy on her food. I learned that Beth did not receive an education for her culinary talents from a school. She was given the opportunities to learn first-hand experience working with other chefs. I also learned that there are not a lot of women who take up this incredible talent professionally, which I find interesting, yet if I look back on my food service experience and having opportunities to meet chefs, all were male.

We toured the kitchen, which was very clean and organized, something I am not used to by working in a restaurant. The bar was very fancy, and a few of us stayed after to celebrate my birthday! Also, there is a beautiful view of the Minneapolis skyline from the rooms and balcony of the Club. I learned this is a reason to have a wedding reception at a university!

We had a curry dish for our last dinner. It was a bittersweet event on Wednesday night, yet I have  learned so much from this class that I will be taking so much of it with me. I enjoyed getting to know our instructor Jenny, my internship coordinator Courtney and another brilliant woman, Beth, in the world of culinary arts on a personal level. Overall, I felt that lab was the most important part of the class- we always started with a discussion and were encouraged to talk about how we felt with the lectures and ideas that were discussed about in class. I was able to share food and cooking stories and learn something from each of my classmates/new friends.  I received a cookbook from Beth and Jenny and am looking forward to try some new recipes from two wonderful chefs and share them with my family and fellow gopher friends! The Campus Club will be a place where I may go more often since I get membership with being an intern through Cornercopia! So if we ever want to get together and have a taste of some good campus food, please let me know! CHEERS to a wonderful semester with all of you guys!!