Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto platter for a catering
Internship- Black Star Farms
Stephanie Sheffer
Week 5
Lets get down to business friends! Caterings, Dinners, Breakfast and Baking…. Rolling right along and learning, learning all the way through each day I am at the Inn and apart of the farm. The components of my work are transforming and my responsibilities are increasing now. The Inn is starting to get very busy. With the new month ahead of us, this requires me to be extremely focused and attentive to completing the tasks that are expected of me to be completed.
The event space that is apart of the Inn is a large room called Arcturos. This room used to be the site for an indoor pool in the house before it was transformed into the Inn. It is a beautiful room with pillars, sweeping fabric swatches that span the room above. It has doorways on either side that open to courtyards and intimate deck systems that can be used for wedding sites and gatherings for groups during events in the summer months. One of the first events that I was apart of in use of this space was a catering for a group of 40. It was an appetizer set-up with various food components both hot and cold. Chef Jon had already prepared a menu that was accepted by the group and gave me certain components to work on to prepare the spread. I was even able to be apart of the final table set-up. I enjoyed the ability to show some of my creativity in this. Overall the event was successful and all of the food VANISHED! What an amazing feeling to have been apart of providing such a pleasing presentation.
I helped complete the little Leelanau Cheese fromage blanc filled cherry tomatoes on the plate. The first of many many of these little tomato appetizers. They are so yummy though- the effort in them is worth it!
Putting together the lamb skewers plate for the same event with hummus
I loved the variety of this plate and the special attention to preparing the terrines- it makes me excited for what I will learn in my Garde Manger class this fall when i go back to school, and the experience that i learned this summer that will add to my success in class.
I am working on my knife skills and attention to detail and continuity. I have noticed that sometimes I let quality suffer slightly for my hurriedness when I feel like I might get behind. The fact that I realize this right now I believe will be apart of my future success. I am dedicated to excellence and want to be aware of any ways that I can grow and expand my talent. My supervisors are very patient with me and not afraid to point out what is expected, while also telling me what they are happy about too. Between the Inn Keepers, owner, and executive chef there is an open line of communication to me about what they expect. I believe in the culinary profession this is just as important as the food aspects of the job. We are in a service business and it is important that we are all on the same page. When the Inn guests and event attendants express their happiness with our product it is an affirmation that we are on the right track. The opportunity to practice this in the field has been an aspect of my internship I am extremely grateful for.
