Culinary Services Partners with VACANT Lansing
By Jenna Brown, Culinary Services Communications Mananger
Culinary Services served dinner at a VACANT Lansing event on Sunday, May 5. The dinner was the third of events organized by Suban Nur Cooley, communications director for Habitat for Humanity of Michigan by day and VACANT Lansing founder by night. Nur Cooley’s goal is to host events at vacant buildings in Lansing with the hope that the spaces will soon be occupied again – contributing to economic and community development.
VACANT’s tagline is “expect nothing.” Guests blindly purchase tickets to attend a VACANT event, without knowing where it will be held or what the theme might be. As the event approaches, ticketholders are emailed clues to crack the mystery.
Guests were not faced with “nothing” when they arrived at the site of the soon-to-open Zoobie's Old Town Tavern in Old Town Lansing. They dined in the dark as Culinary Services Corporate Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski and Culinary Services team members prepared and served chicken yakitori and tofu yakitori entrées, served with a shoyu ramen (chicken) or kombo vegetable (tofu)broth, bamboo shoots, carrots, daikon, green onion, shiitake mushrooms and a soft-cooked egg (chicken only).
For dessert, guests enjoyed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal milk ice cream with candied pecans and a warm bourbon caramel sauce.
VACANT attendees also savored sangria-infused watermelon cubes.
Proceeds from the event were donated to the Old Town Commercial Association in Lansing.
Read what attendees were saying about the meal on Twitter: https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23vacantlansing&src=hash.
Congratulations to Reach Teach Learn Grant Winners: MSU Avian Science Club
By Jenna Brown, Culinary Services Communications Manager
The MSU Avian Science Club (Poultry Club) won a $7,500 grant through the Reach Teach Learn contest – an initiative focused on encouraging positive conversations between the poultry industry and the general public about what it takes to safely produce today’s abundant food supply.
Serving about 35,000 meals a day – incorporating a wide variety of poultry items including rotisserie chicken, chicken sandwiches, made-to-order eggs and omelets – Culinary Services agreed to support the Avian Science Club in their initiatives to educate MSU students and guests about the poultry and eggs served in MSU dining halls and other on-campus dining locations.
“MSU Culinary Services has built a culinary program on the foundation of culinary excellence that has significantly and positively improved the perception of collegiate dining,” said Corporate Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski. “We value partnerships with sustainable Michigan farmers – including Sunrise Acres in Hudsonville, Michigan, who provides us with eggs – and want to educate our guests about these local partnerships.”
For the contest, university poultry science clubs were encouraged to submit proposals outlining how $7,500 in grant money would help to their groups to spread positive messages about the poultry industry. The Avian Science Club’s video proposal outlined the need to educate the MSU community about the poultry industry and address misguided myths.
“If we can educate our students and guests about the poultry industry to help correct any misguided notions about products that we use on a daily basis, it would be a huge step in the right direction to promote the freshness of our products and promote health on campus,” Chef Kurt explained.
Culinary Services looks forward to working with the Avian Science Club to help tell our story and educate everyone who Eats at State. View the Avian Science Club's video submission below:
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Culinary Services Partners with Corporate Environmental Management Course
By Jenna Brown, Culinary Services Communications Manager
Culinary Services partnered with the Spring 2013 MSU Environmental Economics and Policy (EEP) 405 Corporate Environmental Management course as students fulfilled their final class project.
“Most of students in the course were food industry management, agribusiness management, or environmental economics and policy majors,” said Satish Joshi, EEP 405 professor. “The goal of the course was to provide tools and analytical frameworks for addressing environmental management issues in all aspects of business.”
Students were tasked to analyze and improve the environmental sustainability performance of Brody Square. They worked in groups and selected components of the food system at Brody Square, then tracked the environmental and energy footprints of their selected components from the source through to ultimate disposal. Each team was asked to develop practical recommendations to reduce Brody Square’s current footprint.
“The class project provided students with experiential learning by observing real-life management situations and coming up with implementable alternatives and recommendations,” Joshi explained. “Given the students' backgrounds, Brody Square provided an excellent setting for these class projects.”
Students mapped the food cycles of products from the Bailey GREENhouse, fruits, cereal, broiler chicken, MSU Bakers desserts, soda drinks, cleaning products, cheese, ice cream and MSU Beef. Brody Square Assistant Dining Services Manager Mark Yepko, Brody Square Stockhandler Lena Pereida, MSU Bakers Manager Cindy Baswell, Culinary Services Sustainability Officer Carla Iansiti, and Residential and Hospitality Services (RHS) Sustainability Manager Diane Barker worked with the students to answer questions about products and procedures.
During their presentations, many students expressed that they were impressed with the sustainable practices implemented at Brody Square, and found it difficult to provide recommendations to reduce the dining hall's footprint.
“This was a great opportunity to partner with the academic community with sustainability in mind,” said Iansiti. “It was nice to see that we are being quite sustainable and that students were able to better understand how hard we work in making sustainable choices.”
“The students enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to improving their own food system and interactions with the Culinary Services staff,” said Joshi. “I look forward to continuing this partnership through my future class projects, which will aim to cover more dining units and a variety of other inputs.”
Throughout the semester, the RHS Sustainability office partnered with dozens of classes, providing tours, presentations or sustainability experts to discuss topics including closing the food loop, buying locally, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) remodeling and increasing sustainability.
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Culinary Services Names 2013 Culinary Cup Champions!
By Jenna Brown, Culinary Services Communications Manager
Culinary Services hosted its annual Culinary Cup and Bake Off competitions on May 7 at The Vista at Shaw Hall. During the Culinary Cup competition, 10 teams representing each dining neighborhood competed for the chance to be named Culinary Cup champions.
The competition was divided into four rounds: each winning team from the first three rounds then competed in a final round of competition. During the first round, team members were tasked to create a dish with fresh asparagus, cilantro, oyster cause and lamb. Jackie Perkins and Susan Hanson from Brody Square were named winners of round one for their herb-crusted lamb with asparagus cilantro tapenade, oyster glaze and a spring salad.
During the second round, teams competed to create a dish that incorporated bok choy, fresh mint, stone-ground mustard and fresh cod. Congratulations to Almeta Kelley and Sabrina Millikin from Brody Square, for their winning dish: fish taco with yogurt mint sauce, mint cilantro lime rice and bok choy with mustard coleslaw.
During the third round, four teams competed to prepare a dish using corn on the cob, lemon grass, Thai red pepper paste and ground beef chuck. Wayne Burmeister and Melissa Martinez of The Vista at Shaw were named winners of the third round for their curry and corn soup, butterfly fingerling potatoes, fried shallot and yogurt sauce, and ground beef kofta with habanero, garlic and green onion.
Each winning team competed in the final round to prepare a dish incorporating Brussels sprouts, oregano, chipotle tabasco and turkey breast. Congratulations to Kelley and Millikin – their winning braised turkey breast dish with chipotle mushroom sauce, sautéed Brussels sprouts, red pepper and red onions earned them the title of 2013 Culinary Cup champions!
Also during the competition, seven teams submitted baked goods for the Bake Off. Culinary Cup attendees were given the chance to sample each treat and vote for their people’s choice favorite. Congratulations to South Neighborhood’s Charles Haviland, Rachel Schineman and Ben Segueda whose Maple Oatmeal Ice Cream Sandwich won the people’s choice vote. Congratulations also go to Selena Peeper and Christina Pulice of West Circle – the winners of the 2013 Bake Off – for their Ya’ Mon Rum Cupcakes!
A big thank you to Culinary Services Corporate Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski, Brody Square Student Team Member and 2013 Student Spartan Chef Steven King, and MSU HR Assistant Vice President Sharon Butler for judging the 2013 Culinary Cup competition. Special thanks also go to the Bake Off judges: MSU Bakers Manager Cindy Baswell, Vice President for Auxiliary Enterprises Vennie Gore and Director of Residence Education and Housing Services Kathy Collins.
To view more photos from the event, click here.
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Nominate the Food Truck for Kelly and Michael LIVE!
By Jenna Brown, Culinary Services Communications Manager
Kelly and Michael LIVE is doing a Food Truck Search 2013.
Nominate the Eat at State ON-THE-GO food truck – your favorite food truck – for the Kelly and Michael LIVE Food Truck Search 2013! If selected, the food truck chef may be asked to cook on-air during LIVE's Truckin’ Amazing Cook-Off.
Nominators should tell Kelly and Michael about the truck, including location, cuisine, best-known dish and why the truck should be selected for the Cook-Off.
We are asking EVERYONE to please nominate the Eat at State ON-THE-GO food truck BY THIS FRIDAY, MAY 10, AT 3 P.M. You will have to create login information in order to do so (it’s their way of making sure someone doesn’t submit multiple nominations).
This is the information they ask about the truck. Please fill it out as follows:
Truck Name: Eat at State ON-THE-GO
Truck Location: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
Favorite Dish on this Truck: MSU's own Smoked Cheddar Cheeseburger
Truck Twitter Handle: @eatatstate
Truck Facebook Page: Facebook.com/eatatstate
If you have taken a personal photo of the food truck, please attach the photo to the nomination form when prompted. There is also a section “Write your comment or question for Kelly and Michael” section. Write why you think the Eat at State ON-THE-GO food truck should be chosen and talk about MSU's own Smoked Cheddar Cheeseburger, the food truck’s signature item. The cheeseburger features all local ingredients: MSU Beef grown on campus at Michigan State University, MSU Dairy Store Smoked Cheddar and Sharp Cheddar cheeses, MSU Student Organic Farm field green mix, MSU Student Organic Farm red onions and roma or heirloom tomatoes. It also utilizes Breadsmith buns, located a few miles away in Okemos, Mich.
To nominate, visit: http://livekellyandmichael.dadt.com/contests/food-truck-search-2013/truck-search-login/. Thank you for nominating. Let’s show the nation how great our food truck is!
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Kurt Kwiatkowski is the Corporate Chef for Culinary Services in the Division of Residential and Hospitality Services at Michigan State University. As Corporate Chef, he sets the standards for the core menu and develops staff training.
Chef Kurt holds a bachelor’s degree in Food Systems Management and Economics and a master’s degree from The School of Hospitality Business, both from Michigan State University.
Peggy Crum is the nutritionist for Health4U in the University Physician’s Office at Michigan State University. She is responsible for the food and nutrition component of MSU’s health promotion program. Her focus is to help individuals discover how to eat what is right for them.
Peggy enjoys gardening and cooking which helps her write about foods in season. Recipe for Health is entering its fifth year as a partnership between Health4U and Culinary Services. Peggy is a registered dietitian. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dietetics from Purdue University and currently is pursuing a master’s degree in health and risk communication.
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