Emily Sinn
ND 566
Marywood University
Theme Meal Report
Introduction:
During my time completing the Food Systems Management rotation at
Delaware Valley University I was required to complete a Theme Meal. I chose to
focus on Halloween and find ways to create festive food ideas during lunch in the
dining hall. Thankfully, and with the help of my preceptor, it was pretty easy to get
creative and find ways to add a Halloween twist to the meals we had planned to
serve. Del Val operates on an 8-week cycle menu. With that said, we followed the
planned meals for the day but added our own festive twist and made slight changes
to fit the theme. Staring at the Grille where hamburgers, hot dogs and French fries
are served daily, we decided to make Mummy Dogs by wrapping crescent rolls
around the dogs before cooking them in the oven. Following the Grille is known as
Seasons, where the main entre of Ribs and Limbs (pork ribs and chicken
drumsticks) along with Roasted Brains (cauliflower and beets) were served and
also available at our Gluten Free station across the dining hall. Then, my personal
favorite, included Mac O Lanterns (vegan macaroni and cheese) stuffed into bell
peppers cut out to resemble jack o lanterns served with Cobb Webb Squash
(spaghetti squash and beets). Next, we set up a candied apple bar at the Bravo
station. This was one of our simpler ideas but still a holiday favorite where the
students had the opportunity to add their own toppings such as Reeces, Oreos,
m&m and a variety of sprinkles. Alongside the pizza we set up a pasta bar with 2
sauces labeled, Blood and Guts (meat sauce) and Vampire blood (marinara). As
an additional side, we had Ghosts (mashed potatoes with peas) made up. For
dessert, I prepared mini apple cheesecakes and chocolate cake with orange icing
and ghosts on top. See photos uploaded in this module below for a look at the final
products served on Halloween!
Budgets:
*See photo below from Excel Spreadsheet also uploaded under Module 5:
Production and Service Systems.
Food cost per meal= total cost of food/ number of meals prepared
Food cost per meal= $1,162.51 spent on lunch/ 734 people served
Food cost per meal= $1.58 + $0.30 (peripherals) = $1.88 plate cost
Production Schedule:
Theme meal responsibilities (reflect each individuals general daily work):
Purchase- Gerald (Executive Chef)
Preparation- All line cooks, prep cooks and bakery
Service- Kevin prepares Gluten Free station; Vito makes all pizzas and
pasta sauces; Bruce, Frank and Ed stand the line (Grille, Crunch,
Seasons, Bravo) with the help of Gerald and Bernard providing refill
trays when food gets low during service; Karen and I monitored the
baked goods and Sean manages the salad bar.
Clean-up- Continues throughout service when necessary, all
employees responsible for their own stations cleanliness in addition
to help from Dining Room Attendants (DRAs) and management
Timeline:
10:45 am- Pre-meal meeting to review all menu items for the day
11:00 am- Bring out all hot items for lunch service and maintain all
day
Consistently check on status (temperature, appearance and quantity)
of foods
2:45/3 pm- Clean up lunch meals and sanitize stations in anticipation
for dinner service
A common issue I have noticed on any given day is that the students
all have different schedules which can mean we have a rush of
students until 1 oclock and may not be busy for awhile so we can
anticipate cleaning up for dinner until suddenly several more students
come through the line at 2:30/3pm when we are trying to clean up
and move on to dinner. In order to smoothly transition throughout
the days, we often condense our foods and leave out what has the
most left for students to choose from.
Standardized Recipe:
*See uploaded documents below within this module with Standardized
Recipe information for 5, 50, 100 and 200 guests. I calculated these
adjustments for both the Dirt Dessert presented at the Salad Bar in addition
to the Vegan Macaroni and Cheese served at Crunch on the line
What is the degree to which standardized recipes are used and followed?
o Standardized recipes are used constantly to prepare meals for the
Levine Dining Hall. They are most helpful when preparing multiple
trays of the same dish. Chef has chosen to make any dish gluten free
when possible. Since we work on a campus focused on agriculture we
are lucky enough to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables on a
daily basis year round.
What is the difference between expected and actual yield?
o Expected yield is how much of a product is anticipated will be made
however, the actual yield is how much of the product is actually
produced.
How are the cook's comments (feedback) used / implemented?
o At the end of the day, the chefs comments and opinions are superior
to anyone elses. However, several of the cooks who have gained
rapport with the chef have the ability and freedom to prepare meals
and adjust recipes as they please after clearing their ideas with upper
management (Gerald, Chef or Joe, FSM).
Analysis and Discussion:
As previously mentioned, my theme meal took place on Halloween. During
service, I noticed majority of the students (and staff) were excited to see the unique
choices for the theme meal on Halloween. Several students and staff members were
dressed up as well it get into the holiday spirit. Also, I recognize that it was nice for
the staff to enjoy a more carefree day and for them to be excited about our special
holiday menu. I found that the students responded well to the food choices as I
overheard no complaints and trays required refilling as often as they usually do
throughout the day. Like most days, >75% of the prepared food was gone by the
end of the lunch shift. In addition, I noticed the employees responded positively to
the theme meal. Several staff members tried more than just the items they were
responsible for preparing at their stations and had nothing but positive comments
to be made about the food choices, their taste and overall appearance. Moving
forward, I would try to add more variety to the meal. I would provide a different
option at the Gluten Free station and work to incorporate items on the salad bar to
the theme of Halloween. We reduced waste by using the leftover meats for dinner
service and for Sean to incorporate in his salad bar the following day. Several of the
vegetables were reserved for the salad bar as well but others were used to
contribute to the ongoing production of vegetable stock brewing in the kitchen. I
found that most everything during the day worked well and there were few issues.
This group of individuals is used to working with one another and dealing with a
different menu each day so there were no troubles during preparation or service.
One thing I dont think worked well was the choice of vegetables we used. I noticed
that beets and even cauliflower were not fully accepted by the students. It may have
been a better option for us to have used broccoli, carrots or tomatoes instead as
those seem to be more popular vegetable choices. From this experience, I learned
that preparing a meal at this size is not as easy as I once thought. Preparing meals
in a dining hall setting in general, takes a lot of time, effort and work from all
members of the food service operation. All moving parts are required to accomplish
a successful meal service, especially on a day with a unique menu like Halloween.
