MPTC Culinary Arts Students Provide Fondue at Fond du Lac's Fondue Fest

Moraine Park's Culinary Arts students donated their time and talents by providing delicious cheese and chocolate fondue along with various breads at this year's Fondue Fest in downtown Fond du Lac on September 6.  The event was a success as the fondue sold out and the students were able to raise money to support their culinary club activities.  

MOROCCO--MARCH 2014!!

Students, begin planning now for the next travel opportunity with the college. Spring Break 2014 -- Morocco Bound! Experience the magic and mystery of this fascinating kingdom and learn the language, customs, values, culinary classics and daily life in this coastal country in Northern Africa (it is approximately 9 miles from North Africa to Europe across the Straits of Gibraltar!).

 Hot mint tea service. Moroccan tradition has the server pour the tea from 2-3 feet from the glass.

 Fresh Atlantic catch of the day -- fresh grilled.

 Market

 Fishing fleets

Spice souk (market--fresh saffron, cinnamon and other spices)

Effective July 1, we will start marketing, promoting and encouraging participation in this adventure to the north of Africa. Our guided trip will be directed by a professional guide out of Madison, and Tom Endejan, culinary faculty, will facilitate the learning for the students. Plan now!!

Service Learning Student Recognition and VISTA grant opportunity

Thursday, May 2, Moraine Park celebrated and showcased student service projects from the semester. To make it even better, the culinary students provided the gourmet breakfast. The College service footprint in the Fond du Lac community topped 552 hours and almost $12,000--that number does not include several additional courses and projects not being tracked yet. We are very proud of the efforts of our faculty and students, seeking ways to enhance and strengthen our community connections through performance excellence.

 Members of both Brenda Schaefer's and Julie Dilling's courses from the spring 2013 semester.

 Overview of a service project.

 One group presents about their project with the Solutions Center.

Dr. Jim Eden, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Ms. Brenda Schaefer, S-L coordinator, Jenni Walsh, Executive Director of WiCC, and Dr. Sheila Ruhland, President of Moraine Park were on hand to celebrate and recognize our students' service efforts in the community.

 Q&A session

 The Culinary students delivered a beautiful gourmet breakfast to a packed room.

The College was also granted a VISTA volunteer to begin serving in August 2013. We are working with the Solutions Center to help heighten the awareness of poverty in our community. If you are interested in more information about the VISTA position, please contact Dr. Caron Daugherty at 920-924-3163 or cdaugherty@morainepark.edu.

The Weekend Wrap Up

This was the last weekend for the German students being in Fond du Lac, WI. It’s been a lot of fun hanging out with them. I became closer with them and learned more things than the first time I met them in May 2011. We all became family because we all experience the typical life in both countries. The weather was not so good, but that did not prevent us enjoying every moment with them. I came to realize how twelve days can go so fast. At first I thought the German students would be here for a long time, but actually it flew past like a blur.

On September 30, the German students came to Moraine Park Technical College for one last time to finish off their presentation and take group pictures. Afterwards they went to their host house and waited for the weekend activities. For dinner some hosts made some home cooked meal, as for me I went with some people to an Italian restaurant in Fond du Lac, WI named La Sicilia. This restaurant had good foods which are freshly made every day, and was less crowded than Ala Roma. The German student’s enjoyed their pizza and pasta. Afterwards of course we went to Target to get more food and a little shopping. Then we all went to a friend’s house to hangout playing games and watch television. Since we had to wake up early the next morning we did not stay too long. So we had a good night of rest to get ready for our cave tour.
On Saturday October 1, we got up around 7:30 a.m. to get ready for our Cave tour at Ledge View Nature Center in Chilton, WI. The tour was held by an Aussie lady who had an awesome accent and was an excellent tour guide. As we entered the cave some people didn’t last, so they headed back to wait until the tour was done. The brave ones challenged themselves to continue to go through the cave. Some parts of the cave were difficult because of tight angles crawling through. This adventure tour is an amazing sight to see in person, it is amazing the things you see underground. The cave tour took about two hours due to the size of our group. We did not get as dirty as I expected since the cave was dry from the lack of rain throughout the summer. Afterwards we went home to shower to get cleaned up before going to the mall in Appleton, WI. I stayed back to work on my homework and do my guests and my laundry. Once the German students and host came back from Appleton they all came to my house to hangout, play cards, and play pool. We played for a long time, and didn’t get to sleep until late but it wasn’t a problem since we were able to sleep in the next day.

Sunday October 2, was the last day of events for the German students. As I woke up I was shocked to notice the weather outside was finally nice. Although I wish the weather was nicer all week, but I was not complaining. For lunch we went to Qdoba which was delicious, you can never go wrong with freshly made food. Then we drove to Green Lake, WI for our boat tour of Green Lake at the Heidel House. We couldn’t ask for a perfect day for a tour, the breeze was pleasant. We saw some unique houses on the lake, and to see the colors of the trees were remarkable. Afterwards we headed to Instructor James’ house for our Farewell dinner. Since it was so nice out we decided to play some American football in the yard along with some yard games. It was nice seeing everybody having a good time talking to one another and enjoying being outside. Shortly afterwards it was time to eat which was prepared by Instructors James and Bill. They did an excellent job making tenderloins on the grill served with mashed potatoes, roasted corn, and peppers. Then a bonfire was started, we all sat around the fire and started to sing, playing guitars and remembering the priceless moments we had these past twelve days. Towards the end before people started to leave, gifts were passed to the Germans students and instructors for taking part of the exchange program. It was a bitter sweet moment because we were all having a good time, but sad since they were leaving the next morning.

We already talked about our plans when we go to visit them again in May 2012. There is already a countdown starting because we miss them so much. I like to say “never goodbye but instead say I’ll see you later”. Now the next step for the German student is that they would be in Madison Wisconsin then fly off to New York City for four days before flying back to Germany. I’ll make sure to keep their status in my blogs for the upcoming days.Well that’s all for now but more to come!

Merci,Lee IV

The Days Are Fast

Wednesday, September 28, was a fun, long productive day. It started off with my baking class. We finished making our Danishes and croissants. They came out really tasty and had a nice brown color to them. Learning how to make these pastries from scratch is really cool because I was able to make my own design and flavor. These are one of baking’s most popular selling items. After we packaged them, we put them on the selling rack, and the pastries are disappearing by the moment. In my next food production class we made breakfast sandwiches from bagels to wraps using eggs as the main ingredient. Everyone in class had a unique way of making their sandwiches, and those turned out really good too.

After class we got organized to see what the plans were for the night. We decided we could do a little shopping before we headed to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for dinner. The restaurant we picked was Red Robin “yumm.” I figured this was a good place for an excellent American burger. Some people had a difficult time trying to figure which burger they wanted to try, but when it was time to order they decided. Once the food came each person was satisfied with the food they picked. The burgers were warm, juicy and tasty. I have to say it hard to get a better than Red Robin. Later in the night we came back to my house, played pool, watched television and listened to music. It seemed like everybody was having a good time.

On Thursday, September 29, there was a tea party held for the German students. This event was prepared by Instructor Lois’ production class. They did an excellent job on prepping all the food and drinks. I missed this event because I had to work, but I heard nothing but good things about the tea party. At night we went paintballing at Do It All Sports in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin at night. Some people were a little nervous and chickened out for paintballing, but the brave ones came and played. Twelve of us played, and it turned out to be a good thrill. We split into teams to face one another. The anticipation of getting the first hit or getting hit by a paintball can be exhilarating. After playing five rounds of paintballing we finished early since it got dark outside. We headed inside to turn in our gear and talked about our bruises from the paintballs. We all agreed going paintballing was a good choice and hopefully we can go again.

Now it’s time to get ready for the weekend, which is sadly the last weekend for the German students already. Until then I’m going to enjoy every moment with them and hopefully you enjoy my future blogs.

Sayonara,
Lee IV

Our German Friends Arrive

Well it looks like everyone is here. We welcomed our guests at the Dane County Regional Airport yesterday and it was a mix of reunions and new meetings. Some of our student hosts have not yet travelled to Germany while others greeted their former hosts from May 2011.

Tom Endejan (MPTC Culinary Arts Baking Instructor) and I have been planning for our guests' arrival for quite some time now. We have a number of activities planned including a cave crawl, a yacht excursion and an afternoon tea, as well as a number of other doings.

Today, the culinary students welcomed some of  their German friends to visit their classes. Bagels and Lavosh were prepared in Mr. Endejan's class as were a number of sauces in Mr. Libby's class. Let's be frank; no one went home hungry.

I will keep everyone updated as the visit progresses...

James