Kirkwood Culinary Arts student shares learning experience from Camp Courageous
My reason for going to college is different than a lot of people. I’ve been attending Kirkwood Community College not to get a job but because of my job. For the past six years, I’ve worked in the dietary department at Camp Courageous of Iowa, a camp for people with special needs. When I started, I had no formal schooling in cooking, but lots of experience cooking and baking for my parents and six siblings.
As I continued working at Camp, I went from being an evening cook to the Lead Evening Cook. Several years after that, the Dietary Director asked if I would be his assistant. One of the requirements of the promotion was that I complete Kirkwood’s Food Service Assistant program. And that’s how this journey began!
One thing about food and cooking is that no matter how much you know there is always more to discover. I knew that before starting at Kirkwood and as I’ve continued my studies, I’ve become even more convinced of it. I’m continually amazed at the knowledge of ingredients and techniques my instructors have. They truly know their subject and have dedicated themselves to sharing that knowledge with others.
It is incredible to see all the different types of foods, ingredients and recipes. Eating need never be boring! God has created an astounding array of foods to delight and surprise our taste buds. And yes, even a few cause us to wonder why anyone would ever eat it!
I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with a variety of foods I’ve never dealt with before like squid, shrimp and oysters. Fabricating fish was new to me. I also used spices that I’d heard of before, but never used it. It was interesting to learn the cuisines of other cultures and see how filling your stomach and nourishing the body can be done in so many different ways!
One lab class that I was dreading was Dining Room Techniques. I had never worked in a restaurant, let alone a fine dining establishment and didn’t have the desire to do so. The thought of carrying trays of food and beverages seem rather scary. However now that I’ve made it through the semester I can say that I did enjoy it. Not every aspect, for the attention to certain details was frustrating and those trays could certainly be heavy! But I enjoyed the customers.
I also enjoyed it when the pace was busy, but not too busy. Busy enough that I kept moving taking orders, delivering food, presenting the dessert tray and taking care of the their payment, but also being able to give the customers the attention that they should receive in the Class Act.
It was interesting to see and learn new techniques and make new products in bakery. Baking is so much different than cooking and I enjoyed it. Making pastry cream, genoise cake, pavlova and Danish pastries were all new to me.
One of the challenges of my year at Kirkwood was balancing work, classes/labs, homework, commuting, the regular things of life, plus also dealing with losing my grandma, moving and having bad winter weather and roads. It’s good for a person to be challenged and stretched every so often. It helps you grow and appreciate things more.
Because of this year at Kirkwood, I feel more qualified to be the Assistant Dietary Director at Camp Courageous. Our meals at Camp are simple; spaghetti, tacos, chicken noodle casserole and so on. But it’s nice to have my knowledge go beyond that. It is also great to have my ServSafe certificate as well as my NRAEF ManageFirst Nutrition Certificate. Having these certifications is good for my role at Camp Courageous.
Going through Kirkwood’s Food Service Assistant program has given me much more experience in cooking and baking many different things as well as more knowledge in these areas. I am grateful for this opportunity and know that no matter what I do in the future, I’ll always be cooking!
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Kirkwood Culinary Arts student Jessica Kromminga shared the following in a recent newsletter for Camp Courageous. Based in Monticello, Camp Courageous was founded in 1972 as a year-round respite care and recreational facility for individuals of all ages with disabilities. The not-for-profit organization is operated 100 percent by private donations and provides services to anyone with disabilities.
More information is available at the organization Web site: www.campcourageous.org