By: Jordon Lawrenz, Daniel Bestul, Greg Bintz, and Zach Glander
On Tuesday, February 21st, the University of Wisconsin Green-Bay dining hosted its second “Teaching Kitchen” event of the spring semester. The first event of the semester took place in January, with future events planned monthly throughout the rest of the semester. Kylie Heisz is the Marketing Coordinator at UWGB who has been working in her role for roughly a year now.
The featured poster for February’s “Teaching Kitchen event” with Olive Oil Salad Dressings as the featured food item. (Photo Credit: UWGB Dining)
Heisz stated, “Our Teaching Kitchens provide the opportunity for students to learn different cooking techniques, recipes, and ingredients they typically wouldn’t see or make.” She continued, “It also provides them the opportunity to ask questions and connect with our registered dietician while learning about what the foods they’re making do for their body and the health benefits they provide.” Kirsten White is the registered dietician on campus who attends each Teaching Kitchen event.
After winter break, UWGB dining made some changes to the way Teaching Kitchen operated, “We revamped it to be more interactive and in a non-dining location this semester.” Heisz commented.
UWGB students partake in the final steps of creating their signature olive oil salad dressing. (Photo Credit: Kylie Heisz)
For the February event, Heisz explains the decision to move to Roy Downham Hall, “By partnering with Housing to use a dorm, we were able to actually go to the students and be able to create a better teaching/learning environment.”
Attendance for Teaching Kitchen has consistently been on the rise. While it is only Heisz’s first year, she’s been noticing this trend, “We saw a large jump in interest and attendees during our first Teaching Kitchen in January versus what we saw in the fall semester, and we hope to continue seeing the uphill trend.”
February’s event was a hit. With salads as the food item focused on for the month, one of the attendees at Roy Downham Hall shared their experience, “I’m graduating and living on my own, so I thought this would be some great experience to have,” Alaina Mueller, a UWGB senior, stated.
All of the ingredients were supplied and labeled with measuring cups right in front, creating a great environment for rookie chefs to pick up on. (Photo Credit: Kylie Heisz)
Mueller is a history major, and this wasn’t her first time attending, “I went to the first one this semester and really enjoyed it!”
Overall, the decision for salads this month was well thought out, “We’re doing the Olive Oil Salad Dressings as a way to educate about Omega 3’s since it is heart health month!” Heisz said.
When students entered the event, they were met with three cards featuring different vinaigrettes. Cilantro Lime, Asian, and Balsamic were the main options, but everyone was encouraged to “wing it” and create whatever they wanted. The kitchen counter was lined with all the necessary ingredients, along with some additional add-ons such as strawberries and raspberries. A giant bowl of salad mix topped it all off for students to enjoy their vinaigrette.
Cilantro Lime, Asian, and Balsamic were the supplied recipes to create a vinaigrette. (Photo Credit: Jordon Lawrenz)
With February’s event in the rearview mirror, the next date to mark on the calendar is Tuesday, March 28th. The event takes place after spring break and features a unique theme, “We’re doing Golden Milk!” Heisz exclaimed. Golden Milk is a turmeric-spiced drink. The tentative location is once again in the kitchen of Roy Downham Hall.
As of right now, Heisz mentioned, “We have events planned for February, March, and April. Each will provide a recipe focused on different foods with varying health benefits.” Students should keep an eye out for more details regarding the March sign-up, along with when the event in April will take place. Students are asked to sign-up ahead of time using the QR code on the poster in order to make sure there is the correct number of supplies for everyone.