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Greetings from the Program Chair Hospitality & Foodservice Management
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Greetings,

I had a wonderful time last Friday at the HCSA Ruth’s Chris event.  I want to extend my thanks to Chef Tony Gale of Ruth’s Chris for the fantastic meal and warm hospitality.  I am sure it is a meal and experience many students will remember. 

Congratulations to the new officers of HCSA,

I look forward to working with you this coming school year.

The 9,000+ square feet Culinary Arts facility is coming together nicely.  I sincerely appreciate the insight from Chef Tom Severs - Associate Faculty (Martin Preferred Foods) and Chef Michael Mudrone (Embassy Suites - Frisco) for their input into the final equipment plan for the facility.  The next step is to get the plans approved.  The construction will start in March 2008.  The facility will be open for culinary classes Spring 2009.

I hope you are all having a good semester.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving Holiday!

Cheers!

Karen

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Sheila Kao
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Sheila Kao in the Kitchen

Thanks to the hard work of the students from the 1^st 8 weeks’ classes, we kept the kitchen in a good shape.  All that hard scrubbing paid off!  We received a “100” from the Allen health inspector last week.

The 2^nd 8 week classes started with much enthusiasm. 

The Intermediate Food Prep class embarked on the process of meat fabrication and practicing on cooking methods.  They started on poultry, seafood and shellfish and they are on their way to meats and game. 

The American Regional Cuisine class has great fun exploring the regional recipes that are unique and delicious.  It certainly is hard to find Frogmore Stew or Tropical Tuber Torta in any of the restaurants around Collin County. 

Students of the International Cuisine class started out their food journey from China to Middle East.  After a hop to Mexico, they will travel through Europe.  Joel Lunde of American Roland Food graciously stopped by the class to give a tasting of international ingredients.  He comes to us directly from a previous week’s visit with the Advanced Food Prep class.  We are fortunate to have such an avid supporter like Joel in our program.

Exciting news also come from the Plated Dessert class.  Chef Michele Brown brought her many years of experience from New York to our kitchen.  We have a group of pastry loving students busy making petit fours and mini tarts. It will be a treat to taste their work at the Pastry Showcase in conjunction with Gingerbread House Competition on December 5^th at the library of Preston Ridge campus.

November will be a busy month for us all in or outside of the kitchen.

The heat is on and we are ready to take the challenge!

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HCSA Corner
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President's Letter

Welcome to the Hospitality and Culinary Student Association.  HCSA is an organization with the purpose of enhancing and enriching students in the fields of hospitality and culinary.  It is our desire to offer unique and fulfilling networking opportunities, with exposure to beneficial resources, information and experiences.

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Special Features
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Rockin’ The Ridge

HCSA teamed up with The Hospitality and Food Service Program at the Preston Ridge Campus for the Rockin’ the Ridge event on October 3.  10 dozen cookies were provided by Sheila Kao, Jeff Spickler and Chef Haas’ Fundamentals of Baking class.  One tray was good ole’ reliable chocolate chip cookies and the other tray was an assortment of fall inspired cookies made by the Baking class.  We began handing the cookies at 11:30 and by noon they were all gone.  What a record!   

It was successful with the help of (from left to right) Maite Rodriguez-Palma, Colynn Tennyson, Meredith Pewitt and Ashley Svane.  Berty Custodio arrived for her shift at 12:30, but by then we were all out of cookies.  However, we still had plenty of smiles to go around.  It should be noted that Heather Thacker and Tim Valis also volunteered to help, but realized we already had enough help for this event. 

Thanks again to all for having the willingness to become active in HCSA and representing us well!

Chef’s Table at Ruth’s Chris Steak House

A special thanks to Kathryn Martin, Regional Chef Tony Gale and Chef Charles Miller for hosting a fantastic dinner on October 26.  HCSA Elections took place and we would like to welcome and congratulate all the new officers. 

From left to right:  Jonathon Azevedo (Treasurer), Amy Brown (Secretary), Meredith Pewitt (Vice-President), Cynthia Stafford (President), Barbara McCauley (Historian) and Tim Valis (Marketing and Promotions)

Our Newest Addition

Welcome Pastry Chef Michele Brown!

We’ll be sure to feature her in our December newsletter to learn more about her and all the excitement happening in the Plated Desserts class.

Looking for a new lunch or dinner stop close to PRC?

Come visit Dagwood’s Sandwich Shop at The Center at Preston Ridge

3231 Preston Road, Suite #8 next to Down Under Pub

Check out their exciting menu at www.dagwoods.us.com

Can you name the 21 items in the Dagwood Sandwich?

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Calendar of Events
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Tip of the MONTH:  Don’t get caught up in the DRAMA, focus on good communication skills and if all fails, find your sense of adventure and LAUGH!

Check out www.laughbreak.com under Lists and STUFF to PONDER to find something to laugh about or my personal fave www.youtube.com Numa Numa (I dare you just can’t watch one.)

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Student's Favorite Recipe
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Pumpkin Risotto with Amarone Sauce

By Ashley Svane

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 (3/4 to 1 pound) pumpkin, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 fresh bay leaves

3 cups vegetable stock, plus 1 cup vegetable stock

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

1 tablespoon butter

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 recipe Amarone sauce, recipe follows

Pumpkin Purée:

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil and then add the onions.

Gently fry until soft and translucent. Add the pumpkin, bay leaves and 1 cup

of the vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and cover. Steam over low heat for

15 to 20 minutes. Add a tablespoon of remaining stock to the pumpkin base

and mash it down into a purée using the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.

Risotto:

In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat some olive oil and add the rice. Add

the remaining stock and cook for 12 minutes with the lid on until the stock

has been absorbed, the rice is al dente, and has a lovely creamy

consistency. Add the pumpkin puree into the risotto pan and stir together.

Finally, add freshly grated Parmesan and butter to the pan and stir well.

Season with sea salt and pepper.  Serve the risotto on individual plates and spoon the Amarone Wine Sauce over the top.

Amarone Wine Sauce

2 cups Amarone wine

Kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 bay leaf

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1 cup water

In a medium-sized pan, heat the Amarone wine, a pinch of salt, sugar, bay leaf, and cinnamon.

Stir well and heat over a low flame until the sugar is dissolved.

In a small bowl, mix together the water and flour.

Gradually add the flour and water mixture to the pan, continually stirring, until the sauce has the desired consistency and flour is cooked (the sauce should be clear).

Enjoy!

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
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Name: Ashley Svane

Culinary student

Coffee or Tea drinker: Neither...gross

Astrological sign:  Aries

Born and raised in:  I was born on Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma and

raised in Denison, Texas. 

My greatest joy is: Traveling and thunderstorms 

My life would be so much easier if...there was more time in the day. 

The last restaurant I ate at was...A Chili's in Houston, Tx 

Three people who I would invite to my last meal:  Jesus Christ, Cher, David Beckham

An Inspirational Poem

from a friend, Katherine Ewig, who had passed away Feb 14, 2004:

Life isn't about keeping score. It's not about how many people call you and

it's not about who you've dated, are dating, or haven't dated at all. It

isn't about who you've kissed, what sport you play, or which guy or girl

likes you. It's not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin

or where you live or go to school. In fact, it's not about grades, money,

clothes, or colleges that accept you or not. Life just isn't about if you

have lots of friends, or if you are alone, and it's not about how accepted

or unaccepted you are. Life just isn't about that.

But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It's about how you feel

about yourself. It's about trust, happiness, and compassion. It's about

sticking up for your friends and replacing inner hate with love. Life is

about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance, and building confidence. It's

about what you say and what you mean. It's about seeing people for who they

are and not what they have. Most of all, it is about choosing to use your

life to touch someone else's in a way that could never have been achieved

otherwise. These choices are what life's about.

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Thinking corner
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Thinking Corner

By Vernie Sandbekkhaug

A funny thing happened…on our way to a Fall Band Concert last week which was to begin at 7 pm.  Two of my children were performing and had to be at school by 6:30 pm.  At exactly 6:18 pm as we were heading out the door, our dog, Beckham, bolted out the door, notorious for chasing rabbits.  You should know that he does not know his way back home – that’s how we got him in the first place, courtesy of the Plano Animal Shelter.  In our state of panic, half of us ran after him and the other half stood arguing whose fault it was.  Time was ticking and we still could not find him.  Between the bickering and the sense that we were soon to lose the sunlight, my older son said, “don’t say negative things…because it just might happen.”  That was a proud moment for me as I realized he caught on to the power of positive thinking.  I drove the boys to school and headed back with my daughter to look for Beckham (aka the great Houdini) all the while keeping positive.  And within minutes of our house, we found him. 

My point is that sometimes, we don’t always have the ability to foresee how things will turn out, but we should always try to keep an open and positive outlook of the end result.  This is the power of positive visualization.  That little shift in perspective really does work in our favor.

Last week, the previous President of HCSA was bombarded with one last thing to do before ending her term.  That was, changing the bulletin boards on each campus with a very short deadline.  A competition was headed our way and we had little time to prepare.  Communication was a bit strained mostly because we all lead hectic schedules.  As I scrambled to obtain information to create some things to post, I also heard about a student, Rachel Lee, who decided to generously provide her energy and time.  Without her initiative, support and creativity, HCSA would not have been able to win 1^st place at SCC.  Thank you, Rachel!  Thanks also to Cynthia, Meredith, and Randy for placing 3^rd at Preston Ridge Campus. 

I learned that success is really about the team that can communicate with genuine courtesy towards each other so that a job well done can be accomplished.  After all, isn’t that what hospitality is all about?  Just a little something to think about…

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Hospitality Culinary Students Association Thanksgiving Pie Sale
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Does the thought of preparing those pies for Thanksgiving overwhelm you?  If it does we have just the break you need.  HCSA is having a Thanksgiving Pie Sale.   We are creating five pies for your Thanksgiving enjoyment.  Limited quantities available.

The choices are:  (All Fresh Baked)

Apple Crumb Pie                                                                   $12.00 per pie

Pecan Pie                                                                              $12.00 per pie

Pumpkin Pie                                                                          $10.00 per pie

Dad’s Sweet One Apple Pie with NO sugar added               $10.00 per pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie                                                            $14.00 per pie

Just send us an email at HCSA@ccccd.edu with your choice(s), name, address, phone number, email and which campus you would like to pick them up at.  Pick up is available at SCC, PRC and CPC.  Pick up will be on Tuesday, November 20 from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm.

ORDERS TAKEN UNTIL NOVEMBER 12, 2007 or until sold out!

ALL PROCEEDS WILL BE DONATED TO THE COLLIN COUNTY CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTER

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Contact Details
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If you are interested in submitting an article, a thought, any events you want to promote within the hospitality and food industry, or if you simply like seeing your name in print, don’t be shy, we would love to hear from you!

For more information on any activity in this mail, please contact Vernie at vsandbekkhaug@ccccd.edu

For more information about CCCCD and its Hospitality & Food Service Management programs, please contact Karen Musa at

kmusa@ccccd.edu or 972-377-1672 or visit http://www.ccccd.edu/hospitality