This quarter, I have to do a 100 hour internship to complete my Bachelor degree. For this internship I have decided to work at a catering company by the name of Occasions Chicago. I was lucky enough to get a paid internship, receiving $9.00 an hour. I was supposed to start working week one, but due to "lack of events", I was told to start week two. I was very nervous about losing that week, and making my quota of weekly hours. So, my week started off by prepping Thursday and Friday morning at 7 am, with the event actual being Saturday.

I arrived on time, and got right to work. Cutting, prepping and doing everything that I could do. I was very nervous the whole time. Going into a new place and or having a new experience can always be frightening, but you have to push yourself and get the job done. Another issue that was a problem was the lack of space; there was none! I never thought a kitchen of that size could produce that much food in bulk for events. The first day seemed to fly by and before I knew it was 2 pm and time for us to go.

One thing that I noticed immediately was one specific appetizer that was on their menu. It was bacon wrapped dates. It was brought to my attention because I can remember making them in my Garde Manger class at RMU. My boss says the bacon wrapped dates are one of their biggest selling points; and they are so easy and inexpensive to make. It is also nice to see things that we have learned at RMU in the actual field; makes me feel good about choosing RMU for culinary and they know trends.

Saturday was the big day and we ended up catering a wedding at a place called Architectural Chicago. It was a very interesting commerce, with weird and old objects. This location also did not have a formal kitchen and we literally were plating and setting up feet from the actual reception; only a thin steel door away so we had to be quiet the whole time. The event seemed to run smoothly with only a 15 min delay. I had the plating job of saucing the fish and beef. My involvement was minimal but I suspect that it was due to the fact that it was my first event in which I worked. More interesting stories to come!