Tara and me with the bikers!
Tara and me with Tracy and Leon (our food demonstrators)
Leon with his turkeys!Yesterday was completely, 100%, amazing! Paul took Tara and me to see so much in one day—I cannot begin to thank him for such a wonderful adventure!
First of all, we left MSU around 7:30 AM to get to Billings, MT to visit Western Marketing (the largest foodservice brokerage in Montana) for a deli meat cutting. Paul had mentioned that he was ready for a change in the turkey breast that MSU was using to make sandwiches, so we were expecting to taste some turkey and possibly a few other items that the brokers wanted us to see. When we arrived at Western Marketing, we were met by Rhonda, who welcomed us and showed us down to the test kitchen and display room. I was immediately excited because it looked like the set of a cooking show or food infomercial! There was a long table top that was lined with huge turkey breasts and huge containers of sauces. Industrial fryers, toasters, range tops, and ovens lined one side of the table, and 4 tall director’s chairs lined the other. Rhonda gave us a tour of the cooler, freezer, and dry stock room where the brokerage keeps all of the food and supplies that it uses to do food demonstrations like the one we were about to see. We then looked into the kitchen, which contained a 3 compartment sink, countertops, a dishwasher, a conventional, and a convection oven. We were then sat down in our director’s chairs and sat back for the ride.
The demonstration started off with Leon and Tracy (brokers that work for Western Marketing) educating us about various types of turkey breasts, how they are bound together, and how different types of turkey breasts are used for different purposes (deli sandwiches, entrée style cut of meat, casseroles, etc). As they cut each one for us to see, we were able to try each one, including the exact product that MSU currently uses. After the turkey, it was time to taste the sauces. Leon and Tracy poured out each type of sauce into a bowl and stuck a spoon into each. They fried up some skinless chicken wings and gave us some homemade potato chips to dip into the various sauces. Tara and I were completely enjoying ourselves and loving this entertainment and somewhat “star” treatment. Once the sauces were cleaned up, the craziness began. Leon and Tracy took turns showing us product after product, cooking up dish after dish. The items we tried include, but are not limited to: funnel cake fries, pretzel poppers, Dipnsides (a new spin on mozzarella sticks which include a tortilla chip breaded queso stick and a spinach and artichoke dip stick), and sweet potato waffle fries. While we were noshing on all this food, a sales manager from Cuisine Innovations/New Wave Cuisine, Ken, began showing us a buffet of high end appetizers. This list included, but is not limited to: crab cakes, shrimp Creole appetizer, asparagus appetizer, spinach and feta appetizer, quiches, and petite fours. These were all quite impressive, decadent, and delicious! It made me want to have a holiday party. Much to our surprise, Tracy and Leon came back out to show us even more products! The entire affair took from about 11 AM – 1:30 PM. Needless to say, we were more than satiated and were in an information overload state of mind (but in a good way!). We chatted for a bit about the products that we liked and could see being a success at MSU and then said our goodbyes. I really enjoyed seeing Leon, Tracy, and Ken doing their jobs. I love to cook and think that I would enjoy doing this type of job somewhere in my future!
First of all, we left MSU around 7:30 AM to get to Billings, MT to visit Western Marketing (the largest foodservice brokerage in Montana) for a deli meat cutting. Paul had mentioned that he was ready for a change in the turkey breast that MSU was using to make sandwiches, so we were expecting to taste some turkey and possibly a few other items that the brokers wanted us to see. When we arrived at Western Marketing, we were met by Rhonda, who welcomed us and showed us down to the test kitchen and display room. I was immediately excited because it looked like the set of a cooking show or food infomercial! There was a long table top that was lined with huge turkey breasts and huge containers of sauces. Industrial fryers, toasters, range tops, and ovens lined one side of the table, and 4 tall director’s chairs lined the other. Rhonda gave us a tour of the cooler, freezer, and dry stock room where the brokerage keeps all of the food and supplies that it uses to do food demonstrations like the one we were about to see. We then looked into the kitchen, which contained a 3 compartment sink, countertops, a dishwasher, a conventional, and a convection oven. We were then sat down in our director’s chairs and sat back for the ride.
The demonstration started off with Leon and Tracy (brokers that work for Western Marketing) educating us about various types of turkey breasts, how they are bound together, and how different types of turkey breasts are used for different purposes (deli sandwiches, entrée style cut of meat, casseroles, etc). As they cut each one for us to see, we were able to try each one, including the exact product that MSU currently uses. After the turkey, it was time to taste the sauces. Leon and Tracy poured out each type of sauce into a bowl and stuck a spoon into each. They fried up some skinless chicken wings and gave us some homemade potato chips to dip into the various sauces. Tara and I were completely enjoying ourselves and loving this entertainment and somewhat “star” treatment. Once the sauces were cleaned up, the craziness began. Leon and Tracy took turns showing us product after product, cooking up dish after dish. The items we tried include, but are not limited to: funnel cake fries, pretzel poppers, Dipnsides (a new spin on mozzarella sticks which include a tortilla chip breaded queso stick and a spinach and artichoke dip stick), and sweet potato waffle fries. While we were noshing on all this food, a sales manager from Cuisine Innovations/New Wave Cuisine, Ken, began showing us a buffet of high end appetizers. This list included, but is not limited to: crab cakes, shrimp Creole appetizer, asparagus appetizer, spinach and feta appetizer, quiches, and petite fours. These were all quite impressive, decadent, and delicious! It made me want to have a holiday party. Much to our surprise, Tracy and Leon came back out to show us even more products! The entire affair took from about 11 AM – 1:30 PM. Needless to say, we were more than satiated and were in an information overload state of mind (but in a good way!). We chatted for a bit about the products that we liked and could see being a success at MSU and then said our goodbyes. I really enjoyed seeing Leon, Tracy, and Ken doing their jobs. I love to cook and think that I would enjoy doing this type of job somewhere in my future!
Paul had been telling us since the beginning that after our Western Marketing meeting, we would be driving through Red Lodge Montana and would then enter Yellowstone Park from that side. I was expecting a normal car ride through Montana—boy was I wrong! After stopping off in the town of Red Lodge to walk down Main Street and say hello to a friend of Paul’s, we started driving towards the Bear Tooth Mountains and Shoshone National Forest. Paul kept on saying “see that mountain? That’s where we’re going”. I’ve driven through plenty of mountains in my life, so I wasn’t expecting too much. Well, when we got to the base of the mountain, I knew something was different. First of all, Paul told us that these roads are where car commercials are filmed sometimes (you know, the commercials with the cars driving through winding roads near snow-capped mountains?). As we climbed the mountain, weaving through switchbacks, there were beautiful sights to see. Paul pulled off at an over look almost at the very top so that we could get out and take a look. The view was absolutely breathtaking. There were lots of people at the overlook taking pictures and enjoying the view. We asked a group of bikers who were on vacation to take our picture. Of course, the agreed and took our picture. Then they asked us to take their picture. After all the picture taking was over, we began to make small talk with them—it was pretty neat! They told us about all the places they had been and where they were going. As we continued to drive, we pulled off at a few more overlooks to see mountains and valleys and a lake with crystal clear waters. At one point, we were at almost 11,000 ft elevation!
Once we made it down the other side of the mountain, we drove into Yellowstone, passed a few buffalo, some elk, and a fox on the side of the road. We finally made it to Canyon, where we were going to tour the kitchen. We were met at Canyon by a guy named Joseph who then got the one of the chefs, Jesse, to show us around the kitchen. We got to tour the main kitchen, the employee dining room, and the employee pub. This was a good experience because we got to see a large kitchen right after the dinner rush—what a crazy time!
After we left Canyon, we visited the Brink of the Lower Falls, which is a pretty mild hike that we did last weekend while in Yellowstone. We decided to visit again because: 1. it’s amazing and 2. Tara had never been before. When we had fully enjoyed its beauty, we headed out of the park. On our way out of the park, WE SAW A GRIZZLY BEAR! There were a bunch of people parked in the middle of the road and out taking pictures. Tara and I grabbed my camera and headed for the side of the road. The bear was right down by the bank and was wallowing in the grass. We were probably way too close to this bear to be completely safe, but it was still hard to get a good photo—oh well, I saw it with my own 2 eyes!!
We exited the park at Gardiner and then headed out to one of Paul’s old hangouts to get a late dinner. We left around 10:45 PM to make our way home. Finally, after a dark and tired ride, we finally made it back home.
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thats a long one... twss :P
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