WORCESTER, Mass. – If you have ever dreamed of going to culinary school, are sick and tired of eating the same old thing night after night, or just wanted a quick way to get dinner on the table—then look no further than Crusader Cuisine—a new program at the College of the Holy Cross that lets you prepare, assemble and freeze tasty and healthy dinners for future meals.
Dining services and human resources teamed up to turn the catering kitchen into an evening of mingling, chopping, seasoning, cooking and packaging entrees under the guidance of Chef Charles Manyak.
“I try to make things easier for you to cook at home,” says Manyak, who has worked at the College since 2003.
For $45 participants receive 12 meals to bring home that they can freeze or serve. The latest menu included pork cutlet roulade, roasted pub potatoes, seasoned buttered whole green beans, lemon crusted tilapia, confetti corn, and brown rice pilaf.
“It was a lot of fun and great to meet people from across campus,” says Bonnie Johnson, participant and payroll supervisor. “The hardest part was carrying all the food to the car!”
Manyak teaches you tricks and tools to use in the kitchen and can answer any food-related question you throw at him.
“It's exciting and I learned plenty of great cooking tips to use in the future,” explains Heather Dudek, participant and senior business analyst in information technology services. “The program is an excellent value - a fun learning experience plus an enormous amount of food to take home and share. I got rave reviews when I served my guests the pork roulade for dinner.”
How it all came about: “We wanted to bring members of the Holy Cross community together in a social setting that was fun and engaging,” says Susan Hunt, organizational development specialist in human resources. “The idea of a cooking session with one of our esteemed chefs at the College started to form.”
Linda Nardella, director of dining services, hopes to expand the program in the future by offering it to students.
A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, Manyak previously worked at the Colonial Restaurant in Webster and the Publick House in Sturbridge.
For more information or to sign up for the next class send an e-mail to CrusaderCuisine@holycross.edu.
Related Information:
New Dining Services Program for Faculty and Staff Offers Food and Fun
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