Our next meeting of the ACF of Southeast Iowa will be held on Tuesday, February 7 at 5pm. The Book Vault (105 South Market Street) in Oskaloosa will be hosting us, and Amy Jensen from Allspice in Des Moines will be our featured speaker. Check out Allspice on the web at http://allspiceonline.com/.
Be sure to bring a friend and/or colleague to the meeting! We’re really starting to grow and want you to be involved!
I am extremely excited by the turnout and the discussion at our meeting last Tuesday, October 11, 2011. Thank you to Dick Williams, Director of Dining Services at Grinnell College, for hosting us. We recognized the newly elected board members, then began a lengthy discussion of the theme for the evening…how to grow our chapter.
First, we need to become a permanent chapter. We have been recognized as a provisional chapter by the national office; however, we are on a one-year probation during which we must bring our membership level to at least fifteen new members, develop by-laws and articles of incorporation, file for a tax EIN number from the IRS, establish our tax-exempt status and submit a charter fee of $300 to the national office. We have done everything but bring our membership level to fifteen new members, develop by-laws, and pay the charter fee. Right now I’m looking forward to receiving our charter at the ACF national convention in 2012 in Florida.
I have some ideas for how we can build our membership. First, we can experiment with changing our meeting times. There are some chefs who will never be able to attend meetings on Tuesday evenings, no matter where they are held. It was suggested that we alternate our monthly meetings between Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. It was also suggested that we schedule our monthly educational meetings at local restaurants and clubs in an effort to recruit their owners and chefs into our chapter. We can give these local restaurants and clubs our business, and at the same time make them aware of us and how our organization can help them grow their businesses. Perhaps we can establish an educational committee and, instead of just one person being solely responsible for finding educational opportunities for our meetings, that responsibility can be shared by the committee.
I also brought up the idea of establishing a presence on Facebook, an idea which seemed to elicit some excitement within the group. A student even suggested videotaping the educational portions of our meetings and posting the video on the web for those who are unable to attend, or for those who are interested to find out more about what we are doing. It was voted that we would pay a student’s annual membership to our chapter in exchange for maintaining our monthly e-mail newsletter. Jessica Magill expressed interest in that role.
Student Racine Ebelsheiser raised the idea of IHCC culinary students performing demonstrations for local high schoolers who are interested in the culinary arts. That will give the culinary students much needed practice and poise in the kitchen, and it will also be a great way to introduce people to our organization and what we do. She also suggested that we think about sponsoring a fundraising event with Make-a-Wish Foundation. Ideas like these will increase our exposure and help get the word out about our organization.
I also would like to see us have a committee to handle membership issues including recruiting and retention of members, welcoming new members, and overseeing elections. If there is any interest among the group, please let me know.
Perhaps one of the most exciting things that was brought up in the meeting is that Certified Master Chef Steve Jilleba might be available to hold a charcuterie demonstration for our chapter sometime this year. Chef Jim Nadeau suggested that, if Chef Jilleba were willing, he could do one demonstration for our chapter on the first day and hold a second day of demonstrations that would be open to chefs and interested parties from around the region. What an idea, if we can pull it off!
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 15 at Grinnell College. We hope to give IHCC students the opportunity to work in our kitchens here in Grinnell that morning, supervised by our chefs, in preparation for our Fire & Ice dinner the next day. Later that afternoon we will have a demonstration of ice carving by Chefs Jim Nadeau and Bill Gordish, and perhaps we will stage an ice-carving competition as well. More information about that meeting will be forthcoming shortly.
Yours,
Jamie L. Leonard, CEC
The November Meeting for the ACF of Southeastern Iowa will take place on Tuesday, November 15th at 5:00 pm at Grinnell College after prep work is finished for the Fire and Ice Competition. There will be a demonstration on ice carving before the meeting begins.
The Fire and Ice Competition will be on Wednesday, November 16th at Grinnell College. This will be an exciting experience for everyone!
An article written by Mariam Asaad & Katie Fenster on TheSandB.com can give you details of last years Fire and Ice Competition if you missed it.
School didn’t start too long ago for some of us. And for others it started right back up for the first, second or maybe even third or more time. But lets all face getting back into the routine can be kind of stressful. So, when first term students feel like givingup just remember that this isnt an easy program. No one ever said it would be. But EVERYONE had to do this to get the ball rolling. Look at it kind of like a snowman. You can never make the bottom ball without making a handheld one first. The upperclassmen did it, some of our guests have had to do it, and even our instructors had to do it!!!! WE ARE ALL STRONG AND ABLE! so how about we put our heads together, be there for one another, and have a FANTASTIC term!
Well, we’ve been down for a couple of months but now that the Fall Term at IHCC is in full swing, we’re beginning another season of productive monthly meeting time for our membership!
This month’s meeting will take place on Tuesday, September the 27th at 5 pm at our Studio in the Culinary Department of Indian Hills Community College. Be sure to attend and bring a colleague!
Congratulations to Grinnell College chef Adam Darland. Chef Darland recently passed his Certified Sous Chef written exam and has completed all the paperwork for the certification. He now wears a new, more colorful jacket and is lead chef in the mornings in the Grinnell College Marketplace kitchen. Nice job, Adam. All your hard work paid off.
…and while we’re handing out congratulations, pastry chef Donna Dowling from Grinnell College has passed her Certified Pastry Culinarian written exam and soon will be officially certified by the ACF. Chef Dowling will be leaving the country, returning to Canada, at the end of this month. We will miss her enthusiasm and her talents but wish her good luck in the next stage of her life.
…speaking of moving on, Chef Matt Meadows, formerly of Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, has taken a job with Isle of Capri Casinos. For two years Chef Meadows ran the hugely popular Culinary Classic culinary competition at Riverside, and the fundraising event recently received coverage by The National Culinary Review.
Our chapter, in collaboration with MICA (check this organization out at www.micaonline.org) and thanks to the volunteer efforts of several chefs and student chefs as well as contributions from foodservice companies, recently raised over $4,000 at a fundraising dinner and silent auction. Two-thirds of the money raised will go to MICA, which is completing renovations on its new home in Grinnell; the remaining money is slated to go to the ACF Chef & Child Foundation and local projects that encourage children and families to eat more healthily. If anyone has ideas for events that meet this criterion, by all means bring them forward so that we can put this money to good use.
And, finally, the time for electing new officers is nearly here. Send nominations to Chef Turley at turley@grinnell.edu. It’s time to step up and be a leader.
Chef Jamie L. Leonard
Riverside Casino and Golf Resort, a regional destination resort casino property located in Riverside, Iowa, 14 miles from Iowa City home of the “University of Iowa”, is seeking a qualified Executive Chef to oversee all aspects of the culinary program for the Food and Beverage department. The Food and Beverage program features multiple outlets including distinctive fine dining, high volume multiple station buffet, ala carte casual dining, Gourmet coffee, pastries and quick serve express outlet as well as full service banquets and event services.
The Executive Chef is primarily responsible for ensuring quality, consistency, and team member development on all levels in the culinary program. Additionally, this position is responsible for meeting all company and State Health Department rules and regulations.
Education and/or Experience
To view a full job description and to apply. Visit our website at:
www.riversidecasinoandresort.com
We were fortunate to experience yet another great event together in New Orleans! A few student images to share with our members!
ACF Central Regional Conference attendees let the good times roll, or, as they say in New Orleans, laissez les bon temps rouler. More than 500 chefs, students and foodservice professionals from across the Central Region made their way to one of the nation’s most famous culinary cities, New Orleans, for the 2011 American Culinary Federation Central Regional Conference, April 17–20, hosted by ACF New Orleans Chapter. Attendees “Experienced the Power of Connection” through several days of education, competitions, meal events, networking and a trade show, as well as learned from some of the region’s best chefs and indulged in the cuisine that made New Orleans famous.
The conference kicked off in true New Orleans fashion with a crawfish boil at the icebreaker reception. General Session featured the final season of Cooking Today by ACF Central Region Vice President David Russell, CEC, AAC. Joining him was Executive Chef Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace Restaurant, New Orleans. McPhail is a 2011 James Beard award finalist in the Best Chef South category. Other renowned New Orleans chefs at the conference included Susan Spicer, Paul Prudhomme, HAAC, HHOF, and John Folse CEC, AAC, HBOT. Spicer, chef/owner of Bayona, demonstrated the use of local New Orleans ingredients, such as crayfish, yellowfin tuna, rabbit and more in “Flavors of the World with a New Orleans Twist.” Prudhomme, chef/owner of K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen and Magic Seasoning Blends Inc., shared his expertise in differentiating the quality of herbs and spices and layering flavors through bronzing and blackening, as well as the development of the four fundamental traditional roux in “Louisiana Heritage Cuisine.” Folse, CEO/owner of Chef John Folse & Company, took attendees on a journey into the past, when seven nations blended to form the foundation of Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole cuisine in “Louisiana’s Swamp Floor Pantry.” As the locals say, joie de vivre (the joy of living) in New Orleans.
April 20, the one-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board sponsored “The Gulf Coast: A Year Later.” This two-part session began with representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Food & Drug Administration and Louisiana health agencies discussing testing and the protocols involved to ensure the safety of gulf seafood in “Gulf Seafood—How We Know It’s Safe.” Then members of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, appointed by President Barack Obama, addressed the causes of the oil spill, ways to guard against future disasters and details of their commission report presented to the president in “The State of Our Waters.”
The American Academy of Chefs Dinner, held at the New Orleans Marriott, featured famous New Orleans culinary delights by Executive Chef Mark Quitney. ACF New Orleans Chapter members outdid themselves at the Best Chefs of Louisiana fundraiser, which benefited local charities such as The International School of Louisiana, Liberty’s Kitchen, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans, Chef Duke Foundation for Kids and the ACF-NO Scholarship Fund. From the food and live jazz to the meet-and-greet with some of New Orleans’ most notable chefs, it was an evening of Southern hospitality as its best.
A new English-Spanish version of Meat Buyer’s Guide – the most comprehensive meat and poultry identification manual available is now available from the North American Meat Processors Association. It is designed for Hispanic users in the US and Canada, as well as the Mexican meat industry. Side-by-side Spanish translations of the English text in the latest edition of the Guide NAMP issued last March is featured.
The scope of the new edition goes beyond the US and Canada to include new information about federal government regulations in Mexico – in keeping with NAMP’s mission as a North American association.
NAMP partnered with the US Meat Export Federation on the project.
The new bilingual guide meets a growing need in the US among Hispanic users, NAMP relays. Forty-eight million Latinos now wield buying power in excess of $1 trillion and represent an increasingly important consumer segment for marketers in a post-recession economy.
Orders may be placed through the NAMP Web site: www.namp.com. Urner Barry is handling all fulfillment, marketing and sales. Copies also may be ordered at its toll-free sales line +1 800.932.0617 and by e-mail at namp@urnerbarry.com.
I spoke with Urner at our ACF Regional Conference in New Orleans last week. My copy is in the mail!
Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller
A Word on Wine A Word on Food ACF of S.E. Iowa Hill’s Kitchen American Culinary Federation
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