On April 18, 2018, Virginia Cooperative Extension sponsored a continuing education event with US Foods in Salem, VA, for our Master Food Volunteers and Extension Agents.  Just like the continuing education event held at Virginia State University on April 10, this event was also designed to help us enhance our food demonstration skills to entice our program participants to try new new foods and news ways of eating.

Our featured chef was Chef Jeff Bland with US Foods.  He has more than 34 years experience as a chef working in various restaurants and foodservice establishments, including Walt Disney and Le Petite France! He is also a Food Fanatics Chef and culinary master and is regularly featured in a variety of cooking shows and events around the country.  We were very fortunate to have him with us for this event.  Click HERE to learn more about the Food Fanatics Chefs at US Foods.

Chef Bland emphasized the importance of keeping our food demonstrations simple so that we can focus more on engaging our audiences.  How can we keep our audiences more engaged?  Ask questions, invite participation from the audience, and when possible, share stories about the foods we are preparing. He also discussed his best practices for being prepared before and during the demonstration and how to recover from mishaps.

Chef Bland first demonstrated how to prepare some tasty recipes.  Our menu included baked chicken with a honey and lemon sauce, mixed vegetables with balsamic vinegar, and mixed grains.  Once he demonstrated how to prepare the food, we worked in groups to practice our demonstration skills and prepared our own versions of these recipes.  We were also encouraged to try any different ingredients we could find in the classroom kitchen to really make it our own recipe.

Here are some great pictures of our prepared foods:

Here are some great pictures of our group demonstrations:

At the end of the event, we recognized the great work our volunteers and agents are doing in our local communities. It was also an opportunity to share new ideas for programs.

It was a another great day, and we wish to thank our Master Food Volunteers and Extension Agents who participated in this training:

We also wish to acknowledge Virginia Cooperative Extension for providing this training opportunity for us; to US Foods for their staff, facility, and resources ; and to Mr. Zeke Barlow and Mr. Tim Skiles with the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Communications and Marketing for coordinating and taking all of these great photos.

Many thanks to Dr. Carlin Rafie, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise for co-facilitating this workshop with me.  Also many, many thanks to Chef Jeff for sharing his time and expertise with us. We appreciate his valuable tips and techniques that we can use in our educational programs!

Submitted by Dr. Melissa Chase, State Coordinator, Master Food Volunteer Program

 

 

 

 

On April 10, 2018, Virginia Cooperative Extension sponsored a continuing education event for our Master Food Volunteers and Extension Agents at Virginia State University.  This event was designed to help us enhance our food demonstration skills as Extension professionals to spark interest in new foods and ways of eating with our program participants. This event was one of two continuation events held in April, and this blog will be the first of two blogs about them.

For this first event held at Virginia State University, Chef Christal Jett, from Johnson & Wales, was our featured chef.  She shared her best practices for making our food demonstrations more engaging. Chef Jett has more than 25 years experience as a chef, and she has previously owned and operated her own businesses.  We were delighted to have her with us!

Chef Jett started the event with a demonstration of how to make an easy and tasty recipe, Hoisin Ginger Rice Noodles.  She emphasized that demonstration recipes need to be simple, and they need to have maximum flavor and minimal ingredients.  Chef Jett also shared some tips for planning a demonstration, overcoming mishaps, and what do to if we are missing a specific ingredient.

After Chef Jett finished her demonstration, Ms. Katie Strong, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, showed us how easy it is to use available technology, such as cell phones or iPads with a tripod, a computer, a display monitor on the wall, and a projector, to help us easily view the techniques being demonstrated.

We practiced our demonstration skills in smaller groups while making the Hoison Ginger Vegetable Rice Noodle.  And yes, we got to eat it!

We observed some great demonstrations in our groups!

At the end of the day, we recognized the great work our volunteers and agents are doing in our communities. This was also a great opportunity to share ideas for new programs.

It was a great day, and we wish to thank our Master Food Volunteers and Extension Agents who participated in this training.

We also wish to acknowledge Virginia Cooperative Extension for providing this opportunity for us; to Virginia State University (VSU) for their staff support, training location, and resources for this program; and to Ms. Michelle Olgers and Mr. Paul Meyer with the VSU Department of Marketing and Communications for coordinating and taking all of these great photos.

Many thanks to Dr. Carlin Rafie, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, and Ms. Katie Strong, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, for co-facilitating this workshop with me.

Also many thanks to Chef Jett for sharing her time and expertise with us. We all came away with valuable tips and techniques that we can use in our educational programs!

Submitted by Dr. Melissa Chase, State Coordinator, Master Food Volunteer Program