Victoria Neely

Whenever I have to study for a test, I find it’s not enough to casually read through the material. You have to actively commit certain facts to memory, such as the first five stages of yeast production, or the curdling temperature of an egg. I started writing things down on flashcards, but all those annoying little paper cards added up until they were getting mixed up or lost.

Then I discovered online quizzes. No, not silly time-wasting quizzes that help you find out which My Little Pony you are. I mean quizzes you can make for yourself as a study aid.

I use ProProfs to make my own quizzes based on the textbooks for my classes. The service is free and simple to use. Once you make a quiz based on a particular chapter, you can take it as many times as you want to see how well you remember the material. It helps the facts “stick” in your head and shows which areas you might need to brush up on. The downside, of course, is that making a good quiz is time consuming. I found it was usually worth the effort, though, and the quizzes can be shared with other people.

Here is a list of culinary quizzes made using ProProfs:

ServSafe:
ServSafe by the Numbers
ServSafe Coursebook Chapter 2: The Microworld
ServSafe Coursebook Chapter 10: Food Safety Management System
ServSafe Coursebook Chapter 11: Sanitary Facilities and Equipment

Intro to Baking:
On Baking – Principles of Baking
On Baking – Quick Breads
On Baking – Yeast Breads
On Baking – Pies and Tarts
On Baking – Cookies and Brownies
On Baking – Cakes and Icings
Troubleshooting Yeast Breads

Soups and Stocks:
On Cooking – Sauce Families
On Cooking – Cold Soups
On Cooking – Bisques and Chowders
On Cooking: Thick Soups

Pantry and Breakfast:
On Cooking – Eggs and Breakfast
On Cooking – Sandwiches
On Cooking – Salads and Salad Dressings – Leafy Greens

Lately I’ve been amusing myself by making rubber ducks, of all things. Not real ones, but digital rubber duckies in Inkscape. Then I put them up for sale on T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and other items in my Zazzle shop. To my surprise, they’re starting to sell. I’m not likely to make a fortune on rubber ducks or anything, but I’m happy.

Right here is just a simple, classic yellow rubber ducky on a mousepad. When I want to make another duck, this is the design I build on.

Once I figured out gradients in Inkscape, I was keen to make a gaudy rainbow rubber duck like this.

I guess I have a twisted sense of humor. First I made a couple of dead rubber duck designs. Then I made a sad rubber duck. Then it seemed only fitting to put them together. Whether the yellow duck is crying because he’s sad his buddy is dead or because the dead duck owed him money is anyone’s guess.

I had a little trouble with this doctor rubber duck, mostly because I wanted to give him a stethoscope. However, I couldn’t make it work; the stethoscope would either blend in with his coat collar or just clutter up the design and make it look unbalanced. I resorted to a stereotypical head mirror to show that this duck is a quack… um, a doctor. I can’t take credit for the “a duck a day keeps the quack away!” slogan, though. My husband came up with that one.

January 13th is National Rubber Ducky Day. Naturally I had to make a rainbow duck shirt to commemorate this special holiday.

From August 22 to November 11, I was a culinary intern at Walt Disney World. In a way it was almost two internships in one, since I worked in two locations. I spent the first month at the All-Star Sports Resort. After that, I moved on to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.

All-Star Sports is one of three sister resorts on the Walt Disney World property (the other two are All-Star Music and All-Star Movies). Each All-Star has its own food court that serves hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza… typical fast food fare. The bulk of my work consisted of grilling hamburgers, cooking grilled cheese sandwiches, and toasting buns. I learned the importance staying organized and working fast when you’re hit by wave after wave of hungry people. I learned to prioritize tasks and get extra things done when things were slow, such as cleaning the fryers BEFORE the dinner rush.

Then it was on to the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. The festival is an event where you can sample flavors from around the world by visiting the international kiosks set up all over the Epcot World Showcase. For example, the kiosk for Greece served up griddled kefalograviera cheese, Chicken Souvlaki, Greek salad, and yogurt parfaits. The festival also hosts special events that are centered around food and wine–cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, wine tastings, chocolate tastings, and more.

I was randomly assigned to work in different kiosks each day. One day I might be griddling cheese in Greece, and the next I might be assembling kalua pork sliders in Hawaii. If I were assigned to send people on breaks, I would work in up to four different kiosks in one day. Sometimes I was a runner, which meant I was in charge of delivering food and extra supplies to certain kiosks. I never knew what I would be doing on a given day. I had to be adaptable and ready for anything.

Working at All-Star Sports had its challenges, but the Food & Wine Festival was more demanding. For one thing, the expectations were higher: Showing up to work without your name tag or wearing white socks were fireable offenses. The hours were longer, and the work itself could be unpredictable and physically demanding. I might spend an entire day doing something easy like serving desserts on plates, or something hard like constantly pulling heavy trays of food out of an oven or pushing around a big cart full of food. I started collecting burns on my arms. I had shifts that stretched over 12 hours. There were a couple of days where I ended up soaked after working in the rain. There were days when my break was cut short and days when I wouldn’t get a break until it was close to the end of my shift. There was also a time I had to scrape food waste from one garbage can to another… by hand. (I had gloves, but it was still disgusting.) Disney had given me brand new shoes at the start of my internship. Less than two months later, the shoes were already falling apart.

Why did I choose to do my internship at Disney World? I think it’s because the parks have always fascinated me. Each time I visit Disney World, I’m struck by the attention to detail. Sometimes it takes my breath away to look close and see just how far Disney went to give the parks their own reality. The architectural details, the landscaping, the music, the smells–they neglect nothing. But the cast members are a huge part of the magic. The cast members are usually helpful, friendly, and upbeat. Disney is a fascinating machine, and I wanted to see what makes it tick.

My internship confirmed something I knew all along: It’s not all sparkly pixie dust behind the scenes. The “magic” of Disney World is made possible through hard work. And believe me, not everyone who works at Disney World is a bouncy, starry-eyed Disney fanatic. I was actually surprised to meet a few cast members who were so bitter and anti-Disney that I was tempted to ask, “Why are you even here?” (I suspect they don’t last long, however.) Knowing what I know about backstage Disney, I’m even more impressed by the fantasy world. In spite of the corporate regime, in spite of the fact that things aren’t so shiny in the background, Walt Disney’s legacy still lives on.

My school had an outline of cooking skills I was expected to use in my internship: Grilling, poaching, braising, and so on. To be honest, I only used a few cooking methods. Although I did get some cooking experience, the lessons I took away from the experience had less to do with cooking and more to do with speed, organization, teamwork, planning ahead, and being adaptable. I learned how to work efficiently in small, tight places. I had the opportunity to work with a wide variety of people with different personalities and skillsets. I learned that exceptional cooking ability isn’t as valuable as being able to follow orders and work harmoniously with others.

In short, I learned that there’s a lot more to cooking than just cooking. That’s probably one of the most important lessons a culinary student can take away from working in the kitchens of Disney World.

My husband and I love pizza; we have it for dinner at least once a week. We used to eat frozen pizza from the grocery store, but once I figured out how to make it myself, we’ve been feasting on homemade pizza ever since.

The pizza dough recipe I use was adapted from The Taste of Home Cookbook. Although I’m sure there are more flavorful pizza dough recipes, I like this one because it’s so fast and easy. Instead of waiting an hour or longer for the dough to rise, you just let it rest for ten minutes before you shape it and pop it in the oven.

Basic Pizza Crust
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Cornmeal
Pizza toppings of your choice

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and sprinkle cornmeal onto a greased pizza pan.

2. Add the yeast, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add warm water and olive oil. Add 1-1/2 cups flour and mix until batter is smooth. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough.

3. Cover the dough and allow to rest for ten minutes.

4. Place the dough on a floured surface and round it into a smooth ball. Roll it into a circle using either a rolling pin or your hands; build up the edges slightly. Transfer the dough to the pizza pan. Prick numerous holes into the dough using either a docking tool, a fork, or your fingertips. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until browned.

5. Remove from oven and add desired toppings. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Notes:

• The cornmeal helps prevent sticking. If the pizza crust still sticks, I find the best way to get it loose is to use either a bench scraper or, better yet, a Wilton cake lifter. You could also try baking the pizza dough on wax paper instead.
• Docking (or pricking) the pizza dough helps prevent air pockets that would turn your pizza crust into pita bread. Although a docking tool is preferable, jabbing holes into the dough with your fingers works well too.
• The original recipe says to bake the pizza dough at 425 degrees F for 12-15 minutes, then bake with the toppings for an additional 10-15 minutes. This might work if you can spread the dough extra thin, but I found that the pizza would always come out of the oven partially raw and doughy at the end; once the toppings were on, no amount of baking seemed to help. I find it works better to bake the dough longer at a slightly lower temperature.
• If you have a large pizza dish with no raised edges, you may find it easier to roll out the dough on the dish itself.
• You can substitute olive oil with vegetable oil, or leave out the oil altogether. Although the dough is slightly less sticky and easier to work with when you leave out the oil, it adds flavor and improves the texture of the pizza.
• Rounding the dough is an important step if you want a nice uniform circle of dough instead of a lumpy misshapen one. Rounding is done by tucking the dough under and into itself until the top is smooth and round. Here’s a video that shows how it’s done: How to Shape a Round Loaf of Bread Dough

In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Black Pearl, pirates live by their own rules. They keep referring to their rules as The Code, which they treat almost like a religious text. But the rules aren’t nearly as sacred as we’re led to believe. As Captain Barbossa puts it, “The Code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.”

In my cooking classes, we don’t always follow recipes exactly. Sometimes we don’t have everything and end up making substitutions. (How many places keep a ready supply of amaranth flour, anyway?) Sometimes our instructor doesn’t agree with the recipe and shows us a better way to do something. Sometimes we just plain make mistakes.

Our soups & stocks instructor explained that while rules and recipes are a fine thing, you’ll turn into a nervous wreck if you chain yourself to them. What are you going to do if you can’t make that bowl of apples weigh exactly 5 pounds? Get as close as you can and stop fiddling with it. What if you can’t find your potato peeler? Use a paring knife. What if you want to make bread dough and everyone else has commandeered the mixers? Knead it the old-fashioned way. What if you’re out of buttermilk? Make your own by adding lemon juice to regular milk.

What you DON’T do is throw up your hands and give up. You deal with it and find a way to make it work. And maybe that’s the most important rule of all.