What is your major and year in school?
I am in the culinary arts program and this is my second year. It’s a two-year associate degree program.
What made you choose the culinary program?
I love to cook. I’ve worked in the industry since I was very young. I decided to quit teaching two years ago, and my son said LB is a great place. They have a study abroad program for cuisine, which was what brought me and it’s been amazing.
Is there a specific area of the culinary program that your major focuses on?
It’s a general study. They break it down, whether it’s the basics like French basics, bakery meats – they break it down into classes for you.
What was the main reason that brought you to LBCC?
Well, I heard the culinary department has had a great reputation for about 30 years, and their study abroad program was what captivated me. We went to Prague last summer – it was amazing. We got to cook with a chef in Prague. We did food tours and I think we stayed 13 days. … There were only three culinary students, but there were 15 of us all together because it’s open to the whole campus.
What sparked your initial love for cooking and baking?
I like to make people happy. It makes people happy.
Could you tell me about some of your classes and what they entail?
Right now we are in our second year curriculum working the line. So we all take rotations working and cooking at the Santiam Café and Bistro, getting the bread done. We make all the bread, all the meats, all the sauces from scratch. There’s 15 rotations and we all do two-week rotations. The Santiam restaurant is up on the second floor right outside of the Commons area. There’s a nice new restaurant where you can dine in, so you can sit and eat on china or you can take it to go and eat. They have a grab-and-go deli selection, that always has desserts and great grab-and-go meals for dinner. So there’s stuff like meatloaf, lasagnas, or mashed potatoes and gravy, things like that.
What is your favorite style of cooking?
My favorite style would have to be baking, and I have prior history in bulk cooking. I am getting familiar with line cooking, which is completely different, so I’m enjoying that aspect. I love to make cakes. I sell cakes on the side, sometimes wedding cakes. I like to make pastries, cupcakes, and cookies.
What are some of your plans for after you graduate from LBCC?
I would like to start an event venue where I can have a certified kitchen to do catering and wedding cakes, and also provide a place for chefs who don’t have a certified kitchen to work out of.
With Valentine’s Day coming up, are there any baking projects you guys will be working on through the culinary program?
As far as I know, just our grab-and-go. And they do like to include the holidays, so someone usually will make a show cookie or something along those lines to put out in the grab-and-go. For the grab-and-go, each week they put out 10 or 12 items by a few different culinary students. Some of them are grab-and-go meals, some of them are desserts. There’s fresh salad once a week and they change it. Each week the whole menu will change. So this week there’s Korean barbecue and garlic mashed potatoes for a grab-and-go meal. I myself made puff pastries, bear claws, and cream cheese filling pastries. I made an apple rum cake and bourbon galettes. and Some of them will make fresh bread or something like that.
What are some of your hobbies and interests outside of school?
I go foraging a lot. I live off the land quite a bit, so I love canning and foraging. I plant a huge garden and make a lot of my own food from scratch and put it away. And I love to oil paint. I do a lot of wildlife and portraits.
What would you say has been the most challenging part of the culinary program?
Probably learning to work with other personalities, that’s been the biggest challenge.
What has been the most rewarding part?
The chefs. There’s five chefs upstairs and they work so well together. They’re always there to help. The dynamic is how they work so well together. It just makes our classes go so smoothly. And even if they’re not our chefs and they have 10 other things that they’re doing, we can be like, “Chef?” and they’ll be like, “Yes.” And they’ll stop what they’re doing, and they’ll come talk to us or figure out what’s going on. I think that’s the best atmosphere to learn in.
Is there anything else that you’d want people to know about the culinary program?
It’s really rewarding and you take your education to the next level really. Even if you think you’ve worked in the industry, they will teach you way more than you’re expecting.
This article appeared in the February 2025 edition of The Commuter.
