Intern/Meteorologist/Chef?

2012-11-08 22:30:27.000 – Stephen Lanciani,  Summit Intern

The philosophy of the Observatory kitchen

As we begin to enter the winter season here on the summit, many changes begin to take place not only with the weather, but also with staffing at the Observatory. Our weekly staff has gotten smaller and smaller because of the transition from summer scheduling to winter scheduling. Seeing as there are only a handful of us this week, I, as the dedicated intern that I am, decided to step up to the plate tonight and cook dinner to show that interns have more uses than you think!

I have always loved cooking and spent many a night watching Emeril and frantically writing down recipes. Yes, I now know that I could have just looked them up online after the show, but this was more fun! There have been many occasions where I have cooked for my family, and now I frequently try cooking new things for my girlfriend and myself on my off weeks. Now, I decided to take my skills to the Observatory kitchen! After some online browsing for recipes, I settled on herb-crusted pork tenderloin. It turned out to be easier than I thought, so I had plenty of time to make some mashed potatoes, broccoli, and salad to go with it. I also whipped up a honey-lemon glaze to go on top in case the pork was too dry. All in all everything came out great, and I found that the most difficult part was timing everything to finish at 7 ‘o clock (our nightly scheduled dinner time).

I realized afterward however, that I only cooked for myself and the three observers. In the winter, the number of people up here can often reach the maximum of 17 when there are overnight EDUTRIPS. Cooking for four isn’t difficult, but cooking for 17 is another story. I can’t even imagine all of the extra time and effort that needs to be to put into prepping, cooking, and cleaning. It is this thought that makes me say a big THANK YOU to all of the VOLUNTEERS, past and future. All of your hard work and help is greatly appreciated by the entire crew, and we thank you for thinking of us and bringing the comforts of home to the rockpile.

Stephen Lanciani,  Summit Intern