(Nanna Meyer reports)
February 26 was a mixture of clean up and lunch preparation
with the items I still had in the house.
I
had a couple of athletes come for lunch and the menu was poached salmon over
white cabbage in white wine lemon broth with capers and onions and a nice
thinly cut beef steak (a la Mediterranean) over grilled zucchini with garlic
and Herbs de Provence.
The
next day was finally my fully day off. I guess I did not have one true full day
off ever since I got here. This was very much awaited for me to finally go into
the city of Vancouver to enjoy a few hours of shopping. I only made it around
noon due to lingering cleaning obligations, doing laundry and getting the house
ready for the owners the next day. While buying gifts for the students, my
family and some friends was high on the list for me, I really wanted to get a
sense for the First Nation People and their art. So, I found a few exhibitions
and markets around town and I was touched to meet the sister of the woman who
made the symbols for the Olympic and Paralympic medals.
The highlight of the day, although complicated to accomplish was
definitely the dinner at a local-food only restaurant. I wanted to invite my students to a
nice dinner after having cooked for 3 weeks. These meals are all from Rain City Grill in Vancouver by Stanley Park.
The meals were succulent and flavorful and all from within a short distance
from the restaurant. A low carbon meal with lots of creativity and flavors. The appetizers were beet root salad and scallops with risotto and
music garlic foam (the garlic that is pink/purple on top).
Dinner consisted of: (from left to right) black cod or Sable
fish on a orka bean stew, seared salmon with potato gnocchi, duck with
blueberries, chard, spaetzle, and red cabbage, beef tenderloin on root
vegetables. 
For dessert was an example of a
dessert plate (this was actually mine!) shows Tarte Tatin made with Quince.
We met the next day to be driven to the airport and
exhaustingly moved our 9 pieces of luggage through airport check in until we
finally sat on the plane. Unfortunately, I had no camera around but I saw both
of them doze off right away. A work accomplished. I am sure we all did our best
and can return home with a bag full of stories, laughter and experiences!
So long Vancouver! See you in Sochi, 2014!
(Kelly Ping reports)
This morning is all about getting the house ready for the owners to move back so we woke up around 5 am and spent the next three hours sweeping, washing, cleaning, and doing last minute laundry. By 8 am we were ready to go with two hours to spare. While we waited we watched the last day of Olympic events on the television. At 10 am our ride arrived and we loaded up our over packed and extremely heavy bags.
Our driver then took us to the long track house where we picked up Nanna and then headed to the airport. After being hassled for our numerous oversized bags and getting through security we hit up a few more shops for some last minute souvenirs. When the clock struck 12 however, I grabbed a bite to eat to go and headed to our gate to cheer on Team USA against Canada in the gold medal hockey game. I think this was the only place in all of Canada where USA fans outnumbered Canadians!
I boarded the plane, after witnessing some others almost getting left behind because they were trying to wait until the period ended.
I felt like the second I sat down I immediately fell asleep. I guess the fatigue finally caught up to me. Before we knew it we were landing back in Colorado. I again was reminded of how truly fatigued I was when I almost left my laptop not once but twice in the airport. I was excited to come back, but sad the experience had flown by so fast.
February 27, 2010 10:58 AM
(Jane Taggart & Kelly Ping report)
Things
are winding down now. This is our last day of work. Short track's
races are over tonight so Kelly and I are officially done!
Since we are leaving in two days we decided to try to
use up some of the food we had and by offering it to the athletes going to
the event tonight. We made a spiced nut mix that we put in baggies and also made
a vegetable soup for any unexpected visitors we may get throughout the
day. We made a special trip to the grocery store to purchase ingredients for coconut cream pie. This is not something we would normally serve, but was a request of our
visitor who will be competing in his last Olympic race tonight and this is the
food item he chooses to celebrate with, although with all of his media
obligations it likely won’t be enjoyed until early morning.
We made dinner for one long track skater who came by on
her way to the Pacific Coliseum to see the final races for our
athletes.
For dinner we served:
- Mediterranean Cod
- Vegetable soup with pasta
- Beet, orange, spinach and arugula salad with shaved Parmesan and white balsamic and olive oil dressing
- Focaccia bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping
- Homemade strawberry-banana sorbet for dessert
While
watching the races, Kelly and I made the coconut cream pie for our
special guest.
The races were very exciting! In short track, Apolo made it through the
heats, missing some near crashes, just to end up getting disqualified
in the final seconds of the men's 500m finals. The men came through
though in the relays, where they won a bronze medal.
Katherine
Reutter won silver in the women's 1000m finals.
Long track had a
stellar day too with the US men and women upsetting Norway and Canada
respectively, that were expected to win gold. Congrats to them all!
We thought the rest of the evening would be spent washing dishes (again) and putting together the kitchen inventory we bought. However,
right as we were getting settled for the evening,
our visitor came with his entourage.They flocked to our homemade pie and our guest ate two giant pieces. He
stated he hadn’t eaten sugar in about 6 months.In a whirlwind we got swept up and invited to ride with our
guest to the USA house, two minutes later we were in the car in lounge
clothes. It was another late night, but we can't complain! We were lucky to be invited to the celebration, and after walking in the pouring rain to get a taxi, were happy to be home and go to bed.
February 27, 2010 12:04 PM
(Kelly Ping reports)
Ours took an unprecedented, yet exciting turn when the Brent, the athletic trainer, informed us that we were invited to the USA house to go celebrate the bronze with the women's relay team- some of whom had eaten in our house.
Excited to get out and into the action, we shared a taxi to the USA house.The
USA house is a place where athletes can convene for some drinks and
food and where most come after they are presented with their medals at
the ceremony.Upon entering the building you are suddenly immersed among Olympic athletes which is a really exciting feeling.When
we got to the second floor we passed by the womens hockey team who was
just exiting after making an appearance with their silver medals.
We soon found our relay team dispersed throughout the building and were able to congratulate them individually.I then challenged Jane to a game of identify that athlete. I was on my game and dominated 6-0.Before
leaving I thought of Nanna and decided to check out their spread of
food. I was not too impressed with either the taste or presentation, we
could do much better!We then decided to call it a night and flagged down a taxi to charge us $20 for the less than 5 mile drive.What a fun way to end an otherwise uneventful day!
February 26, 2010 8:40 AM
(Nanna Meyer reports)
Things are coming to a close. This morning, I packed up all
the unused supplements, sport drinks and other powders and helped my colleague
Susie to get it back to the hotel to move it to the village for the Paralympics. I haven't heard very much
talk about the Paralympics, and I hope they will have snow and their games go well.
I was able to get into
the Athlete’s Village today.
It was good to see it. The food and dining hall is less…much less than
expected. I am glad we were available to provide safe, healthy food for
the athletes, and even though we were busy, hope more athletes take
advantage of it in the future.
I
also went to short track today and we boxed up more items. I am unsure whether
I should ship or check our pots and pans we acquired. These are good stock to
have for our UCCS kitchen!
I am pleased with
my assistants and I am happy for them having had a great experience without the
exhaustion I had in previous games. I do believe that in the future, it will
become more difficult to send multiple
people to run these operations unless the Games are in RUSSIA!!
Looks
like word is still spreading about the delicious food in the safe
houses, as I just found out that I will be having guests for lunch!
On Sunday, we
all leave to come back to a full day of work on Monday! Yikes!
February 26, 2010 7:50 AM
(Kelly Ping reports)
This morning while waiting for my daily routine to begin with our
guest, I got an unexpected Skype from my father who is completely
enthralled with the technology.It was a great way to start the day!After making breakfast and seeing our guest off, Jane returned from her workout and I left for mine.After
working up a good sweat, I returned and
caught up on some reading for school.I
tried extremely hard to stay focused until the women’s final hockey
game between the US and Canada came on, and then there was no hope.
Since
we are starting to wrap up here, in between the periods of the hockey game, we started to
pack up boxes of food for Nanna to take to the hotel where the
para-olympic athletes will be staying.I can’t believe this experience is almost over it seems like just yesterday when we boarded the plane to the unexpected.Although
not everything went as expected here, probably because we didn’t really
know what to expect- each day I have spent here has reassured me that
this exactly where I want to be, and what I want to do with my future.I
think dietitians are an untapped resource in the Olympics and if I can
find a way to market myself and show them that dietitians can make a
difference, there may be a place for me here.
Thanks to people like
Nanna who have paved the way for up and coming dietitians and provided
us a way to get experiences such as the one I am experiencing.While
Nanna was here we had a good reflection on our experiences which we
will continue when we arrive home and share with our peers.After Nanna left, Jane and I made ourselves dinner and watched some more of the Olympics on TV.We
are now awaiting the daily insider gossip provided by our guest as he
gets a rubdown from the athletic trainer in the living room.
February 25, 2010 10:02 AM
Usual morning routine of making breakfast and
chatting with our guest, followed by putting away dishes.After doing this I made a fresh batch
of homemade applesauce. The athletes just can’t seem to get enough! I then
started the prep work for our female athlete’s pre-competition meal.
At 1 pm two of our female athlete’s came and enjoyed some
garden vegetable primavera, sautéed green beans, yogurt and
fruit salad, and homemade foccacia bread. Did I mention that the fruit salad was even red, white, and blue? That was Jane's clever idea of using blueberries, banana's and strawberries!
Something new I learned today was that the Tyra Banks TV show
is a pre-competition favorite. After the athletes watched part of this
show, they left
to warm-up. I went out to get a bit of fresh air, and upon returning Jane and I had a hungry trainer and a coach to feed. After cleaning up from their meal, we washed the dishes and prepared to go cheer on
Team USA in the women’s 3000 M relay and 1000 M qualifying, as well as the
men’s 500 m qualifying.
We
walked about 1 mile in the Vancouver rain and then stood in the security line
for about 30 minutes, but man was it worth it!Besides feeling like my fingers were going to fall off from
the cold, I rather enjoyed hearing all the Canadians give us a play by play of
the Canadian hockey game that was also in progress.We found our seats alongside many other US fans and I put on
my USA tiara, red white and blue necklace and held up my flag like a true
American.All the races were very
exciting. Apolo qualified for Friday’s competition along with Katherine
Ritter.
Perhaps the craziest event
was the relay in which our girls managed to get the bronze although they
fell behind quite early and never were able to catch up with the other
teams.
The Koreans who finished in
first were later disqualified, which gave us the bronze.
We stayed for the ceremony to see our
girls on the podium. Although it wasn’t the most ideal way
to get a medal I felt so happy for them. A couple of them are so young and enthusiastic with the experience that it makes it even more
exciting.After capturing the
Kodak moment, Jane and I walked back home to the safe house to settle our
ravenous appetites from all our cheering.We were informed before the race that if the girls medaled tonight we
would likely not see them, as they will be out celebrating!Now we are left to wind down from an
exciting evening and watch the highlights from the rest of today’s Olympic
events.
February 26, 2010 8:37 AM
(Nanna Meyer reports)
Now that this race is over, my tasks have minimized to
closing up the houses which means packing left over packaged food, bars, sports
drinks and get it all ready for the Paralympics which will start in March. Tomorrow,
I will tour the village to get a good perspective on it and then drive to the
short track house to pack things up even though they are not quite done.
I had dinner with my friend and best colleague Susie Parker
Simmons. Susie received Maria’s left over post-race recovery dinner…with fresh
BC shrimp from the Fishermen’s Warf of Steveston! I was happy with a leftover
butternut squash soup, parmesan cheese, homemade foccacia and a glass of red
wine.
February 24, 2010 9:19 AM
(Kelly Ping reports)
This morning I continued to
make the usual breakfast for our guest of one scrambled egg and a peeled
and sliced apple with honey. After he left for
practice, I was able to meet up with my friend Ramsey for a short run.
It was at this time that he informed me that I had made a mistake by
not taking up his invite to the USA house last night for the ice
dancing celebration- apparently he got to meet Wayne Gretzky!
Once I returned and got cleaned up Jane and I started the
lunch preparations. 
We made salmon burgers with potato wedges and a Mediterranean soup I made last night, along with some freshly made
mango salsa. We also had homemade tomato basil hummus for them to
munch on. We had lunch prepared at exactly 2:00- their expected
arrival time- they didn't end up showing up until almost 3 pm- so we
ended up having to put some stuff back in the oven and fridge until
their arrival.
The
girls really enjoyed the meal and we enjoyed the interaction after not
having very many visitors the last few days. I used to think that Olympic athlete were really serious people, but these girls are pretty funny and most are
still very young-so they are quite entertaining. After feeding them and sending them on their way, we picked up the kitchen and walked in the rain to the grocery store to pick up a few fresh
items. Usually I don't
much care for the rain but it was a nice to feel a few drops on my
face. I ended up buying more than a few items and left with four bags of groceries. As I walked the 1.5 miles back to the house, I stopped halfway for a breather and nice cup of Joe (in
my case hot chocolate). When I got home
and set down the groceries I already felt my muscles getting bigger!
That was more fun than lifting weights at the gym.
February 23, 2010 10:44 PM
(Kelly Ping reports)
Another day of the usual routine- only a couple hours earlier as our visitor had an early morning practice.After
he ate, Jane and I got our workout clothes on and headed to
a nearby community center to work out.After
working up a sweat, I returned to the house, got cleaned up and started
with another daily routine of putting away dishes; man I am getting
good at it!I then sliced up some fruit for a sorbet that I am going to make tomorrow for the athletes.
While the housekeeper cleaned, I worked on my dreaded statistics homework :)Once
we had the house to ourselves again, we started baking and cooking. By
the end of the day, we made several new meals for our athlete at the
Village; fruit and nut bars, Mediterranean soup, and more homemade
applesauce.I spent the rest of the afternoon reading for
one of my other classes and watching the Canadian womens hockey
game on the TV. Since we aren't expecting any athletes in the evening, I am going to take advantage of an early night and get caught up on some sleep.
February 23, 2010 3:21 PM
The enjoyable part of today was that I cooked and baked to
get my mind off and to keep doing my job as long as I am here. We call it
mindfulness and living the moment as if this is all that matters. This has
always been my commitment, regardless of wasted resources. So here you go…a
beautiful view of Foccacia bread, hummus, company around the table, and fresh
filet de Sole from Granville Island Public Market!
Focaccia
Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup white flour
- 3.5 cups spelt flour
- 2.5 cups corn flour/polenta flour
- 2 packets of yeast
- 3 cups of luke warm water
- ½ t honey
- 3 t salt
- Lots of roasted garlic, pine nuts, sage and rosemary
- 1 cup black olives
- Extra salt and pepper to sprinkle
- 3 T olive oil
Directions: Mix flour, salt, yeast (mixed with
lukewarm water and honey) and form quickly into a dough and let rise until
double in size. Punch down and knead in roasted garlic, pine nuts, sage and
rosemary along with olives. Quickly move to a cookie sheet (oiled with
cornmeal) or baking stone. Add sage leaves and rosemary to decorate and bake at
350 for about 1 hour or until lightly brown.
Filet
de Sole with Cherry Tomatoes, Zucchini, Garlic and Marjoram
This dish is a sauté dish, which started with the veggies
before the sole was added. A great flavor provide the capers. This dish cooks
in about 3 minutes…it is delicious! My plate had no brown rice while my
athlete’s plate was filled with carbs! Makes sense, doesn’t it?
In
the evening, we made more Banana bread…and this is Maria’s Power Bread of which
she has already eaten half of the loaf! She says, I am back to normal feeling
hungry all the time!
As a special order from one of the coaches I also made
Risotto Cakes! Look…they are still unbaked but will come out of the oven
shortly! Tomorrow, they will be added to the regular sandwich order for the
venue!
The
short track house seemed to have a calm day today too. I already got the
directions for moving out on Sunday and organizing our trip to the airport as
well as closing the houses, cleaning and transporting items back to Salt Lake
City. It will be busy to get it all done especially at the Long track house
since competitions end on the 27th only.
Brown Rice Cakes
Ingredients:
- Left over brown rice (were about 3 cups)
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup Asiago Cheese, shredded
- 2 handfuls spinach leaves
- 4 raw garlic cloves, chop
- Handful basil leaves, shredded
- ½ cup corn flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 T olive oil
- Salt, pepper
- Herbs de Provence
Directions: mix all together and form balls then flatten and
bake for 30 minutes at 350 F or until golden. Serve with fresh salad and fish!
February 23, 2010 3:03 PM
(Kelly Ping reports)
While Jane helped prepare breakfast upstairs, I made sure that our daily guest had everything he needed for breakfast.After a veggie omelet and toast for our female athlete her ride came and picked her up.
Since
breaking a new record with his most recent win, our other guest used his
day off to do interviews and media before going to the Olympic village
to accept his medal.After our guests left, Jane and I boarded the bus and went to check out Granville Island.
After
a crowded bus ride that brought about a bit of nausea, Jane and I vowed
to walk as far as we could back toward our house and then board the bus.The
Granville market was neat to see with all the fresh fruit and veggies
of all colors, but difficult to navigate through due to the large
crowds of people. Once completing the main loop on the island we had enough and started to look for somewhere to The lines ran out the door at all restaurants on the island, so we opted to keep walking.
After about 2 more miles of walking we realized there may not be a place to eat that doesn’t have a line.It seemed that all Canadians and their mothers were out in full force dawning none other than their Canadian hockey jerseys. I even saw a small dog with a jersey. Those Canadians sure are crazy about their hockey!
We continued to walk and before we knew it we were back in Gas Town.By this time we were famished and thirsty.We had been talking about how good a margarita would sound and a few minutes later spotted a Mexican restaurant without a line.After quenching our thirst and hunger, we stopped by another souvenir store –hopefully for the last time.We
continued to walk toward the house for another mile or so before we
boarded a bus (that wasn’t full) heading in our direction.
We
made it back in just enough time as the US vs. Canada hockey game
started. After the game was over we prepared ourselves dinner and relaxed in front of the TV and watched the Olympic highlights.Today
was the first day I really felt the fatigue set in from a different
schedule than I am used to at home, so I used the night to recuperate.At around 7 pm, our guest returned from his medal ceremony and in good spirits.We tried to entice him with our freshly baked creations to make sure he was consuming enough fuel. We called it a night by 10 pm, so our guest could wake at 6:30 for an early practice.
February 23, 2010 3:14 PM
February 23, 2010 3:02 PM
(Nanna Meyer reports)
I had a calm Sunday morning after fixing breakfast and lunch
boxes for the Long Track Racing Day. I had some time left to visit the first Steveston Farmers and
Artisan Market. It was held in the small museum of Steveston that has an
incredibly fascinating exhibition of the old canning industry of the turn of
the century. There was Artisan “100-mile” diet breed (after the bestseller
“Plenty” and other such local food books). The bread cost about 2 times as much
as a regular bread. There were also some cheese makers from Victoria island and
a few veggie stands with mostly canned foods such as fresh sauerkraut, beets,
and cucumbers. I tasted them all and they were fabulous!
For tonight’s dinner, our menu included fresh white cod, butternut squash and
rutabaga with sage and garlic, roasted organic beets with olive oil and salt,
and sautéed bok choy with spinach leaves and garlic.
February 21, 2010 4:30 PM
(Nanna Meyer reports)
Today was filled with action for me, but mostly related to
food.
- Breakfast for 2 skaters
- Lunch boxes for 10 for oval venue
- Pre-race lunch for 1500 m long track skater
- Shopping for at Costco and Whole Foods, spending another US
$400.00
- Rushing from City Center to Short track house
- Rushing from Short track house to Long track house to
prepare dinner
- Picking up athlete at rink, then feed, then clean…
Then cooking other dinner for other athlete, then feed, then
clean…
A nice part of the day was my short escapade to Steveston
for some fresh fish, which was not planned at all, but on Saturdays, the
Chinese Fishermen and women seem to come ashore with their fresh catch to sell
to weekend shoppers in this quaint little town. I got some fresh white cod (for
3 $ per fish…) and shrimp for $5 per 5 lbs.
The short track house is now flooded by athletes who are
coming for a tasty comforting dinner. Chocolate milk and cookies are ordered…
(Kelly Ping reports)
The
morning routine continued today with the same breakfast again for our
guest, who claims he is very superstitious and therefore will continue
to eat the same throughout the Olympics.After breakfast
I continued with the usual morning chores, followed by making a fresh
batch of humus- this time adding tomatoes and basil for flavor.Jane and I then decided to walk to what has become our usual market for a few odds and ends that we needed for dinner.It
is nice that we have a market we can walk to since we are without a car!
We thought a little more ahead this time and brought our backpacks to load our groceries in for the return walk.On the way back with a pack full of groceries, reminded me of hiking in Montana.It was a beautiful morning for a walk and the breeze on my face was very refreshing.When we got back I made some fruit and nut snack bars, while Jane started prep for our late night dinner.
In late afternoon Nanna came with more groceries and another bag full of items for our guest.It
was soon time for the short track events so I put on my newly acquired
goatee and a USA hat I got at the USA house- I was out in full force!We
found the channel to watch the events live, which was nice considering
last time we didn’t know what happened until the athletes we were
cooking dinner for spilled the beans. I had knots in my stomach just watching!It
wasn’t quite the results we were looking for but there will be another
piece of hardware brought home none the less and a new record set.After watching the final, the craziness began...
We had 3 athletes for dinner.We
made a butternut squash soup, turkey potpie with rice instead of dough,
a blueberry pear walnut lettuce salad, cranberry banana bread and for
dessert frozen yogurt with winter fruit compote.It was all delicious- according to the athletes who guaranteed me they would tell me if it was less than spectacular.When
we were finishing up dinner I got a call that we would be getting
another guest that was craving some chocolate milk and cookies and also
needed 10 lbs of ice for an ice bath.Being a girl of good tastes, I already had a thing of chocolate milk in the fridge as it is one of my personal favorites!I
then strapped on my shoes and quickly ran to the gas station around the
corner and returned with 2 bags of ice and some oatmeal chocolate chip
cookies.I felt like superman swooping in to save the day!Our athlete is now here taking care of her post competition cravings.
With a medal won in the house it may be a late night full of celebration - bring it on!
February 21, 2010 4:32 PM
The staff at The Lodge, a dining hall at UCCS serviced by Sodexo, has been
very helpful in assisting us with our Olympic meal display, despite having a
very busy schedule themselves.
Friday's meal of baked butterflied fillet of Pollack stuffed with parsley,
sage, thyme and marjoram seasoned bread crumbs, and accompanied by long grain
and wild rice, was prepared by Jeremy McKitrick, First Cook. Jeremy is visible
serving students in a photo below.
Russ Saunkeah, General Manager, has decorated the dining hall with Olympic
banners and has made a large flat screen TV available throughout the duration
of the Olympics, allowing diners to watch the games. Russ is visible standing
by our display after teaching us the art of accessorizing a plate.
(Kelly Ping reports from Vancouver)
This morning I woke up and began the usual routine of making our visitor breakfast.After he finished eating I headed upstairs to clean the kitchen before beginning to cook meals for the day.Jane
returned shortly after, and we together prepared the usual travel meals
for the athletes staying in the Olympic village.Once we finished with those, we started on lunch for the three athletes we were to have after their training.We prepared a thin crust pizza with tomatoes, basil, and a light spread of cheese along with chicken.We also had fruit salad, lettuce salad, yogurt, banana bread, and a dried fruit and nut mix for them to eat.They left with full bellies and promises that they would be back for more soon.We picked up the kitchen and stored our leftovers, and then I headed out to get some fresh air.We
are now doing some prep work for tomorrow, which is another competition
day, so we aren't sure how many athletes may show up hungry.
February 20, 2010 10:06 AM
(Nanna Meyer Reports)
This morning started with a nice walk near the bay of
Steveston Village, followed by a Blenz Coffee, more shopping and making
sandwiches for the oval. Dinner tonight was Sockeye Salmon with Southwestern quinoa
(organic corn, zucchini, red peppers, fresh cilantro). The first course was a
saffron-curry scented lentil soup with vegetables (including carrots,
cauliflower, fennel, celery, celery root, leeks, fresh ginger, and garlic). The
highlight however was the home made Portuguese Mountain Rye bread that was
freshly baked, setting off the fire alarm at least 3 times! This type of bread
is still being baked in Portugal and it is true SLOW FOOD!
(Kelly Ping Reports)
Just
when I thought my day was winding down I got a call from my running
buddy from Colorado Springs who is here with figure skating. He invited
me to the victory party at the USA house to celebrate the US Men's figure skating gold medal won by Evan Lysacek. With no commitments for the rest of the night I got my second wind and rallied for a late night. Upon arriving to the party, I walked through the door and entered the world of figure skating icons. Over
the course of the night I saw Brian Boitano, Tara Lipinski,
Dorothy Hamill, and actually met Nancy Kerrigan and Kristi Yamaguchi. The one-and-only Vera Wang was also in attendance!
(Jane Taggart Reports)
Today was a quiet day for Kelly and I. The short track athletes
were training at a rink away from the short track house so we had the
opportunity to take a trip to Vancouver's historic Gas Town together,
see the Gas clock, buy some souvenirs, have lunch, and get some extra
needed rest. Tomorrow it is back to work with a pre-training lunch and
preparing some meals to go!
February 20, 2010 9:07 AM
Today was filled with preparing breakfasts, lunches for the
oval, then shopping and dropping off groceries across town, followed by another
expensive food drive to Whole Foods. Each time I shop at Whole Foods I pay
around $400…so they love me there! Later on, a bunch of coaches and the team sports psychologist came by to
get some food. My evening went long, especially because I decided to cook more
food, baking rosemary bars for lunch.
February 18, 2010 2:55 PM
Here is the story from NBC.com.
(Kelly Ping reports) This morning Jane and I woke up very early and headed out to get some
exercise. I returned just before 8 am to wait for our visitor to wake
up to make him his regular breakfast. After some conversation and
dishes, I used a couple of hours of free time to catch up on some
homework. Around 11 am we started to prepare a pre-game meal for one
of our athletes that was to compete later in the afternoon. After
sending her off to the rink with snacks (applesauce, 1/2 sandwich, and
pretzels) we cleaned up the kitchen and Nanna arrived with fresh
groceries.
While we were unpacking bags we got a call that we were to
expect some coaches in 15 minutes for lunch. We quickly used what we
had prepared and threw together what turned out to be a nice lunch with
fruit salad, smoked salmon, cucumbers, crackers, and a winter vegetable
soup. Once we finished doing the dishes for the 4th time we started to
prepare a healthy lasagna for our athletes post-competition meal. In the
lasagna we included eggplant, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, and onions. Also part of the meal was homemade foccacia, green salad, fruit salad, and pumpkin raisin cookies for dessert.
We were lucky to be given tickets to watch the evening events, and were very excited as we walked the mile to the venue. Our seats weren't close but still had a good view of the ice. We were able to watch the womens 500 M, mens 1000 M,
and the mens relay qualifying races. We ended up sitting next to a
group from Seattle that provided me with a fake goatee in support of Apolo Ohno. I wore the goatee and Apolo qualified in both races he was in.
We were followed shortly by hungry athletes so
we popped the lasagna in the oven to heat it up. I must say that the
goatee was quite a hit with all the visitors we had in the house. We finished cleaning the dishes and called it a day at midnight.
February 17, 2010 9:15 AM
Jane Taggart reports: Today was an exciting and busy day. Kelly and I were invited to
attend the short track practice! It was very exciting to watch
the athletes skate up close. We knew some of the athletes would be
coming back to the house for lunch after practice so we did our prep
work this morning. We
prepared a Basil Pesto Pasta with Chicken for 5 athletes. 
Since the athletes were
scheduled for a second practice today we sauteed the garlic rather than
using it raw in the pesto to prevent gastrointestinal distress. For
easy digestion we cooked the vegetables a little longer, removed the
skin from the tomatoes and used white pasta. We also served whole
grain bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping, banana
bread, homemade applesauce, and yogurt. The athletes enjoyed the food
immensely!
Throughout the rest of the day, Kelly and I were
busy making more applesauce and banana bread (they just can't seem to
get enough!), as well as a roasted nut and dried fruit mix, focaccia
bread, vegetable minestrone soup, and pumpkin cookies in anticipation of
a crowd for a pre-competition lunch, and a late post-race dinner.
(Nanna Meyer Reports)
Today was a warm day up here in Vancouver, and it is going
to get even warmer which will jeopardize some of the races at Cypress Mountain.
At long track speed skating, the day was filled with ladies racing. In my
house, things were relatively calm.
Cooking entailed a variety of things including breakfast
(Oatmeal cooked with milk, prunes, oats, cinnamon and a banana yogurt
smoothie), followed by lunch (carrot, parsnip, rutabaga ginger soup,salmon salad with cucumbers and steamed
garlic spinach with frittata left-over).
Carrot-Parsnip-Rutabaga Soup with Ginger
Ingredients:
-
3 cups of carrots
-
2 small rutabagas
-
1 parsnip
-
1 twig fresh rosemary
-
Grated ginger
-
Grated turmeric
-
Curry seasoning
-
2 T olive oil
-
750 mL soy milk (original)
-
8 oz water
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|
Directions:
Fill soup pot with 8 oz of water. Add all root veggies and rosemary.
Begin to boil until soft. Grate ginger, turmeric and add curry, olive oil, soy
milk, salt/pepper. With blender, puree soup until smooth. Simmer for another 5
minutes at low heat. Cover and serve.
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Dinner Menu:
-
Carrot-Ginger Soup
-
Risotto con Asparagi
-
Fresh Filet de Sole served on a bed of Broccolini with Cilantro-infused
Salsa Verde by Alice Waters’ “The Art
of Simple Food
-
Fresh fruit salad
I am excited that we will be able to watch a competition
tomorrow night and see the athletes compete after having fed them! It really
feels like being part of the success! And being an Olympian is only success and
no failure.
February 16, 2010 7:02 PM
While two of the graduate students in the Sport Nutrition program are busy cooking meals for the US Speed Skating team during the 2010 Winter Olympics, the rest of the Sport Nutrition Team is educating diners at The Lodge on what an Olympic meal is.
Sodexo the food service provider for The Lodge, is also the food service provider for the Olympic Village. In coordination with the graduate
students, Sodexo is preparing meals from the Olympic Village menu, daily at The Lodge during the Olympics.
The Sport Nutrition students have labeled Olympic food items throughout the food line, and included nutrient information as well.
Students can view a display of three different portion sizes; Olympic athlete, collegiate athlete and non-athlete. Check out the vegetarian chili in this photo.
