Dining Halls to Feature 'A Taste of Home'

By Megan Summers
The Red & Black
December 05, 2002

It will be déjà vu at the dining halls today as Food Services tries to appease students' nostalgic taste buds just in time for the winter break.

Food Services is hosting its annual "A Taste of Home" event in all of the dining halls for all three meals of the day today, said Mike Floyd, head of Food Services.

"We've been doing this event now for 16 years, and we have recipes from all across the country," Floyd said.

For "A Taste of Home," Food Services sends out letters to the parents of students on the meal plan requesting they submit recipes that are special to their child, or recipes they think students would enjoy.

"We get about 600 recipes a year," Floyd said, "but we can only feature about 100 to 120 recipes. Each dining hall will serve different dishes in order to allow more recipes to be featured."

After Food Services consults with managers and chefs, they enter the chosen recipes into a computer program, which produces a serving size of about 4,000, Floyd said.

Parents whose recipes are selected will receive a commemorative plate and a copy of the plus-sized recipes. They also will receive two free vouchers to use at the dining hall.

"We want (parents) to participate in the Taste of Home event," Floyd said, adding that parents really enjoy seeing their recipes multiplied by 4,000 and cherish the plate.

"That's really a neat memento of your college days," he said.

Some students whose parents were added to today's menu were not familiar with the dish.

Ralph Jones, a freshman from Griffin, said he wasn't quite sure what his mother's Apple Pamlets were.

"I know they are a breakfast food," he said.

But Amy Somerville, a freshman from Newnan, said her mother's Devil Dogs were "really good." She described the food as "basically hot dogs soaked in some sauces."

"We figured it would be easiest for them to make and it's dog-related," she said as to why her mother submitted this particular recipe.

Chris Jackson, a freshman from Alpharetta, said his mother's pretzel salad is "just something that she always made."

Samuel Adams, a freshman from Augusta, will be joined today by his mother to celebrate her Christmas Sweet Rolls.

"I actually don't know that I've ever had them. She sent in a lot of recipes," he said.

A complete listing of the recipes can be found at the Food Services Web site (www.uga.edu/food-serv).

Floyd said the recipes are not just discarded after today.

"We then take the very best of these recipes and incorporate them into our menu," he said.

Floyd said students enjoy the variety of the Taste of Home celebration.

"It makes the food service program non-institutional," he said.