The Muhlenberg Weekly

Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: News

Karen Green, Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs, cooked up some soul food goodness for Valentine's Day in the Garden Room on Wed., Feb. 14. Green was initially asked to be a guest chef for Black History Month at Wells College. The first dinner was so successful that the event was planned for each of her five years at Wells. John Pasquarello, General Manager of Sodexho Dining Services of the College, also worked at Wells in the early 90s causing the two to meet early on in Green's career at the College. According to Green, "During my early days on campus upon meeting John, I offered that I would welcome the opportunity to 'Guest Chef' for them. They took me up on the offer." Green worked with Pasquarello and Sharon Venanzi, Operations Manager, to select a menu of her favorite "soul food" dishes and to incorporate a few of her personal family recipes into the menu that night.

The Garden Room was filled with a wide array of Green's favorite foods that evening, including a wide array of Valentine's Day cakes and cookies.

"The new Sizzle Station was the perfect venue for visibility. Chef Ron and I both love catfish, so that was a no-brainer. We went through three cases of catfish and ran out of collard greens. The evening was a tremendous success," said Green, reflecting on her time spent behind the Sizzle Station frying up catfish for the Student Body.

Students, faculty, staff and friends raved about the menu. "Everything in the Garden Room was great that night. It was hard to pick what to eat because there was so much selection. Dean Green should pick the food every night," said Leah Wittenberg '09.

Jackie Quici '07, a student marketing research intern for Sodexho, talked to Neil Ford, a friend of Ethel Drayton-Craig, Director of the Multicultural Center. According to Quici, "Ford came for lunch and walked back through the snow for dinner. He loved the food and was thrilled that the College is planning events such as these to celebrate Black History Month."

"I thought it was fabulous to have down home-cooking. The fish that Dean Green prepared and the collard greens that Deborah Noel prepared were 'kicking' as my guest proclaimed! Best of all was the fun and excitement at the Sizzle Station due to Dean Green decked out for the occasion," said Drayton-Craig.

"When I first met Dean Green I asked her if she would consider doing

something with Dining Service for Black History Month. She said it

would be her pleasure to cook some of her favorite foods for the

students at dinner since she did this in the past at her last school.

As you could see by her outfit, this wasn't the first time Dean Green

cooked with Sodexho but it was her first time with Muhlenberg Dining

Services and it was such a great hit, we are going to ask her back

again! The Dean decided on the menu and our chefs prepared the food

with Karen frying the catfish. Oh, and the peach cobbler and the lemon

pound cake were Dean Green's delicious recipes! After tasting her

desserts she said they were perfect, just as though she made them!" said Venanzi.

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