Always in the Mood to Cook...

Oak Forest resident Miranda Deuter has just started her sophomore year at Robert Morris University. The end of April brought finals and the end of the spring quarter, but Miranda isn’t about to take a break – she has already started the Summer 1 session and is on track to finish her bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts less than four years.   

Freshman year in college can be a little shaky for many new college students, but Miranda managed to fill just about every day with classes, lab work in the teaching kitchens, flute, trombone, band, jazz band, show choir and an a cappella choir called Mixed Variations.  And, she commutes to downtown Chicago everyday from Oak Forest.

A graduate of Oak Forest High School, Miranda was thinking about attending community college, then learned about the new Performing Arts program starting at Robert Morris – which also has a well-known culinary program.  “I thought I wanted to be a flight attendant,” she explains. “So, I took hospitality classes in high school.  Then I discovered I really liked cooking.  It was a perfect combination.”

Coming from a musical family, Miranda started with the flute in fifth grade, but really enjoys singing. But over the years, cooking has given her the most happiness.  “Some days I may feel like dancing but not singing – or singing but not dancing,” she said. “I’ve found that no matter what mood I’m in, I always feel like cooking – even if I’m sad or upset, I love cooking.”

So far, she enjoys all aspects of the program but has become a pro at omelets and her own style of bruschetta.  Down the road she would like to teach cooking basics to people who are just starting out on their own, like new mothers or people moving out of the family home for the first time.  “If you learn the basics, you can do just fine and not have to eat out or pick up fast food all the time.”

The past year has given Miranda a lot of experience in the kitchen with a number of different chef instructors.  “Overall, culinary has been more than I expected.  It goes beyond the kitchen and I like having more to learn than cooking skills.  I had instructor Eric Bell for menu management and I learned so much in his classes – I wish I could just record his lectures.  I’m going to focus on a hospitality concentration for my BBA degree, probably a dual major with management.”

Next on her “plate” is figuring out where to do her first internship – a requirement of the culinary program.  She has learned from classmates and instructors that an internship in a fast moving kitchen with a great chef may sound daunting, but will be one of the best learning experiences she can have.  With everything she managed to fit into her freshman year, it should be a piece of cake.

For information on the Robert Morris University Institute of Culinary Arts, check out the website at http://www.robertmorris.edu/culinary/