Interview with Audrey Anderson 14 Question Interview

 

Title: An Interview with Audrey Anderson

Deck: Instructor At LBCC Gives Us An Insight Into Her Work

Audrey Anderson is a bakery department instructor and co-curricular advisor at LBCC. She has been at Linn-Benton Community College for four years. She has a husband and two dogs, and lives in Corvallis. She has her own business named Roux Events and Catering. She is originally from Independence and went to culinary school in Newport. 

She used to be an executive catering chef for Willamette University, and used to manage a lot of catering events. She loves going outside and going camping and hiking. She and her family have Sunday dinners every week and they always make something that is really warming feeling and that everyone likes. 

What did you do before your job as an instructor?

Chef Audrey Anderson used to be an executive catering chef for Willamette University in Salem. She did a lot of event management among other things. 

What is some background about your life? What do you like to do, hobbies, favorite food?

She likes to go outside and go camping. She likes hanging out with her dogs and her family. Her favorite food is Thai and Chinese food.

What is the best part about your job as an instructor?

She loves that she can be an advocate for the students and she is the co-curricular adviser for the curriculum. She gets to talk more directly with the students, more one-on-one time than in a big group and she can be there for them and guide them through the process of cooking and help them relate to the process so they understand it better.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened while being a chef?

When she would manage a lot of people and do a lot of events a day there would sometimes be a drop in communication and it wouldn't be good when she had a staff of 30-60 people that she was managing and she would have to “suck it up” and take the blame even though some line in the communication there was something that got disrupted. 

What is a time where something went really wrong in the kitchen?

When she was managing a restaurant in Independence for a while, they had an oil drain and it got backed up and it started smelling like sewage, and it was in this small little area and they had to shut down the whole restaurant and get it professionally cleaned.

What is your favorite lesson to teach and why?

She really loves to teach laminated doughs and teach the process of lamination because there is a lot to do with time management and temperature management and with this dough there are a lot of variables that could mess up  what you're doing. It could make the dough a gray color sometimes. If you mess up any of the variables the dough can get messed up very easily. 

What is the most important thing for LBCC students to know before they leave college?

There is always more to know. The culinary arts instructors give really good information and a baseline of information for them to take and build off in their futures in a restaurant, even if they are working for someone or owning a restaurant of their own. There is always more to learn. Having the accountability to say that they don't know everything and be open to learn more through their career and their life. 

What is your dream meal you would like to cook?

Anything that could be shared between her family because her family does Sunday family dinner. When you can cook something that everyone relates to and have a good experience it doesn't matter what you do as long as everyone is happy and having a good time.

What has been the best cake/meal you have ever prepared?

She feels like every time she makes a cake they get better and better every time. She did this cake for her cousin's wedding, it was a simple naked cake with flowers all over it, it was a 3 teir cake. 

Why did you choose to switch from your previous career to an instructor?

She's always wanted to be an instructor and by the point when she was in culinary school she had already worked in the industry for seven years. She had an opportunity to become an instructional assistant, where she would tutor students and help them with their cooking methods, notes, homework. In her school she got a lot of experience with instructing when she went to Oregon Coast Culinary Institute and put a bug in her skills with her skills on instructing. She loves working in event services and just working in a kitchen. 

What classes do you teach outside of the culinary department?

She used to do private classes from her business that were anywhere from two to four people. She hasn't been teaching the private classes since Covid hit and she has put her business to a stop. 

What has changed in your culinary department due to Covid?

They have had a big push for a more centered curriculum and they are more on track to teach one-on-one with students and teaching at a very personal level. It could get mixed up a lot because you can have 10 different students doing different things. They are all on the same page of making the curriculum to help everyone to stay on the same page. They can deliver the instruction so they are more direct. 

At a Glance:

Audrey Anderson

Hometown: Independence, Oregon 

Age: 32

Spouse: Yes

Kids: No but she has dogs

Instructor title: Instructional specialist for baking

Years at LBCC: Four

Favorite sports team: Portland Trail Blazers

Favorite TV show: “Mind of a Chef,” Amazon Prime Video

Favorite type of cake: Black Forest Cake

Name of her business: Roux Events and Catering