Students can get in the Halloween spirit early at Marycrest’s Fun Food Night, Monday, Oct. 29 from 5-9 p.m.
Chef Ted Sutphin said Marycrest hosts this event every year, which is a celebration of fall and Halloween. He said the foods offered will include their regular fare with some special entrees and a spooky or holiday-themed name for the dishes, such as “zombie ziti” and a “Frankenstein grilled cheese.”
“It’s a highlight of what we do,” Sutphin said. “We try to have something for everyone and accommodate all the different tastes.”
In addition to the seasonal foods, Marycrest will also be showing scary movies and playing theme music.
“There will be a fun atmosphere, the dining room and the cafeteria are all decorated with a little bit of harvest and some Halloween stuff as well,” Andrew Godby, a cook at
Marycrest said.
Sutphin said employees are encouraged to dress up in costume.
“Marycrest is known for its parties, and the staff really enjoys it,” Sutphin said. “It brings a nice electricity and positive energy to the building.”
Godby said he is looking forward to putting on the event for students and having the chance to be creative with the food.
“We’ll be having mummy dogs, which are basically a pig in a blanket, but instead of being wrapped up in one sheet of dough, we have sliced the dough into strips and wrapped the hotdogs up like a mummy,” he said.
Godby said that while it is too soon to start prepping food for the event, the employees have been practicing making the foods so they can try them out ahead of time.
“It’s our job to make sure the food we put out not only looks and tastes good, but is also going to be something the students will want,” he said.
Sutphin said that even though some students might find the event to be a little corny, most people really enjoy it. He said that students have an expectation that their parents will decorate their houses when they are growing up and that Marycrest holds such events to make students feel more
at home.
“It gives them a sense of what their parents would do, with still decorating,” he said. “We try to replace some things in little ways.”
Sutphin said the event is being held on Monday night instead of on Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 31, because Marycrest realizes that students will likely have other activities to participate in on that day.
Godby said he expects approximately 1,000 students to attend.
“Our special dinners usually bring anywhere from 800 to the most I remember being around 2,000 students at our culinary extravaganzas, which are the last special dinner of the semester, centered around decadent foods like prime rib and other fancier foods,” he said.
Staff and students alike have enjoyed Fun Food Night in the past.
“International students really love this because it’s all new to them,” Sutphin said. “They get to experience these things for the first time and become more familiar with the culture.”
Godby said that while special dinners require more preparation and hard work than usual, he said it is rewarding to prepare different foods and make the students happy.
“I do enjoy the special dinners, it’s something outside of the daily grind,” he said. “It’s different and fun to do and while it may be more work than a typical night, it is always worth it.”
For a complete menu of foods, including caramel apple pizza bagels, specialty homemade desserts and cinnamon or pumpkin waffles, log on to Porches and click on the UD Daily tab.
“We make it a very fun atmosphere and would love for everyone to come out and enjoy it,” Godby said.
