Tuesday, November 25, 2008
“It’ll be about five minutes,” Jim Carroll said to the three girls who arrived at his station at GSP dining hall to receive their Thai chicken wraps for lunch on Wednesday. Sweat slides down from Carroll’s hairnet and continues over his face, which is red from the heat rising from the burner.
Carroll loves to be here. He is the induction cook at the GSP Dining Center, meaning he cooks using pans heated by magnets. He cooks each guest’s meal to order. Interacting with the residents and guests is what Carroll said he enjoyed most about his job.
“I like to find out where they are from, what’s going on in their lives and if they like my food,” Carroll said.
At 52, Carroll enjoys his life and has a great passion for cooking. He cooks at work, and when he goes home, he cooks more.
Jim Carroll prepares his station before the dinner rush at the GSP Dining Center. Carroll's passion is cooking, and he was first inspired to cook by his grandmother, who prepared three meals a day for a school. Carroll said he put in 40 to 50 hours at GSP, where he is an induction cook, which means he uses pans heated by magnets, and he cooks each resident's meal to order.
“He’s had a love for cooking all his life,” said Ima Carroll, his mother.
Carroll was first inspired to cook as a child, when he would visit his grandmother, who prepared three meals a day at a school. He would stand in the kitchen and watch her cook, and she would make him help. One of his favorite memories was making what he called huge cinnamon rolls with his grandmother at Christmas time.
After high school Carroll attended Atchison Vo-Tech School for two years and has since cooked for hospitals, restaurants and private parties before coming to the University.
Carroll puts in 40 to 50 hours a week at GSP and said he preferred working at GSP to working at other campus dining locations.
“Mrs. E’s is just too busy — they herd ’em in and herd ’em out,” Carroll said.
Carroll worked in Mrs. E’s for seven years and transferred to GSP when he injured his knee and needed a slower-paced job in 2006.
Barb Wilson, manager of GSP Dining Center, said Carroll’s interaction with the residents helped give the impression that the dining hall staff was similar to a second family and that they were always there to serve meals but also to talk with.
“Jim tries to be friends with everybody. He’s very outgoing,” said David Carroll, his father.
This is Carroll’s third year at GSP, and Jenny Geide, Ellsworth senior, has worked with him all three years. She said she really enjoyed his sense of humor and encouraging attitude.
“You can tell he really loves his job,” Geide said.
Carroll said he was motivated by the appreciation he received from the recipients of his food and also by his strong Christian faith. He regularly attends St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Lawrence.
“When there are a lot of people waiting and I want to go faster but can’t rush, I just remember that the Lord is on my side.” Carroll said.
When Carroll is not standing at the induction station whipping up special dinners, he enjoys cooking for fun and loves to visit his parents. Although he is the only family member to have made a career out of cooking, all family members cook their own dishes for get-togethers, and his mother is quite protective of her kitchen. Carroll said he remembered a particular Mother’s Day when his mother was sick and she finally allowed him into her kitchen and told him how to cook.
Cooking is Carroll’s spice of life. He wipes the sweat rolling down his cheek with his sleeve as he uses the other arm to flip the custom omelette sizzling in the skillet.
“I enjoy cooking everything but liver,” Carroll said.
— — Edited by Lauren Keith
Journalism School awards 63rd annual William Allen ...
John Carroll, former Pulitzer-Prize winning editor, was this year's award recipient.
Dining Services offer unlimited meal plan
Students have until 5 p.m. on Friday to change to a less ...
KU alumna climbed her way to the ...
Cynthia Carroll is ranked fifth most powerful woman by Forbes Magazine.
Life outside the (blue) box
Students branch out from boxed dinners and enjoy the art of cooking
KU Dining serves up a night of ...
The three dining halls will serve food that comes from within a ...
Students take advantage of unlimited meals
With new unlimited meal plans available, students are taking to the dining ...
A gift from my grandmother
An eternal bond created in the kitchen
Students throw on aprons to tackle foreign ...
ECM class A-Broad Cuisine offers an opportunity for students to further their ...
Departments feel the pinch of budget cuts
Groups around campus rely on different solutions for budget woes.
The Department of Defense heads to KU ...
Blogs are helping better inform people about the military
Who's cooking in Lawrence
Four chefs at downtown restaurants tell what it takes to survive in ...
Dining halls add televisions
Campus dining halls added $8,000 worth of televisions to entertain students during ...
Local bars now building patios
The city commission recently approved a new patio for the Jackpot Music ...
On-campus diners go “trayless”
Hoping to reduce food waste, KU Dining Services conducts an experiment to ...
A Stay-At-Home Valentine's
Manning inducted into National Collegiate Basketball Hall ...
Inducted along with Manning Sunday was Charles Barkley, Arnie Ferrin, Nolan Richardson, ...
Mastering the art of college cooking
Tired of frozen dinners? Cooking for yourself doesn't always require natural talent ...
Dining centers serve up homecoming meal
Bailey DeReus, community and campus outreach chairwoman of the homecoming steering committee, ...
Former pledges sue expelled fraternity
Living the Wright life
Wright left Kansas for the NBA last year. His life outside of ...
Striving for parental acceptance
Gay and lesbian students at the University of Kansas have revealed their ...
Playing it kosher
Residence halls prepare for Thanksgiving feast
A Thanksgiving feast fit for thousands of hungry college students — including ...
Breaking bread and sharing stew
Students and community members sample local, vegetarian cuisine each Thursday at Ecumenical ...
Trans fat statistics not available for Dining ...
Campus cuisine now costs more
Recent increases in Dining Services prices and state sales tax combine for ...
Overworked students' dangerous race against time
Is too much work and too little time putting students' health at ...
Campus eateries enjoy record profits
Students increasingly turn to on-campus dining for meals despite the rising costs ...
Hemenway dedicates new scholarship hall
Alumnus names the new all-male scholarship hall after his parents, Floyd H. ...
The Buc starts here
After troubled past, former Jayhawk Talib is ready to live his dream ...
How to host with the most
Here’s some advice on how to organize indoor activities with style
Lawrence offers unique, original restaurants
Some of Lawrence’s best restaurants might be ones off the beaten path.
Grad wins her own HGTV show
A KU alumna won the “Design Star” home design competition.
Student to spin ‘Wheel’
Basketball notes: April 7, 2008
Team, coaches all smiles after Final Four victory.
Editorial: GSP should become coed
Student housing needs to carry through with plan to make GSP coed.
Casual dining, serious dating
How I found love in the most unexpected person
Stocked kitchen
Foreign students bring culture to campus
Students from across the globe have come to the University and brought ...
Breaking up with bread and cheese
My struggle with gluten and lactose intolerance.
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
KUnited presidential candidate Libby Johnson and vice presidential ...
1 comment
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID