Food Service Director of the Month - Esther Quesada

Esther Quesada was born and grew up in a small town in New Mexico named Santa Rita. It was a small mining town that has since been dug up and replaced with a big hole in the ground, thus making her an official “Born in Space” person. Maybe that’s why her friends call her “spacey.”

Esther married at the age of seventeen and moved to Albuquerque with her husband Cristobal. She had all three of her children, Robert, Theresa, and Christina before she turned twenty-one. Bringing them up and being a young wife took all her time but she went to work while her children were still very young. Her first job was doing piece work for the Levi’s company. After working at this job for a year she got bored and started working at a buffet restaurant because this job allowed her to be with her children in the mornings and weekends. Esther worked there for seven years. While working at the restaurant she learned how to use all the kitchen equipment as well as do any of the cooking, baking and prepare all the salads they served.

Esther found that she loved cooking, but that she would never advance from that position, so she decided to apply for a job with the Albuquerque Public Schools Food and Nutrition Department. In September of 1981 she began her career in APS FNS as a substitute three-hour employee to basically wash pots and pans. The cafeteria managers soon discovered that she knew her way around a kitchen within a few weeks she was hired full time. Within a year she was promoted to cafeteria manager. For the next seven years experienced the challenges of elementary, middle and high school levels.

In 1988 she applied and was hired as a Food Service Director in Silver City, NM. A year later she transferred to a larger district, Gadsden Independent Schools, as the Food Service Director. A year later she came back to Albuquerque and was again hired at APS as a cafeteria manager. In December of 1992 she was promoted to Procurement Manager for the department and began in her most enjoyable job yet!

Esther has been very involved with the Student Nutrition Association and the NM Commodity Food Distribution Advisory Council. She loves working with the schools and finding new products to keep the students coming back to the cafeterias. She has made many friendships with many food service professionals from around the country as she has attended many national conferences and meetings. In her current job she is responsible for purchasing everything the APS FNS uses except for the computers and the delivery trucks.

Esther knows most of the people from industry by name and she enjoys meeting and talking with them about new items for school foodservice. After twenty-nine years in school foodservice, Esther will be retiring at the end of this December. She does want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all her friends in the business and let them know that though she is leaving her current position, she will continue to be involved with industry and will continue the friendships and alliances that have made her job so satisfying.

ESTHER'S RECIPE: GERMAN CHOCOLATE TOPPING

INGREDIENTS

PREPARATION

1. Mix first four ingredients in a 2 quart pan.
2. Cook under medium heat slowly whipping constantly till the mixture thickens.
3. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla.
4. Next add the chopped pecans and shredded coconut.
5. Allow the mixture to cool and frost your German Chocolate Cake.

Hint: use your leftover egg whites to make your cake, just add one whole egg to the cake mix.

Previous Food Service Directors of the Month

September 2010 - Kim Terry - Cheese & Bacon Quiche (Quiche Lorraine) Recipe

July 2010 - Raul Jacques - Tangy Chicken Breasts Recipe

June 2010 - Jim Hemmen - Thai Lime Pork Chops Recipe

May 2010 - Kari Frederick - Easy Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe