Preparing one meal a day for a family can sometimes seem like a daunting task – imagine overseeing two kitchens that produce several hundreds of pounds of food a day! That’s just a day in the life for Holland Farms Bakery & Deli Kitchen Manager Maureen Dingle, though. She oversees both the salad kitchen and hot foods kitchen at Holland Farms – a role she has played for almost a decade.
Maureen, who generally oversees a staff of three during the winter and six throughout the summer months, is responsible for the production of all the cooked menu items at Holland Farms – from their famous potato salad to their amazing barbeque. If it’s on the menu, it’s there because Maureen has worked to make sure the Holland Farms kitchens are operating smoothly and efficiently.
“I like the fact that here, we’re allowed to work independently,” Maureen said. “We’re allowed to manage our departments the way we know will work best.” Maureen said that the enjoyable working environment is one of the main reasons she’s worked at Holland Farms for the last eight years. “It’s very easy to work here,” she said.
Of course, one of the great things about working for Holland Farms is the food – both from the bakery and the deli. “I’d have to say my favorite dish from the Holland Farms kitchen is our chicken riggies,” Maureen said, adding that jelly buns are her favorite baked good, with banana rolls coming in a close second. “If you haven’t tried our banana rolls, you really have to – they’re delicious!”
A lifelong resident of the Mohawk Valley, Maureen currently lives in Ilion. She has two adult children, six grandchildren, and one on the way. In her spare time, she enjoys painting. “I’m an artist on the side,” she said, adding that she likes to paint nature scenes, children, and murals for her grandchildren.
