Food and Futbol: Weimer Finds Perfect Recipe For Success At UD
6/30/2020
This past fall, the University of Delaware women’s soccer team put together one of the best seasons in program history. Highest finish ever in the CAA, one of the biggest win improvements in the country and the third-most wins in a single-season.
For the student-athletes, it was the culmination of the hard work put in over the past three years. Three years of work for an unforgettable four months of memories.
Liz Weimer, a rising senior for the Blue Hens, knows what it means to put in a lot of work for something that may only last a few minutes.
“My brother usually makes fun of me because I spend hours preparing these plates and food that is usually gone in 10 minutes,” Weimer said. “He usually cooks meals for himself at his apartment and, like many other people, doesn’t find the process that fun. For me, I love the entire process, from cooking, to plating, to eating and sharing with friends and family. It’s the exact same as being a student-athlete, the process may not be for everyone, but the memories and moments that come from that process are what you’ll never forget.”
Weimer has been a versatile part of Delaware’s program over the past three years, playing several different positions on the field, trying to use her skills wherever she’s needed. Off the field, Weimer has been just as versatile with her major, trying every aspect she could in the Nutrition and Dietetics field.
“I love experimenting with all sorts of different food and kitchen appliances, I know that my future will have to have a very large kitchen in it because it’s one of my passions, I love the process and experimenting to find new and fun tastes,” Weimer said.
Growing up, however, food was not something that Weimer ever pictured in her future.
“I used to be an extremely picky and boring eater when I was younger. During high school, I took a Student Chef class and an International Foods class, which introduced me to cooking. I then got a job at a juice bar junior year and started trying so many foods I never had before. I started getting into healthier eating, recreating recipes from my cooking classes, and making my own lunches for school. My cooking continued to spiral from there,” Weimer said.
When Weimer was looking at colleges, she knew she wanted a place where she could dive into her newfound passion.
“One thing I loved about Delaware when I was looking at schools was the College of Health Sciences. I always had an interest in that general field and originally applied to Delaware as a biology major. During the summer before freshman year, I started to realize my passion for food and decided to change my major to Nutritional Sciences and then ultimately Nutrition and Dietetics,” Weimer said. “I’m so glad I found this passion as I was entering college, because I have absolutely loved the material taught in most of my classes."
Over the past two years, Weimer has attended a one-week Fine Cooking course at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, traveled to Peru and Chile, and expanded her palette and knowledge far beyond she ever imagined.
“It’s definitely been a fun experience to see how far I have come - from when I was a picky child to being more adventurous now and to hopefully becoming a culinary school student in a few years,” Weimer said.
With her growing knowledge and passion, Weimer found herself talking with her sister and roommates during her freshman year and the idea of building an Instagram account came up. That winter session, the Duxbury, Mass., native went for it and decided to share her recipes and new adventures.
@Lunchin_with_Liz was launched in December of 2017 and has grown to a following of almost 5,000. It has allowed Weimer to not only share her learnings, but also to experiment with recipes and discover a new passion - photography.
“I really hope to use this account in relation to my career, which I could see going in a lot of different directions. I may want to be a chef for a sports team or a restaurant, or get into food photography, cookbooks, and cooking videos, or focus on global nutrition, learning about foreign food practices and helping to minimize the high rates of malnutrition worldwide,” Weimer said. “Hopefully, whichever way I go, my social media presence can be an asset in getting fun, helpful, or important information across to people who need it.”
