Teacher Appreciation Week

Phew! The "2008 Pony Express Olympic Games" have officially come to an end. It was by far the most fun that I have had while volunteering in the PTA despite the fact that their wasn't a smidgen of scandal. I did, however, have to resort to carbohydrate stacking to keep up my endurance until Friday. It's amazing how much work it is to feed 85 people 5 days in a row. I don't think that a career in catering is in my immediate future. It was, however, a fabulous success. We even managed without the help of Mitt Romney (realizing he had more pressing concerns).

We started the week with our version of the "opening ceremonies". After the music specialist sang the national anthem on the intercom, we had the teachers run through the halls passing off the torch while the children cheered them on. Bea Twede's husband is a total electrician geek (in the best possible way) and he made the coolest torch by hollowing out a cedar branch and wiring it with a fan that blew strips of organza material that looked like flames.

Every day we fed the teachers according to the customs of a different country. Friday I was in charge so I spent all Thursday night cooking pork and rice for Cafe Rio-like salads. For dessert I made the Tres Leche cupcakes that I highlighted in an earlier post. I used whipping cream instead of the caramel buttercream and topped them with slices of strawberries. They were awesome.

On Friday we closed the festivities with another torch run followed by a slideshow of Olympic athletes. The Olympians faces had been replaced with pictures of our teachers. A former Olympian that lives nearby presented the teachers with the faux gold medals that I laboriously made the week before using paper mache disks, paper lace, and gold leaf. (If you ever need medals for anything give me a call because I have the technique down perfectly.)