Glorious

What a wonderful weekend!

Friday was the Pentathlon, Saturday was graduation, and Sunday was the series finale of Lost.

The Pentathlon was a huge success! It was easily one of the most enjoyable days i have spent at my school. It began with lunch followed by the Opening Ceremonies - during which ancient Greek music was played and all the classes came marching in as their respective city-states (Spartans, Athenians, Megarans, etc). The torch was lit, then they spread out across the campus for the competitions. The 5 events were: foot-race, javelin, long jump, obstacle course, and chariot race. Each class rotated through the events and at the end of the day we had a medal ceremony.

This is my favorite photo from the day.

I think it captures the spirit of my students perfectly.

As for the meal, over 70 people were fed! Having taught at the school for 2 years and running the lunch program, i've come to expect last minute additions and changes. Sure enough, i walked in that morning to a slew of new orders. Thank goodness i made extra!

Working the drink stand in my toga

The finished products:

Hand squeezed lemonade 

Greek Salad

Roman Celebration bread (actually ciabatta) 

brushed with herb infused oil 

Spanakopita

Lemon/rosemary grilled chicken 

Baklava

Chevre, honey, and orange stuffed figs

The plating of the figs is the only thing i was truly disappointed about.

If time had permitted, i wanted them arranged with an orange slice tucked to the side and honey drizzled across the whole thing. Oh well, they still tasted delicious. 

A quick note about the bread: ciabatta is apparently one of those "very hard" to make breads, so to make it easy i used Jim Laheys recipe for no-knead ciabatta. All you do is mix the 4 ingredients, then let it rise for 12-19 hours in a warm place (I left mine overnight in the oven with the light on). The next day you form it into the loaves, let it rise for another hour or two (or in my case, 4...its very forgiving). Then place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven and a cookie sheet on the top rack, flip the dough onto the pre-heated cookie sheet, cover it with a brownie pan, bake and voila! Beautiful ciabatta. Jim Lahey has an entire book dedicated to no-knead bread, but you can find many of the recipes for free through google or my personal favorite: FoodGawker.com 

Silas had a good day too!

He came home sleepy and pink-cheeked. 

I get to work with these fabulous people. 

All in all, a glorious day. I will do it again. 

Next year in fact! We'll be moving onto Renaissance! Visions of Shakespeare, flowing dresses, turkey legs, jousting, madrigals, and stage-combat are already filling my head....