The Riverbank High School (RHS) Culinary class had a busy month of May, catering events and wrapping up the end of the 2017-18 school year.
Earlier this month a few culinary students participated in catering an event for the Stanislaus Senior Foundation. They served up five appetizers and two desserts to 150 people.
This was no small feat for them, not only for serving so many people, but what they had to deal with the day of the event.
Culinary Arts teacher Emily Cowdrey arrived to her classroom in the morning and opened the refrigerator to find that it had shut down and the temperature inside was warm.
“I called the contact for the event we were serving and told her what happened,” explained Cowdrey. “She told me ‘well we need food for tonight.’ So I had to throw everything away in the fridge and restart from scratch.”
Preparing to honor the commitment, Cowdrey arranged for a substitute for her second period class so that she could prepare the food all over again. Finishing the food just as the final bell rang, Cowdrey had everything completed and ready to go.
“We were also at a disadvantage because all of the seniors were on the Disneyland trip,” stated Cowdrey. “We had to be at the event at 4:30 p.m. I had six students show up and rock the event. It was amazing that we got it all done and I was really proud of all my students pulling together.”
Meanwhile, students of the Culinary Arts Department’s Food and Nutrition classes served one final Senior Brunch on Friday, May 18.
The brunch is a weekly event organized by Darlene Barber-Martinez and the Central Valley Community Resources organization, held at the Riverbank Community Center on Fridays. A group of regulars, and guests, gather for conversation, to play games and to enjoy a meal together.
The students, under the supervision of Cowdrey, prepare the meals at their RHS kitchen/classroom and bring them to the Center and serve them.
With this being the final lunch of the school year, Barber-Martinez presented the students and Cowdrey with certificates of appreciation.
News reporters Virginia Still and Ric McGinnis both contributed to this article.
