On Friday, October 27, ACP’s Culinary students participated in Careers through Culinary Arts Program’s (C-CAP) Harvest Moon benefit. The Harvest Moon Festival was an event where students had the opportunity to prepare food for guests alongside local celebrity chefs for the purpose of raising money and awareness for high school culinary programs across the state of Arizona. An annual event, it’s sponsored by the C-CAP. The event took place outside at the Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale where around twenty schools had the opportunity to work with a well-known chef from the area and serve a meal to the guests. Among the small group of members was senior Serena Das, an FCCLA Culinary student.

Although most schools were given one station, ACP was gifted the opportunity to utilize two working stations. Serena was one of the students who helped make the Ramp Top Chemeith, Oxtail & Runner Bean Cassoulet, Cholla Bud, with Saguaro Blossom Syrup. She was most excited about meeting Chef Drew Anderson, the Chef at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse, explaining that “He is well-known across the entire state, and he was kind enough to take the time to explain to us where he gets each ingredient since everything comes from their native reservation land, the meaning of it, and how he prepares it. It was also pretty cool getting to meet Chef Peter McQuaid of CALA Scottsdale, who worked at the other station of ACP students.” Serena enthusiastically expressed that “He even invited all of us to come eat at his restaurant together!”

After a full day of their hard work, helping set up the event, and cooking, each of the students were able to go around to the other school’s stations to try what they made. They enjoyed all sorts of desserts and fancy dishes, and the Beach Boys, a rock band, also played on-stage. Reflecting on the event, Serena adds that “Being able to participate in events like these make me so thankful for the culinary program at our school and the many various opportunities I have through it. As the night went on, I kept realizing the importance of the event, from having famous people try our food, well-known chefs teaching us, and even having people who paid thousands of dollars just to support our program. This was such a special day where I not only got to have another great culinary experience, but I also got to learn more about event planning and become closer with some of my classmates. Thank you to Chef Treadway and Chef Hudson for inviting me!” The Harvest Moon Festival is a great way for culinary students to test their skills by interacting with the community and make connections with professionals in the field. Great job to Serena and all the other FCCLA students who participated in the event. Go Knights!