A caterpillar cake! What a fun idea!! :cool: I would be interested in finding out how this could be done/presentation. Also, I am interested in how to do the butterfly you mentioned -- was that also done with Bundt? Could you possibly provide directions via e-mail?

You have offered some nice ideas. Thank you. I've heard about offering mini-massages to the staff but I'm not so sure I could get someone(s) to come in and do this gratis. It is definitely worth looking into.

I tried to keep with my theme (Garden) for the desserts. I had a friend make a caterpillar cake using a bundt cake. I also had the instructions to do a butterfly but I liked the caterpillar better. The teachers loved it!! Then we also made lemon & spice cupcakes and chocolate dirt/worm cupcakes.

Serving has always been an issue for me even at the elementary level. So I just got people for clean-up and set-up and I stayed to serve. Most of the time the teachers helped themselves.

Last year I did a Spa luncheon. I got the local spa to come in and do mini massages, I had little goodie bags (dollar store items) and salad bar (unlimited toppings),deli trays, etc... I made sure I had people to serve on this day. Even their drinks!!

Hiya pwalther -- I like your "multiple salads" idea. It might be easier to get people to prepare and donate salads as compared to coming in and serving hot foods for lunch waves. Often I find that it is difficult to get servers/helpers to come in during the schoolday once the kids reach middle school.

What did you do for desserts?

My first year doing this event I went with a Garden theme and did a salad luncheon: pasta salad, taco salad, chicken salad, potato salad, etc... I served the salads in sand pails with the shovels and used brown paper on the tables with strips of astroturf down the middle with some potted flowers.

Another year I did the Western BBq theme as well. I served them BBQ beef sandwiches, BBQ potato chips, Baked beans, coleslaw, etc... I used demin fabric on the tables with some little hay bales and toy horses.

This year I am planning a Brunch Lunch. All of the yummy foods that you would see at a nice brunch buffet. Maybe some virgin mimosas. I haven't quite finished planning all of the nuances.

Hope this helps.

I'm not surprised -- it is hard to resist all that good stuff!

You know, I worried about the Italian food with all our dieters too. Funny thing, those carb counters polished off every last bite--including the garlic bread and cookies!