On Thursday, Feb. 8, the LSW competitive culinary Pro-Start team qualified for State after placing third in the Regional Pro-Start event. The team consisted of seniors Jackie Stahnke and Abby Steele, juniors Grant Sprague and Marley Patcher and sophomore Mikayla Vauiso. The team had one hour to prepare a 3-course meal of restaurant quality from scratch for two judges.

“The group did really well,” Family and Consumer Science teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Griffith said. “For them only having an hour to finish everything, they completed a lot.”

The first course was a corn polenta that was panned seared with sautéed arugula and a fried quail egg with red pepper coulis. They followed up with a seared beef tenderloin on top of a sweet potato mash served with tiny cut carrots, and brussel sprouts with a cranberry demi glaze sauce. The team’s dessert was a temper dark chocolate bowl in which they used a balloon to make a structure. They finished the plate with fine cut pieces of kiwi and a strawberry rose.

“I think it is pretty cool to make State,” Sprague said. “We already have our menu for State and are working towards making it better.”

State will be held at Central Community College in Hastings on Thursday, Mar. 7.