Page 32 February 2015 By Michelle Donati-Grayman If you’re looking for a romantic gift this Valentine’s Day, consider diamonds. A diamond dinner, that is. With more than 24 AAA Four and Five Diamond restaurants sprinkled across the state, you have plenty of options to get your mouth watering and heart racing. In honor of Valentine’s Day, AAA Travel experts have pulled together a sweet sampling of Valentine’s Day dinners: KAI There is no better way to say, “I love you” this Valentine’s Day than treating your Diamond restaurant, Kai, at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa. Celebrate your love with a one-of-a-kind dining experience, including a tempting seven- which features wagyu beef tenderloin and Nova Scotia lobster. Dinner is $175 per person with wine pairings available at $70 per person. For more information or reservations, call 602-385-5726. DESEO With sweeping views of the McDowell Mountains and a name derived from the language of love, Deseo is the perfect place to spend the most romantic night of the year. Located at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, the Four Diamond restaurant is offering a sumptuous four-course, prix Three diamond-worthy valentine dining experiences smoked shrimp remoulade. Dinner is $75 per person with wine pairings available at $30 per person. For more information or reservations, call 480-624-1202. ELEMENTS With one of the best views in the Valley, Elements makes for a perfect place to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Located at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort, the Four Diamond restaurant will offer ! entree options that include coconut poached lobster and seared Georges Bank scallops. Dinner is $115 per person with wine pairings available for an additional cost. For more information or reservations, call 855-245-2051. Michelle Donati-Grayman is an Arcadia resident who works for AAA Arizona, an automotive resource. EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE! EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE! Preschool - Elementary Affordable Small Class Sizes Expanded/Accelerated Curriculum In-Classroom Technology Personalized Education 4015 E. Lincoln Dr. Paradise Valley (602) 381-9906 - info@ccsaz.org “Academic Excellence Enriched by Faith” Christ Church School www.ccsaz.org 602-956-0178 4144 E. Indian School Enjoy your next Fiesta on the TeePee Patio! Your new best friend. Scottsdale Quarter 39th Street + Camelback NOW OPEN jubytrue.com
Page 33 February 2015 Fundraising made sweeter with Brophy Cookies Club By Heidi Jaenicke The labor of love goes a long way for the club members of The Brophy Cookie Project who dedicate their free time to giving back to those in need. “We’ve been able to identify families in the Phoenix community who’ve needed Brophy College Preparatory and president of The Brophy Cookie Project. “We do a lot, especially with the little things. Around Christmas time we give Christmas gifts, clothes, food and all the basics. We’ve also been able to buy furniture for families that didn’t have any furniture.” The Brophy Cookie Project is a Brophy College Prep club, run by boys interested in giving back to the community. The club creates handmade jars of cookie dough mixes. Underneath each lid of the jarred cookie mix is the personal touch of The Brophy Cookie Project club members, all of whom have invested countless volunteer hours into buying cookie mix ingredients, assembling the recipes, and packaging and labeling the mason jars. This entire process takes place in the Brophy College Prep cafeteria, which is state approved for jarring cookies. Club members then bake off samples of the cookies for tasting on Saturday mornings when they sell the mixes at Vincent’s Saturday Camelback Market. This year the club has three delectable on the Heath and Bronco Bites. The Choco Bomb cookie jar features layers of cocoa, pecans, semisweet and white chocolate chips. Bring on the Heath incorporates crushed Heath bars into their chocolate chip cookie mix. Lastly, there’s Bronco Bites, which brings home the bite with peanut butter chips, pecans and oats mixed into the cookie jar. Brophy College Prep requires students to do 25 hours of community service their sophomore year and 50 hours of community service their junior year. Since this organization is a club, none of the hours are counted as community service. “This is completely unrelated, so none of the members get any hours. We’re all just kind of doing it to get involved,” said ! " ! lot of us who’ve put in time.” Bringing back the tradition of The Brophy Cookie Project proved to be a challenge this year as members struggled " “The moderator last year had a big part in running the club and this year the club # ! $ % ! & ' who took a lot more responsibility of managing the club than some of the club members,” ' club members, the organization # time for the new school year. “Ms. Vaughan, who’s a counselor at Brophy, is the new club moderator and she’s done ( " have hand selected one impoverished Phoenix family and gifted them with their time, money and donated goods raised from The Brophy Cookie Project. “Just with the transition, [of a new moderator], it’s been a lot harder to select a family because that’s labor intensive. This year we are focusing more Around Easter holiday club members will vote on which charitable organization they’re going to donate their money to. Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos and Wounded Warriors Project are some of the charities that they’re looking into selecting. The student-run club at Brophy College Prep sells jarred cookie mixes for $15 each every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the months of October to March at Vincent’s Saturday Camelback Market. Send Entries to: Teachers We Love c/o Arcadia News 3850 E. Indian School Rd., Phx, AZ 85018 or fi ll out a nomination form online at: arcadiadaily.com/teachers.pdf Teacher/Administrator Name: _____________________________________________ School Name: _________________________________________________________ Your Name: ___________________________________________________________ Your Email Address: ____________________________________________________ Your Phone Number: ___________________________________________________ How does this person make a difference? __________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ It’s easy to recognize and nominate your favorite teacher for Teachers We Love! Just fill out this form and mail, fax or drop it by our office. OR, you can nominate a teacher online at www.arcadiadaily.com/teachers.pdf Be sure to include details about why your teacher is great (more details = better chance of winning!) Winning teachers will receive special gift certificates to Fox Restaurants and Salon Sandoval! Do you know a teacher who really makes a difference?