For the past eight years, home economics students have worked together to craft a monument of food preparation: the 9-foot burrito. This year’s students took their place in the Mexican cuisine legacy, Nov. 12.

Home ec teacher Sharon Scharf’s annual tradition originated from a La Victoria recipe, which suggested making an 8-foot burrito. However, Scharf decided to challenge her classes by adding another 12 inches.

Home ec students formed the giant burrito in the Peoples Church gym during first and second periods. The recipe included four lbs. of ground beef, three lbs. of grated cheese, eight tomatoes, 56 oz. of refried beans and 30 flour tortillas.

“The objective for creating the 9-foot burrito was to show the class they are capable and to promote teamwork,” Scharf said. “Most of all, it was just to have fun.”

Home ec student Stephan Melendez, ’13, participated in the construction of the burrito, noting its comparatively gargantuan size.

“This burrito was a lot thicker than any other one I have eaten before,” Melendez said. “It tasted really good because it contained cheese, salsa and guacamole which is my favorite combination of Mexican foods.”

The completion of the burrito took forty minutes and proved an enjoyable experience for participants according to senior Eric Johnson.

“This was my first time helping build the 9-foot burrito,” Johnson said. “It was awesome because their were only about six people in my class, so each of us were able to eat about a foot of burrito. There was like a party in my mouth, because all the flavors came together and it tasted amazing. I wish I had one more year to make the burrito all over again.”

Although the construction of this meal took place during the morning hours, senior Leah Christopher says she delighted in the treat.

“I really liked making the 9-foot burrito because we worked in one big group instead of smaller groups and it tasted very good,” Christopher said. “It may sound gross to eat in the mornings, but it’s so good that it doesn’t matter.”

For more information, visit the Dec. 3, 2007 article, 9-foot burrito a foot short or check out 9-foot stretch or Flip it!.