MOSES LAKE - The staff room at Peninsula Elementary School was all pinked out Wednesday morning - pink cookies, cupcakes with pink frosting, pink fruit salad, even pink spaghetti. It was the staff's way of recognizing breast cancer survivors, women who are fighting the disease and those who have lost the battle.

It was also the monthly staff potluck, and the latest round of culinary competition.

"It's an Iron Chef type of thing," explained Diana Schmid, one of the two community judges. Kim Brandt was the other, and both are breast cancer survivors. Cooks on the staff are encouraged to put their best recipe forward, and the best chef, chosen by the community judges, is awarded a traveling trophy.

The twist is that each month there's a secret ingredient. "You have to have the secret ingredient, and (for October) the secret ingredient is pink," said Peninsula principal Sydney Richins. That was the reason for cookies topped with pink berries and zucchini relish with pink peppers.

And it's all a friendly competition among fellow educators, designed to bring the staff together. Or not. "No bribes, we were told," Schmid said.

"It's cutthroat," said Heidi Reagan, one of the organizers for October. Apparently staff members have not been above slipping an extra cookie to a judge. The traveling trophy (a spatula painted yellow and wire bent into the shape of a martini glass) has been an object of envy among the vanquished. "The trophy has been a stolen a few times," Reagan said.

Second-grade teacher Kathy Butler and her peanut blossom crinkles were the winners for October. Butler keeps the trophy until the next potluck.

Teachers share the planning duties. Reagan and kindergarten teacher Brittiany Divelbiss chose breast cancer awareness in part to honor Divelbiss' mom, the late Peggy Sue Hibbitts, who lost the fight about 18 months ago, Divelbiss said.

The potluck is an old Peninsula tradition, and in the past the staff has recognized firefighters, police, and dads involved in the school's WatchDawgs program, among others, Reagan said.