Apr 20
2010

National Food Blogger Bake Sale, Los Angeles Recap

in News, Share Our Strength

This past Saturday 26 different Food Blogger Bake Sales took place across the nation.

Adorable sign made by daughters of Carrie of Deliciously Organic

I participated in the L.A. Food Blogger Bake Sale and what a day we had!  Squirrel and I joined forces to bake loaves of Amish White Bread for the sale

Loaves of Amish White Bread

and then I went solo on making Fuji Nana’s Deadly Chocolate Almond Toffee (3-year-olds and hot caramel just don’t mix well).

Deadly Chocolate Almond Toffee ready to be bagged

C&H Sugar very kindly provided Squirrel and I with a $25 gift card to help pay for some of the costs of what we made ( C&H Sugar is the presenting sponsor for Share our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale).  We used it to purchase a big bag of sugar, almonds, chocolate, and other necessities for the items we made!  Squirrel was very excited to put her apron on and model our bag of sugar (wooden spoon in hand, of course).  Thank you C&H!

Squirrel proudly holds our bag of C&H sugar

Everything went well, until I went to pull 2 loaves of bread out of the oven and badly burned one of my fingers on the bottom of the hot baking sheet.  I was using oven mitts and everything!  After nursing my throbbing hand for a while, I got back to baking and making toffee, but didn’t end up making as much toffee as I was planning.  It was just too painful to sit stirring hot caramel over high heat with that hand!

Hot oozing caramel poured over almonds

I was also able to take a variety of items that other people made as well.  I put out a call on Facebook for donations and several sweet friends came to my rescue.  My friend Stacy made a loaf of walnut bread and a loaf of banana bread, my friend Amanda made 4 little mini loaves of whole wheat sweet potato bread, my friend Susan made 2 big loaves of whole wheat bread, and my own sweet mother made 8 mini loaves of lemon blueberry bread.

Items donated by friends and family

Let’s zoom in on that lemon blueberry bread.  Look at those little ceramic loaf pans that she made the loaves in!! Aren’t they awesome?  Mom, you rock.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

The day of the sale was a gorgeous day.  We held the sale on the 2nd floor of Morel’s French Bistro where we had a fantastic view of The Grove.

Morel's French Bistro at The Grove in Los Angeles

I can’t say enough nice things about the wonderful people at Morel’s.  Not only is the restaurant gorgeous,

Interior of Morel's French Bistro

but they treated us wonderfully.  They provided long tables and linens for us to load all of our goodies onto,

The Spread

they set up this gorgeous table that people saw as they walked out onto the balcony,

Gorgeous table set up from Morel's

the pastry chef at Morel’s made a fabulous selection of goodies to contribute to the sale,

Desserts from Morel's

and they even went around sprinkling gorgeous edible flowers on all of our tables.

Tables decorated with edible flowers

Not once did anyone grumble about us being in their way (which I’m sure we were).  They treated us with nothing but generosity and patience.  On top of it all, their food is absolutely fabulous.  At one point a few of us were about to pass out from hunger and so we ordered a quick lunch off of their menu.

Lunch at Morel's

The bake sale was a great success.  Our tables were literally overflowing with an assortment of baked goodies (6 long tables worth) and we managed to sell an incredible amount of it.  One especially fun moment was when the Sherry Yard (pastry chef at Spago and author of Desserts by the Yard) walked in carrying a massive box of cookies and caramels that she made to contribute.  Not only did she contribute by bringing items to be sold, but she then went around grabbing an assortment of our items to sample.

Chef Sherry Yard at the LA Food Blogger Bake Sale

The day was an absolute blast.  It was fun to see some of my favorite people and meet some new ones.

(Jenny, of Picky Palate, showing off her awesome cookies)

Jenny of Picky Palate shows off her yummy cookies

(Lucy Lean and her gorgeous kids Minty and Rémy, of Ladles and Jellyspoons, showing off the awesome cookie pops they made.)

Lucy of Edible Los Angeles with her kids and the cookie pops they made

(Brooke, of Food Woolf, bringing in her Spiced Caramel Corn.)

Brooke of Food Woolf arriving with her spiced popcorn

(Cathy, of Show Food Chef, bringing in her drool-worthy Nutella Hand Pies.)

Cath of Show Food Chef arriving with her delicious Nutella Hand Pies

(Marla, of Family Fresh Cooking, showing off one of our awesome tables.)

Marla of Family Fresh Cooking

One of the results of food bloggers having a bake sale, is that we help contribute to the dollar amount raised because we are all so excited to try each other’s treats!

Amazing variety at the Food Blogger Bake Sale

I must say that I was especially impressed with Josie’s (Daydreamer Desserts) contributions.  Not only did she make a whole tray of gorgeous espresso black and tan cookies, but she made an insane number of perfect macarons in about 5 different flavors.  Josie lives in the same city I do, and I’m trying to convince her to open up her own Patisserie just so I can go in and buy her macarons.

The end result of all that hard work and fun was an impressive $2,456.50 ($16,500 was raised nationwide from all of the Food Blogger Bake Sales) that will all be going to Share Our Strength to help in the fight to end childhood hunger here in America.  But if you didn’t make it out to the bake sale, it’s NOT too late to contribute!  If the thought of a child going hungry hurts, please consider making a donation.  Finally, I have to say a huge thank you to Gaby, of Whats Gaby Cooking, for all of her hard work in pulling this nationwide food blogger effort together, and in organizing our bake sale—I had an absolute blast and am thankful to have had the opportunity to dig in and help!

Modeling my bread

===============================================================

Don’t forget to enter my Pasta Party Giveaway!  To enter, see this post for details.

{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }

Viv April 20, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Lovely recap, wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing.

PS: Sherry Yard! Love her. I met her last December while having lunch at Spago with friends. What a treat it was.

Reply

Josie - Daydreamer Desserts April 20, 2010 at 5:06 pm

Sunday afternoon I made some yummy sandwiches with the Amish bread, delish! And, did I mention how much I loved Fuji Nana’s toffee!!!

You are too kind! :) We’ll see about the Patisserie… need to find some VC funding first. And, if that day ever comes trust me you will be the first to know!

More toffee… more toffee…

Reply

Paula - bell'alimento April 20, 2010 at 5:08 pm

WOW you girls did an AMAZING job for the SOS cause! Bravo!

Reply

Wei-Wei April 20, 2010 at 5:24 pm

This looks amazing! I wish I lived in the US so I could participate in one of these awesome bake sales… But I can’t bake (much).

I love Squirrel! She’s so cute ;) (and those Amish White Breads look amazingly perfect)

Wei-Wei

Reply

Esi April 20, 2010 at 5:25 pm

I’ve eaten pretty much the whole loaf of that amazing bread!! Such a great day and it was wonderful to see you as always :)

Reply

Kayte April 20, 2010 at 5:29 pm

Oh, this was such fun to read about and see everything. When you listed all the things you had on your counter the other day, I was so impressed…now I am even more impressed! All of it gorgeous. The last photo is the best, such a good one of you!

Reply

Lyndsey April 20, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Oh, what a nice time and worthy event! I wish I could of been there. Thanks again for taking us with you. It must be so much fun to talk to and be around other food bloggers. You would have so much to talk about. Do you all get things done? lol!

Reply

Megan April 20, 2010 at 6:11 pm

That looks amazing! So sorry to hear about your burnt hand. I can relate – it’s my specialty! Every time I cook, I burn myself. When I was making poached eggs following your instructions to drop the egg into the boiling water from as close to the water as possible, I put my finger in the water! Can’t get closer than that, can you?
It looks like you has a wonderful day though. Things always feel better when you do them for others!

Reply

Frieda April 20, 2010 at 6:29 pm

Congratulations on a very successful bake sale! I absolutely drooled over all the breads ~ yum!

Reply

Nicole, RD April 20, 2010 at 10:19 pm

Beautiful event! Wonderful cause! Thank you for helping the hungry!

Reply

notyet100 April 20, 2010 at 11:55 pm

wow thanks for this

Reply

penny aka jeroxie April 21, 2010 at 4:33 am

This is a great recap. Hope your hand is better now.

Reply

Aggie April 21, 2010 at 5:16 am

This is AWESOME! wow, what amazing goodies!! Great job ladies!

Reply

Maria April 21, 2010 at 6:53 am

I love all of your photos. Thanks for sharing with us. All of the treats look fantastic! I wish I could of been at your sale too! We had a great time at ours. Such a fun day for such a great cause. Great job!!! And I love that photo of Squirrel, priceless:)

Reply

Jenny Flake April 21, 2010 at 6:57 am

Love your Re-Cap Rachael!! That was such a fun day!

Reply

LilSis April 21, 2010 at 8:13 am

That was an amazing Bake Sale! Congrats to all who participated!

Reply

Roberta April 21, 2010 at 8:19 am

Wow Rachael that was an amazing sale and venue! Is there going to be another sale anytime soon? I’m asking because my niece just moved out to LA/Burbank and I know that she’d love to come and check it out…she has a huge sweet tooth! Hope you hand is better…have a great week, fondly, Roberta

Reply

Jen @ How To: Simplify April 21, 2010 at 8:22 am

What a great recap! It looks like you enjoyed your time at the bake sale. I’m so happy to hear that it was a huge success!

Reply

Tracy April 21, 2010 at 10:07 am

Wow, all of your goodies look wonderful! Looks like it was successful and lots of fun!

Reply

Nancy @acommunaltable April 21, 2010 at 10:21 am

I think you have a new career Ms. Fuji Mama – making and selling that absolutely AWESOME toffee!!!!
It was sublime – and I am so (glad/bummed) that I didn’t buy more – glad because I’m trying to drop a little weight and bummed because it was so darned good!!

Hope the finger is healing well!!

Reply

Fuji Mama (Rachael) April 21, 2010 at 3:26 pm

@Nancy @acommunaltable, You just made my day! I think I need to make you some toffee…. :)

Reply

Noelle @Opera Singer int he Kitchen April 21, 2010 at 11:24 am

WOW! Y’all raised in an insane amount of money! How wonderful and for such a great cause. We were only 2 people in Michigan and only raised 200 dollars but I was happy to be a part of a great cause!

Reply

Fuji Mama (Rachael) April 21, 2010 at 3:26 pm

@Noelle @Opera Singer int he Kitchen, $200 is amazing when you only had 2 people! We had FIFTY people baking and 19 volunteers. So you guys should be proud!!

Reply

zenchef April 21, 2010 at 11:44 am

Such a cool event! It’s amazing what food bloggers can come up with when they unite. Inspiring. And the lemon blueberry bread in the little ceramic loaf pans looks GREAT! I waaant!

Reply

Hila April 21, 2010 at 1:01 pm

Sounds like a great day! All the baked goodies make my mouth water!

Reply

Eileen Loughman April 21, 2010 at 1:51 pm

And now I have a bunch of new blogs to check out (and a diet to ruin). Thank you. :)

Reply

Cookin' Canuck April 21, 2010 at 4:10 pm

What a great setting for the bake sale! Your treats look scrumptious. I hope your hand feels better soon.

Reply

Megan April 21, 2010 at 4:50 pm

Hope your hand is better by now! I really wanted to participate in the SF part of the bake sale but I wasn’t able to :( My favorite italian dish is osso bucco :)

Reply

Maggy April 21, 2010 at 5:23 pm

Great work, ladies – this is so impressive! Wish I’d been there. That bread looks delish and you’re cute as a button :)

Reply

JulieD April 22, 2010 at 10:37 am

Incredible. Everything looks so beautifully wrapped from the pictures. Thanks for sharing. Would love to contribute to an event near me next year. :)

Reply

Mardi@eatlivetravelwrite April 22, 2010 at 11:17 am

What a wonderful idea – I wish SOS was active in Canada. Glad to hear your hand is ok and glad it wasn’t worse… xoxo

Reply

marla {family fresh cooking} April 22, 2010 at 1:31 pm

Wonderful post!!! Gorgeous photos. Now I really understand how you hurt your hand. xo

Reply

Nastassia (Let Me Eat Cake) April 22, 2010 at 3:57 pm

Looks so fun! I wish I could have been there with you ladies, but I hope my cookies were well received. I can’t wait for next years event I will be sure to be available :)

Reply

Tupper April 23, 2010 at 5:27 am

Great story, awesome pics and what a selection of foods. YYour amish bread looks outstanding! Super job.

Reply

Joy April 23, 2010 at 6:08 am

How I wish I was close enough to drop by! Looks like I would need to fast for a long time, but who cares if it’s for a good cause? :) And I’d get to meet all of you, and Squirrel. And I echo Mardi’s comment. Would have loved to do this across the border.

How’s your hand? I had the same thing happen to me a couple of months ago and it took a week to heal. Ouchie.

Btw…where did your mom get those pans? So, so pretty!

Reply

Cathy/ShowFoodChef April 23, 2010 at 11:43 am

Are you sick of me yet? I’m such a fan. I’ve made your bread twice already. Thanx for the recap of a fabulous day, and for including so many of us in your post. Fabulous!

Reply

boots&cateyes April 23, 2010 at 7:50 pm

I am still enjoying my wheat bread from you! so good! Great recap.

Reply

Liz - Meal Makeover Mom April 26, 2010 at 10:51 am

What an awesome event. Wish I could have been there (but Boston is a long way off). Hopefully I can get involved next year on the East coast.

Reply

Brandy June 4, 2014 at 5:02 pm

If people just take time outt tto find out some necessary marketing techniques and mental processes then internet marketing and seo
could be a whole lot easier and they could honestly save hard
earned money by either doing it themselves or getting
a well-informed but ecdonomical provider to work on it for them.

Reply

Leave a Comment

{ 1 trackback }

Previous post:

Next post: