Will Bake for Food - My Recap

I need to say again how honored I am to have been a part of last weekend's Will Bake for Food fund-raiser and food drive.  The Jennys of Purple House Dirt and Rainy Day Gal blogs did a phenomenal job of organizing things.  When all of us bloggers showed up Saturday morning they were able to get us right to our spots and give everyone jobs.  I haven't heard all of the final numbers but I did see that the cash collection was around $2500!

The room was bright and cheerfully decorated with tissue paper orbs.  Homemade cardboard signage marked off where the donations were being collected, the tickets for food were issued, and most importantly where the coffee was being served.  Before our start time of 11am there was a line out the door of people eager to make their donations of canned food or cash and get first choice of all the amazing pastry items.

Some of the other blogger/bakers

Amazing may not even be the right word to fully describe everything people made.  I was sharing my own table with Bacon Gingersnap Sandwich Cookies (yes it says bacon!) and Caramel Pecan Bars.  My good friend and owner/operator of Infamous Pastries brought Chai Snickerdoodles and Gingerbread Cakes.  There were also homemade marshmallows, mini chocolate cups filled with Nutella, mint, or peanut butter, Orange Fennel Seed Caramel Corn, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Espresso Brownies, Almond Butter Toffee, savory biscuits (more bacon here), packets of vanilla beans and star anise to take home, and so much more my brain could barely process it all!

Here was a moment that I could fully embrace the title of my blog.  Looking around the room at all of the buttery, chocolatey, gooey, and sweet baked treats I had to brace myself and think Our Lady of Second Helpings - Pray for Me!!!  I did wind up trying many of the things the other bakers brought and I really enjoyed a bite here and there but my palate was quickly overwhelmed.  We brought a lot of different goodies home and I sure hope they keep in the freezer because as much as I look forward to enjoying them all, it is going to happen only a little at a time.

Our Lady of Second Helpings'
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies and
Triple Chocolate Brownies

By the time the doors opened I was so excited to see if my healthy little treats would tempt anyone after walking around a room of 'real deal' baked goods.  At first the only attention I had was for those Bacon Gingersnap Cookies.  People literally did double takes.  After a few more minutes people actually looked at my little packets of brownies and cookies and before I knew it they were picking them up and handing me their tickets!  They also wanted to take a recipe card, my business card, and hear my story!


As I shared my story several people shared stories of their own journey with me.  First a woman told me that she had been a Weight Watchers member in the past and shed 80 pounds.  She continues to use the principles she learned to get back on track when she finds herself straying too far from her health goals.  Another of the bakers shared her story of overcoming an unhappy time in her life and choosing to put herself first. Her choices began a journey to better health and included loosing 100 pounds.  Late day a beautiful young woman was eyeing my Pumpkin cookies and perked up when I let her know they were low in Weight Watchers points.  She picked some out and told me she had lost 70 pounds.  


At the end of the day, tired as I was, my heart was overflowing.  The response to my treats was overwhelmingly positive. It was so encouraging to hear exclamations of surprise that my healthy items were "actually good!"  With all we hear in the media about the obesity epidemic this experience gave me hope.

Our Lady of Second Helpings - the blogger

My philosophy is: make foods with pleasing textures, that look familiar, fill them with flavor, and there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.  I am beginning to see the light and it is bright!






*Click here to see a list of the other bloggers who participated.  I know many have posted their own delicious recipes and recaps of last Saturday's event.


**Click here to jump to the post featuring the recipes for the Triple Chocolate Brownies and Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies!