Baking and Books » Foodies Unite! A Baking and Books Fundraiser

Foodies Unite! A Baking and Books Fundraiser

Navigate: The Cause | How to Contribute | The Prizes | Who Has Donated

Raffle Dates: July 16th - September 3rd
Raffle results have been posted! Click here to see who won.
Total Amount Raised: $1,810.

2006 Bike Ride
Tuv Ha’Aretz members marvel and the bounty of their land.

The Cause

This past May I began working at an amazing non-profit organization called Hazon. Its mission is to change our world by educating people about our environment, the food we eat, and the ways in which our relationship to these essential aspects of our lives influences our spirituality. Though Hazon’s focus is rooted in the Jewish community, the work Hazon is doing affects everyone. Our vision is to create a global community of educated people who engage with the world around them by growing as individuals and working towards change.

From Monday July 16th until September 3rd I will be holding a fundraising raffle here on ‘Baking and Books’ (and also on ‘The Jew and the Carrot’) in an effort to raise money for the 2007 Jewish Environmental Bike Ride. One of the ways in which Hazon engages people is through it’s annual bike rides - held both in the United States and in Israel - which encourage participants to develop a connection with the environment and also raise money for Hazon’s other projects. You can learn about all of these projects by clicking here, but chief among them in my heart is Hazon’s food work. This includes Tuv Ha’Aretz, Hazon’s Community-Supported Agriculture project, which supports 10 organic farms around the country and enables hundreds of households to receive fresh produce every week during growing season from a local farm. Hazon’s food work also includes an organic farming initiative and sustainable community project in Israel; the Hazon Food Conference, and Hazon’s food curriculum, which teaches both kids & adults about a vast array of important topics surrounding food, nutrition and the environment.

2006 Jewish Environmental Bike Ride participants. Funds raised by these rides are used to support Hazon’s food work.

Though I’m not required to raise funds for this event I want to do so because I believe in what Hazon is doing. I mean, come on, how cool is it that Hazon has devoted it’s resources to educating people about the environment and also using food as one of their educational mediums? As a foodie, I think that’s beyond inspiring. I’ve only been with them for three months and already Hazon has influenced me in innumerable ways, inspiring me to reflect upon what I eat, where my food comes from, and how even seemingly insignificant choices - like taking canvas bags to the grocery store - can help stop global warming. In our fast paced society it’s easy to believe that you can’t make a difference, yet I now realize that if enough people band together hundreds of little changes can remake the world.

I hope you’ll help me meet my goal of raising $2,000 for the Environmental Bike Ride. But you know me, I wouldn’t just ask you for a donation without spicing things up - read more below…

One of Hazon’s Tuv Ha’Aretz CSA sites last Fall.

How to Contribute & Win Prizes!

Making a difference by contributing to this fundraiser is easy as clicking the “Buy a Ticket” button below. For your convenience, donations are being collected through PayPal.

For every $5 you donate I will give you one virtual raffle ticket, which will then qualify you to win the fabulous prizes you see listed on this page. A $25 donation earns you one free ticket (6 tickets total), while a $50 donation earns you two free tickets (12 tickets total).

The fundraiser will run from July 16th until September 3rd, at the end of which I’ll begin selecting winners names at random until every prize has been given away. This is where the raffle tickets come in, because if you have six of them when I draw names yours will appear six times.

$5 = 1 virtual raffle ticket
$25 = 6 virtual raffle tickets
$50 = 12 virtual raffle tickets

*Note: If you have a website you can earn 1 free raffle ticket by donating $5 and mentioning this fundraiser in a post/sidebar. ($5 = 2 tickets) Just drop me an email to let me know you’ve donated & posted.

Tax deductible donations can be made directly on my Hazon page (link). However, the Hazon system requires a minimum donation of $18. (Hence, my using PayPal for the $5 raffle tickets. Donations collected through PayPal will be sent over to Hazon in one lump sum & added to the fundraiser thermometer manually by me.) Use the “Enter Donation Amount Here” section to send your donation.

Names of the most recent contributors will be displayed in the sidebar. If you have a site that you would like me to link to, please email me at bakingandbooks AT gmail DOT com.

The Prizes

By contributing to this fundraiser you’ll not only be supporting a worthy cause, but you’ll also be entered into a raffle for the following prizes!

The prize list was last updated on August 9th. Additional prizes may be added between now and September 3rd. If you represent a company that would like to donate to this fundraiser, please email me at bakingandbooks AT gmail DOT com.

Four Grand Prizes
Four lucky winners will receive a copy of “Forever Summer,” “Jamie’s Italy,” “Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Cafe” and “The Essence of Chocolate.” That’s right, four books!

4 Grand Prizes

Sixty Individual Prizes

60 individual prizes

More About the Prizes (Book Info)

My heartfelt thanks to Christine at Hyperion Books for generously donating forty copies of Hyperion’s cookbooks to this raffle!
5 Copies Available	“Jamie’s Italy” by Jamie Oliver Italy and its wonderful flavors have always had a major influence on Jamie Oliver’s food and cooking. In Jamie’s Italy, he travels this famously gastronomic country paying homage to the classic dishes of each region and searching for new ideas to bring home. The result is a sensational collection of Italian recipes, old and new, that will ensure that Italy’s influence reaches us all.. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
5 Copies Available	“Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Café: Breakfast Served All Day” by Mollie Katzen Whether you’re faced with a sit-down brunch for ten or just want an on-the-go breakfast treat for one, Mollie will have the perfect (and healthful) choice for you. Sunlight Café has sections on yogurt and cheeses, pancakes and waffles, muffins and biscuits, eggs and tofu, coffee cakes and protein bars, puddings and flans — and much more! In addition to showing you exactly how to make the perfect omelet or the crispiest waffle, Mollie offers mouth-watering recipes for plum-studded morning cake; raspberry-drenched rhubarb; crispy southwest polenta hash; winter frittata with red onions, red potatoes, ruby chard, and goat cheese, honey maple breakfast flan; and gingerbread pancakes. Gracing the pages are Katzen’s luminous paintings, richly evocative of the pleasures of cooking and eating. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
5 Copies Available	“Forever Summer” by Nigella Lawson Nigella Lawson is one of Britain’s most influential food writers, and a brilliant home cook. How to Be a Domestic Goddess, her award-winning cookbook, sold more than 100,000 copies. Nigella Bites, another great success, featured enticing recipes made with minimum effort. In Forever Summer, Nigella Lawson shares her favorite warm-weather recipes that will give readers that “lazy summer feeling” all year long. Fresh, innovative, versatile, and delicious, this irresistible cookbook combines Nigella’s breezy style with mouth-watering recipes, ranging from Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables and Barbecued Sea Bass, to Chicken Salad with Spinach and Happiness Soup, to a gorgeous Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
5 Copies Available	“The Essence of Chocolate:Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate” by John Scharffenberger & Robert Steinberg The Essence of Chocolate features more than one hundred spectacular — and often simple — recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs. It is divided into three sections: Intensely Chocolate, which includes such decadent treats as That Chocolate Cake, in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; Essentially Chocolate, with lighter chocolate desserts like White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Brown Butter Blondies; and A Hint of Chocolate, with recipes that use chocolate’s spicier qualities to their best effect, like Vegetarian Chili and John’s Cocoa Rub. And all will work magnificently with any high-quality chocolate. Filled with helpful tips, sumptuous photographs, and the story of how chocolate is really made, here is a book that is every bit as seductive as its subject. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
5 Copies Available	“Nigella Express” by Nigella Lawson Featuring fabulous fast foods, ingenious short cuts, terrific time-saving ideas and easy, delicious meals, Nigella Express is her solution to eating well when time is short. These mouthwatering recipes can be prepared quickly, yet cooked slowly in the oven, leaving you with time to enjoy a long bath, a glass of wine, talk to friends or do homework with your children. It’s minimum stress for maximum enjoyment. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this book when it is published in November 2007.
5 Copies Available	“The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without” by Mollie Katzen Mollie Katzen’s recipes have been a long time favorite in our kitchen. Delicious, nourishing and easy to make it’s no wonder that Katzen’s recipes have made her one of the most popular cookbook authors of all time. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this newest book when it is published in October 2007. “Take a large helping of culinary passion, add a pinch of artistic creativity, sprinkle with down-home charm; you have Mollie Katzen” - St. Petersburg Times
5 Copies Available	“Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook” by Jaime Oliver Following Jaime’s Italy (published 2006) the amazingly talented (and good-looking) Jaime Oliver is back with Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this newest book when it is published in October 2007.
5 Copies Available	“Roast Chicken and Other Stories” by Simon Hopkinson In England, no food writer’s star shines brighter than Simon Hopkinson’s, whose breakthrough Roast Chicken and Other Stories was voted the most useful cookbook ever by a panel of chefs, food writers, and consumers. At last, American cooks can enjoy endearing stories from the highly acclaimed food writer and his simple yet elegant recipes. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this newest book when it is published in September 2007.
Many thanks to Zak at Ten Speed Press for donating the following titles to this raffle!
2 Copies Available	“Secrets of a Jewish Baker” by George Greenstein In this James Beard Award-winning cookbook, Greenstein reveals 125 recipes for the yeasted and quick breads that have been handed down through his family by three generations of bakers. And now that most neighborhood bakeries like Greenstein’s are long since closed, this classic collection serves not only to teach bakers everywhere how to make those delicious, classic breads, but it also preserves authentic Jewish recipes for all to enjoy. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“The Perfect Scoop” by David Lebovitz Ripe seasonal fruits. Fragrant vanilla, toasted nuts, and spices. Heavy cream and bright liqueurs. Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. Every luscious flavor is grist for the chill in David Lebovitz’s ecstatic guide to the pleasures of homemade ice creams, sorbets, granitas, and more. With an emphasis on intense and sophisticated flavors, this collection of frozen treats ranges from classic and comforting (Chocolate Sorbet) to contemporary and cutting edge (Mojito Granita). The Perfect Scoop transforms simple ice cream into a knockout dessert. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
Thanks to Peter over at Chronicle Books for donating these popular titles to the raffle.
2 Copies Available	“A Passion for Ice Cream” by Emily Luchetti Anybody who loves ice cream knows there’s nothing better than a scoopful of homemade. This gorgeous cookbook doesn’t just have all the crowd-pleasers, it’s bursting with flavors you’ll never find in the store. There’s chocolate, strawberry, and butter pecan; there’s orange-cardamom, root beer granita, and pomegranate sorbet. There’s popsicles, floats, parfaits, Rum Raisin Ice Cream Sandwiches; Sauternes Ice Cream and Apricot Sherbet Cake. Ice-cream fans need look no further than these mmm, mmm, mmm, melt-in-your-mouth recipes. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Tartine” by Elisabeth Prueitt Acclaimed pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt and master baker Chad Robertson share not only their fabulous recipes, but also the secrets and expertise that transform a delicious homemade treat into a great one. It’s no wonder there are lines out the door of Elisabeth and Chad’s acclaimed Tartine Bakery. It’s been written up in every magazine worth its sugar and spice. Here their bakers’ art is transformed into easy-to-follow recipes for the home kitchen. The only thing hard about this cookbook is deciding which recipe to try first! Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Cupcake Deck” by Elinor Klivans Drawn from the best-selling book, Cupcakes, this deck includes such inviting recipes as Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes, Vanilla Cheesecake Crunch-Top Cupcakes and the deliriously delicious Lemon Angel Cupcakes. Here are 25 scrumptious ways to bring smiles faster than a kid can lick the batter off a beater. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Classic Stars Desserts” by Emily Luchetti Renowned pastry chef Emily Luchetti has updated and compiled 150 of the best recipes from her hugely popular (and out of print) treasures Stars Desserts and Four-Star Desserts into one delectable cookbook. Here’s the chance to taste such unforgettable delights as rich chocolate French Silk; sweet, tart, and buttery French Apple Tartlets; and decadent Poached Pears with Walnut Cream. From puddings, pies, and cakes to cookies, candies, and confections, these sweets have stood the test of time. Tips on ingredients and equipment plus expert wine pairings for each recipe make Classic Stars Desserts a baking classic. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook” by Barbara Grunes For every mother who has repackaged last-minute, store-bought brownies in tinfoil, The Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook is a godsend. It packs more than 120 quick and easy recipes for irresistible treats and makes a terrific one-stop kitchen companion for parents, kids, or anyone on the go. Cookies, brownies, breads, bars, cupcakes, muffins, cakes, pies, and more… this essential cookbook is stocked with bake sale sell-outs. Every recipe is a proven success! From chocolate-dipped fortune cookies to frosted ice cream cone cakes, these delightful recipes will inspire the baker (and fundraiser) in everyone. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Southern Cakes” by Nancie McDermott Taste the chocolatey goodness of Mississippi Mud or marvel at the extravagant elegance of the Lady Baltimore and there will be no doubt that Southerners know how to bake a cake. Here are 65 recipes for some of the most delicious ever. Jam cakes and jelly rolls; humble pear bread and peanut cake; whole chapters on both chocolate and coconut cakes, each moist and delicious forkful represents the spirit of the South. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
Huge thanks to Lindsay at HarperCollins for donating these books to the raffle!
3 Copies Available	“Authentic Mexican 20th Anniversary Ed: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico” by Rick Bayless After ten years of loving exploration, Rick Bayless, together with his wife, Deann, gave us Authentic Mexican, this now classic, easy-to-use compendium of our southern neighbor’s cooking. This all-embracing cookbook offers the full range of dishes, from poultry, meat, fish, rice, beans, and vegetables to eggs, snacks made of corn masa, tacos, turnovers, enchiladas and their relatives, tamales, and moles, ending with desserts, sweets, and beverages. There’s even a section devoted to refreshing coolers, rich chocolate drinks, and a variety of tequila-laced cocktails. The master recipes feature all the pointers you’ll need for re-creating genuine Mexican textures and flavors in a North American kitchen. Menu suggestions and timing and advance-preparation tips make these dishes perfectly convenient for today’s working families. Rick and Deann Bayless traveled more than thirty-five thousand miles investigating the six distinct regions of Mexico and learning to prepare what they found. From town to town, recipe by recipe, they personally introduce you to Mexico’s cooks, their kitchens, their markets, and their feasts. Three lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Braise: A Journey Through International Cuisine” by Daniel Boulud Featuring braising recipes from around the world, this book will become an instant classic and the definitive cookbook on braising, bringing one pot meals to a whole new level. Braising is “moist heat” cooking, where a small amount of liquid is cooked along with the food in a closed container over long periods of time. A successful braise mingles the flavors of the food being cooked with the liquid it is cooked in, and, because the cooking takes place slowly without burning the food, the technique results in rich, aromatic flavors. Whether you’re interested in the ordinary (Pot Roast) or the exotic (Quiabebe from Brazil), Boulud’s expert guidance and easy to follow recipes bring the world of braise to your fingertips with welcome simplicity and intense flavour. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Instant Entertaining” by Donna Hay Entertaining doesn’t have to be stressful. It should be fun and fuss-free. Which is why Donna Hay has put together this collection of simple menus for truly instant entertaining. So no matter what the occasion, entertaining has just become a whole lot easier. Following the worldwide success of her last book, The Instant Cook, Donna Hay brings you fresh, easy-to-follow recipes and clever styling ideas for entertaining family and friends. From an impromptu weeknight dinner for two to a celebration for twelve, Instant Entertaining is everything you need to make your occasion an instant success. It is beautifully photographed in the style for which Donna has become known worldwide. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
2 Copies Available	“Fresh Food Fast” by Peter Berley From award-winning chef Peter Berley: mouthwatering seasonal vegetarian menus that can be created in under an hour. Sophisticated, home-cooked vegetarian meals without the fuss. Is that too much to ask? Absolutely not. True to his roots as a restaurant chef, cooking teacher, and family man, award-winning vegetarian chef Peter Berley has a passion for meals that taste incredible, salute the seasons, and are easy to prepare in under an hour. In Fresh Food Fast, he provides forty-eight meals — twelve for each season — including recipes, a shopping list, an equipment list, and a game plan that takes you step-by-step through the menu. In a world where fast food is generally prepackaged and second-rate, Peter Berley teaches us how we can live without compromise and enjoy fresh, wholesome meals any night of the week as we connect with family and friends. Two lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
Thank you to author Mia King and her publicist Mary Ann Zissimos for donating 5 copies of King’s new novel to this raffle.
5 Copies Available	“Good Things” by Mia King In one fell swoop, Seattle’s answer to Martha Stewart, Deidre McIntosh, is sent into a tailspin. Her popular show is cancelled and she loses her gay roommate and confidante, William. To top off her bad luck, she has to move because her name isn’t on the lease. Amid this chaos appears the hunk of her dreams, Kevin Johnson. After a one-night stand, he offers Deidre the use of his country retreat, which she reluctantly decides to use. As she stays in Kevin’s rustic cabin far from her life in the city, Deidre tries to figure out what really matters to her, and how to recapture the experience of helping people that she’d achieved on her show. She would also like to capture Kevin. The bucolic setting and King’s interesting characters create a fresh and thoroughly enjoyable story as enticing as the delectable recipes at the end of the book. Five lucky winners will receive a copy of this book.
Thanks to Pamela for donating the following lovely books to this raffle!
1 Copy Available	“Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes” by Jeffrey Hamelman The warm, complex aroma of a fresh-baked loaf of bread can be utterly tantalizing;the first bite, a revelation. In Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes, award-winning master baker Jeffrey Hamelman presents the definitive, one-stop reference on the art and science of bread baking - a kitchen essential for seasoned home bakers and professionals alike. Opening with a comprehensive overview of the foundations - essential ingredients;hand techniques for kneading, scoring, and shaping; the basic process from mixing through baking - he lucidly guides bakers through all elements of this richly rewarding craft. One lucky winner will receive a copy of this book.
1 Copy Available	“Baking by Flavor” by Lisa Yockelson Flavor is the very essence of fine baking, the source of wonderful tastes and aromas that tempt the palate and delight the senses. In Baking by Flavor, Lisa Yockelson shares flavor-boosting secrets that can make virtually any recipe burst with new vigor and freshness. This book reveals concepts and techniques for using eighteen basic ingredients-including chocolate vanilla, apricot, and lemon-to “pyramid” flavor, layer by delicious layer. Two hundred and sixty carefully selected recipes inspire readers with ideas for animating many “old favorite” recipes that may have become more “old” than “favorite.” Clearly written, easy-to-follow instructions make the book a joy to read and use in the kitchen, while 118 photographs give visual expression to techniques and eighteen color-plated presentations. One lucky winner will receive a copy of this book.
1 Copy Available	“ChocolateChocolate” by Lisa Yockelson ChocolateChocolate reveals baking with chocolate as a sweet and simple art, one that is both rewarding and accessible. The book’s unique “baking diary” format arranges chapters by theme, reflecting Yockelson’s fresh and personal approach to baking. From comforting Brownie Style favorites to dashing Double Chocolate and Mudslide confections, temptation beckons from every page. Complemented by 155 stunning color photographs that artfully express her specialties in all their chocolate glory, here is a timeless reference all home bakers will return to again and again as a source of instruction, inspiration. One lucky winner will receive a copy of this book.
1 Copy Available	“The Essential Baker” by Carole Bloom Bloom, the author of eight cookbooks whose work has appeared in Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Food + Wine, adopts an unusual approach in this exhaustive and tantalizing look at baking. Instead of categorizing recipes by food type, she organizes them by primary ingredient; a useful approach for the baker with a craving or surplus of one ingredient. The recipes themselvesare uniquely formatted in a table layout that lists the ingredients across from their steps to help with organization. The collection covers the gamut with 225 recipes, including such delectable gems as Pear and Walnut Layer Cake with Maple–Cream Cheese Icing; Coconut Biscotti; and Cranberry Nut Tea Loaf. Other highlights range from Chocolate Chip Cookies and Macadamia Nut Blondies to Malted Milk Chocolate Cheesecake and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. One lucky winner will receive a copy of this book.
1 Copy Available	“Bubby’s Homemade Pies” by Ronald M. Silver, Jen Bervin “One of my fondest childhood memories is of my aunt’s pies cooling on the window sill, while father sat with his deputy… wait… that might be Opie Taylor. If you love pie, and I can only assume you do, Bubby’s pies are the best. I’m eating one right now.” - Jon Stewart “I almost ate the book! If my bubby made pies like this, I’d weigh 400 pounds” - Billy Crystal One lucky winner will receive a copy of this book.
1 Copy Available	“The Bon Appetit Cookbook” by Barbara Fairchild First launched in 1956, Bon Appétit is America s favorite and most widely read food and entertaining magazine, with a circulation of 1.3 million. Now, for the first time, The Bon Appétit Cookbook brings together more than 1,200 of the magazine’s all-time best-loved recipes for every meal and occasion. The book is accessible and user-friendly — just like the magazine — and includes clear explanations and exclusive tips from the Bon Appétit test kitchen, along with 59 detailed illustrations of ingredients and techniques. From Cajun-Grilled Shrimp to Artichoke and Mushroom Lasagna to Hot and Sticky Apricot-Glazed Chicken to Molasses Chewies with Brown Sugar Glaze, there are dishes that will tempt every palate. Complete with a gorgeous 32-page color insert and a simple yet elegant design throughout, The Bon Appétit Cookbook is a must for those who truly love to make and enjoy great food. One lucky winner will receive a copy of this book.