Coconut Mango Granola... it's for Muffin.

Angels really do walk among us, but sometimes even they need a little help.

Are you familiar with photographer extraordinaire, Kita of Pass the Sushi and Girl Carnivore??  If not, you should be.  Miss Kita is truly one of those angels.

If my son were a food blog reader I know he'd have a huge crush on Kita as her recipes bring mouthwatering responses to all who view her stunning photos, and her writing will have you smiling as you read along.  But her blogs, fabulous as they are, aren't what make her an angel.

Photo Credit: Kita, Pass the Sushi

You see, Kita is adopting a beautiful pup named Muffin.  Muffin (she's about 5), like many pups, craves belly rubs and really wants to be a lap dog even though she's a tad too big.  She has bright, smiling eyes and is working on loving humans again.

Not too long ago, Muffin was found neglected and abused.  How someone can hurt helpless animals is beyond me, but the pain inflicted on this sweet girl is unbelievable.  I'm not in on the whole story, but I know the raw sores on her face were caused by chemicals thrown on her, and her road to recovery is a long one.  Along with that road comes a mountain of medical bills, and our Angel, Kita, is holding a bake sale to help defray some of the costs.

Muffin is all smiles!  Photo Credit: Kita, Pass the Sushi

Won't you help??

Some of the biggest names in food blogging are participating in this bake sale and you can be the recipient of some of their incredible baked goods.  For example... did you ever want the esteemed Chef Dennis to bake for you?? Here's your chance.  He's bringing Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies (yes... triple chocolate!) and they can be all yours.  Or have you ever wanted to be In Katrina's Kitchen??  I have, and she's got some fabulous S'more Cereal Treat Bars that I'm not sure I'd want to share.  Care to stay Gluten Free??  Not a problem... Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food has a divine GF Chocolate Orange Swirl Bread.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out this link for a sneak peak to see what's coming to the auction block and be ready swoon.

Here are the details:

At 8AM (EST) July 17th the Muffins for Muffin Bake Sale will start on PasstheSushi.com. A list of all donated baked goods and cook books will be shown with information next to them. To bid on an item, you will send an email to kita {at} passthesushi.com with the item you are bidding on in the subject line. Minimum bids will start at $15 and all bids after must be $5 higher. Bids will be updated next the item throughout the day, so check back if there is something you are really hoping to win! At the end of bidding, I will email the winning bidders to confirm instructions for payment, and also to retrieve their mailing address for their winnings. Payment will be made via paypal within 24 hours of confirmation (so that I can get your info to the baker asap!). Baked goods will be mailed to winners within one week unless other special arrangements are made or noted.

While Liv Life doesn't have an item up for bid, we did make a granola in Muffin's honor... a wonderfully sweet (just like her) Coconut Mango Granola that Liv dubbed Muffin's Mango Madness - Granola with a Tropical Twist (see below).

Filled with wholesome rolled oats and ground flax meal, the grains are bound together with a brown sugar/coconut oil mixture enhanced with sweet Mango Nectar.  Finished off with a dose of dried mango, slivered almonds and toasted coconut, this granola has the ability to transport you to your favorite tropical place - just imagine those swaying palms and light ocean breezes...

Will we see you at Muffin's Bakesale on July 17th??  I wouldn't miss it!  Help Muffin get the medicine she needs to regain her life with her angel.

San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale

10 AM - 2 PM at Great News on Garnet in San Diego

Doesn't everyone love a bake sale?  And what could be better than a bake sale featuring local food bloggers?  Once again, our San Diego food blogger group is participating in the National Food Blogger Bake Sale in support of Share Our Strength.

In an effort to ease childhood hunger, Gabby Dalkin of What's Gabby Cooking, organized the first National Bake Sale in 2009.  This year the numbers are growing even larger as we team up with Bloggers Without Boarders to raise money to help hungry children.

Indigo of Indigo's Sugar Spectrum

While I'd love to have you all join us in San Diego at our host location, Great News Discount Cookware and Cooking School, I know such a commute just may not be in the cards.  As such, you can find a local sale near you on the Share Our Strength site.

Last year our San Diego sale raised over $1,700 and with this year's goal of $2,500 we'd love to see you at the event or would greatly appreciate any sort of donation through our San Diego Event Web Site.

C&H Sugar has generously offered to match the fund raising of the top 3 events, and as San Diego came in 3rd last year we are hoping to only increase our numbers this year.  You can help!

I can guarantee good food, good fun, and an opportunity to meet some of our fabulous local bloggers including the amazing Marie of Meandering Eats, the sweet Kelsey of Happy Yolks (my husband is still talking about her Pumpkin Granola from last year), and the delightful Kelly of Sass and Veracity.

Liv Life is donating Nutella Biscotti

While Liv and I won't personally be attending this year's event (liv's dance stage beckons), our fabulous Nutella Biscotti will be representing us in style.  The popularity of this recipe has amazed me and not a week goes by that I don't get at least one inquiry as to when I'll be making them again.  The cookie that has people who don't eat carbs returning for 4ths is sure to be a hit for you too, and you can pick up a bag this Saturday while supporting hungry kids.

San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Great News Discount Cookware and Cooking School

1788 Garnet Avenue, San Diego, CA 92109

10 AM - 2 PM

Hope to see you there!! 

Clockwise from the top left, we have the adorable Rachel, from Bakerita, Mr. and Mrs. Meandering Eats (Marie and Dan), Me and Jenny (Vintage Sugarcube) and Kelly and Stephanie, from Sass and Veracity and Recipe Renovator.

Everyone loves a bake sale!! Bake Sale tips and ideas.

Doesn't everyone love a good bake sale??  I know I do.  Resisting the temptation to load up on the attractively packaged, colorfully decorated and chocolate chip studded baked goods is hard for me to do.  I've baked for sales for years, however my baked goods are often not shown to their full potential with my lack of packaging ability.  For this sale we sat down and thought about some of the details that would make the sale more fun, and definitely more successful.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to participate in the San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength, and knowing that bloggers with more flair than I would be there with gorgeous goods in hand, I tried to step up my game.  A little internet research proved to be a valuable time saver (isn't it always??) and had me wrapping my Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats in simple and inexpensive plastic wrap, but dressing the treats with colorful ribbons and labels for a much nicer look!  A trip to a party supply store found colored "goodie" bags which worked ideally for my biscotti, highlighing our lemon flavors with a bright yellow bag.  Tying with another ribbon dressed up the bag and a label once again finished it off for a darn decent look.

Simple packaging seems to be best with uncluttered labels.  Kelsey, of Happy Yolks, had wonderful packaging for her Pumpkin Granola (which my husband has proclaimed better than any granola that I've ever made!) with a simple clear bag tied with a ribbon and labels identifying her product, her site and the price.  The little stick on labels identifying her web site added an adorable touch!

In years past, I've not really thought about what to place the baked goods on and just plopped them directly on the table.  This year, though, so many of our bloggers had such wonderful baskets and platters, cupcake trees and boxes - everything looked so nice and the tables were indeed festive.  Lori, The Recipe Girl, made the most adorable baseball cookies, wrapped beautifully in clear wrappers and tied with matching colorful curling ribbon.  Placed in a basket the cookies were featured on the table and kept neatly so that they were not damaged.

Cupcakes area always popular at bake sales!  With colorful frostings and tempting flavors these little guys always seem to catch your eye.  However, getting them to the bake sale without damaging the frosting is many times near impossible.  However!!  Jenny, of Jenny Wenny Cakes had the most wonderful idea to transport her cupcakes absolutely damage free in clear plastic beverage cups, providing the perfect "container" in an attractive package.  Nicely done!

Signs and samples were also part of our successful bake sale.  Got kids??  Then you've got signs!!  Toss them a few poster boards and some sharpie pens or paints and you will have creative, colorful signs in no time.  I took advantage of the creativity from some of Liv's dance friends during an hour break between dance classes and the girls did a fantastic job creating signs for our event.

And samples... to put them out or not?  We decided to place a plate of samples from our Peanut Butter Krispie Treats as well as the Lemon Limoncello Biscotti and a number of customers reached for a bag to purchase after taking a quick taste.  I have to admit that our favorite "sampler" of the day was the adorable Indigo, of Indigo's Sugar Spectrum.  She brought smiles all around with her adorable curls and personality, binging along an engaging smile of her own!

Indigo of Indigo's Sugar Spectrum samples the treats!

All in all, it was a wonderful day... not only did I discover that packaging can look good without costing a fortune and that yes, even I can make treats that look good, but I had the pleasure of finally meeting many of our local San Diego Bloggers.  Marie, of Meandering Eats, was our tireless organizer and had the entire event running flawlessly.  Not only did she set up the event, but she somehow scored us a spot on a local San Diego new show where Liv enjoyed a moment of "stardom" on tv along with 5 other Bloggers.  (Video below... taped on my husband's handheld camera let me apologize in advance for our less than perfect audio!)

San Diego truly has a thriving community of bloggers and I was lucky enough to meet many of them.  From Jenny of Vintage Sugarcube, to high school student Rachel of Bakerita to little Indigo of Indigo's Sugar Spectru, the pleasure was all mine!

Clockwise from the top left, we have the adorable Rachel, from Bakerita, Mr. and Mrs. Meandering Eats (Marie and Dan!), Me and Jenny (Vintage Sugarcube) and Kelly and Stephanie, from Sass and Veracity and Recipe Renovator.

Becky's On Line Bake Sale!

Limoncello and Limoncello Lemon Biscotti

Happy Melanoma Monday!!  Hopefully with spring upon us and the much welcomed and anticipated increase in temperatures (unless you are south of the equator...) you have been using your sunscreen.  After returning from my beach walk last week with a slight burn I've returned to my somewhat forgotten ritual of slathering up each morning.  My fingers are crossed that this bit of protection will not only keep my skin cancer free but perhaps slightly less wrinkled as I work my way through my 40's.

Chocolate Granola

Becky, of Baking and Cooking, a Tale of Two Loves,  is holding an Online Bake Sale where you can bid on items from some of your favorite bloggers with all of the proceeds going to Relay for Life with the American Cancer Society.  Being a 15 year melanoma survivor, this issue is close to Becky's heart and she is also working as Team Captain for her county in the Relay for Life effort.

Chocolate Decadence Cookies

Our Limoncello and Limoncello Lemon Biscotti is currently up for bid along with Chocolate Decadence Cookies from the esteemed Chef Dennis, Kate from Diethood's Chocolate Granola, Gina from SP Cookie Queen's Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and Brooks from Cakewalker's Mayan Toffee, just to name a few.  Join me over on Becky's blog to see which of your other favorite bloggers has some of their incredible treats up for auction for this wonderful cause!

Mayan Toffee

Becky's premise to "Please join my team or make a donation to help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays." is one that touches my heart.  Please help her with her goal to raise $1,000 for the cause!

Place:  Baking and Cooking a Tale of Two Loves

Time:  Ends Tuesday, May 3rd at 9 PM EST

Proceeds:  All proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society

Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies