I am thrilled to report that the first ever Eat My Blog charity bake sale was a tremendous success! The event was scheduled from 10 AM to 4 PM, but due to the wonderful turnout, we were largely sold out by 1 PM. When all was said and done, the Los Angeles food blogging community sold 1,500 treats and raised over $3,000 for the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank! Hip, hip, hooray!
Here’s now the fabulous day played out:
The Eat My Blog planning committee (Laurie, Diana, Anjali, and me), along with our chief supporter The Astronomer, arrived at Zeke’s Smokehouse two hours before game time. Before the crowds rolled in, we did what needed to be done—platters were dolled up with cute wrapping paper, donated boxes were assembled, and each treat was given a hand-crafted name tag and price.
Bakers dropped off their wares late Friday night at committee members’ homes and Saturday morning at Zeke’s. As the boxes of goodies were piled atop one another and the room began to smell of sugary sweetness, it finally hit me that after months of planning, Eat My Blog was becoming a reality.
About an hour before showtime, we started to lay out the irresistible spread. Thirty-six square feet of surface area wasn’t enough to display all of the wonderful creations we received. The extras were stashed underneath the tables; we replenished each platter as supplies ran low.
From bacon-wrapped bread sticks to butterscotch budino, the diversity, quality, and uniqueness of the treats on hand was phenomenal. Each participating blogger put a lot of heart, soul, and time into crafting a delight that would please the eye and rock the taste buds.
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf served coffee and hot chocolate at the event, with all proceeds donated to the Foodbank. Kim of Ravenous Couple and H.C. of L.A. and O.C. Foodventures lent a hand to Ingrid, the barista on duty, throughout the day.
The hours between 10 and 12:30 were a blur. The mad rush of customers and rapid disappearance of sweets and savories was nothing short of exhilarating. Before we knew it, every single item was sold, even the box of sub sandwiches that Jersey Mike’s randomly donated at the eleventh hour.
The Eat My Blog committee would like to extend heartfelt thank yous to the Los Angeles food blogging community (a full list of participating bloggers here), Zeke’s Smokehouse, JS2 Communications, Los Angeles Times, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Challenge Dairy (the official butter sponsor of Eat My Blog), Kiss My Bundt, Vanilla Bake Shop, Susina Bakery, Joan’s on Third, 20th Century Fox, and last but certainly not least, everyone who came out to the bake sale and bought a treat or ten—we couldn’t have done it without you all. Check out the complete set of photos via Flickr.
Eat My Blog. Summer 2010. Get ready.
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Not a Los Angeles resident? Bring Eat My Blog to your city! Shoot me an email at cathy37 [at] gmail [dot] com if you’re interested in replicating this event in your town.
UGH — I missed so many goodies! I should have gotten my butt over to Zeke’s earlier, but I was sick. Stupid cold!
ANYWAY, great to see the event was such a success
A fantastic day. I feel SO PROUD that I got to participate! THANK YOU.
congratulations, and thank you and the committee for the idea, the planning, and the hard work! cant wait to see what you guys pull out for the summer!
Sounds like it was so much fun! But where’s your cute apron?
It was so fun to help out and be a part of it all. Can’t wait for next time!
Cathy, great job to you and your fellow organizers for putting together a killer charity event.
awesome, awesome job cathy! can’t wait for the next one!
great job to you 4 for organizing this. it was a truly charitable and fun event to be a part of. count me in again for the next one!
Cathy, This is such a super idea! Great job! It would be super neat to put something like this on in the Bay Area.
Congratulations on pulling off such a wonderful event.
Cathy, great job organizing and running such a wonderful event. Glad everything was sold out and the good amt of $ raised to the LA Food Bank!
Catherine, you didn’t do good. No. You guys/gals did GREAT!!
And, this is just your baby beginning to walk.
Maybe a different theme for EMB in ’10?
Still smiling.
I can’t wait for EMB 2!
Seriously so amazing!! I can’t wait for the next one!
Looking forward to the next round!
This is a fantastic idea! Thanks for sharing!
So happy I got to be a part of this ….congrats to all! Great job and awesome organizing! Hope to be a part of the next one! Happy baking!
Eat my Blog is going global? What a great idea! Cathy, you should get a cameo on The Hills for this. I’m going to tweet my “friends” Speidi relentlessly until they get you on. I’m not joking. As for the astronomer, I forgot to give him a shout out on my post. He deserves a lot of credit I’m sure. Can’t wait for summer 2010 and of course I’m checking my mail daily for my wedding invite. What to wear? hmmm. hehehee.
I went to the bake sale and I thought it was amazing! I still can’t get that mini cinnamon apple bundt cake out of my head. If I may make one suggestion to further boost sales next year: get all of the recipes beforehand and at the bake sale sell them in book form. They’re relatively cheap to do online (with advance notice) and I know I would buy one! Especially that mini cinnamon apple bundt cake– I wish I could make some right now!
I will definitely be there next year! It was a great idea and the desserts were just terrific.
let’s get coolio to bake something for the next one!
I’m so glad I got to be a part of this! Such a great event Cathy! Can’t wait for the next one!
I’m glad that “eat my blog” was a success!! Hope I’ll be able to stop by at the next one!
So awesome. I’m glad it was a huge success. Almost made it down there too, but I was little under the weather.
Don’t forget about Challenge Dairy’s “Taste of the West” Sweepstakes. Where one lucky winner will win a $17,000 trip to the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch in Montana. You’ll also be entered to win a $850 package with Spice Islands and OXO products.
I’m definitely looking forward to another Eat-My-Blog event.
oops, forgot the URL hahaha
http://challengedairy.com/sweepstakes/index.html