Sunday, December 10, 2006

Menu for hope

Menu for Hope is an annual fundraising campaign originally devised by Chez Pim. Last year the campaign raised US$17,000 for UNICEF in just twelve days. In 2006 we will be raising funds to support the United Nations World Food Programme.

How does it work? On December 11th food bloggers around the world will be pledging food related prizes for a HUGE raffle. To participate and be in the running for some fantastic prizes all you need to do is buy a raffle ticket! Given this is a blog we are selling online tickets via Firstgiving for $10 USD

I thought long and hard about what to offer as a prize, nothing seemed quite right- inspiration struck while visiting the Manly Fairtade Markets (Thanks Jules!). I spent a very happy morning putting together a hamper of lovely, ethical treats - including coffee from Republica, Cocolo chocolate, Hope honey - produced by Australian bees but will all the profits going to the needy in Indonesia. Fairtrade rice, handcream and a handbag as well! The prize code for this particular prize is AP40

**Updated****************************************************

Kylie Kwong - celebrity chef, author and Fair Trade Ambassador has very generously donated a signed copy of her new cookbook "Simple Chinese Cooking"

Kylie's restaurant Billy Kwong is a Sydney classic - if you're in Surry Hills give it a go
Billy Kwong - Shp 3/ 355 Crown St, Surry Hills, (02) 9332 3300



Head over to Grab Your Fork and check out the prizes on offer and PLEASE support this worthy cause by buying a ticket! There are some fantastic prizes on offer including dinner vouchers for Tetsuya's and Becasse and a whole raft of other mouthwatering things.
If you are based outside the Asia Pacific region go to Chez Pim and check out who's coordinating for your area and pick a prize from there!


Here's what you should do...
1. Go to the donation page at (http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII)
2. Make a donation, each US$10 will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize or prizes you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. Do tell us how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code -for example, a donation of US$50 can be 2 tickets for AP01 and 3 for AP02.
3. For US donors, if your company has agreed to match your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we may claim the corporate match.
4. Please also check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
5. Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 when we announce the results of the raffle. (The drawing will be done electronically. Our friend the code wizard Derrick at Obsession with Food is responsible for the wicked application that will do the job.)

Good luck!

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Joining the (no-knead) club



After all the buzz in blogs I had to give it a go and all I can say is it was worth it. The recipe is from the NY Times and requires no kneading at all - you make a very wet dough and let it rise for 12-18 hours. You then bake it covered in a casserole dish - the steam producing a dense chewy loaf with a crunchy crust.

If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet I highly recommend you do - it is very simple to make and absolutely delicious. The only change I'll make next time is to add a little more salt.

Check out these blogs for the recipe and their beautiful photos -

The Wednesday Chef
Brownie Points

and of course the flickr group