Happy Tuesday friends!
I know it’s not a regular day for me to be posting, but I just couldn’t wait to share all about the pop-up FEED Supper I hosted last week!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the FEED Project, it was founded by Lauren Bush Lauren (yes, the former President’s daughter) in 2007 after she had traveled to hunger-stricken parts of the world and witnessed firsthand how easy this problem would be to solve. She decided to do something about it and created the FEED Project as a way to get more fortunate folks (like you and me) engaged in a tangible way.
Every year, in the month leading up to World Hunger Day, the FEED Project runs the FEED Supper program, where anyone can host a themed dinner party to raise money for those in need in one of these malnourished areas. I had been wanting to host a FEED Supper ever since I heard of the program, and since I’ve recently launched my culinary consulting program, Celebrations by CaliGirl Cooking, I figured what better way to both get the word out and raise money for a great cause at the same time!
Let’s just say it was a wonderful whirlwind. It was so fun to be back in the kitchen cooking for a big group of people (we ended up having about 20 in attendance, which was such the perfect number for the space we were in, and for my sanity!) As stressful as it can be to cook large amounts of hot food at any one time, for me, it is just as rewarding. There is no better feeling than every guest coming up to you and saying what an amazing meal it was!
Luckily, I was able to get most of the food prepped ahead of time. It was a good thing I did because our power company decided to do a routine shut-off a few hours before the event. Just my luck! I’m grateful they at least warned us, though, or I would have been in really hot water trying to pull this thing off.
I ended up opting for Latin America as the theme for my FEED Supper, as I figured I at least knew how to cook some Latin American food (as opposed to food from Ghana or India.) I also knew that Mexican food tends to hold well (in fact, it often gets better with a little bit of time to marinate!) and that almost every single Santa Barbarian I’ve ever met is a big fan of the stuff. Can’t go wrong with salsa, chips and guac!
It was really so much more than that, but I’m going to let the pictures do the talking for the food.
The biggest news of the night?
1,600+
That’s right, our FEED Supper raised enough money to provide over 1,600 meals to children and families in need in Latin America!!
Yes, that’s right. It’s truly phenomenal that we can provide relief for so many people, just by coming together to share a meal. It was a fun yet incredibly meaningful evening and has motivated me to do more fun events like this in the future. Please let me know if there are any particular organizations I should look into!
Here are some more fun photos from the event:
Before I go, I just wanted to say THANK YOU.
Thank you to all of my event partners that made this FEED Supper possible:
The Wayfarer – I most definitely could not have pulled this off without your generous donation of your kitchen and dining area! It was the perfect setup and I look forward to hosting more cooking events there.
Mony’s Taqueria – Your tortillas are amazing. And saved me from slaving over a tortilla press for longer than it took me to prepare all of the other food.
Casa Blanca – Those crunchy, deliciously greasy chips were the perfect complement to, ohhhhh, just about every single dish that I served.
THANK YOU to every single person that came, dined and donated. I literally couldn’t have done it without your support and attendance!
And lastly, my husband – Chris, thank you for continuing to support me in all of my crazy, entrepreneurial adventures. I couldn’t be doing any of this without you and I’m so glad to always have you by my side 🙂
Until the next big event, my friends!
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