Menu For Hope is an annual charitable raffle originated by Pim whose proceeds benefit humanitarian causes around the world. This year the beneficiary is once again be the United Nations World Food Program but the funds are earmarked specifically for the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa.

Pim asked me to organize the Canadian donations this year and of course I was more than happy to help out. As you can see from the list below, we have some very generous and creative people here in Canada. I hope that you will peruse all of them and then buy a ticket (or two or 8 or 12) to have a chance at winning these fabulous prizes. Remember: buy early and buy often!

The campaign will run from December 10th - 20th, 2007. Raffle results will be posted on Chez Pim on January 9th, 2008. The world-wide list of donors is available here.


The Canadian food blogger donations for this year:

CA01
From Food Network Canada's official blogger Catherine Jheon of Food for Thought, 13 beautiful cookbooks by your favourite celebrity chefs including: Giada De Laurentiis's Everyday Pasta, Just in Time by Rachael Ray, Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express, French Food at Home by Laura Calder, Paula Deen and Friends by Paula Deen, Mission: Cook! by Robert Irvine, Pure Food by Christine Cushing, Deconstructing the Dish by David Adjey, Eat, Shrink and Be Merry by Janet and Greta Podleski and The Dinner Fix by Sandi Richard, Quick Fix Meals by Robin Miller, Trish Magwood's Dish Entertains and a signed copy of This Food That Wine by Angie Macrae and Stacey Metulynsky.

CA02
Naughty or nice this year? For once it doesn't matter. Tara of seven spoons is offering a coveted spot on her Holiday list. The winning bidder will be the recipient of a box of homemade goodies, and the best part is that you get to pick the contents! After letting her know any particular preferences you will be provided with a tailored list of seasonal treats, both savory and sweet, from which you decide what tempts you most. After that, it is just a matter of time before a package arrives at your door; one full of delectable nibbles, holiday cheer (and maybe an extra surprise or two)!

CA03
Sheryl at TasteTO.com gives you the Tastes of Toronto. Her prize is a Culinary Tourism Gift Pack of Toronto - a collection of gift certificates from various Toronto shops and restaurants as well as a few Canadian Magazine Subscriptions. So far she has contributions from RiceBar, Queen of Tarts, Sitting Around Eating BonBons, Il FornelloCafe Taste, Steam Whistle Brewery, iYellow Wine Club, Edible Toronto, TAPS, and Vines, Taste CityBites and Soma Chocolates.



CA04
Jen over at Canadian Baker is donating a one year subscription to Canadian Living Magazine. Canadian Living is a fabulous magazine filled with great tried and true recipes for cooks and bakers of all levels. In addition, the magazine has informative and interesting articles on fashion, health and life. This gift subscription is available to residents of Canada and the Unites States, though if someone wanted it internationally, she could accommodate them.




CA05
Attention spice lovers! Attention curry enthusiasts!! Your prize, courtesy of Anthony of ...an endless banquet consists of the following:

* a copy of Ethne and Philippe de Vienne's phenomenal Gourmand World Cookbooks Awards 2007-nominated "La Cuisine et le gout des epices" (Trecarre 2007), featuring recipes spanning the Spice Route from Indonesia to Andalusia and beyond, a full-on treatise on spices and their role in cuisine, and some terribly useful appendices on the wonderful world of spices [retail value: $39.95]*
* Philippe de Vienne's "Curries and Masalas" spice kit, featuring 12 premium spice blends [retail value: $28]
* Philippe de Vienne's "Spice Islands" spice kit, featuring 9 premium spices [retail value: $16]
* limited edition DJ TV DiSKO "Eat to the Bollywood Beat: Music to Eat Curry By" special mix CD [retail value: priceless]

* Please note: this book is in French only. French reading comprehension is recommended for all those bidding on this prize, although the spice kits and the CD alone make this a rather substantial prize.

CA06
Sewn especially for Menu For Hope IV by Elizabeth of blog from OUR kitchen, using the apron pattern designed by her. This one-of-a-kind apron is constructed of 100% medium weight cotton with dark blue elephants, camels and leopards marching across a turquoise field. The apron body is approximately 1 meter in length and roughly 90cm wide at the apron bottom. It has meter long waist-ties to ensure that the apron fits even the largest of cooks. Anyone is welcome to bid on this apron. When the raffle winners are announced by Pim, the apron will be sent via Canada Post. Please bear in mind that your apron will arrive eventually; Canada Post may be one of the slowest in the world but it is, for the most part, reliable.

I came up with three individual prizes this year, all of which can only be shipped within North America:

CA07
The first is the two newest books from the domestic maven herself - Martha Stewart. "Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: Original Classics" and "Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics". Generously donated by Clarkson Potter, these two books can be shipped anywhere in North America. A culinary treasure, The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook - The Original Classics became an indispensable reference when it was first published. Now, years later, comes its companion volume, The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook - The New Classics, which includes an index for both volumes and collects more than 1,200 of the best-of-the-best recipes that have appeared in Martha Stewart Living magazine since 2000. With the same stunning color photography and easy-to-follow, comprehensive format that grace the pages of Martha Stewart Living Magazine, I think that these books are must-have references.

CA08
My second prize, thoughtfully put together by O Olive Oil in California is something utterly delicious and really quite beautiful at the same time. An oil-rubbed reclaimed teak tray with antique metal handles filled with nine bottles of their signature citrus olive oils and wine vinegars. It's retail value is $250.00 (the display image shows 10 bottles but for shipping purposes they have found that they can only fill it with up to 9 bottles). These oils and vinegars are absolutely delicious - great for salad dressings, marinades and even slopping up with a bit of bread or pouring over fresh-cooked pasta.



CA09
Harnessing the power of infrared light waves, the InfraWave Speed Oven from Black & Decker is the first in a new category of cooking technology. This counter-top oven bakes, broils, roasts, toasts, sears, browns and reheats food in up to half the time it would take in a conventional oven. It also has the ease of preprogrammed meal settings that enable quick prep of some of your frozen favorites, from crescent rolls to frozen jalapeno poppers. The sleek, stylish oven is smaller than a microwave and more versatile than a toaster oven. I have used mine to cook pizza, cookies and baked eggs. It heats up so much faster than an oven and is a real energy saver!




Donation/ticket buying instructions:

1. Choose a prize (or prizes) from the master list.

2. Go to the donation site and make a donation.

3. Please specify which prize you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code (for example CA03).

Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for CA01 and 3 tickets for CA02. Please write 2xCA01, 3xCA02

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please 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.

Check Chez Pim on Wednesday Jaunary 9th, 2008 for the results of the raffle.

* N.B: Canadian tax laws prohibit charitable donation receipts to be issued by registered Canadian charities for raffle or lottery tickets. The UNWFP is a U.S.-based charity; should any donation receipts issued, you should seek the advice of a professional regarding applying them to your Canadian income tax return.

On behalf of everyone involved with Menu for Hope IV and the United Nations World Food Program, thank you very much for your support. Personally I would like to thank all the donors for their generosity and time - and if there are more of you out there wondering if it's too late, please contact me as soon as possible and we'll do everything we can to fit you in!

If you cannot afford to contribute to the campaign, we simply ask that you write a post supporting us or email some of your friends and tell them about this great event, or even post one of the fantastic graphics Pim has created.

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