I've done it again, committed myself to helping with fundraising dessert reception - need ideas

M

music-city-missy

Well-known member
Our church is heavily involved with the Lost Boys and the Aid Sudan foundation so much so that we have a branch of the charity here. So the lady heading it wants to host a dessert reception next month and she and I meet on Monday night to discuss.

The last fund raiser attracted approximately 40 people. This time she has a budget and is sending out about 200 invitations. It will be on a week night right after work - like 6:30 at our church which has wonferul spaces - a large parlor, wonderful open hallways that turn into great reception space, and of course a meeting/dining hall. And of course we have a full commercial kitchen as well as another large kitchen off the parlor. So I have everything I need but I need to decide what to make and what to buy (sorry - need to cheat here some as I cannot take off a bunch of time).

 
Missy,

Cathy gave me the idea to create a "dessert garden" for a birthday party that I threw several years back, and people ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT IT. It totally blew them away.

For a crowd of 50 I made 8 decadent cakes, trifle (great way to use the cake mistakes), brownies, assorted cookies, and a couple other things. Everyone has a choice and can select the flavor they like best, so everyone is happy. I made little tents to identify each dessert so that people would know what the flavors were as they made their selections. And each person studied the choices very intently before making a selection.

Sounds like you've got a committe, so just assign everyone a homebaked cake, batch of cookies or brownies, and have an old-fashioned dessert supper. We had these at the church I attended while growing up before Sunday evening services and they were very popular as everyone showed off their best cakes and pies.

 
That sounds like a great idea - any chance you have some of your wonderful pix?

Actually, it is not a committee - just the lady that runs this organization and me. But I can put out a call for help but you have to know I live in a community where even bad restaurants never fail and there is an over abundance of places you go fix your own meals and take them home to warm up. Not exactly a bunch of good cooks from what I have found. I know they are out there but I'm just now sure where.

Hmmm - gives me an idea though - I could ask all my ACF chef friends to each make me one dessert - that would be cool actually now that I am thinking about it - a dessert from each of the chefs around town now that's cool.

 
Music City Missy - Do a G search for dessert party ideas and there is a wealth of information.

 
How about a cheesecake buffet? Buy & slice a couple plain Costco or Sam's cheesecakes, then

put out a spread of sauces, toppings, etc. My friend did this for her sister's graduation party and it's been such a hit, she's done it several times. Kind of like a build your own sundae bar...except with cheesecake. Top with chocolate sauce, fruit puree, fresh fruit, caramel, etc.

 
Oooh...I like this. Maybe even feature desserts from African countries...

rice based, peanut based, etc. Then maybe add some significance about the journey of the Lost Boys. A vase filled with a stone for each mile they walked...or each day from the time of the conflict to the time in the internment camps....

My friend Dana is big into the role that foods and nostalgia play in our lives. It would be interesting to see stories associated with the desserts...or as a handout.

 
I like your idea

to do the area chef desserts for the fund raiser. They get noogies and you don't have to make a bunch of desserts.

And speaking of the average passing off as good food, I was at a picnic and everyone was RAVING about so and so's AMAZING homemade chocolate cake. And Oh, I would just die when I tasted it, etc. etc. It was a Pillsbury chocolate cake mix with some chocolate chips addeded to it, spread with canned frosting, and a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top. DEEEEEElux! People were moaning like they'd just had dinner at El Bulli.

I was floored. Is this what we've come to? Adding a few chocolate chips to a boxed cake mix makes gourmet bakers out of us and it's been so long since people have had real honest to god made from scratch cake that they can't taste the chemicals and don't know any better?

And yes, I am a food snob. LOL

 
Got one better than that Richard - did you know that adding garlic makes it gourmet....

there was a girl at work and one of the other girls told me that she would bring in - get this - beanie weenies and say they were gourmet beanie weenies. When they asked her what made them gourmet, she responded totally serious that she had added some garlic and cooked it for a little while.

Then she brought in black beans and yellow rice for one of our monthly lunches - theme was a favorite family dish and I know one side of her family her grandmother was from Cuba. So I was expecting this WONDERFUL dish, right? She claimed once again that it was gourmet. Come to find out, she added garlic to canned beans and just put them in a crockpot that morning to heat until our lunch. And the yellow rice, it was just out of the package and not properly cooked.

 
How funny. A friend of mine is a terrible cook.

Her cooking consists of buying premade stuff and heating it up, and her cakes are always mixes with canned frosting. Ick.

She once asked me point blank about a cake she'd made. The body had no texture and the frosting tasted of chemicals to me. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I was polite and said that it was fine. She now makes it everytime I come over "because I know you like it." I guess it's my own fault!

I do think that people can't taste the chemicals in food now. All the soda has ruined our taste buds. My husband and I have started buying many more organic products, and I do think it makes a difference. Especially in eggs--I can taste a distinct difference.

 
getting rid of the chemicals

Amanda, I've found one of the problems of ridding your own diet from the chemistry set of processed foods, is that in those times where you find yourself in a situation where you are eating them, it's even more pronounced, and for me, a real turnoff. It was all I could do to swallow the bite of cake I took because it tasted so awful to me. And the really amazing thing is, there was no trace of chocolate on my taste buds. I only tasted a sweet chemical sensation.

 
I agree. And I think chocolate is an excellent example of this.

If you eat very good chocolate and then eat some, say, Hershey's or Nestle's, you can really tell the difference. Once you start purging processed food and chemicals from your body, it's that much worse when you come across them. When I eat fast food now, I feel ill afterwards.

Those chemicals are addicting, I think. I recently gave up Diet Coke and it was much harder than I'd like to admit. I really craved the taste of whatever's in there (which proves that I probably shouldn't be drinking it!). I've been drinking decaffinated raspberry iced tea this summer--a refreshing alternative.

 
Yup, got to get off the soda...

I used to drink gallons of it each week. Literally. There was a convenience store across the parking lot from my office and they had this special where you purchased their insulated mug (48 oz.!!!!!!), and then you could fill it up with fountain soda whenever you wanted for fifty cents. I would fill it up at lunch and work on it the rest of the day. I started having a lot of problems with heartburn and GERD. Went to Europe for two weeks, no heartburn, no GERD. Got home, and it started back up.

I finally figured one of the biggest differences is that I had no soda in Europe so I quit drinking it. Took a while to stop, but now I don't touch it.

 
Here's what I hate: When I cater a party for someone's birthday and their loved ones INSIST

on getting a big stupid decorated sheet cake tasting of guar gum, modified food starch and artificial flavoring. It kills me to have my servers serving it. And the bakery probably charges more for it than I would for a really good undecorated dessert. I'm getting better at talking them out of it, but some just won't budge.

I guess I'm a food snob, too. And proud.

 
Can't stand those sheet cakes.

Although I do like it when I see them at events because then I'm not the least bit tempted to eat dessert.

 
Joe, I'm sure yours are good, but it's impossible for me to pass by anything that

has ooey gooey sugary frosting, like typical bakery birthday cakes.

My worst donfall! Well, one of them!

 
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