Sally, the St. Jude's fundraising is a national affair, but Ashley and some of her friends decided it was a charity they wanted to raise money for after spending a week in the pediatric department at the hospital where she's doing her internship. They set a personal goal and were not meeting that goal, so they decided to find ways to raise money. Being my child, food came immediately to mind. So, they are having a bake sale. They've also gotten together a karaoke contest at a local bowling alley with part of the entry fees going to St. Jude's and they did some kind of snowboarding thing I never did understand, but the college kids had a great time. Since college kids don't have a lot of money, it didn't make much but they made a little and enjoyed it, I guess. Maybe it's because we're such a small community, but right now in the Courthouse break room are Ashley's baked goods, a box of candy bars for the White Cloud High School Band Boosters, a big plastic box for empty pop bottles, proceeds to Relay for Life/Cancer society. We had a county employee bake sale for a District Court Employee whose husband was in Hospice and a spaghetti dinner for another employee whose child was injured and the family was staying at a motel to be near the hospital so that went for expenses. The power went out at a local food bank and all the meat in one of the freezers had to be thrown out. Many people here pledged 10 pounds of meat to replace that, and local hunters are donating meat at record levels. Now I got an email from the Sheriff's Department that a local family has a 14 year old girl with a malignant brain tumor and the expenses are overwhelming. The county employees are raising money for the family by...you guessed it...having a bake sale. We do tend to have fund raisers more for local families and local needs than for national charities, but once in a while, we get involved in those too. In an area where unemployment is hanging around 15% and 25% of the kids under 16 are considered living in poverty by national standards, those of us fortunate to have jobs do whatever we can to help our neighbors, even if it is just a little. Annie

I sew, I will do most of my own cooking and baking, and am 50, so maybe it's my generation. When pressed for time, convenience foods are nice, but I don't think I've ever brought anything to a potluck or bakesale that was direct-from-store. (Except one thing: for a potato-bake one time, I contributed the fat-free sour cream and light margarine - which, btw, were also the first to be emptied.) Our schools do allow homemade goods for parties and birthdays. But all volunteers in the classrooms or anywhere around school must be fingerprinted AND have a TB test every 3 years. They also must never be alone in a room with a child (which is a good rule for us teachers, too). Teachers who have a child with an allergy are encouraged to let the other parents know, "This room has a child with an allergy to (x), so please mark your contribution if it includes (x)." Most kids are very good about not eating something if they know they're allergic to it. I think the annotation on a flyer "homemade goodies sell the best" is a good idea. Thanks for the ideas, ladies (and gents). DonnaR/CA

If I was high risk (i.e. pregnant, toddler, diabetic, etc) I would pass on the home made goodies and either donate money or find something store bought that is probably there. But we all have to be responsible for what we put in our own bodies or that of our children or pets. Just because it is in a restaurant doesn't mean it is clean,. When I was a kid there was a grist mill in our community. They were struggling but they had a quality product. The new health inspector was so proud to site them when he found 'ingredients' spelled wrong on the bag. The actual word 'ingredients' He made them issue a recall on the product. What the......? They went bankrupt every employee, was laid off. (I think there were 7) Now what in the world would that have hurt anyone? I wonder what effect this will have on the food network's call for people to have bake sales for hungry children. I have seen time after time where stupid laws prevented the less fortunate to benefit from something that would otherwise be discarded. In no way do I have any conspiracy theory about the government, but I wonder how many of these laws are really meant to protect the average citizen and how many were generated by lobbyists lining the pockets of those in the position to make laws. Just like those peanut processing facilities in Georgia and Texas. Trust me they were unsanitary a long time before it was brought to light. I would bet my now pathetic 401K on it that people were paid to look the other way. Many laws say this effects businesses with more than so many employees or only if you have this sale more than so many times a year or if you a dollar volume of so much. Bake sales, car washes, block parties, school carnivals, church bake sales, they all help the community and are a way to bond with your neighbors. We used to adopt a resident at a local nursing facility and all year do special things for him. We would cook for them and bring treats that they longed for (as long as it met dietary requirements) no more, governemnt says no.

KILLER CUPCAKES (makes 20-22) Cupcakes: 4 squares (4 oz) semisweet chocolate 1 tsp vanilla 2 sticks butter 4 eggs 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup flour Preheat oven to 350°. Line standard muffin tins w/paper cupcake liners. In the top part of a double boiler over simmering water, melt the chocolate w/the vanilla & butter. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until thick & add the sugar. Beat in the flour. Fold in the butter-chocolate mixture. Spoon into the prepared tins, filling the cups 2/3 full. Filling: 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup sugar 1 egg, beaten Dash of salt 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips Mix the cream cheese, sugar, egg & salt until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop a rounded teaspoon of filling onto the top of each cupcake. Bake 30 minutes.~~ San Francisco Encore MARLEN'S RASPBERRY LOVE MUFFINS 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 heaping cup white chocolate chips 1 stick softened butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 Tablespoon finely grated orange zest 1/2 cup milk 2 cups fresh or unsweetened frozen raspberries Sift flour with baking powder and mix in the white chocolate chips; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat softened butter with sugar until light and fluffy, add vanilla and orange zest. Mix in dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with milk. Fold in raspberries. Do not overmix. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 375 degrees F. for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from tins.~~ These are REALLY popular: MARLEN'S CHUBBY HUBBY COOKIES 2 cups butter or margarine, softened 1 cup sugar 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 2 large eggs 2 Tablespoon vanilla extract 4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda Pinch of salt 1 12 oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 12 oz pkg peanut butter chips 1 cup salted peanuts 2 cups crushed pretzels* Preheat oven to 350* degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Blend into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips, peanuts and pretzels. Drop by heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. bake 10-13 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Do not overbake. Cool one minute on cookie sheet. Cool completely on wire racks. Store tightly in covered container. Source: Bob Zotto, Bruker AXS Cookbook Note from Marlen: The pretzels should be about the size of the chocolate chips, not pulverized. You want to taste bits of pretzel as you munch. This is a crunchy cookie. I use a food processor and just pulse until the desired size is achieved.~~ TOFFEE BARS (3 dozen - freezes well) 2 cups flour 1 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 3 sticks butter (don't use margarine for this) 1 cup pecans, chopped One 6 oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350°. Mix the flour & 1 cup of the brown sugar; cut in 1 stick of the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press into the bottom of a 13x9" ungreased baking pan. Sprinkle w/the pecans. Bring to a boil the remaining 2 sticks butter & 3/4 cu of brown sugar. Boil exactly 1 minute (after the mixture comes to a boil), stirring constantly. Pour over the pressed mixture & bake exactly 20 minutes. Let sit 1 minute; then sprinkle w/chocolate chips. When completely softened, spread the chocolate with a spatula. Chill thoroughly; return to oom temperature before cutting.~~Georgia on my Menu