For years, our volunteer fire department has had a fish fry on Friday nights between Memorial Day & Labor Day. It's open to anybody & is widely attended by both year around locals & our seasonal boating community. There's often so many people they park on our property & walk down to the firehouse for their fish/chips. When we don't want to cook on Friday nights we always know where to get a good dinner! Our VFW has two fund raising steak feasts during the tourist season. Those guys are great with their grills & every year have something new & fun to go along with the steak. Our Congregational church is filled with avid gardeners that volunteer time to maintain a specimin garden across the street from the church. Every spring & fall we have plant sales. The sales has become well known & draw people from both CT & RI. Funds raised go to help our sister church in South America. The Catholic Church holds an annual bake sale on their lawn facing the main drag through town. They draw such a huge crowd you can't get downtown until after the sale is over. DH walks down & brings back a selection of goodies for our brunch. The Church also holds a yard sale mid-summer. The Episcopalian Church holds a very large dinner on Thanksgiving. It's grown so large that they request help from other local congregations. We've participated a couple years by driving to pick-up people who otherwise would not be able to attend, eat dinner with them, & then see them home safely. Anybody is welcome at the dinner & there's a donation box but I don't think this event is really intended as a fund raiser...more a community service. Various organization like the Lions, Chamber of Commerce, etc. hold events & proceeds go back to the community in the form of park benches, repainting fences, planting flower boxes, & organizing/conducting our Friday Night At The Movies at the River Walk Park. It's really a fun event with a large outdoor screen & big sound system. People bring blankets, chairs, picnics, & the kids. Great community fun thing to do after you've filled up on fish/chips at the firehouse. Every week, the Seaport holds some type of event ranging from a Food Fest that takes over the town to an antique boat/car show, lobster bake, a bonfire, toasted marshmallows & singing sea chanties evening, Moby Dick Marathon (community locals take turns reading Moby Dick straight through around the clock...this is an annual & much anticipated event), a ghost ship evening held in October, tug boat regatta that is hugely popular with the kiddos. Many of these events are free to the public but if money is raised part of it goes back into the community so they're not just to support the Seaport although G@d knows our national museums certainly need all the support they can get in this age of electronic entertainment. The Aquarium also holds almost weekly events...some just for fun & others educational. Like the Seaport, a portion of any proceeds goes into the community. With two such large institutions it's sorta hard for small organizations to compete. There's literally something happening every weekend that draw crowds. Many of those people also drop by a bake sale, etc. Oh, on most Friday nights there's a local organization selling popcorn & peanuts at movie night in the park...not the same organization every week though. /tricia

Gale Gand has a recipe for Tiny Lemon Angel food cakes on her show "Sweet Dreams" on the Cooking Network Tiny Lemon Angel Cakes with Lemon Confit ingredients CONFIT: 2 large lemons 1 cup granulated sugar CAKE: 1 1/8 cups sifted cake flour 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 cups egg whites (from about 12 eggs), preferably at room temperature 1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 lemon, zest finely grated 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract GLAZE: 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar Special tools: pastry bag with a large plain tip, 1 large or 2 small mini muffin tins, ungreased . Directions To make the confit: Cut a slice off the top and bottom of each lemon to expose the flesh. Cutting from top to bottom and following the contours of the fruit, cut off the peel and white pith in 1-inch wide strips. Scrape off any pulp adhering to the strips, but leave the pith intact. You now have several 1 inch wide strips of lemon peel and pith. Cut each one into long strips, about 1/4 inch by 3 inches each. Meanwhile, boil a kettleful of water. Pour about 2 cups of the boiling water into a small saucepan, bring back to a boil add all the lemon rind, and boil for 30 seconds. Drain in a strainer and rinse the rind under cold running water. Repeat 2 times more, using fresh boiling water each time. Combine the sugar and 2 cups of tap water in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the blanched rind and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer the rind until tender, about 1 hour. Drain the rind in a strainer (reserve the sweet, lemony syrup for sweetening drinks, if you like). Arrange the strips on a wire rack, using your fingers to gently spread them out so that they do not touch each other. Let them cool and store them in an airtight container. To make the cake: Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Sift the sifted cake flour with 1/2 cup of the sugar 3 times (this is to aerate the mixture and make it lighter). Set aside. Whip the egg whites in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and salt and continue whipping until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, gradually add the remaining cup of sugar and continue whipping until the egg whites are stiff and the sugar is dissolved, about 30 seconds more. Fold the sifted flour-sugar mixture into the whites by hand just until incorporated. Fold in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Spoon or pipe the batter into the cups of the ungreased mini muffin tin, filling the cups until almost full (they will not expand much). Bake until the cakes are light golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the tin, then run a butter knife around the edges to cut the cakes free, leaving the browned walls and bottom of the cake in the pan. Remove the cakes from the tin and place on a wire rack set over a sheet pan. To finish the dessert, stir the glaze ingredients together until smooth, Turn the cakes over to the brown top becomes the base. Dip the new top (the white side) of each cake into the glaze, then carefully place it on the wire rack, glaze side up, to set. Chop the lemon confit (you may not need all of it) and make a little mound of chopped confit in the center of each cake. Let the glaze set for 30 minutes before serving the cakes. And Sunny Anderson does a great little mini Pecan Pumpkin Pie in mini cupcake tins that I've made often-- good taste & nice presentation. Here is a link that might be useful: Mini Pecan Pumpkin Pies

Gina, Here are a couple of other options for you. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Praline Cheesecake ================== (Toronto Star Newspaper: 1981) 1-1/4 cup crushed graham crackers 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans toasted 1/4 cup butter melted 3 - 8 oz packages cream cheese 1 cup packed brown sugar 2/3 cup evaporated milk NOte: I used coffee cream 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour 2 teaspoons vanilla 3 eggs 1 cup pecan halves toasted. Caramel Sauce topping 1 cup corn syrup - dark 1/4 cup cornstarch 2 Tablespoon Brown sugar 1 Tablespoon vanilla . Combine graham crackers, sugar, pecans and stir in melted butter. Press mixture over the bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 9" inch spring pan. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup brown sugar, evaporated milk, flour and vanilla. Add egss and beat until just blended. pour into crust. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until set. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Loosen sides and remove rim. Cool completely. Arrange toasted pecans on top of cake decoratively. Make Topping by combining corn syrup, cornstarch and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. To serve cake, Pour sauce over top and serve remaining sauce in a pitcher at the table. NOTE: I baked the cake in a Baine Marie. I wrapped foil around the outside of the springform pan to prevent any water from seeping in to the cake. Nnte: I use my regular caramel sauce instead of the one mentioned above: Caramel Sauce 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup cream pinch of salt 2 teaspoons vanilla Mix all the ingredients together and simmer for about 5 or 6 minutes. Serve over Bread and butter pudding, apple pie and icecream, warm gingerbread, etc.. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table White Chocolate Cheesecake ========================== Adapted from http://www.dianasdesserts.com Dulce de Leche Cheesecake recipe Crust 1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs 2 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons melted butter Mix together and pat into bottom of a spring form pan lined with Buttered parchment paper. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool Filling: 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese (24 oz. total) 1 cup superfine granulated sugar 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour 2 tsp. vanilla extract 3 eggs 1/3 cup heavy cream 6 ounces melted quality white chocolate Reset oven temperature to 325°F (160°C). Melt white chocolate with heavy cream. Stir until smooth. Set aside to cool. With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar and flour together until well mixed and smooth. Add vanilla and beat until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth.Add the melted chocolate cream mixture. Stir until smooth. Pour plain batter over crust. Wrap foil around the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Place in a shallow pan and pour in hot water. (Bain Marie) 7. Bake in preheated 325°F (160°C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until center is almost set.Remove from the oven and let cool. When cool refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 or 5 hours. DRizzle with white chocolate and or Dulce de Leche.

What a nice idea Eileen. I remember several times my DD asked my DM to get out old pictures and she always had an excuse as to why she couldn't.