Baking for a Cause

�
Anyone who knows me can tell you I like to cook. My kitchen cabinets are overflowing with more gadgets and tools than any college student could ever need, and I am the only student I know that has a fully stocked pantry. So when I see kitchen stuff I like, I have to have it. That’s exactly what happened when I stumbled upon this Elements of Style blog about Bake It Pretty’s selection of fun and fabulous cupcake wrappers.

I have already gotten together a wish list of things I need in preparation for my fall project of hosting a Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale. Stemming from too many hours of watching the Food Network and a desire to do some good with my spare time, I realized that the combination of hungry fans on a football Saturday and a great cause would be a recipe for fundraising success. All of the money raised in the bake sale will go toward Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, which is fighting to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. The program joins together the efforts of community groups, activists and food programs to catch children who are struggling with hunger, bringing them healthy and nourishing foods to the places they live, learn and play.

Here are a few of my must-haves before this fall:

I absolutely love these playful yet classic cookie cutter shapes from Bake It Pretty. I can just imagine how much fun it will be to decorate these cookies with icing!

Essential to any bake sale, cupcakes get a makeover with these designer cupcake wrappers.

What do hungry fans like more than sugary sweets? Sugary sweets that say things like “War Eagle” or “Go Dawgs.” I love the idea of being able to personalize my cookies to say just about anything using this Message-in-a-Cookie Cutter from Williams-Sonoma.

Also from Williams-Sonoma, this Apple Pocket Pie Mold makes perfect apple pies portable.

To learn more about Share Our Strength and its efforts to end childhood hunger in America, or to find out how to host your own Great American Bake Sale, click here.