I never followed up on the Valentine Spaghetti Meal, our Friends of the Library's first fundraiser. It went well. We had 100 or so people in attendance and made over $500. I was there from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, the longest I've ever been away from Baby Pumpkin (who is hardly a baby anymore). My boobs were like rocks by the end of the day - it was terrible.
It seemed to go over well with the townspeople. There were also two church brunches that day, so we were doubling-up on options in town. In a town of 700 people with one supper club open on limited evenings, they, or should I say, we, have a captive audience. All the various non-profits in the community make BIG MONEY on their fundraiser breakfasts, lunches, and dinners because there is nowhere else to eat! [Well...big money for rural MN...]
A lot of people stopped in after their brunch and donated money to show their support for the library, which was very nice. Who doesn't love libraries?! And, believe it or not, but there are towns in the area who don't have one. I grow faint at the thought.
We have our second fundraiser on Saturday: the local auction house has a food stand that rotates amongst the area non-profits. We got the slot last minute after another group cancelled. We are serving pulled-pork sandwiches, chips, and a pickle - with donuts and coffee in the morning and what locals call "bars" in the afternoon.
[Has anyone heard of these "bars" before? They're like cookies, but baked in huge jelly roll pans and cut into squares. I don't know if this is a regional thing, or my dislike for desserts... I have heard of "lemon bars" before - but simply "bars"??? Very strange.]
Oh my, how long have you been in MN? Your children are Minnesotans, you must get with it.
ReplyDeleteThey are staples of bake sales and are often made as birthday treats. They are especially popular during the holidays, but in Minnesota and some other parts of the Midwest, people eat them all year. Many coffee shops and bakeries also offer the treats. They include peanut butter bars, lemon bars, chocolate coconut bars, pineapple bars, apple bars, almond bars, toffee bars, chocolate cheesecake bars and the "famous" seven-layer bar. In addition to sugar, eggs, butter, flour and milk, common ingredients are chocolate chips, nuts, raspberry jam, coconut, cocoa powder, graham cracker, pudding, mini-marshmallows and peanut butter. More exotic bars can be made with ingredients including sour cream, rhubarb, pretzels, candies, vanilla, raisins, and pumpkin.
Rice Krispie treats are considered bars in Minnesota, but a brownie is not a bar, so don't make that mistake.
Now make them bars!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dessert_bars
Oh Sally, you are making me laugh! You must be the Queen of Bars. They sound like quite the delicacy with the way you're explaining them. And, funny...at the last Friends meeting, one of the ladies was explaining to me that a rice krispie treat qualified as a "bar". LOL
ReplyDeleteL-o-v-e-d your comment. Fun to hear from you!
And...Blaine even looked at my blog tonight and said, "You don't know what bars are?" and proceeded to give a detailed description. I must have had my head in the sand all these years. And like I said...I'm not such a fan of dessert, so I must not have been paying attention.
ReplyDeleteI have had "lemon bars" before, though. My MIL makes them and they are out of this world.
Is that Luke's mom Sally? and bars are awesome. I'm glad the Friends of the Library raised money. And I laughed out loud at several of your recent posts reading aloud to Eric.
ReplyDeleteawesome!
ReplyDeleteit is a midwest thing. out west we have a variety of names for our desserts, right? in the midwest i am finding they like to give a general term for a wide variety of things.
beware of "salad" - in my book that means green salad, but i have learned to be specific lest i end up with a JELLO "salad" - REALLY!!??
Em - Yep, Luke's mom Sally. Isn't she sweet? I love that lady. =)
ReplyDeletems - salad, yes! What about the infamous "snicker salad". LOL
And Sally -- the bars were a SMASH HIT at the last fundraiser. You're right -- I need to get with it. =)