One of the things I love about being part of this food blogging community is the fact that the readiness to help. We’re not all about food, recipes, Farmer’s Markets and fancy food pictures – no it goes deeper than that.
When the horrifying earthquake shook Haiti earlier this years bloggers got together and helped right across the web. Twitter, Facebook, blogs - every outlet was used and we all did what we could to raise money.
“Children are the promise of tomorrow.” It’s what a poster in Soeren’s school proudly displays. I walk past the poster everyday and smile when I look at all the kids running up and down the stairs to get to class.
The bidding is now open for Menu for Hope 2009. It’s time to get together and not only raise money for a grand cause but also get your hands on some exciting and great items.
Menu for Hope is an annual fundraising campaign which is the brainchild of Pim and takes place each December. For the past three years, Menu for Hope raised nearly a quarter of million dollars in support of the good work of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), helping to feed hungry people worldwide. I am proud to say that I have been a part of this 
My bidding package for this year was inspired by the Food Blogger Connect in London. We talked about many things that afternoon. Charity was one of them. How we as food bloggers can help?
With this in mind I decided to contribute to the UN World Food Programme in two ways. Not only with Menu for Hope but also by offering The BloggerAid Cook Book for my bidding item.
We also talked a lot about photography in London that afternoon, a passion shared by many. I am hoping that a US$ 50 Gift Card from B & H Photo will bring you closer to getting you that lens, camera or a lighting set-up for your passion.
The BloggerAid Cook Book is a collection of international recipes illustrating that bloggers can work together and unite for a greater cause. The authors of this cookbook are food bloggers from around the world who have endeavored to make a difference by raising funds for the World Food Programme and encompassing their passion for "all things foodie" at the same time.
B & H Photo is a photographers paradise! One can find a large variety of items to pimp up your equipment. Whether it's a new lens, a camera or a lighting set-up this gift card hopefully will add a bit to the budget.
The Prize Package – Code UE32
You will be bidding for a package, which includes the BloggerAid Cook Book and a Gift Card from B & H Photo worth US$ 50.
For each $10 donated, you get one bid towards the item of your choosing.
Bidding will be open from December 14th until December 25, 2009. Once bidding has closed, winners will be chosen at random and announced on Chez Pim on January 18, 2010.
To purchase tickets register at the First Giving web site. The code number to quote for a bid on the BloggerAid Cook Book and a Gift Card from B & H Photo worth US$ 50 is UE32.
To Donate and Enter the Menu for Hope Raffle
- Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope main bid item list.
- Go to the donation site at Firstgiving and make a donation.
- Please specify which bid item you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item code.
Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a bid item of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02 - 2xEU01, 3xEU02.
- If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
- Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
Pim has published all you need to know about the event over at Chez Pim. The main list for all Menu for Hope 6 bid items is available here, and a direct link to the donation site is here.
Let the bids begin!!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2009 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
As a food blogger I am always talking, thinking, discussing and working with food everyday. However, I now that this luxury is not by any means to be taken for granted. There are others who do not have this luxury. As food bloggers it therefore, becomes our duty to give some of this luxury we have to the needy. It’s time to join forces as food bloggers as this year’s Menu for Hope 6 kicks off.
Each December, food bloggers from all over the world join the campaign by offering a delectable array of food-related prizes for the Menu for Hope raffle. Anyone – and that means you too - can buy raffle tickets to bid on these prizes. For every $10 donated, you earn one virtual raffle ticket to bid on a prize of your choice. At the end of the two-week campaign, the raffle tickets are drawn and the results announced on Chez Pim.
Last year Menu for Hope raised $91,188.00!
Once again this year, donations will raise money for the UN World Food Program, targeted to a school food program in Lesotho.
I am asking everyone who reads this blog to take a bit of time and read what this program is all about and what our donations do to help the children in Lesotho.
I love cookbooks! Flipping the pages of exciting new creations or finding a recipe of a traditional dish is a passion. Any die hard foodie will know what I mean. I have selected a grand cookbook for my prize donation.
600 Curries is a new and exciting cookbook by Raghavan 
Prize Code: EU17 [Shipping: Europe Only]
Here's how to participate in A Menu for Hope:
Here are the regional hosts, where you can see more prizes.
Europe - Sara of Ms.Adventures in Italy
US: West (Closer to SF than to NY.) - Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites
U.S. East (Closer to NY than to SF.) - Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen
Canada - Meena Agarwal of Hooked on Heat
Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand - Ed Charles of Tomato
Special Wine Blog Host: Alder of Vinography
If you're a food blogger who'd like to sponsor a prize, find the e-mail address for hosts at Chez Pim and contact the regional host in your area.
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2008 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
I would like to turn to you for help. Imagine a young 28 year old girl, a mother and only parent of two young children. Imagine her facing hardships throughout her life, husband leaving her with two small babies, working hard to make ends meet to be able to bring up her children. If this was not hard enough – imagine her suffering from Coronary Artery disease and being told she has 5-6 months to live and if she does not get an operation she will die. Imagine what will happen to those children.
Her only hope was her parents but after they spent their life earnings on her first heart surgery they have nothing to offer.
This is not a story of a heart aching novel, but reality. Anita Lakshmi lives in India and is currently undergoing difficult hardships and wants to fight to stay alive – for her children aged 3 and 6.
With a plea for help, Anita Lakshmi’s parents have turned to a fellow Indian food blogger, for whom they work as domestic helps. Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons was touched by they story and decided to take steps in helping the family. You can read about what Srivalli has started here.
Anita Lakshmi will need US$ 15,000 for the heart surgery and proper medical care. To ensure that Anita Lakshmi gets this care Srivalli has asked her fellow bloggers to help raise money for this honorable cause. By donating just US $10 you might be able to help a young girl battle the fight for her life – and win!
There are several lovely raffle prizes you can bid for.
For my part I am offering a 20 x 30 cm poster print of Raving Red. A lovely rose, maybe as a present for someone special, which will never wilt and always hold its glossy sheen on your walls. The photo is professionally printed on glossy Kodak paper and is of high quality. For a donation of just US$ 20 you could qualify to bid for this photo. I am shipping this prize Worldwide!
Please check Srivalli’s blog here for instructions on how to bid.
Please have a heart for Anita Lakshmi’s heart!
This post is dedicated to two incredible ladies. One I would like to think I know well and can say she is the sweetest and extremely interesting person. The other, I did not know until a few weeks ago.
Cynthia
Cynthia of Tastes Like Home is someone I often exchange mails with. We write to each other whenever we miss each other. Sometimes it's like telepathy because it seems like the one or the other always manages to contact the other exactly then when one is thinking of the other. Hope that made sense LOL!
I do not think there are very many people out there who do not know Cynthia. She blogs from the heavenly Barbados and her posts are always filled with the right mixture of spice and nice. I like her sense of humor - she has a way of making me smile or laugh just when I need it the most.
When the lovely Zu of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen decided to feature Tastes Like Home in her event Tried & Tested, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. At the beginning of the year Cynthia wrote a great article The Essence of Choka and I instantly fell in love with the variety of chokas displayed in that post.
Choka is referred to the actual method of making the dish. Basically a choka is roasting, pounding and grinding an ingredient till the consistency is just right. My favorite choka in Cynthia's post was the one made of aubergines. Besides the fact that I love aubergines, the idea of roasting and mashing the aubergines for this particular choka was similar to a popular Indian dish called "Baigan Ka Bharta".
I probably served the aubergine choka in the most unconventional of ways and Cynthia is probably having a culture shock, but it tasted damn good. I made a Caribbean style chicken marinated in buttermilk and mango chutney, then grilled on a barbecue. This was served with a spicy guacamole and tortillas. The aubergine choka highlighted the other flavors with it's rustic roasted flavors so perfectly.
Cynthia - thank you for being you and thank you for your wonderful recipes.
Briana
I am going to be honest. Until the day Bee of Jugalbandi contacted me, I had no idea who Bri was. Bee told me her story. I was touched and visited her blog Figs with Bri, almost trying to remedy my ignorance of not being aware of such a strong and caring person. Briana was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of good health later, the worst nightmare came true - the cancer is back. It has metastasized to her lungs, her lymph nodes and several areas in her bones and is at Stage IV. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she has chosen to fight the disease with all her might. More about it here.
Bri is focusing on healing and is going through intensive chemo and other treatments. Unfortunately, her health insurance does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Both Bri and her husband Marc have enough to deal with at the moment in addition to worrying about her medical bills.
The Click team, together with Jugalbandi have organized a special fundraiser with June's edition of CLICK. With the help of many generous bloggers, a spectacular variety of prizes are being offered as part of the fundraiser.
CLICK is a monthly photography workshop hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri. Yellow is the color of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.
After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE. Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.
The deadline for all CLICK entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser itself will extend until July 15, 2008.
The target amount that needs to be collected is US $12,000. We appeal to all our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.
You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK and by publicizing this campaign.
I am helping by donating a prize too. My prize is an A4 poster sized picture of any one of the two pictures, Crimson Beetroot and Luscious Figs. So, please get involved and help us fight with Bri - because every little bit counts.
Aubergine Choka by Cynthia of Tastes Like Home
Printable version of recipe here.
Ingredients
1½ pounds eggplant
4 large cloves of garlic, sliced (average 1 clove garlic per eggplant)
Hot pepper to taste, minced
Salt to taste
1 - 2 tablespoons oil
3 green onions sliced thinly (white and green parts)
1 large tomato, fire roasted (optional)'
Equipment
1 pair tongs
1 table knife
1 food processor or mortar and pestle
1 fork
1 medium bowl
Method
1. Take a sharp knife and make a number of deep incisions into the eggplants
2. Fill each slit with a slice of garlic (be sure to push it right in)
3. On the open medium-flame of your gas burner or outdoor grill, place the eggplant to roast, turning to ensure that it is roasted and cooked through all over. (You can roast all the eggplants at the same time - 1 on each burner) The cooking time and process would vary depending on the size of the eggplant. The skin should be completely charred, blackened. The tongs are very useful in this step
4. To roast the tomato, place on an open medium-low flame and let roast slowly; turn it to ensure that it’s roasted all around
5. Remove the eggplants and tomatoes from the flames and let cool until you can handle
6. With the help of a table knife, carefully remove the charred skin of the eggplant and tomato. It’s okay if bits of the charred skin are in the mixture, so don’t worry if you do not get it absolutely clean
7. Repeat the process until all the eggplants have been skinned
8. Now this stage you can do this 1 of three ways: with a food processor, in a mortar with pestle or with a fork. In the food processor, add the flesh of the roasted eggplant and tomato and give a couple of whirls. You can let the food processor go for a little longer if you like your choka smooth, some people like it to have a slight chunky texture
9. If you are using a fork, then simply mash the eggplants and tomatoes thoroughly
10. With a mortar and pestle, pound/grind both ingredients to your desired texture
11. In a bowl, combine the whirled/mashed/ground eggplant-tomato mixture, hot pepper, salt to taste, oil and green onions, mixing thoroughly until incorporated
12. Serve with roti or rice
Unlike the Indian distant relative of this dish - the choka is not flavored with too many spices, leaving you to enjoy the whole aroma of delectable roasted aubergines. It's fresh, simple and full of flavor. I roasted the aubergines on a charcoal grill, which added to that gorgeous flavor. This recipe comes highly recommended from me.
Enjoy!
All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2008 Meeta Khurana unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First
