All-New Menu for Hope 6 Items + Chocolate Treats!
We’re in the final week, the home stretch, of Menu for Hope 6 and I’m thrilled that so many of you have generously bid on items for this important charitable event.
(Update: The deadline for bidding has been extended to December 31, 2009!)
It’s amazing that when so many people contribute even just a small amount, just $10 a person, collectively we can make a major impact.
However I am committed to making this the best-ever year for Menu for Hope, so I’ve rounded up some additional, extra-special surprises in addition to the other fantastic European and UK bid items, most of which can be shipped globally.
Two American chocolate-experts, Ginger Elizabeth Hahn and Shawn Askinosie have offered the most incredible gift baskets for bakers and chocolate lovers I’ve ever seen. (And I’m not kidding, folks.) Speaking of chocolate, if you live or plan to travel to London, there’s a private chocolate tour for you and your guests.
My friends at Ten Speed Press have put together a collection of their best-ever baking books, including one from me. And any frites-lovers out there will certainly appreciate a professional deep-fryer, courtesy of Krups.
Ginger Elizabeth Hatbox Chocolate Extravaganza
On my last trip to the states, I managed to get through most of the chocolates that people generously plied me with along the way. But I did bring a box of Ginger Elizabeth chocolate back to Paris, which I opened one night after dinner. And after we each plucked one of the shiny brown squares from the box and put in on our mouths, we both fell silent, then looked at each other. Then I just said, “Wow”, and Romain pronounced them “…Better than La Maison du Chocolat“, which is some praise, especially from a Frenchman!
Indeed Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates are amazing, which are made in Sacramento, California. Here’s your chance to sample her outstanding chocolates in the Large Hatbox collection, donated by Ginger Elizabeth chocolate. Included in this giant box are 2 hot chocolate mixes, chocolate-covered candied almonds, chocolate-nut bark, 6 chocolate bars (the salty cocoa nib brittle bar is, to be blunt—insane), and a luxurious 48-piece box of her assorted chocolates, the same ones that drove us to bliss. This can be shipped anywhere in the continental United States only.
Item code code: EU40
Collection of Eight Best-of-Baking Books
The good folks at Ten Speed Press are offering a library of the best baking books available from their collection. In addition to The Perfect Scoop, you’ll also get a copy of Demolition Desserts, Baking by James Peterson, the best-selling Rustic Fruit Desserts, Artisan Bread Every Day, Chocolate Bliss, Grand Central Baking Book, and Pastry Queen Parties.
Whew! These are books from my favorite bakers! From the down-south treats of Texan Rebecca Rather to the hands-on instruction of cooking expert James Peterson, you’ll be rolling, mixing, and stirring your way to sweet seduction. A copy of The Perfect Scoop will have you churning away all-year round, and you can use that ice cream to accompany all the crisps, buckles and cobblers in Rustic Fruit Desserts. And if bread is your thing, there’s no better teacher than award-winning author Peter Reinhart. And the more ambitious will devour the wild & wonderful Demolition Desserts by pastry superstar Elizabeth Falkner. These are books every baker and cook will want on their kitchen shelf! Will ship to the US and Canada.
Bid item code: EU41
Krups Professional Deep-Fryer
The Krups KJ 7000 is a professional-quality deep fryer, so you can make all the frites you want. And with a 1.4 kilo capacity, you can invite all the friends you’ll invariable have. A built-in filtration system, however, mitigates fryer odors in case you don’t want anyone else to know you’re frying and want to keep them all to yourself.
This fryer is courtesy of SEB/Krups and David Lebovitz.This fryer is 220V with a France-compatible plug, and can be shipped to any EU country only, and not outside Europe. (To check compatibility with other systems, check the specs at the Krups website as I’m unfamiliar with various electrical outlets.)
Bid item code: EU42
Private Chocolate Tour of London
Join Chocolate Ecstasy Tours‘ founder and Chief Chocoholic, Jennifer Earle, on a delicious 3½ hour private tour of London’s finest chocolate boutiques, sampling melt-in-the-mouth truffles and artisan bars as you visit the best that Britain has to offer.
Jennifer will introduce you to London’s unique and delicious world of chocolate in an indulgent afternoon of tasting and exploration. The tour, good for up to four people, is valid until the end of September 2010 for Saturdays and Sundays only and the date and time will need to be arranged with Jennifer.
Bid item code: EU43
Askinosie Baker’s Basket of Bean-to-Bar Chocolates
From Shawn Askinosie, one of America’s finest bean-to-bar chocolate makers, comes this remarkable Askinosie Baker’s Basket filled with chocolate treats. Inside you’ll find 1/2 kilo (about 1 pound) of their natural cocoa powder, and they are the only small-batch chocolate maker in America pressing their own cocoa powder, which is in there, too. There is a 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) container of single-origin chocolate morsels. You can melt these down, or use them in your favorite chocolate chip cookie or cake recipe, in place of ordinary chips. You’ll love the difference! There’s a 170 gram tube of roasted cocoa nibs, which I like to add to cookies and granola.
And lastly, Shawn is including a kilo bar, weighing in at over two pounds, of his extra-special, single-origin white chocolate. If you think you know white chocolate, think again. This non-deodorized white chocolate retains all the special flavors of the cocoa butter, and instead of being white and fatty, this is unctuous, extra-special white chocolate. This particular white chocolate isn’t even for sale from Askinosie; they only make it on request, for special customers—and the winner of this extraordinary Baker’s Basket! Will ship to the continental (48) United States.
Bid item code: EU44
Please note that due to the nature of the items, they each have geographic shipping restrictions. If you bid on the items, you do so with that information in mind as they can only be shipped to the destinations mentioned.
You can use the new, easy-to-operate Menu for Hope Donation Widget, too once they’re added. In the meantime, you can donate directly at the FirstGiving site.
Related Posts and Links
Complete List of European & UK Menu for Hope 6 Bid Items
Menu for Hope Donation Widget
Complete List of All Menu for Hope 6 Bid Items
Win a Copy of Room for Dessert, Ripe for Dessert & The Sweet Life in Paris!