Adventures in Fundraising - Gourmet Meals for a Year

As some of my readers may know, I am the chairperson for the Mission Campaign for our youth choir, Pueri Cantores St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and my husband is the director.  We are raising money to travel to Rome on December 26 and sing for the New Year's Day Mass of Peace with Pope Francis!  It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for 46 singers, ages 8 through 18, and it's even more special because we will be sharing the experience with 5,000 young singers from every continent!  I get the shivers every time I think of the trip for my 2 kids.

We had some pretty intense fundraising activity last Spring and are gearing up for our last push before we make our final trip payments in mid-October.  We did a number of "basket raffles," and made about $3,000.  As one of our "basket raffles," we raffled off 12 months of homemade gourmet meals, one per month.  Our winner was a nice couple in our parish choir.  I've made several of these meals and although it is a bit of work, it's fun for me.  I wouldn't call my self a gourmet cook by any stretch (don't tell them that!), but I can follow a recipe and enjoy trying new ones.

This month's menu includes:

Cucumber Ginger Sesame Salad
Honey Mustard Chicken
Rice
Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
Peach Raspberry Sangria

I've linked two recipes to the items above (none are original to me!).  The other items I found inspiration, but in the end changed them in favor of my own recipe.  One of those was the Cucumber Ginger Sesame Salad:

It's very easy - cucumber, carrots, edamame and toasted sesame seeds.  I used a store bought Asian Sesame dressing.  The best part of this recipe was cutting the cucumber.  Using a potato peeler, I worked around the top of the cucumber to make twists that are so pretty! Before mixing them with the other ingredients, I laid them out to dry a little.  I hate when cucumber salads are watery because of the cucumbers.

  

These meals are delivered on the third Sunday of every month.  I try to make extra of everything so I can feed my own family as well.  This month I started about 24 hours before delivery with the pound cake and sangria.  I will admit I'm cheating a bit, using a store bought mix. This one is from Krusteaz and if the smell while baking is any indication, this is going to be seriously yummy!

 






I have always wanted to make sangria, especially a white peach version.  For the fruit, I used 2 yellow peaches and 1 white nectarine with raspberries.  Then I added 1/2 c. of peach schnapps, 1/2 c. of brandy, 2 12 oz cans of 7-Up and 2 bottles of Moscato wine. That will make about 10 good servings of sangria. A good sangria requires at least 8 hours to mix and I'm gave mine 24. And oh, it was worth the wait!

I was also pleased with the Honey Mustard Chicken (see link to recipe above).  I served it over white rice.

Hey, if you appreciate this fundraising suggestion, the recipes or just my blog, we would love your support.  Our YouCaring fund is HERE and even the smallest donations are appreciated!

Cindy

The Happiest Place on Earth

There are some places that you know immediately by sound and smell even if you can't see them.  They instantaneously create feelings and memories that rush in like you just felt or experienced them.  For me, one of those places is Disneyland.

We made our first trip to Disneyland when our kids were 9 months and nearly 3.  They don't remember anything about that trip, but they do remember the subsequent trips we took nearly every year.  Now when we go back it feels like a comfortable sweater - someplace familiar.  Every ride, every store, every part of the park has a memory for me of my kids at various ages.

A couple of weeks ago we went there again.  The St. Bernard Choristers had the privilege of singing at Disneyland.  (This was the big trip we were fundraising for.)  It was a new experience and very special because it was a place we knew so well.  We did get to see a new part of Disneyland because we were able to go "backstage".   It seemed so . . . ordinary.  What was extraordinary was seeing my husband direct his children's choir and watch my daughter sing a solo.  Funny thing about that song - after the beginning of the song (which is my daughter's first solo) the music track suddenly stopped.  My clever and talented husband didn't miss a beat - he jumped over to the piano and finished the song!  Here's both parts of the song:

Life is not always perfect, but Disneyland is still the Happiest Place on Earth!

cindy