Winner of #AFundForJennie
You people are terrific.
You opened your hearts and your checkbooks to help a friend in need.
You let me virtually bang my virtual gavel on Twitter and live out my auctioneer dream life.
You made me believe in the goodness of humanity again.
The winning bidder is ‘the pretty lady from CA’ as I referred to her in my tweets!
Carol Sacks (@casacks), you are the BEST!!! Thank you my sweet, caring friend.
#AFundForJennie
Jennifer Perillo is a vital force in the community of food bloggers. Readers all over the world love her for her delicious recipes, as well as her honest, straight-from-the-heart writing about her life and her family. And, if you’re lucky enough to know Jennie, you’ll know she’s a loyal, loving, generous woman.
By now I’m sure you’re aware that two weeks ago, Jennie’s beloved husband, Mikey, died suddenly of massive heart attack. Word spread quickly thanks to the advent of social media. Barely two days after losing her sweet husband, Jennie shared a recipe and asked that we remember Mikey by feeding our own loved ones with his favorite pie. With that simple post, an internet movement was born. THOUSANDS of you have made pies and shared your stories to help us all heal.
Jennie has a ‘new normal’ to create for herself and her girls. There’s a mortgage to pay. New medical insurance policies come with huge increases because Jennie’s not employed by a single corporation. Needless to say, these are mind-numbing realities under the best of circumstances. Needless again to say, we all want to help bridge these gaps that are left when lives are forever changed.
That’s why #AFundForJennie* has been created by Shauna Ahern and Maggy Keet, and it’s one of the very first projects the new organization, Bloggers Without Borders is taking on.
But, the ante’s been upped a bit here. Monies collected are the primary objective, of course. However, there’s a little twist here. Bloggers will be auctioning off what they do best to help one of their own.
SO, beginning today, we’re auctioning off a set of 24 of these back to school cookies: 8 school houses, 8 rulers and 8 apples. You can leave your bid in the comments section of this post. We’ll keep the auction open until 9 p.m. Friday, August 26. Highest bidder will be announced here and on Twitter by the morning of Saturday, August 27. Then, we’ll get in touch with the winner, get the address and explain that the winner has six months, TO THE DAY, to redeem the prize, and shipping will be extra. That’s all there is to it.
Not interested in a bidding war, but want to help? There’s a button over on the right that will take you directly to a donation page. We urge you to transfer money to PayPal, rather than charging it on your credit card. Use of credit cards result in fees and we don’t want any portion of your donation to be eaten by said fees. By the way, we’ll be telling the same thing to the highest bidder, too.
Now, let’s start with an opening bid, shall we? You know our cookies have been seen in magazines, newspapers, on radio (MARTHA!) and TV shows (Martha, MSNBC, just to name a few). And, THEY’RE DELICIOUS!!!!! That’s worth a few extra dollars, right? So, with that, let’s open the bidding at $50 for the 24 cookies, okay? But, let’s not stop there. These cookies are worth so much more.
But not nearly as worthy as the family the money will be helping.
*Bloggers without Borders is a charity that was founded by Maggie Keet ofThreeManyCooks, Erica Pineda-Ghanny of Ivory Hut, and Aimee Wimbush-Bourque ofSimple Bites.
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A Line and Some Dots
Sometimes fully icing or flooding a cookie just can’t happen. It can’t happen because there isn’t enough time between the request and when the cookies are due. Or, it shouldn’t happen because sometimes a line and some dots on a cookie are the best way the cookie can convey its true message.
Like this one. A left-handed Ibanez acoustic guitar.
Graceful. Elegant. And leaving an empty space in the hearts of those who loved him so.
For you, Mikey.
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I Worshipped in the Temple of the Big Summer Potluck
I am not a a religious person. I can’t even say I’m a terribly spiritual person.
But, I am a person who is deeply moved by the thoughts and actions of inspiring, generous, loving people.
We were gathered together in one beautiful stone barn in Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) last Saturday. As individuals, we had come to this place for many reasons; friendship, knowledge and of course, food. Many of us came in lost and confused, as we have stumbled trying to find our way in the blogging equivalent of Sodom and Gomorrah: Google Recipe Algorithm, SEO and Monetization. As we listened with rapt attention to the teachings of Penny, Shauna, Pam and Justin, it seemed we all, at the same time, were rocked by the emotion that bubbled up to the surface. One brave soul asked for guidance out of the hell of self-doubt. She wept openly, and as I nervously scanned the crowd while the tears spilled from my own full eyes, I saw others weeping, too.
And, I do believe I heard a chorus of “hallelujahs” and “amens” at that magical moment.
When the sessions were over, and it was time to rejoice and eat, there were more tears and more hugs. 8 second hugs, to be exact, because that’s the amount of time it takes for a good hug to start lifting serotonin levels. And we were lifted by those laying on of hands. Over and over and over again.
photo courtesy of Brian Samuels, My Food Thoughts
Suddenly, I knew things would be different from here on. You see, I’m not a writer, I’m barely a blogger, and I’m certainly no photographer. But, I do create and I do have a story to tell and I’ll tell it the only way I know how, and somehow, it will be read or seen or heard or eaten. I won’t be shackled by formulas and schedules. I will remember that photographs are a metaphor for life, and I will look through the lens and see everything in full frame. I’ll turn off ALL the editors’ voices in my head and just do what I do because it feels right to me.
Hallelujah, I have seen the light and I have been released!!!!
And, I am grateful that it happened to me and my brothers and sisters in the Temple of the Big Summer Potluck.
"After the Rapture", photo courtesy of Ken Leung, Hungry Rabbit NYC
Extra special thanks to The Andersons and Erika Pineda-Ghanny (@ivoryhut) for creating this sanctuary for us all.
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