I often write articles for my local newspaper and I just interviewed a woman who is planning a lunch and festival/carnival with a goal to raise $10,000 for an organization that aids childhood hunger. This organization is particularly important and relevant to her because it creates feeding programs in schools that are already established, and she has had a long career in school nutrition services, or, as she puts it, as a lunch lady.
I had to smile when I read about the events planned for the carnival as I prepared for the interview. It is going to have a cakewalk! I haven’t seen a cakewalk since the holiday bazaars held more than half a lifetime ago at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Kenmore, New York. If you have never heard of a cakewalk fundraiser, it is sort of like a cross between a raffle and musical chairs. Players pay a fee to join in. A path of numbers is created, usually with masking tape on the floor, and players march to the beat of the music, and when it stops, they stand a square. A number is then drawn, and if the number matches the one you are standing on, you win a cake. I must say that I love cake, so the thought of that is very exciting to me. Wouldn’t this be a fun and unexpected way to raise money for an organization you care about?
A cakewalk reminds me of a fundraiser that my mom “invented” when I was in Girl Scouts. She got a sturdy cardboard box (think photocopy paper box) and covered it with fancy gold wrapping paper and made a sign for it that said “Troop 861 Bakery Box” and added a list of troop members and their address and an envelope. The idea was to make a baked good, package it and put it in the box and drop it off at the next family on the list, who would make a donation (maybe the minimum was $5.00) and then bake something and pass it along to the next person. My mom started off the exchange, putting her signature Black Forest Cake in the box. I remember we got brownies (we were last on the list since we started) from a family appropriately named The Bakers.
Here’s some of my favorite Betty Crocker showstoppers.
What is your favorite cake?