food and charity

last night’s fundraiser in santa rosa sponsored by sonoma county’s kzst 100.1 fm was more than a huge success. it was an evening filled with generosity, food, wine and laughter. 500 plus "next food network star" fans were in attendance and through ticket sales and auction items, over $30k was raised for valley of the moon children’s center. we kissed a lot of babies and shook a lot of hands. ok, not quite, but you get the idea. the evening’s festivities were hosted by brent farris, kzst personality who put me to the test last thursday in his morning show’s battle of the sexes duke out. i lost 0 for 3 (guess i don’t know much about men) and am seen swatting brent below with my “loser” prize (my fly swatter was labeled just that – “loser prize for jess”).

the evening kicked off with an opening q&a period where beth, carissa, guy, nathan and i shared our behind-the-scenes secrets. our “next food network star” stories were followed with an auction of numerous donated items from local merchants as well as many-a-autographed-food-network-paraphernalia from posters to blenders. the enthusiasm (which could have largely been driven by the many bottles of wine that had been emptied throughout the evening) and generosity (which also could have been driven by the wine) were astounding. after the auction, we all watched episode five together and instead of commercials, the five of us provided running commentary.

a huge thanks to guy for letting me be part of this event and to the many, many people who dedicated long hours of work to make it all happen on very short notice, and of course “happy cooking” to all those that came and supported a wonderful cause.