#Black lives matteR Bake Sale
(a bake sale for a good cause, 4th of july)
4th of July 2015 came shorty after several horrific attacks on black communities' churches (first the shooting in South Carolina, followed by more fires in other states on other churches). It was a necessary time to contribute to #BlackLivesMatter. We raised funds (over $300!) and sent them to the organization to help with a collective healing convergence happening later that July in Cleveland.
About Black Lives Matter, from their website:
Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police and vigilantes. It goes beyond the narrow nationalism that can be prevalent within some Black communities, which merely call on Black people to love Black, live Black and buy Black, keeping straight cis Black men in the front of the movement while our sisters, queer and trans and disabled folk take up roles in the background or not at all. Black Lives Matter affirms the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, Black-undocumented folks, folks with records, women and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. It centers those that have been marginalized within Black liberation movements. It is a tactic to (re)build the Black liberation movement.
Sofie did the entirety of the planning and organization of this event. It was not Secret Restaurant for the sake of Secret Restaurant– we used the name to help get people to come out, and do something productive on the day usually spent celebrating our country, at a time where it felt particularly relevant to question.
We put flyers around the neighborhood and posted on social media and e-mailed everyone at our places of work and made phones calls and sent texts and did what we could to get people to come out.
We wanted to contribute, and what we could contribute in that moment of 2015 was baked goods and beverages, sold with the intention of raising of awareness in Portland and funds for the organization doing the real work.
Gougeres
Delicious gruyére cheese puffs.
Bay Leaf Pound Cake with whipped cream + plum and or/blueberry compote
Sumptuous cake rich with the scent of Bay, having been made with bay-infused milk.
Plum compote made with greengage plums gathered from the a tree outside the New Day School, just down the street from the Clinton house.
Blueberry compote made with floral honey.
Fresh Ginger Muffins
Light, with spice on the wind.
World Peace Cookies
These amazing cookies from The Splendid Table, which Sofie had made lots of times in the past.
Savory Corn Muffins
From Bake Shop's Kim Boyce, in her fantastic Good To The Grain cookbook. Made with gruyére.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Also from Kim Boyce in Good To The Grain.
Cardamom Honey Pink Peppercorn Shortbread
A recipe from Anna Brones' Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break, remixed with pink peppercorns, fancy Elecampane herbal honey from Portland Apothecary, and smoked Maldon salt.
Snickerdoodles
A pretty great vegan + gluten free version!
Almond, Apricot, Blueberry Gooseberry Cake
Another take on Nigel Slater's 'Cake for Midsummer,' right in the middle of summer.
Macaroon Tart w/Apricot & Boysenberry
Thanks Heidi Swanson!
Oops I Dropped A Tartine Tart Ice Cream
A peach version of Chad Robertson's Buckweat Galette from Tartine Book n. 3, painstakingly made, shattered, chopped up, then folded into the Umpqua French Vanilla ice cream from Safeway. High brow/low brow at its most fun.
TO DRINK:
Coffee: As usual when doing coffee service, we had some beautiful coffees from Water Avenue, who also did us a solid by getting the word out on their social media networks, because they are a company that actually cares!
hot:
El Salvador
nutty, chocolate
Rwanda
spicy cola, floral anise
cold brew:
Indonesia
toffee, pine
Green tea limeade
Delicious.
Other notes:
Lucas couldn't make it. Sofie really led the whole deal. Holly and I helped choose dishes and put in our hours at the oven.
We worked at a house where Holly was house sitting, in extremely hot weather. Perhaps from struggling with the heat, after 5 (maybe 6) hours of work on the Buckwheat tart from Tartine Book n. 3, as it was nearly finished baking, just needing to be rotated, I dropped it. Head in my hands, despondent, Sofie fixed everything by baking it the rest of the way (it had only shattered, not spilled) and then brained up the idea of mixing it with grocery store vanilla ice cream, creating the completely next level, Ben & Jerry's style"Oops I Dropped a Tartine Tart Ice Cream."
Sofie's mom's partner, Vern, and their friend Mike, had just been crabbing the day before. This resulted in us being given a few pounds of crabs. On the baking day, right when we were about to fall apart from the heat, and the process, we made some delicious crab salad with celery, parsley, and lemon, which we piled onto rye toast with avocado and ate, with cold beer, in the rapidly cooling down back yard.
The day of the bake sale was a great success, and we are eternally thankful for the friends (and a few strangers!) who came out and contributed. If you are reading this page, please consider making some kind of donation or effort for Black Lives Matter. There is always more we can and should be doing.
