Excitement, and perspective

Ooooh … the book is almost here — as of last notice the Agate sales dept. was “confident” that we’d at least have a few display copies for our table at this weekend’s Hideout Block Party.  And despite the (mostly) crappy weather, we had a great time this past weekend talking to people about Soup & Bread while snugged in between the big tops at the inaugural Brilliant Corners of Popular Amusements. And if you’re downtown this Wednesday, you can come find me at 6 pm at Chicago’s Downtown Farmstand, where I’m taking a break from tending bar to talk about Soup & Bread along with other charitably minded culinary types like First Slice as part of a program called “Culinary Conversations: Helping the Community One Bite at a Time.”

But while this is all pretty fun, I thought it’d be worth pointing out that — just in case you hadn’t noticed — times are still tough out there, and for many they don’t look to be getting better anytime soon. So, let’s have a little PSA moment, and give a shout-out to some mega-culi-charities helping the national community many, many bites at a time: Share Our Strength and Feeding Illinois.

SOS works across multiple platforms to help the food and restaurant industries join forces with the public to combat childhood hunger. It stages the Taste of the Nation fine-dining fundraisers (hemed by the awesome Tom Collichio) and the annual Great American Bake Sale and myriad other smaller events Just last week Stephanie Izard (who, ding!, also has a recipe in the Soup & Bread Cookbook) announced on her blog that she was dedicating proceeds from her  book tour for the forthcoming “Girl in the Kitchen to Share Our Strength. Making her even more awesome than already established.

In the last few days, in response to data showing that 18.6 million U.S. kids receive food stamp benefits, Share Our Strength has taken over my Twitter feed  to spread the word about the “National Dine Out to End Childhood Hunger in America.” More than 5,000 participating restaurants — which in Chicago includes higher-end spots like Carnivale and Salpicon as well as Corner Bakery and Boston Market — have pledged to spend the week raising money for SOS.

Meanwhile, Feeding Illinois — the statewide alliance of food banks — has dubbed this month Hunger Action Month, and is challenging those with means to try eating for a day, or a week, on $5 a day — the average SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefit for an adult in Illinois. Reports from participants, recipes, and more are accumulating over on the project blog.  I’m not formally participating, but yesterday I did score a bunch of slightly worn squash, tomatoes, and peppers from the neighborhood grocer‘s free box. With it, I cooked up enough of what I’m calling a “late-summer ragout” (and what my mom used to call  “veggie glop”) to keep me in supercheap brown bag lunches for days.

But September’s bounty of bruised baby squash is fleeting, especially if you don’t have a nice local organic grocer down the street. I hate to even think about it, but winter is just around the corner. So why not take a moment this week to give a little something back, and put your money where someone else’s mouth is?

And … that is all. Except to remind you to get your block party tickets now!  We’ll be there all day, with the 20 remaining copies of the first edition Soup & Bread Cookbook, and (fingers crossed) one hot-off-the-presses copy of the new one for you to paw through.  See you Saturday.