Charity Long Lunch

A few months ago on a Thursday evening whilst on some kind of adrenalin high, my friend and i decided that we would bite the bullet and commit to running a marathon in September. Just one of those crazy moments. 

I mean, i love to run, in fact, it's almost on par with cooking as one of my favourite things to do, it is rather lucky that these 2 hobbies seem to fuel each other: run ==> hungry ==> cook and overeat ==> feeling fat ==> run... vicious cycle indeed! 

However, a gruelling 42km run that may take 4.5+hrs is quite a different story. Clocked about 500km so far since May, which is pretty bad actually as i was sick/injured for a month, but the last month has been hard training (and eating!) so should be on track...

Anyhow, to make it a worthwhile experience, i thought i may as well raise some money for charity and so i started thinking of fundraising ideas. After talking to a bunch of people and tossing up a million ideas and trying to brainstorm what most people would like to do/attend, in the end, the conclusion was that most of my friends just like to eat. So, a relaxed long lunch was the final decision...

We also held a semi-silent, semi-live auction with donations of items/services from various people, thank you so much to those who were so generous with their time and donations!!

We had around 40 people attend in the end which was a pretty huge number to feed, maybe the largest i've attempted?? Can't really remember now, but with the help of Justin's mum to feed half the people, it seemed a lot more possible. This also meant i could try someone else's cooking!

The Menu:

(photos by Char - thanks!)

On the Italian Side:

From top left (clockwise): Garlic bread as starters,
Linguine with Prawn in Lemon Ricotta Sauce, with roasted leek, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes
Pumpkin, Marinated Feta and Pine Nut Salad
Meatballs in Classic Pomodoro Sauce

On the Asian side:

From top left (clockwise): Vermicelli Stir-fry with Chari-siu
Malaysian Chicken and Potato Curry
Flavoured Yellow Rice
Vegetable Curry

And for dessert:

(just keeping it simple)

Pavlova nests with whipped cream and fresh fruit
Peach and Cream cheese slice
Lamingtons
Chocolate Mud cake

Huge thank you to those who came and ate, and to those who helped out, cleaned up, donated, bid at the auction and especially to my lovely sister Bec who was, as usual, my slave/sous chef/calming assistant in the kitchen ~ the only one who can handle me when i'm embarking on these crazy ambitious cooking adventures!

In the end, we raised over $1500 from lunch and the auction which was very exciting and is an amazing testament to the generosity and loving support of friends and family around me! Wonderful news for Starlight Children's Foundation and A21! Yay!