Menu for Hope IV: Artigianale Basket – A Taste of Italy!

So, it has begun! Today is the first day of the Menu for Hope 4! For the next 10 days, I’ll be talking to you about my prize, highlighting others’ prizes and of course, talking about great food!

Note: Thanks to everyone who commented on the Dolce Italiano contest – we had over 750 entries!! Wow! Shelley will be posting the winner shortly on her blog.

The Menu for Hope is in its fourth year – and it is the best raffle in the world for cooks and food-lovers alike! All prizes are food or wine related and can vary from gift certificates at a restaurant or a food photography lesson. Last year we raised $65,000 for the United Nations’ World Food Programme. This year, we‘re hoping to raise even more for the WFP, and more specifically, for the school lunch program in Lesotho – Chez Pim has some pictures of the people we’ll be able to help, as well as supporting the WFP buying from local, subsistent farmers who practice conservation farming.

Make sure you specify the Ms. Adventures in Italy “Artigianale Basket” of Italian products by using the prize code: EU27 You must specify the code while donating – there is no general prize extraction!! More prize details below – first let’s educate you how to bid! Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

So How Can You Bid?

Chez Pim as always has all the Menu for Hope IV information, and I encourage you to see her screenshots and instructions, but here is a quick glance:

1. Go to the donation page on First Giving at: http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope4.
2. Make a donation!
   Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU27 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU27, 3xEU02. You must specify a prize code!!
3. If your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
4. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.
5. Check back at Chez Pim on Wednesday, January 9th when results will be announced.

Please please tell everyone you can about this awesome opportunity to not only donate to a good cause, but to get something in return that has been thoughtfully selected and/or made for this occasion.

• Post on your blog to the main donation page or the general prize roundup or visit the Europe regional host, Fanny at Foodbeam, for a roundup of European bloggers’ prizes.
• Post about your favorite prize in the running (hopefully mine, EU27!)

The Artigianale Basket – A Taste of Italy!

Bigger and better than last year’s Artigianale Basket, you’ll get a taste of Italy that is full of products from mostly “micro” manufacturers throughout Italy, and many are hard to find outside their local areas or in stores.

Last year, I had such a great response to the basket that I added a few items halfway through the bidding – motivate me!! Bid now for EU27!!

• Bronte Pistachio Cream (sweet) [Sicily]
• Crema di Mandorla (sweet Almond cream) [Sicily]
• Aceto Balsamico (Balsamic Vinegar) from Modena [Emilia-Romagna]
• White Truffle Oil [Abruzzo]
• Fillets of white tuna under oil [Campania]
• 3 bars fair trade Modica chocolate – orange, cinnamon and hot pepper [Sicily]
• Zibbibo jelly (sweet wine from Sicily) for cheese [Sicily]
• Fichi d’India jelly (cactus fruit) [Sicily]
• Nduja “peperoncino & salame” spread from Catanzaro [Calabria]
• 5 packs “Cioccolata densa” Hot Chocolate mix [Lombardia]
• 1 half liter (1/2l.) bottle of extra virgin olive oil from our family friend in Gargano [Puglia]
• 1 “Spaghettata” dry herb pasta mix [Calabria]
• 1 tin “Amarelli liquirizia” pure licorice [Calabria]
• Pastiglie Leone in a collector’s tin [Piemonte]

The basket will be mailed early in 2007. Please check your country’s customs restrictions before bidding.

Anyone that comes in person to pick up the basket in Milan will be treated to an extra treat of a gelato from one of my favorite gelaterias on the Tour del Gelato and I’ll throw in a pack of handmade taralli from Puglia!

So, go bid now (for EU27, of course) and please talk about the Menu for Hope to everyone you know!