Austin Bakes for Austin

At the end of October, the Austin area experienced heavy rainfall that lead to flash flooding all over the city and surrounding areas. The storms and floods took the lives of at least six people and are estimated to cost upwards of $14 million. Much of this cost is being felt by the residents of Austin and Pflugerville who lost their homes. Over 450 families have turned to the Austin Disaster Relief Network for help.

We've baked for Japan, we've baked for Bastrop, and most recently we baked for West. Now the Austin Bakes team is coming together for our neighbors and baking for Austin. On Saturday November 30th, we'll be hosting a city-wide bake sale from 10 AM - 2 PM at five different locations. If you're in Austin that Saturday, please come out and join us! We'll have tasty treats that will go towards a great cause. Better yet, if you're able you can also volunteer to help out at one of the locations or even drop off baked goods. If you're not able to come out, there's also an online giving site set up for donations.

Central: Foreign & Domestic
306 E. 53rd Street, 78751

Downtown: Whole Foods Market Lamar
525 N. Lamar Boulevard, 78703

East: Sugar Circus Bakery
2613 E 5th St, Austin, TX 78702

North: Make It Sweet
9070 Research Blvd #203, Austin, TX 78757

South: Crema Bakery*
9001 Brodie Lane, Suite B, 78748

*Come say hi to Ramona and me at Crema!

thank you! thank you! thank you!

Austin Bakes for West was a resounding success. Bakers, baked-good aficionados, and online donors raised $19,377! This was well over the $15,000 goal. Thank you so much if you came out to the sale or donated your time, money, or goods! A super special thank you to Kathryn of Austin Gastronomist for organizing this and all of the site leaders as well. Megan of Stetted and Steff of The Kitchen Trials were the site leaders at Stiles Switch BBQ and they helped us have a fun, productive sale! Also greatly deserving of credit is Stiles Switch BBQ for making tray-upon-tray of delicious sausage kolaches, letting the bake sale run late, and being a great party host to boot!

If you missed the bake sale, the online donation form is still open here.

I would totally post pictures, but in the interest of actually getting a post up, here's a link to some pictures and the wrap up post over at Austin Bakes.

Austin Bakes for West

Another interruption in my silence here.

If you've paid attention to any Texas news, you already know about the devastating fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas that left 14 people dead and up to another 200 injured. West, Texas is a tiny town along I-35 and anyone who's made the drive from Austin to Dallas has gone through West. What makes it so well-known is its close-knit Czech community and the bakeries, like the Czech Stop, within that served up delicious kolaches.

The Austin Bakes team is getting together again to host another city-wide bake sale on May 4th from 10 AM - 2 PM to support the people of West. There will be eight locations and delicious treats at each! All proceeds will be donated to AmeriCares.

So what can you do to help? If you're in the Austin area and have some time, donate baked goods or volunteer to work at the bake sale. If you're pressed for time, but still in Austin, come out to the bake sale and get some tasty goodies for your monetary donations. If you're not in the Austin area, or you simply can't wait to help, you can donate in the name of Austin Bakes to AmeriCares via the FirstGiving page.

Colby, Ramona, and I will be at the Stiles Switch BBQ location. We're planning on bringing strawberry lemonade cupcakes and mojito kits, and maybe some other goodies, if we can get our act together. So come out and visit us on the 4th to help out some people in need!

Austin Bakes for Bastrop

As I'm sure many of you have heard, central Texas has been devastated by wildfires.  The continuing drought, low humidity, and extreme heat have made the area incredibly susceptible to fire.  As ridiculous as it seems to people who don't live here, cigarettes and charcoal grilling have been banned from Austin city parks and as a resident I'm grateful that these measures are being taken in order to reduce the risks we face. Recently, Bastrop county suffered much in the way of fire damage.  In all, 34,000 acres of land burned, as well as 1600 homes.  To aid in their recovery, the same fine people who put on Austin Bakes for Japan have pooled their talents together for another event, Austin Bakes for Bastrop.  I highly encourage everyone in the Austin area to come out to one of the seven locations around Austin this Saturday between 10AM - 2PM and support the people who have been devastated by these fires.  I'm planning on bringing pumpkin bread and apple pasties to the Whole Foods at Gateway.  This is a great opportunity to give back to the community, as well as eat lots of tasty treats.

Austin Bakes for Japan Recap

AMAZING spread, eh?

On Saturday, Colby and I arrived at the Nomad Bar a little after 10 AM.  We brought about 30 homemade kolaches to sell and met several other Austin bloggers including Anna from Keep It Luce, Elizabeth from Local Savour, Rachelle from Blinded By the Bite, and Casey from The Modern Gelatina.  

My homage to Colby's deep east Texas Czech roots.

We donated some money and picked up some really amazing baked goods, including a gluten free brownie baked by Rachelle (that Colby *loved* and didn't even know was gluten free until I pointed to the bottom of the bag), cupcakes from Sugar Mama's, strawberry jelly from someone, and an incredible apple tart made by another mystery person.  In all, the event was a smashing success and the city wide bake sale raised ~$11,000 for Americare's humanitarian efforts in Japan.

Oh, and that apple tart was the bombdotcom.