And Then We Ate

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We ate, and
we ate a lot.

We ate
peanut butter out of jars. We pizza at a friend’s house who invited us over in
the evenings to stay warm in their house, powered by a generator.  We ate garlic bread and pasta at a
neighborhood potluck, which took our minds off of the cold and the darkness and
the devastation for a few short hours.  I
ate egg and cheese sandwiches handed out by volunteers from the Union Beach
Fire Department while I walked the storm ravaged streets, helping people drag
their waterlogged belongings to the curb.  We ate tons of starchy, packaged foods because
for days, there were no fresh foods, fruits, or vegetables in our area. The
produce shelves were empty, people. 

Grocery shelf

Virtually empty.

We ate because
we were scared and needed comfort. We ate because at times, the food felt like
it was keeping us warm.  We ate because we
could.      

Now that my
power is back on, and we are back in our routine, our eating is more or less “back
to normal.”

(Although I
now have a few pounds to lose! My friends and I are calling the extra weight
our “Sandy handles!”)

And now that
I have use of my oven again, I can make granola. 

Granola (2)

Next Sunday,
I am honored to donate two bags of my gourmet granola to Justine’s online
auction to raise money for Sandy relief.  You can find more information about the
Auction at Justine’s blog, A Half Baked Life.

Please join
us next week beginning 8pm EST on the evening
of Sunday the 25th for “Baking A Difference.” Bidding will close at
12:00 midnight EST on Monday the 26th (Cyber Monday).  Justine will post
all auction items by Saturday, November 24th.  The word on the street is that there is going
to be some good stuff for sale!

Proceeds
will go to long term re-building efforts in New Jersey. Please don’t miss this
tasty way to help!

Namaste,
Divas!

You know I am all for small town relief
efforts versus the bureaucratic charities or people sending us their “trailer loads
of stuff.”   

What “front line” relief efforts are
you working with? I would love to help you spread the word! 

Comments

And Then We Ate — 14 Comments

  1. I love this! Hope you don’t that I’m going to start spreading this everywhere on the blog, Twitter, etc to get the word out there in the tri-state. This is a fantastic way to raise money post-Sandy. I’ll definitely place a bid on that granola of yours. 🙂

  2. This is awesome and I’m so happy that you are able to contribute some yummy goodness. Yes, we ate and ate. Frankly, I’m still eating. Most of it has been stress and emotional eating and I totally am aware of that. Spreading the world about the auction! We’ve been helping out with some of the local efforts in Brooklyn and donating (not my undies) money to support long-term rebuilding efforts.

  4. So that’s why I’ve gained weight. It must be the sympathy eating I’ve been doing. 🙁
    This is a great idea! And you are so right: Local, local, local. The bigger the organization or government, the more red tape tangles and delays there are.

  13. Good for you, woman! I hope to share granola with you one day! 🙂
    I so get the eating and Sandy Handles! OMG, genius name!
    (Thanking about you all!)
    xo