A Soft Landing

O and I opted to host a very small dinner party last weekend as a gentle start to Full Belly 2008. Since Olaiya is still a week away from finishing her one-month vegan experience, it made sense to try out a fully vegan menu:

Toasted Almonds and Mediterranean Olives
(warmed in an orange peel marinade… mmm…)
Roasted Cauliflower with a Truffle Oil Dressing
French Green Lentils with Fennel
Mangoes Flambe!
And a Dry and Subtle Oregon Chardonnay

Walaka commented it was his favorite Olaiya meal yet… and even begrudgingly enjoyed eating cauliflower for the first time in his life. Since we kept costs low (funny how that happens when you eliminate meat and cheese from the shopping list!) we came close to our $100 per event goal even though our guest list was unusually small.

We have been moved by the recent efforts of Women for Women to help the situation in The Congo. After talking about it, we've decided that instead of continuing with our usual $330 sponsorships, we’re going to start committing our fundraising dollars to W4W’s Congo Relief Fund.

We’re hoping this year to do even more for good causes. We’ve been exploring other event ideas that could possibly increase the amount of money we raise… larger venues, different kinds of events rather than just dinner parties. Olaiya also just catered a fundraising event for a leukemia benefit, giving them a fantastic discount and allowing them to raise thousands for their cause. Please let us know if you have any ideas you’d like to pitch to us!

We’re also looking at finding a school in rural India to partner with. We have a great connection through a recent friendship we’ve made with a former resident of India who has ties back to the rural education community there. As someone who lived there for a year as part of the Rotary Exchange Program, I know just how big an impact we could make with scholarship money and/or supplies for students.