Menu for Hope Winner Announced

Chez Pim has announced this year’s raffle winners for Menu for Hope, a benefit run by the food blogging multiverse to benefit a worthy cause, in this case children in the South African kingdom of Lesotho.

I was both a raffle-r and an raffl-ee this time, and I must say I am pleased with the result of both. First off, however, I want to thank everyone who reads this blog. No, really. I mean it. When I offered a little package of wild game charcuteriefor the raffle, I was pretty sure I’d be able to sell the $200 worth of raffle tickets Pim and Matt over at Matt Bites (Matt ran the West Coast edition of Menu for Hope) wanted everyone who offered something to raise.

After all, at $10 a ticket, surely I could cajole 20 people into buying, right? Secretly I set a goal of $500 in raffle tickets, and wondered to myself if we could possibly reach $1,000.

Well, thanks to you, we raised nearly $1,300!! Only three other prizes raised more.

I am staggered, flattered and just super-happy to have been able to chip in that much in a tough year; Menu for Hope raised $62,000 this time, less than last year, but still good in what has been one of the hardest economic years in memory.

So who won? Jeff Trockman. Dunno who you are, Jeff, but I am ready to do your bidding! Most of the charcuterie sampler is already made — the boar lonzino, the wild duck soppressata and the Canada goose “prosciutto,” but it’s up to Jeff to tell me how to flavor the fresh wild boar sausages I will make for him. Jeff, contact me and I’ll get started.

On to the selfish part of this post. I was a winner, too. I bid on all sorts of things, but the prize I wanted most — and bought the most tickets for — was a vertical selection of The Spaniard, a big, bold Rioja-style red wine made by one of our better local winemakers, Twisted Oak. I love this wine, but at $49 a bottle it is a bit rich for my blood.

Now I get four bottles of the stuff — one each from 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006. I am pretty psyched.

Once again, I want to thank everyone who bought a raffle ticket this year — and know that I will definitely do this again next holiday season!