Ted Allen
Here is an opportunity for all you creative foodies to trade in your saute pan for an artist’s palette. Your “canvas”will be a virtual slice of bread. Your task will be creating a mini-masterpiece for the Bread Art Project, a collaborative venture between the Grain Foods Foundation and Food Network host Ted Allen. Allen and the Foundation have teamed up to raise money to help Feeding America fight hunger ” one slice of bread at a time.
This innovative fundraising project encourages supporters to create digital bread art to help eliminate hunger in America. The Grain Foods Foundation is donating $50,000 to Feeding America, but for every piece of bread art submitted, the Foundation will donate an additional dollar, up to a maximum total donation of $100,000. This means they are looking for 50,000 pieces of bread art to reach their goal!
One dollar will help provide seven meals, 10 pounds of food, or four bags of groceries to the 25 million people served by food banks annually. The more bread art consumers create, the more meals Feeding America can put on the table for needy families across the country.
According to Feeding America, food banks have seen a 30% increase in demand for services over the past year. As the biggest hunger relief association in the country, Feeding America has more than 200 food banks and distributes more than two billion pounds of donated products through contacts with approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies that hand out food directly to Americans in need. (See People, Not Funds, Pouring into Food Banks ” Part I)
It’s simple and fun to take part in the Bread Art Project. If you’re reading this now, you can help ” no artistic skills required! Just upload a favorite drawing or photo to the Bread Art Project site, or create a new design, using an electronic slice of bread as your canvas. The site has simple tools to assist in making your masterpiece. There’s no such thing as bad art and nothing is rejected. It’s easy! How can you not participate?
If you need inspiration, take a virtual tour of the Bread Art Project gallery and view samples of the thousands of innovative pieces of digital art already submitted, including some of Allen’s own designs. Although the project is off to an impressive start, they still need many more slices to reach their goal.
Ted Allen initially launched the Bread Art Project by delivering thousands of loaves of bread to the Yorkville Common Pantry, the largest community-based food pantry in New York City.
“Remember ..bread and other grain foods are nutritious and affordable, and should continue to be an essential staple in Americans’ grocery bags,” says Allen. “Plus, they just taste good.”
“Bread and grains provide many of the essential nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy,” says Judi Adams, president of the Grain Foods Foundation, “and this spring, they’ll also help put food on our neighbors’ tables.”
To get people in the mood, Allen shared one of his favorite bread recipes, bread pudding. “There is almost no easier dessert to make than bread pudding, and almost nothing more universally loved,”he said. “Keep the crusts on for a cool checkerboard effect”
1 – loaf, sliced bread of choice
Butter
1 – cup raisins
8 – large eggs
3½ cups whole milk
1½ cups heavy cream
2 – cups sugar
1½ tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350° and butter a 13-x-9-inch baking dish. Spread butter on each slice of bread and cut into one-inch cubes. Toss with raisins. Place in baking dish. In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add milk, cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour over bread chunks until they’re completely soaked. Bake, uncovered, until golden brown, about an hour and 15 minutes.
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Let’s all help the Bread Art Project reach its goal. Design some art today!