Me, Shannon & Lisa at Arluck Time

First of all, thank you to everyone who stopped by the Arluck’s Tender Bakery table at Arluck Time this past Thursday night. Lisa, Shannon and I (from here on out known as the ladies of Brutal Snack) had so much fun slangin’ cupcakes and educating Chicago’s metal scene about proper French macarons! Thanks to our generous customers and donations we received from Letizia’s Natural Bakery, Angel Food Bakery and Bake It Pretty we were able to raise over $400 at our little table alone! combined with the auction and other fund-raising items the night generated over $6000 in donations for Grind for Life.

If you missed it, you also missed out on Lisa’s ridiculously good salted caramel brownies and macarons, Hollie’s dark chocolate cream cheese cupcakes, a few cupcakes I made and lots of treats from our donors – not to mention possibly the best Sweet Cobra performance to date. I believe there are already snippets here and there on YouTube and you can see our bake sale pictures here.

It was such an inspiring night I couldn’t stop gushing about how much I love my friends for two days. (If you’re a Twitter follower or Facebook fan I do apologize for the mushiness I subjected you to.) It also really reminded me why I bake – to bring people together and to make them happy.

I’m 100% dedicated to doing whatever I can to use my powers for good – so whether I’m telling you about a local business that deserves your support (hello Fritz Pastry, Angel Food Bakery, Vanille Patisserie…) or throwing what little celebrity status I have behind a non-profit bake sale that’s my new mission. I’m hoping to throw these bake sales as often as I can find a place to hold them – for different causes that deserve a little cash here and there. Heck, maybe Tony will let me throw one in my living room and you guys can all come over and watch movies while you support a worthy cause. Anyway, thanks to everyone who helped, it was an amazing night.

Speaking of getting out there and meeting people – I’ll be spending my Saturday morning at the Logan Square Kitchen Pastry Market! My fellow Brutal Snackers and I will be celebrating Shannon’s birthday with sustainable pastries from B True Bakery, FIG Catering, Floriole Bakery, Flour Cake & Pastry, Katherine Anne Confections, Macaron Chicago, Nice Cream, Rare Bird Preserves, Rich Chocolates & Candies, Sugarkist, and Tinycakes. I’m particularly excited about Sugarkist as I’ve heard she makes the best pie on planet Earth. I’ll also be pimping Lisa out – she’s a fantastic newly-graduated pastry student who just moved to Chicago and is ready to bust out some Brutal Snack-caliber pastry. Hopefully some of you can make it – make sure to RSVP so the vendors know you’re coming!

I have a new donut recipe just sitting in a Word document waiting to be unleashed on you, but I wanted to be sure to post my thanks and invite you all to the pastry orgy first. And now, without further ado, let’s get baked!