Coffee Girls and Remedy Food + Drink with BREAD! KC

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When Max Watson of Remedy Food + Drink first told us he wanted to cook for a BREAD! KC dinner, we were beyond excited.  When Lindsey Patterson of Coffee Girls, conveniently located next door to Remedy, offered the use of her space for the event, it seemed that the stars were aligning.  When we received three riveting and timely grant applications from Laura Isaac, Chuck Smith and Sarah Star Wilkison, we knew it was going to be a great event.  But on Sunday, July 29^th, we were blown away!

Over 72 people beat the heat that day (an impressive 106°F) and joined us in support of Kansas City artists and their projects. Although the space was packed and it took some time to make it through the serving line, diners seemed pleased as soon as they had their first taste of the chilled Crenshaw melon soup with crème fraîche sorbet that Max and his crew prepared.  Gillis Growth Grove, a project started through the Gillis center for at-risk children and families, graciously donated a bounty of fresh produce, which we transformed into a wilted kale and tomato salad.  Ciabattini from Farm to Market Bread Co. rounded out the meal while Coffee Girls provided an endless supply of iced toddy.

All the presentations were of the highest quality, but the $644 Bread! Grant was ultimately awarded to Sarah Star Wilkison.  She plans to use the funds to pay performers and provide costumes for her women’s protest performance piece, which will take place throughout the Kansas City area this fall.

Thanks again and again and again to Max Watson, Remedy, and the kitchen crew; Lindsey Patterson and the Coffee Girls staff for their hospitality (and use of their dish washer!); Theo Bunch and Gillis Growth Grove; Farm to Market Bread Co.; our three amazing presenters; Kevin Kinsella, all of our loyal supporters; and, of course, our family and friends.

Too hot to handle, too cold to hold!

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The first BREAD! KC dinner of summer took place on an especially balmy evening, with temperatures hovering around 100° F for the majority of the day.   Katherine Burke graciously hosted us in her lovely (air-conditioned) Honeytree Gallery, and we kept the menu light with citrus medley water, chilled vichyssoise and French rolls from Farm to Market.  Sarah Wilkison whipped up an amazing cake for dessert – peanut butter and strawberry rhubarb filling, sandwiched between two giant slices of vanilla pound cake.

It was a close vote for the three exceptional presenters, and for the first time in BREAD! history (excepting the Gala-lalala in which Andy and Sean tied for Coffee and Toast), we had a tie!  After performing a run-off vote, Sara Cramer was awarded the $215 grant, which will go towards modernizing jewelry displays for the one-year anniversary exhibition of Handmade by Sara Cramer.

Special thanks to Howard’s Organic Fare and Vegetable Patch for providing our produce this month, and thanks again to Honeytree Gallery, Farm to Market Bread Co., Sarah Wilkison, Charlotte Street Foundation, the presenters, our generous diners and all of our family and friends.

Coffee, Toast, & Tips

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Those of you that attended the November BREAD! KC Gala-lalala may recall that the tables were turned that night.  Bread Boys Andy and Sean, neither knowing what the other was planning, each pitched alternative fundraising models: one using the sale of coffee, and the other using toast.  As luck would have it, they tied for votes that night.  And so, using a portion of the funds raised during the Gala-la-la-la, they created the “Coffee & Toast” cart, which made its debut at The Speakeasy in April.

Much like the typical BREAD! KC event, food was used to raise money for three creative, project-based proposals by collecting money from diners. Each Sunday during the month of April, the boys rolled out their Coffee & Toast cart, which was generously stocked with Oddly Correct coffee, white, wheat and rye breads from Farm to Market Bread Co., and lots of Shatto butter.  Diners paid $4 for coffee and toast, then cozied up to laptops arranged in the space to view the presentations online.  The suggested $6 tip was then distributed to any or all of three available tip jars, each corresponding to a proposal.  The proposals focused on the notion of spaces, places, and hubs.  Congratulations to Bread & Glitter, Creative Commissary, and Front Space, whose videos generated a total of $130 in tips.

Although we would have liked to have drawn greater attendance at The Speakeasy on Sunday’s in order to generate larger grants for these three wonderful projects, we were happy to see that each video received about 100 hits on YouTube, which is great exposure for these organizations!  By the next time the Coffee & Toast cart rolls out, we hope to have addressed many of the issues we encountered this time around so that it’s able to function as a truly successful alternative fundraising model.

A very special thanks to Oddly Correct for the coffee and pour over training, Farm To Market Bread Co., Shatto Milk Company for making such delicious butter, Charlotte Street Foundation, Urban Culture Project’s La Esquina space, all the presenters, our generous toasters, and all our family and friends.

BREAD! 2/26/12, $302 Grant!

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This was a very special BREAD!, due to the fact that it was completely designed and organized by our newest member, Erin Olm-Shipman. Since last May, she has graced us with not only her presence, but also her culinary expertise and her ability to organize spreadsheets. Erin was officially inducted with the gift of a “Dallas Museum of Fine Arts Gallery Soup Cookbook”.

 

Erin’s Aphrodisiac Menu:

Honey ginger “Let’s Make Love” tea (“Let’s Make Love” is a blend from Phoenix Herb)

Curried carrot soup

Kalamata olive bread

Toasted almond cake with whipped cream and strawberries macerated in rose water (courtesy of the bakery she co-owns, morsel)

 

 

LOVE to everyone that came out to our very HOT Valentine’s Day themed BREAD!. The meal generated a $302 BREAD! grant and was awarded to Kevin Bryce for his documentary project focused on the 31st and Troost Avenue neighborhood, We Are Superman. All projects that applied were documentary pursuits.

 Thanks again to all our presenters, Cameron Gee Photographee for hosting, KC Door To Door Organics, Farm To Market Bread Co, and especially all our supporters that showed up!

BREAD! KC GALA-LA LA LA

The one year anniversary of BREAD! KC happened to fall in the month of November; we decided, naturally, that a Thanksgiving themed feast was the right fit.

We partnered up with our local neighborhood bar, Harling’s Upstairs, as a venue. The BREAD! Crew decided two feasts should be offered: a feast in appreciation to those individuals who have gone above and beyond to make BREAD! what it is today, and a public BREAD! to generate funds for the project. BREAD!’s success relies on the unconditional support we’ve received from friends and local businesses, such as John and Mark Friend of Farm to Market Bread Co., Shane Hanson from Door to Door Organics, Jenny Vergara, Andrew Lyles, Julia Cole and Leigh Rosser, all of our parents, Jordan Stempleman, Ayla Rexroth, Nick Naughton, among many others who weren’t able to attend that night.

During the public BREAD! event, previous BREAD winners contributed dishes such as black beans and rice, fudge, and quesadillas for a potluck. The BREAD! crew brought back some of our personal favorites, like Andy’s northern bean spread, pork butts from Port Fonda, and split pea soup; all of this was paired with an array of Thanksgiving style dishes. Andy and Sean served up four very large ciabatta sandwiches, each one measuring about three and a half feet in length and inscribed with the words “THANK YOU”.

Since this was a fundraiser for the BREAD! project, Andy and Sean competed against each other for the BREAD! grant. Neither knew what the other’s project would be, but being who they are, their projects were very similar in context. Andy’s Cup of Joe involved serving coffee, with tips from the service that would help generate a new grant opportunity. Sean pitched the BREAD! Cart that would facilitate a mobile eatery to spread ideas, words, and publications of art-based projects around the metro. As the ballots were being cast, a diner stood up and asked, “can we have coffee and toast together?”  The votes were tallied, and the Bread Boys tied.

Dinner was followed by a four band show that included Mosquito Bandito, Sneaky Creeps, Molly Picture Club, and Nevada Wolf, which rocked the house.

By the end of the night, Harling’s was sold out of booze.

The Thanksgiving GALA-LALALA was a huge success with a surprisingly large turnout. There were a lot of familiar faces amidst just as many newcomers. The event left us realizing how beneficial the project has been and can be to our community.

Thank you, Kansas City, for your continued support of BREAD! and the constant affirmation that we’re “doing good”.

To all the applicants, BREAD! grant recipients, diners, and supporters, many, many thanks.

Thanks a loaf!