1 day, 3 charities

Tags

baked beans, cake, cancer research uk, charity, generous people, jubilee, many thanks, queen, richmond

The day started with a charity theme with some amazing people donating generously to my bean fund. Having been unable to get a donation of beans from any major organisation, friends of mine have been rummaging in their store cupboards and adding to their shopping lists to help me out! and yes, you can keep your curried beans to yourself!

This morning saw me struggling home with 36 tins of beans and enough money to buy 74 more tins. Amazeballs. I have estimated that it will take about 200 tins to fill up the bath, and some willing volunteers armed with tin openers…

masonz beanz fundz

Then I went off to Richmond Park to participate in ‘Wild London’ – a special Jubilee event where thousands of stupid people braved the two hail storms to get a 5 second glimpse of the Queen. I was there representing White Stuff, selling cakes and playing ‘hook-a-duck’ to raise money for the Rainbow Trust (supporting children with life threatening and terminal illnesses) and the Three Wings Trust (supporting children with special needs).

We raised £133.44 and a half pence! Yes, it seems these eccentric Richmond types still think we use the half penny!

it started the day as grass…

I love selling cakes!

this is Princess Alexandra – so I found out from the history lesson I got from the old ladies I made friends with…

…and this is Sir David Attenborough – also pointed out to me by the old ladies!

I managed to spot the queen myself…although she clearly didn’t phone up her cuz to make sure they weren’t wearing the same outfit!…

…I didn’t spot Philip straight away though – it must have been the flasher mac he was wearing, he blended into the mud…

She was very happy and smiled the whole time despite it being about -5 degrees!

But enough about the Queen and back to more important things – BAKED BEANS. With only 3 weeks to go until the main event, where I will be raising lots of money for Cancer Research UK (hopefully!) we all need to keep our fingers crossed for an improvement in the weather!!! only 100 more tins to go…..

these boots are made for walking

I’ve just realised I haven’t updated my blog for a month! This is bad… I am letting my fans down!

So, an April update:

1. I have missed breakfast 6 times. worst month yet. Must try harder.
2. I have become addicted to Stirfry, having eaten it for 20 out of the last 30 days. I seem to have forgotten how to cook anything else.
3. I ate waaay too much chocolate in April what with it being Easter and all that, so I won’t be providing an update on weight or inch loss as I don’t want to look!
4. I have picked up some good bits of clothing…I’m not going to get wet and I’m not going to get cold on this mountain! (more on this later!)
5. The training has been a bit slack this month so to make myself feel better I put on my walking boots and walked all the way around the edge of Bushy Park which is about 10km
6. I have been having a reoccurring nightmare that I arrive in Kathmandu and I have forgotten all my kit so I have to do the trek in just my pants. I REALLY hope this is a dream and not a premonition!
7. I’m still at 49% of my fundraising target, but I have some big events coming up soon…and you can still donate here: www.justgiving.com/2012everestbasecamp

these boots are made for walking…and they didn’t give me blisters

it was spring on one side of the park and winter on the other…

48%!!!!!!!!

£2619.86 raised so far for Cancer Research UK. WOW!

That’s 48% of my target. Who’s going to make it 50%???…………………….

thank you White Stuff!

www.justjiving.com/2012everestbasecamp

Always training, even on holiday…

It’s a little easier training on an island that is hot and sunny, where you can cycle along the coast with views of the sea and the beach and you have access to free gym equipment….

And the grand total from the cake sale is…….

Tags

cake, cancer research uk, chocolate, everest, food, fundraising

£524.86!!!!

And this is how we did it:

peppermint tea cupcakes

oreo truffles!

Gemma you're amazing, individually wrapped carrot cake!

burger cakes! these didn't hang around for long!

well, technically made by Jo's husband Charles...

flapjacks. yum.

peppermint cupcakes

chocolate and cranberry fridge cakes

strawberry and vanilla cupcakes

o. m. g. chocolate and marshmallow fudge

a triumph in the end, well done Lynsey!

vanilla cupcakes

peanut butter fudge

banana cake - my favourite

the Di Biase Orange cake

chocolate chip cookies - with a whole oreo inside!

matt's victoria sponge (with a little help from Matt's Mum!)

these smell divine

the kids favourite

marble cake

Oreo brownies

coffee and walnut cake

rocky road. always a winner

pistachio loaf

the prettiest shortbread I have ever seen

and of course the chocolate guinness cupcakes!
Quote: "the best cake I have ever eaten" Anon.

AND I made chocolate brownies, obviously, but it seems I forgot to photograph them, they didn’t hang around long enough!!

I would like to say a gigantic thank you to everyone that gave up their Friday night to bake in to the early hours. The results were amazing.

And an enormous thank you to everyone who donated. If you didn’t get the chance to come and sample the goodies but you think all this hard work deserves a donation then you can do that here:

www.justgiving.com/2012everestbasecamp

and finally, a special mention to John Frye for his unprompted support in helping me to promote the event over the social media waves, his donation (I hope you enjoyed your guinness cake!), and for coming to Kingston to take a photo of me and including it in his 356 project which you can see here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snappist/6843926584/in/photostream

£524.86 for cancer research uk

AMAZING!!

Happy St Patricks Day!!

Tags

cake, cancer research uk, chocolate, food, pint of guinness

Yes, I know, it’s tomorrow, but tomorrow I will be busy selling amazing cakes made by me and lots of other amazing people who have all given up their Friday nights to bake, bake and bake some more!! And all the money, all 100% of it will go to Cancer Research UK.

This means you can eat cake and feel good about it!

So if you are in Kingston on Saturday 17th March, come in to White Stuff and for just £1 you can sample these tasty treats…..

We will have Cookies, Marble Cake, Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake, Rocky Road, Brownies, Cupcakes, Fudge, Orange Cake, Banana cake, Oreo Truffles, Oreo Brownies, Burger Cakes, peppermint tea cupcakes and much more!

Including these….CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CUPCAKES….which I spent my afternoon slaving away over…

First of all you need to get some Guinness. You could take the approach I did: Go into a pub and ask for half a pint of guinness to take away. when they say ‘we can’t do that, we don’t have any plastic glasses’ pull some tupperware out of your bag and tell them you came prepared! When they look at you like you have lost your mind, now is a good time to explain that you are making a cake. The very nice bar lady will then give you some guinness to take home! Or, you could go to Tesco….

Heated Guinness doesn't smell that nice

add enough butter to clog the majority of your arteries

Add a LOT of sugar and a LOT of cocoa

mix the eggs with the sour cream...this doesn't look at all appealing, but stick with it...

mix everything together, add some flour and vanilla essence and some other things until your mix is really gooey

spoon the mix into cake cases

while the cakes are baking, whip up the healthy topping of cream cheese, icing sugar and double cream

Warning: they rise more than you expect them to!

when the cakes have cooled dollop on the topping...

...and it looks just like a pint of guinness, but tastes of chocolate. Win!

If you can’t make it to the cake sale you can donate here instead:

www.justgiving.com/2012everestbasecamp

WARNING: this post is bad for your health!

Tags

food

So in preparation for next weeks cake sale I have been forced to do some experiments….it’s been a tough job, especially when you have to lick the bowl but someone has to do it!

Oreo Truffles

A little drop of amazing chocolaty goodness, and REALLY easy to make!

crush up lots of oreos

mix with cream cheese

roll in to balls - make sure you make lots as you will lose a few along the way

 

take a break to lick the bowl while your balls are chilling in the fridge

cover in melted chocolate of your choice and refrigerate again

amazeballs

Today has been a good day…

Thanks to generous donations from 2 of my favourite people I am now over the £1000 fundraising milestone!

WOOOOHOOOO!!

£1000 is an amazing amount of money for Cancer Research, but next week White Stuff are going to turn it into £2000, just like that.

AMAZING!

AND, not only are they going to match my £1000 but I also found out today that they will match what I raise from sitting in my bath of baked beans AS WELL!!

WOWWEE!

Today has been a good day!!

I think I may celebrate with a Malteaster Bunny……

www.justgiving.com/2012everestbasecamp

Chandra Bahadur Dangi

Dangi has been confirmed as the worlds shortest living man at just 54.6cm tall…and he lives in Nepal….maybe I’ll get to meet him…unlikely but you never know!

What’s it all about?

Tags

cancer research uk

So, as you all know by now, I am trekking to Everest Base Camp in September to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

But why am I doing it? Well, take the next 5 minutes to read on and find out who Cancer Research UK are and what they do…

Cancer Research UK is the world’s leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research. We’re fighting cancer on all fronts, finding new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat it.

Our groundbreaking work has saved millions of lives. Survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years and we’ve been at the heart of that progress. But more than one in three of us will get cancer at some point in our lives, and with more than 200 types of cancer, there’s much more we need to do.

Our vital work, funded entirely by the public, will help ensure that millions more people will survive.

• We take scientific research all the way from the laboratory bench to the patients bedside
• we fund the work of more than 4,800 scientists, doctors and nurses throughout the UK
• We’ve made significant contributions to half of the top 30 drugs used to treat patients worldwide today
• we are studying cancer and cancer risk in over a million people in the UK
• we are dedicated to continuing to reduce deaths from cancer
• our CancerHelp UK website has helped millions of people access and understand cancer, so they can make more informed decisions

How does your money help?

• £22 equips a scientist with a lab coat and a pair of safety goggles – basic tools that protect the scientist against harmful chemicals and help ensure a safe environment for our research
• £30 – buys around 250 plastic petri dishes – an essential resource for the thousands of scientists striving to understand cancer
• £94- covers the cost for one woman to take part in a clinical trial aiming to improve survival for post menopausal women with early-stage breast cancer
• £867 – funds one cancer information nurse for one week – providing a confidential service for anyone with questions or concurs about cancer
• £1,000 – carvers the cost of one patient on a clinical trial aiming to improve recovery for bowel cancer patients after surgery
• £2,979 – covers the basic cost for one patient to take part in a trial to improve treatment for a type of head and neck cancer
• £4,000 – could buy a -80 degree C freezer, essential for the long-term storage of biological samples that provide the vital raw material for our research.

So, when I meet fundraising target they can

• buy a freezer
• support a patient in a trial for treatment against head and neck cancer
• support 5 patients in a trial to improve recovery from bowel cancer
• fund 6 cancer information nurses
• fund 57 women in trials to improve breast cancer survival rates
• supply scientists with 44,700 petri dishes
• equip 243 scientists with protective uniform

Together we can save lives through research.

Worth a donation don’t you think?

www.justgiving.com/2012everestbasecamp