Category Archives: Fundraisers

Battle of the Burger scheduled for September

May 15, 20132:39 p.m.

There’s a new food fundraiser in the works that will pit local burger cookers against each other in a Battle of the Burger.

The event, being planned by KETCH, will be Sept. 14 at the Old Cowtown Museum and asks restauratuers to bring their burgers to battle it out, both for a judges’ award and for a people’s choice title. At the moment, the organization is recruting restauratns to participate.

Those who are interested should must fill out a form, found here. They also can call Ashley at 316-38-8889.

They’ve asked me to be a judge. Hmmmm. Let me think for a minute yes.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Burgers, Fundraisers | Comments

Celeb chef Josh Marks at Ciao tonight, Thursday

May 8, 201310:35 a.m.

First Fabio. Now this?

Another celebrity chef is making a stop in Wichita this week. Josh Marks, who finished second on the third season of Fox’s show “MasterChef,” is in town right now and cooking at Ciao Italian Kitchen, 1720 N. Webb Road.

Marks, a 7-footer who played basketball in college, will be at a meet-and-greet from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at the restaurant. Then, on Thursday, he’ll cook a four-course fundraising dinner that costs $70 a person. Spots are still available for that dinner and can be claimed by calling 316-613-2426 .

The restaurant will only be serving the four-course meal from 7 to 9 p.m. It will raise money for the Make a Sound project, a suicide-prevention program that Marks supports.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Chefs, Fundraisers, Italian food | Comments

Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys and brrrrrrrrrrs

April 30, 201312:01 p.m.

The Flying Stove’s Jeff Schauf at last year’s Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys

I’m excited about attending Friday night’s Second Annual Blooms, Brews & Bloody Marys at Botanica– though I’m not very excited about the non-springlike forecast. A 51 degree high on May 3? Unacceptable!

The event was fun last year and featured local restaurants such as Newport Grill, The Anchor and Scotch & Sirloin, competing to make the best Bloody Mary. The Candle Club won with a traditional concoction floating with green beans, gherkins and a hunk of beef jerky.

Those who have a $40 ticket will be invited to roam the grounds sampling each of the Bloody Marys, or if they choose, stopping for a beer. The best part: The Flying Stove food truck is catering, which means the Schauf boys will put out a whole lot of their best dishes, which patrons can just walk up and take. That’s worth the price of admission all on its own.

This year’s event starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Botainca, 701 N. Amidon It will include live music by Spirit of the Stairs, beer provided by Wichita Brewing Company and River City Brewery, and lots of Bloody Marys, made using sponsor Pinnacle’s vodka.

Tickets are $40 and available at 316-264-0448 or by visiting botanica.org.

The Candle Club’s winning Blood Mary from last year

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Fundraisers | Comments

Team Hyatt brings the best loaf

March 12, 201311:01 a.m.

Chef Paul Freimuth, left, and his Hyatt staff were the winners at Saturday’s Loaf Off.

I have the results of Saturday’s fifth annual Loaf Off, a meatloaf cooking competition that doubles as a fundraiser.

The event drew 175 people to The Anchor and raised $1,725 for Children’s Miracle Network. It also drew 12 teams who cooked a variety of loaves.

The panel of judges, which included local foodies Joe Stumpe and Barbara Baan, chef Chris Collier and two-time Loaf Off champ Don Lucero, chose the loaf created by Hyatt chef Paul Freimuth. Their “Top Loaf” was a sort of  meatloaf  Wellington, wrapped in pastry. I’m glad Chef Freimuth won, not only because he is a great cook but also because he almost never fails to donate his time to charity cookoff and food events.

The People’s Choice winner was Team Rico, made up of mother and son Eric and Diana Wittman. The team, which has won People’s Choice once before, made a rich, blue cheesy loaf.

Best of show went to the ICT Roller Girls, who arrived to compete in funky derby garb and brightly colored hair.

Organizers are already planning next year’s Loaf Off, so start formulating your recipe.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Chefs, Fundraisers | Comments

I’ll pour your Blarney coffee on Friday

March 11, 201311:20 a.m.

Friday will be my first time ever at the Blarney Breakfast, a 38-year-old tradition that feeds Wichitans wearing green and raises money for a good cause — Rainbows.

The organizers have asked me to be a “celebrity coffee pourer” and offered me the choice of two time slots: 6 to 7 a.m. or 9 to 9:30 a.m. I’ll be there at 9 a.m.

The breakfast lasts from 6 to 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Old Chicago at 7700 E. Kellogg, right by Towne East. For a $12 ticket ($5 for kids), attendees get a choice of an egg or pancake breakfast plus access to Old Chicago’s “breakfast pizza bar,” which I’m told includes an invention called biscuits and gravy pizza. There’s also “bottomless coffee,” which is where I and the other pourers come in. The event will include bagpipers and Irish dancers.

Tickets are available at the door. The first 500 people get a free Blarney Breakfast coffee mug, and attendees can buy $10 chances to win a 2013 Chevy Spark from Parks Motors of Augusta.

The event usually draws about 1,000 people.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Breakfast, Fundraisers | Comments

Help yourself, others at food fundraisers

Feb. 27, 20134:37 p.m.

My dining story this week is about alllllll the cool food fundraisers coming up between now and June. A couple are new, including Tallgrass Film Festival’s “Shaken Not Stirred” martini event. (I’m a judge, and I can’t wait.)

A couple are old favorites that I have to miss this year. I’m not sure what I’ll do without the meatloaf feast I usually partake in as a judge for next weekened’s Loaf Off. But I’m about to find out.

Read my story and start making your “Eat For A Cause” plans.

By Denise Neil | Filed under Fundraisers | Comments

Culinary students sweep Cocktails & Cookies

Feb. 25, 201310:16 a.m.

Tiffani Price, the coordinator of the Butler Community College Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts, and Gregory Cole, an instructor

I was a judge at Friday night’s Cocktails & Cookies event, a fundraiser for the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland that asked local chefs to turn Girl Scout cookies into something even more fabulous.

They did. It was hard to choose a winner from all the peanut buttery, coconut-y, chocolate-y, mint-y goodness on the tables at the Wichita Scottish Rite Center. Places such as Cero’s, Cocoa Dolce, Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Doo Dah Diner made items ranging from cake pops to French macaroons to ice cream sandwiches. My co-judges Tanya Tandoc, Guy Bower and I were sugared to the point of delirium by the time we were finished sampling everything.

The amazing peanut buttery winner

The big winner of the evening was the brand new Butler Community College Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Students and staff from the program, which launched this fall, won not only the judges’ choice category but also the peoples’ choice.

They made a perfect layered dessert that utilized three Girl Scout cookie varieties: Thanks-A-Lots, Caramel deLites and Peanut Butter Patties.

Congrats to the winners. Also, a little bit of trivia: Gregory Cole, the enthusiastic instructor who accompanied the students to the competition, is the founder of Little Bits cookie company.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Fundraisers | Comments

Fibrous fun at the annual ham and bean dinner

Feb. 18, 20133:36 p.m.

Ham and beans. They’re a good thing.

While my little Girl Scout is busy selling Thin Mints all over town, some local Boy Scouts are planning to serve something a bit more… fibrous.

Local Boy Scout Troop 420′s Annual Ham and Bean Dinner is scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Jude School Activity Center, 3130 N. Amidon. It will offer ham and bean or vegetable beef soups, corn bread, a dessert and drink that costs $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 3 to 9. Children under 3 eat free, and carry out is available.

This is the 32nd year for the dinner, which raises money to send boys to summer camp, get needed camping equipment and more.

The event also will include a gift basket raffle.

On a personal note: I love ham and bean soup, though I have a hard time convincing some of my friends how delicious it is. Pictured is the batch I made on Christmas Day using a Pioneer Woman recipe that I highly recommend.

By Denise Neil | Filed under Fundraisers | Comments

Girl Scout Cookies as an ingredient

Feb. 8, 201310:27 a.m.

The Thin Mint Cookie Truffle I just devoured

My daughter joined Girl Scouts this year, meaning I am having my first Girl Scout Cookie sales experience since the mid 1980s.

The sales setup is different this year. The girls get the goods up front rather than taking orders and delivering a month later. That means I’m hauling bags and boxes of cookies everywhere I go. I’ve been opening a little Girl Scout Cookie store at my desk every day this week. If my co-workers have a mid-afternoon sugar crash, I can fix ‘em up for just $3.50.

I’m fairly obsessed at the moment with the idea this year of using the cookies as ingredients rather than snacks. Girl Scout Cookies are good on their own, sure, but they can be re-purposed into something even better, as I’ve learned each year when judging Cocktails & Cookies, a fundraiser for Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland.

I’m a judge again this year for the event, which is scheduled for Feb. 22 at the Wichita Scottish Rite Center. It asks local chefs to create fabulous desserts using Girl Scout Cookies as a base, then a panel of judges chooses who did it best. There have been some pretty amazing inventions over the years, including the lemon cookie truffles that Kelly Dugan of Velvet Cream Bakery won with in 2012.

My co-worker Melanie used the Thin Mints I sold her on Monday to make these amazing Thin Mint Cookie Truffles, shown above. They were deadly good, and used only four ingredients.

Tickets to Cocktails & Cookies, which also offers It includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, sweet cocktails and more, are $100 a person. Get them here.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Bakery, Fundraisers | Comments

Fat Tuesday fun with oysters and Mudbugs

Feb. 5, 201311:26 a.m.

Mudbuggin,’ cut a mean ruggin’

Normally, Tuesday — the day only slightly better than Monday — is boring, flavorless and a little dull. (See: today.)

But next Tuesday is FAT TUESDAY, and that’ll be a whole different story.

A couple of events in town on Feb. 12 are designed to deliciously celebrate Fat Tuesday, the day when New Orleans goes nuts celebrating Mardis Gras.

One is an annual event at Heroes Sports Bar and Grill, 117 N. Mosley, that always fills the place with bead tossing and Cajun dancing. The Mudbugs Cajun and Zydeco Band will perform from 6:30 to 9:30, and the bar will offer Cajun food and drink specials. Admission is free, and the group will be debuting some new songs. Plus, kids are welcome.  It’s my 7-year-old’s favorite day of the year.

Down the street at 3750 E. Douglas, St. James Episcopal Church will be putting on its annual oyster dinner, which features all-you-can-eat oysters on the half shell, breaded and fried oysters, oyster stew, beer and wine.

The event, a fundraiser for Episcopal Social Services, involves 100 church volunteers and 500 pounds of fresh-shucked oysters. The church offers two seatings — one at 5:30 p.m. and one at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 in advance by visiting the church office or calling by calling 316-683-5686. They’re also available at the door for $50.

Aieeee!!!

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Cajun food, Fundraisers | Comments