DrunkenCookie is becoming NellieBakes.com!

I’ll save you the lengthy ponderous post about living “in these difficult times”, though I will note that as I write this, the coronavirus is as worst as its ever been in my county. No, we will not have a “normal” Thanksgiving – so what CAN I do that’s fun and lets people know I’m thinking of them?

Friendsgiving Bakeathon Was Born

My motivation for this event stems from:

• Wanting to let my friends know that I miss them and I’m sorry we can’t hang like we used to.
• Me wanting to bake all the time but yet not eat everything for the sake of fitting into my existing wardrobe.
• Providing me the opportunity to try new recipes.
• Allowing me to forget about the craziness of daily life – and maybe the same will happen for those on the receiving ends.

I used Facebook Events* to invite my friends to participate. There were valid reasons for this: I needed to gauge interest to help ensure I can supply demand, I needed to find out what my friends liked/didn’t want, and I could make a plan to not only bake within a logical schedule but also to work on a delivery day that works with each person. I researched using another online invite platform but none of the popular ones seemed to fit for this purpose.

I proposed this as a two-week-long event, as that’s the maximum duration for a Facebook event, but the intention is to fill the month of November with baking and deliveries. I post regularly within the event – which helps prevent posting to all your Facebook friends (such as those you didn’t include).

How It’s Going So Far

I’m two weeks in, and response has been great. I’ve invited 24 friends and 16 accepted – not a bad start. About half had a specific suggestion as to what they wanted and the other simply said “surprise me”, also a great ratio so I’m not stuck coming up with 16 favorite recipes.

This is a great opportunity to go through all your cookbooks, find those old recipes you haven’t made in forever, and get them into the hands of appreciative, excited friends.

Friendsgiving Bakeathon Tips

If you want to try this yourself, here are some tips:

• Keep the list manageable so you’re not turning your love of baking into a chore.
• Don’t try to outdo yourself with every recipe; many people love desserts that are easily made.
• Have a Recipe Selection Day. Make a rough list of recipes you want to make based on responses. This will help you create a shopping list. It will also will help you group recipes that could be made on the same day, or highlight the ones you can make on a busy weeknight versus those that need more time.

Look for more Friendsgiving Bakeathon posts here and on my Instagram feed!

_{*I really don’t like using Facebook for a variety of reasons and it is the worst part of this event – having to support a platform that, in my opinion, has done more to separate people than bring them together. I guess I can look at this event as trying to focus on the positive aspects of the platform.}