Bernie's Book Bank

We are often asked to cook for charities throughout the year.  There are many more worthy charities than we could possibly donate our food and time.  Too often there are more chefs, food, and liquor than there are guests at the events.  But Friday evening the Big Bowl team had the opportunity to cook at a fundraiser for Bernie’s Book Bank in Lake Forest, Illinois.  Located in an industrial park of this affluent suburb of Chicago, Bernie’s Book Bank started in 2009 and has collected, sorted, and distributed over 250,000 used books to underserved children in Lake, Cook, and Will counties. 

Guests dined on an assortment of Big Bowl favorites; steamed chicken and vegetable dumplings, spicy peanut noodles, red curry beef and tamarind glazed chicken satay.  But the favorite of the night by far was the BBQ pork belly on steamed buns.   Served by a volunteer staff dressed as their favorite storybook character, the little sandwiches disappeared as fast as we could steam the bread.  We finished the service with an assortment of sweets from the new Big Bowl dessert menu.  Each guest received a mini chocolate glazed brownie, cornmeal (organic from Heritage Prairie Farm, of course) cake with Klug Farms strawberries and honey (Heritage Prairie) whipped cream, and a piece of lemongrass lemon bar with coconut crust! 

For the Big Bowl team, it was a thrill to come together and support Bernie’s Book Bank.  We believe in the work they do and recognize the importance books have had in our own children’s lives.  We will continue to support their work and encourage you to visit the web site to learn more about their mission.  To locate a book drive this summer and learn more about their newest summer program called Page It Forward, read this article from the Chicago Tribune.  Follow the link to facebook and Harris Bank will donate a book for every “like”.