June 9-15 2008 was the annual 7 DAYS FOR SIDS fundraiser for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). I had the honor of serving on the Planning Committee for my second year.

7 Days for SIDS raises money for awareness and research towards the eradication of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), the number one cause of death of children from birth to one year, through the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio. And to sustain the Tatiana de Cavel Scholarship Fund at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

While we’re still sorting through everything, it looks as though Sunday’s Father’s Day Brunch (we’re still adding up the rest of the week’s donations)may put this year in line to be a record-setting year for this event!

I worked the Brunch on Sunday. My responsibilities included assisting chefs with load-in of their food (I worked at the dock to get the chef’s equipment and supplies onto rolling carts, which were delivered to the chef’s table by Erin and Melissa, two students), directing chefs on where to go, solving problems (like getting Jean-Francois’ (Taste from Belgium) power back on when the circuits kept blowing!), general cleanup, mingling with the guests, and announcing various things (for some reason, no one knew how to access the Public Address system in the building, so we resorted to, well, shouting).

Jean-Robert & Annette de Cavel (of Jean-Robert at Pigall’s) were busy most of the day greeting guests as they arrived to the event. While I’m sure being busy didn’t completely quiet their minds, I hope the positive nature of the busy-ness was a relief from the sadness associated with the timing of this event – it falls near the anniversary of the loss of their baby daughter, Tatiana.

During this year’s event, I learned a bit about the history of 7 DAYS FOR SIDS… After Tatiana’s death in 2002, Jean-Robert (“JR”) and Annette wanted to host a one-night memorial/fundraiser event in March of 2003. As word of the event spread throughout the Cincinnati restaurant community, offers of support and participation flooded in from chefs, restaurants, and other businesses to help out in any way they could. With such an outpouring of love and support, the event envisioned by JR & Annette, which was intend to be one-night-only, quickly expanded into a week’s worth of activities

Now, the week includes golf outings, special donations from restaurants (for example, proceeds from the sale of certain menu items during the week), cooking demonstrations (including live cooking demos from 10 chefs at the wonderful kitchens of Homearama), art shows, brunches, bowling, a silent auction, and new this year, a live auction event. Also new this year is a commemorative CD with recipes, chef bios, a video, and SIDS information.

Now in it’s 5th year, 7 DAYS FOR SIDS…

* has raised nearly $400,000 for SIDS research

* is the largest supporter of the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio

* is the second largest SIDS fundraiser in the country

It is our hope to eradicate SIDS so no family has to experience the heartache of losing a child to SIDS.

Because when we put an end to SIDS, we all sleep better at night.

June 11-June 17 2007 is 7 DAYS FOR SIDS week in the Cincinnati area. SIDS is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is the number one cause of death for infants aged one week to one year. 7 DAYS FOR SIDS was founded by Jean-Robert de Cavel and his wife, Annette following the tragic death of their baby daughter Tatiana to SIDS on June 13 2002.

Money raised from 7 DAYS FOR SIDS benefits the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio by providing research, education, and parental support as well as the Tatiana de Cavel Scholarship Fund at the Midwest Culinary Institute. The mission of the Sudden Infant Death Network of Ohio is to work towards the reduction and eventual elimination of SIDS through a multidisciplinary approach of: the promotion of infant health and wellness, community outreach, education, and medical research. In addition, the Sudden Infant Death Network is dedicated to providing supportive services to those who have been affected by the loss of a child, age 2 and under, from a Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) or Other Infant Death (OID).

More than 30 restaurants and businesses are participating in the event.

In just four years, 7 DAYS FOR SIDS has raised more than $300,000, making it the largest SIDS fundraiser in the United States. While de Cavel is elated by this success and grateful for other restaurants’ generosity, the week of his daughter’s death is still painful.

“It is not necessarily a week when I have a good time,” he says. “But I think it’s the best thing I could’ve done for the memory of our daughter.” (via Cincinnati Enquirer)

One of the showcase events of the week is Chefapalooza on Tuesday June 12 at the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Chefapalooza features famed New Southern Cooking Movement chef Nathalie Dupree who joins Jean-Robert de Cavel and David Cook (of Daveeds at 934) for lively cooking demonstrations. Samples of the food prepared by these three chefs will be available, paired with wine, after the event. Hosts for the evening are Jean-Robert de Cavel and Meg Calvin. This event is affordable at $50/pp but tickets to this event go rather quickly, so reserve while tickets are still available.

Another important event is Homerama Cooks for a Cure on Wednesday June 13. The ultimate test kitchen: chefs from the area’s top restaurants present cooking demonstrations in designer homes, and you get to eat the results! Tickets are available at the door, $12.

The events of the week culminate in a Father’s Day Brunch & Silent Auction at the Cincinnati Museum Center. All your brunch favorites prepared by chefs from the best restaurants in town: Andy’s Mediterranean Grille, Aqua, Boca, Behle Street Cafe, Cumin, Daveed’s at 934, Deco Dining, Encore Bistro & Bar, Heidelberg Distributing, Honey, JR French Restaurant Group, Kona Bistro, Lattitudes, Nectar, One Restaurant & Lounge, RED, Taste from Belgium, Trauth Dairy, Vinyl, and Woodford Reserve. Advanced purchase tickets are $60 or $70 at the door.

For a full list of participating restaurants and their specials, see this PDF poster or visit the 7 DAYS FOR SIDS web site.

Says de Cavel: “When we hear people want to help, it’s no longer surprising. But it’s still overwhelming.”

Just remember: your appetite can help the cause!

Top regional chefs showcase the eleven state-of-the-art kitchens at Midwest Culinary Institute to benefit the Cincinnati State College Foundation culinary scholarships.

I have participated in this event for the last few years and was very happy to work it again this year. I was assigned to Chef Neace, representing the Summit Room, the restaurant at Cincinnati State. The event was very well attended — I would estimate more than 400 guests.

We prepared a smoked duck breast salad with cherry caponate quinoia, microgreen salad with peach vinagrette, and a drizzle of poppyseed yogurt dressing alongside. We sliced the duck breast thin and put it in a ring mold (okay, PVC pipes), pressed in a bit of the quinoia, then topped with the dressed microgreens. It was a very nice looking dish and our guests enjoyed it very much. We ’sold out’ fairly early, so I was able to get cleaned up and walk around to see what was going on at the other tables.

After work tonight, I headed over to Pho Paris restaurant because I’ve been invited to join the planning committee for the 7 Days for SIDS events that take place every June. Being invited to join the committee is very exciting for me. I’ve worked on the event for the last two years, and am happy to be able to help in this new capacity.

The meeting was short but informative, and helped me in the ongoing process of getting up to speed.

After our meeting ended, I left to go join the rest of the gang for HAPPY MOUTH, which you can read about here…

This evening, I again had the opportunity to work side-by-side with Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, owner and chef of Cincinnati Ohio’s Jean-Robert at Pigall’s at 7 Days for SIDS: A One Week Fundraiser for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, an event that he and his wife Annette founded after losing their daughter Tatiana to SIDS in June of 2002. In the past few years, this annual event has raised over $100,000 for SIDS education, research, and parental support; and has funded the Tatiana de Cavel scholarship fund at the Midwest Culinary Institute (”MCI”) at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. This is the fourth year of the event and I was pleased to be able to participate.

I worked with Chef Julie Francis of NECTAR restaurant in Mt. Lookout. She made Fresh Peach Shortcakes with Ginger Cream and Basil Syrup as well as a Fresh Strawberry Mousse in a Chocolate Cup and topped with Candied Pistachios.

When I arrived after my day job, things were just getting started so I was able to pitch in from the very beginning. I worked with Chef Julie on the mousse cups. Once we got those done, I worked with other students on the shortcakes. It was interesting to work with many of the first year students. There’s quite a difference in the skill-set and confidence level between those students and students who are further along in their studies.

After getting the food into coolers and everything cleaned up and put away, I went down to the kitchen theater to watch the ‘program’ of the evening. The program consisted of the evening’s chefs and their ‘celebrity’ assistants doing demos of the dishes we were to serve, followed by a question-and-answer session, all hosted by Storm Bennett from KISS 107.1 radio in Cincinnati. The demos were good and the banter was lively and cordial.

Once the program ended, we staffed our tables and served, served, served. The number of guests seemed to be lighter than last year, but we were still pretty darned busy with service for a while. I managed to try most of the dishes being offered, and really liked the beef tenderloin ‘oscar’ served by the gang at Jag’s. I guess that, and a couple glasses of wine, would be considered my dinner for the evening.

I promised Chef Meg I’d say hi to her on my site, so… HI CHEF MEG!

I finished serving, schmoozed with the guests a while, then cleaned up and headed home.

Everyone brought something to eat in addition to their blanket-making materials, so we had fried chicken, mac & cheese, a couple different salads, cookies, and desserts. I made a “Frosty Strawberry Pie” that was pretty good.

It was fun sitting with everyone and making fleece blankets for kids. The gallery of pictures is here, and below are a few shots from the evening.

Project Linus is a 100% volunteer non-profit organization with a two-fold mission:

First, it is our mission to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”

Second, it is our mission to provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

I picked out a nice HELLO KITTY fleece and Wendy selected a fish-themed fleece. Those in hand, we stopped by Frisch’s for a fish sandwich, onion rings, and cottage cheese for me and a tuna melt and fries for Wendy.

Once dinner was done, we took Buster upstairs to the computer room where he crawled around a bit while we computed, but mostly he was happy to lay in his cuddle cup. We’ve discovered that he absolutely loves his cuddle cup — he lunged (unsuccessfully) for it when I put it on the floor for him before I could put him in. He doesn’t have the control of his front end to jump up the 2 inches it takes to get into the cup. When I placed him in there, he was thrilled and nestled right in. The only thing Buster seems to like more than his cuddle cup is when Wendy or I lay on the floor. He’ll flop out of his cuddle cup and crawl the length of the house to lay against whomever is on the floor. It very sweet — he’ll go through the considerable effort of slowly crawling over just to be next to us. He’s starting to get better control of his front paws now.

He’s still down more than he’s up, but we’re seeing progress nearly every day. As an example, this morning was the first morning he’s been dry & clean in his playpen. We think this is because he’s now off all his medications (the steroids made him thirsty, and that water has to go somewhere!). We’re hoping that being off the meds will also calm his bowels a bit, which have been mostly loose.

There are several new pictures in Buster’s gallery, here.

We took photo submissions early again this year, and already have several entries on our photos page (link not work safe). And this year, we’ve also split the entries up into girls and guys pics (links also not work safe) as well for faster viewing. The top of each photo page has instructions for submitting photos of your own.

They also have a private, passworded pay-per-boobie site with bare-boobie photos for donors of $50.00 or more.

PLEASE NOTE: This main page of the site will always remain work-safe with text updates only, as will the RSS feed linked in the sidebar. Only the photos pages aren’t work-safe. Links on their site marked with an asterisk (*) in the sidebar are not considered work-safe.