Creatively baking to cure cancer

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Creatively baking to cure cancer

By Myrna Fearer/[email protected]
GateHouse News Service
Posted Oct 14, 2011 @ 08:54 AM

Danvers —
October in New England may conjure up the earthy colors of fall foliage but in this part of the country, the dominant color is pink for Breast Cancer Awareness.
And so it was in Coolidge Hall at the Topsfield Fair on Oct. 3 when a dozen and a half entries, some presented in baskets lined with pink napkins, others sporting pink bows or some baked in the shape of the familiar breast cancer ribbon were lined up on long tables waiting for the judges to choose the winners of the Fleischmann’s (Yeast) Bake for the Cure that evening.

There were some breads tinged a light pink from food coloring, or in one case, beet juice; there was a bread in a cloth that had breast cancer ribbons but the one that stood out had “I am a breast cancer survivor” on one side of a cloth napkin and a big “Hope” on another. No one, however, really stopped to talk about why they entered the contest.

“A lot of time it’s too personal,” said Phyllis Berrett of Saugus, co-chairwoman of the food department.” “They just can’t talk about it but we see it in their faces.”

“We do have a lot of people who were baking just for the cause,” added Priscilla Gerrard of Danvers, the other co-chairwoman of the food department. Gerrard is a former Mrs. Essex County and past president of the Essex Agricultural Society, who continues to give back.

Baking contests have long been part of any country or county fair. But in 2007, ACH Foods, parent company of Fleischmann’s Yeast, partnered with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to raise money for breast cancer by baking with it’s signature yeast, something bread bakers do anyway.

ACH donates $10 for each contest entry from every fair in the 52 states to the Susan G. Komen Bake for the Cure.

“I think we’ve been doing this contest for about five years,” said Carrie Crouch of North Andover, a former Mrs. Essex County who has remained an avid volunteer at Coolidge Hall where loaves of bread are baked each day and sold as soon as they come out of the oven.

And she’s right. According to the company’s website, the company has donated more than $1 million to the cause since 2007.

“ACH Foods has partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in the fight against breast cancer with the intention of building awareness, support, and interest in the cause by providing visitors with a baking forum dedicated to all things pink. Baking for the Cure® is all about reaching out to your fellow recipe connoisseurs for a greater purpose.

ACH Foods knows what the unity of many can do; their brands have come together and donated over $1million to the breast cancer cause. What the ACH brands have achieved proves that the unity of many goes a long way.”

“I think $10 for each entry is a huge amount of money for them to donate; this is wonderful and it raises a lot of money,” said Crouch, who is also known for her own baking. She’s been baking bread for more than 20 years.

Crouch served as one of the judges for the contest along with Jeannine Fiske of Malden, winner of many baking contests, who has gone professional. The other judge was Myrna Fearer, columnist for the Danvers Herald. Pam (Lyons) DiTomaso of Peabody (who was raised in Danvers) is another former Mrs. Essex County who, like most of the others, continues to volunteer. She cut samples of each entry for the judges to taste.

It was Gerrard’s duty to read contest directions and make sure an entrant’s recipe satisfied the requirements. There are actually two contests with separate prizes, or, as the rules say, “The 2011 Fleischmann’s Yeast contest comes with two ways to win ‘all in the spirit of ‘Breast Cancer Awareness.’”

The first and main category features yeast breads of any type or flavor. There are three top prizes: $150 for first place; $75 for second; and $50 for third.
The second category features whole grain breads. Recipes must include at least 50 percent whole grains and not more than 50 percent all-purpose or bread flour. There used to be only one winner but this year, in addition to a $100 winner, Fleischmann’s added a $50 runner up. Recipes were judged on flavor (40 percent); texture (20 percent); appearance (20 percent); and creativity (20 percent).

Winners in the Yeast Bread category were: first, Pauline Taylor of Lynn with cinnamon swirl; second, Anna Barbieri of Boxford with panettone: third, Debra Stewart of Groveland, holiday cranberry bread.

In the Whole Grain Breads category, Donna Ryan of Topsfield won a first for her ‘Fruit of the Earth” loaf for $100 and Robert Cummings, also of Topsfield, won the runner up with a whole grain bread.

Many people aren’t even aware that the breast cancer cause is especially meaningful to those volunteers who are former Mrs. Essex County winners.
“Beth Geddes, voted Mrs. Essex County of 1995, died before her reign as Mrs. Essex County,” Carrie Crouch said. “She never gave up. We give a Beth Geddes award to a Mrs. Essex County contestant who best projects the image of Beth.”

“And we all have a pink ribbon on us in her memory during the run of the fair, “Gerrard said.

“Breast cancer is everywhere,” said LuAnne Bonano of Methuen, Mrs. Essex County 2009. “Anything that makes women more aware of breast cancer and how to be proactive and take care of themselves is good.”

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