Depressed Bakers Sell Gray Cakes to Lighten a Serious Subject

zaterdag 17 augustus 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Adriana Velez Yesterday at 5:09 PM

Why would someone bake dozens of delicious treats and then frost them all in a depressing gray color? To raise awareness and funds for depression, of course. Emma Thomas is a PR specialist who happens to have depression. And she noticed that people have an especially hard time talking about depression. So she decided to make it fun. Crazy as it sounds, she decided to throw a bake sale called the Depressed Cake Shop. Every baked good would have to be gray.

Throw a challenge at a baker and they will work some spectacular creative magic. Depression may be a... well, depressing subject. But even depressed people have a sense of whimsy. The results of that first bake sale were so spectacular that other pop-up Depressed Cake bake sales have sprung up around the world. Emma set up a website that lets people create their own bake sales, and she helps out with the PR.

There are just two rules: You have to give the proceeds to a mental health charity, and everything you sell has to be gray. Well, you have to see the adorable and funny (yes, funny) depressed baked goods people have come up with. Check out the Depressed Cake Shop Pinterest page -- it's amazing. Will you please look at these adorable gray cake pop monsters by Miss Ali's Cake Pops? This donut reading "AM I GOOD ENOUGH?" This Meh cookie! You can see even more photos on the Depressed Cake Shop website.

The idea, Thomas says, is to make talking about and dealing with depression a whole lot more accessible. "People can engage on a light level. It doesn't have to be heavy, and they don't have to go jogging. It enables people to support charity by just buying cake." Um, yeah. I'll buy cake to support a mental health charity!

But what is it like to eat a gray cupcake or cookie? If you're used to eating your feelings and choosing bright, peppy colors to counteract your mood, will gray have the same effect? I think if anything, the gray treats probably make people more aware of their feelings, but in a useful way. If you're surrounded by people in the pop-up shop who are committed to helping people like you, you're more likely to get the help you need. I think it's a delicious idea.

Would you buy a gray cookie or cake pop?

Image via Depressed Cake Shop Los Angeles/Facebook

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adriana Velez

is a staff writer who dabbles in food, parenting, news, entertainment, molecular biology, and anything else that that pops into her head. She lives with her elementary school-aged son in Brooklyn, land of urban farms and artisan everything.  

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5 Reasons Men Have Serious Grocery Shopping 'Issues'

woensdag 31 juli 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Sasha Brown-Worsham 1 hour ago

Last week, I sent my husband a grocery list that was explicit in its detail. I needed hamburger buns. The next night I went into the bread box to make the hamburgers and there, waiting for me, was a full pack of whole grain ... hot dog buns. Really, honey?

My husband is a man with multiple higher degrees, a scientist who is at the top of his game professionally, and yet a simple trip to a grocery store leaves him utterly flummoxed. He comes home with zucchini instead of cucumbers and cumin instead of cinnamon and fat-free cheese instead of low fat.

The second he steps into Whole Foods, it's like he has a lobotomy or something. Sorry, honey. I love you and think you are incredibly capable in so many other arenas ... but the grocery store? Not so much. I asked around and found that, while some lucky ladies have husbands who are all about the food and know the difference between grass fed beef and the regular kind, there are many, many other women in my boat. Why? Here are some ideas:

1.) He's blind: Sometimes I think this might be true, but then I remember that he somehow manages to do his job and lead a group of 40+ engineers. So then I have to assume he is merely TEMPORARILY blinded by all the fluorescent lights and sale banners.

2.) He's stupid: But it can't be! He managed to finish all the work toward his PhD and get a great job on a high level. He is a well respected scientist who has been published in journals. And yet ... somehow ... lettuce escapes him? Tell me how this works?

3.) He is immune to branding: This is his excuse. Why buy the BRAND I SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED when you can buy the cheap knock-off one (with the hole punched in the top where sour cream is leaking out) for 50 CENTS LESS?!

4.) He just doesn't care: This is the most likely culprit. In my hubby's case, he is just not a foodie. To him, low fat and reduced fat ARE the same.

5.) He is subtly rebelling: The hubs isn't the biggest fan of grocery shopping. This is kind of like that Shel Silverstein poem from back in the day when a girl wanted to stop doing the dishes, so she would -- oops! -- drop one on the floor. Yeah. Like that.

Why do you think so many men (not yours, I am sure) are terrible at grocery shopping?

Image via Polycart/Flickr

Click "Like" if you love your husband! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sasha Brown-Worsham

can't decide whether she is a mother, writer, or runner, but is usually all three at some point each day. She has written for dozens of print magazines, newspapers, and websites. She rarely ever writes on bathroom walls.

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