Stephanie Izard Wants to Cook You Dinner at Her Home; Raise $500k for Charity

What does Stephanie Izard do on her days off from Girl & The Goat? Normally, she may catch up on sleep, but on June 26, she'll invite a select group of people into her home to cook dinner. In a new series, Supper at Steph's, Izard plans to make dinner for eight people around her new dining room table every few weeks, but it's going to cost you.

Izard is using this opportunity to raise money and awareness for Share Our Strength, a national organization that is working to eliminate childhood hunger by 2015. For this, Izard is starting her own campaign, of which Supper at Steph's is just a piece, to raise $500,000. Want to help her reach the goal? You'll have to plunk down $500 to take part in the dinner.

Now, $500 may sound like a lot of money, but when you think about how much you spend going out to dinner in a month, it's really not so bad—and it's going to a great cause. Of that amount, Izard promises to give $450 directly to Share Our Strength (the other $50 will go to cover food costs).

Tickets for the first dinner will go on sale on Tuesday, June 21 through Izard's website. The menu, which will not feature any recipes from the Girl & The Goat, will be created the day before when Izard hits the farmer's markets and sees what she can pull together. She'll share wine, bourbon from her personal barrel of Weller's Goat Bandit and is talking about home brewing some beer with Goose Island Brewpub brewmaster Jared Rouben. All you have to do is pony up the money and then kick back and enjoy the night.

To reach the goal of raising $500,000, Izard is planning a series of events that will see her travel around the country. This fall, she'll hit the road on a book tour for Girl In The Kitchen and will hold events in each city she'll visit, whether that's cooking with other local chefs, hosting private dinners or posing for pictures with goats on various farms (OK, we made that last one up).

"It started off as us wanting to cook around the country in other cities and then thought rather than just cook why not do it for a good cause?" Izard said. "I've gotten to know a lot more about Share Our Strength and have met some of the head people. They want to end childhood hunger by 2015 and that seems like a pretty important thing. If I'm going to be out doing fun stuff I'd rather it be about a cause."
· Share Our Strength [website]
· Stephanie Izard [website]
· Pre-Order Stephanie Izard's Cookbook, Set for October Release [~EChi~]

Stephanie Izard [Photo: Girl & The Goat]