Ever find yourself watching House Hunters, HGTV Design Star, or DIY and want to be part of the experience? This Sunday August 26th, you can at Kitchens for CASA! This annual fundraiser benefiting CASA of Madison County invites you into Madison County’s most exceptional homes from downtown to South Huntsville. Each home features a special event from garden tips to cooking demos.

Kitchens for CASA 2012 house — One of the six homes on the Kitchens tour.

A Tour of Your Own

Need to work on your green thumb? Remodeling your home and need lots of ideas? No matter what your schedule is like, Kitchens for CASA can accommodate it! How? Because it’s a self guided tour. Confused?

Here’s the deal:

CASA gives you the list of all the homes on the tour.
Tour lasts at 1-5pm.
You choose the order you’d like to see the homes on the tour.
You can see them all or skip a few. Whatever works best for you.
Stay as long as you’d like at each home. There’s no schedule.

This year’s tour features six different homes, spread throughout Madison County.

Providence
Downtown Huntsville
South Huntsville

Click here for a Google Map of the homes on this year’s Kitchens Tour.

Tour Highlights

swEEt thang cookies and more Huntsville Alabama — Sample tasty treats like these from swEEt thang cookies and more.

One of my favorite things about Kitchens for CASA are the events at the different homes. If you can, I’d definitely try and stop by them all. If not for the events, then just to see all the different homes.

Here’s a sneak peak of the events you’ll find on the tour:

Afternoon Tea with refreshments from Emma’s Tea Room and swEEt thang cookies and more (the BEST and CUTEST cookies around!!)
Chef Merle Phillips of The Eaves (white sangria to DIE for!) cooking up something special
Lee McBride answering your questions about gardening- I worked with Lee while at CASA and this guy knows his gardening!

Plus there are some pretty sweet extras at the homes. Buy a raffle ticket for $5 each or 5 tickets for $20 and you could win some pretty amazing swag:

Kamado Joe Grill
$100 gift certificate from Terrame (where they have THE BEST SPA!)
A One Year Service Plan from Conditioned Air Solutions
And more!

But really, who cares what YOU get? It’s the seniors we’re here to help, right?? And at the end of the day, they are the real winners and that is what truly matters.

Local Cheese Legend

There’s one event I have yet to mention. And that is a sampling of artisan cheese from Belle Chèvre….

In the home of the kitchen of Tasia Malakasis.

For those who may not know, Tasia is the owner of Belle Chèvre. Who will also be on hand the day of the tour to personally show you around her kitchen!!!

FYI, right about now if you are even remotely plugged into the food world you should be jumping up and down and/or doing your happy dance. For those of you perhaps a bit less expressive a nice smile will do. I tend towards the expressive. Kind of like I tend towards the loud. Just a little.

Because this is not just any artisan cheese. Oh no! This artisan cheese has been featured in the likes of:

Today
Southern Living
Real Simple
Country Living
Cooking Light
My Recipes

And that’s not all! Belle Chèvre cheeses have received all kinds of national awards from the American Cheese Society and the American Dairy Goat Association, and has been featured in many top culinary books and magazines.

Recently I spoke to Tasia about participating in the Kitchens Tour for the first time.

“As a cheesemaker/food producer helping an organization like CASA that feeds residents is close to my heart. To have my kitchen, where I share the power and love of food for my friends and family everyday, on tour to support CASA is an honor.”

Now that’s what I call a great mix of helping out your community and doing business.

CASA of Madison County client — Proceeds from Kitchens help Madison County seniors.

Buy tickets

You can purchase tickets at any home on the Kitchens Tour day of the event for $25. But if you want to save $5, then you can buy your tickets in advance at a variety of local stores for only $20!

Here’s where you can pick up your tickets in advance:

Where the Money Goes

Proceeds from this event go to CASA (Care Assurance System for the Aging and Homebound) of Madison County. Like I’ve said before, this nonprofit works tirelessly to keep Madison County’s seniors and wheelchair bound individuals safe and in their own homes. And all their services are provided at NO cost to these individuals. Because they receive no government grants for their services, events like Kitchens are an essential source of funding.

CASA of Madison County ramp build — CASA utilizes volunteers to provide services like ramp building

You Can Help!

In addition to funding, CASA’s other constant, ongoing need is volunteers. CASA utilizes volunteers to provide services to their seniors.When I spoke to the CASA staff this week, they told me of several urgent volunteer needs.

So if you can’t make it to Kitchens this weekend or it isn’t your cup of tea, then here’s another way to help out. Right now CASA is looking for skilled volunteers to install grab bars and handrails. They also need groups of volunteers to build wheelchair ramps. Click here for more information or email the CASA office here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Event Information

Date: Sunday, August 26, 2012
Time: 1-5pm
Location: Homes throughout Madison County. Click here for map
Cost: $20 in advance; $25 day of tour
Tickets: Available online here, the CASA office and various local stores. Click here for store location list.
Proceeds benefit CASA of Madison County