Read about our event in Westword’s Cafe Society: http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2010/04/breakfast_for_boobs.php

And Patricia Sommer dedicated her first column as Denver Examiner’s Feminism and Relationships Examiner to Breakfast for Boobs!  Check out her article!

Armed with pancake syrup and a smile, the ladies of LUPEC are back to battle breast cancer for the sixth annual Breakfast for Boobs. Since 2004, the ladies of LUPEC Denver have been serving up breakfast for dinner at their annual spring fundraising event.

The Denver chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC) announces its sixth annual Breakfast for Boobs fundraiser on Sunday, April 18th, 2010, from 5pm-8pm at Hot Cakes Diner (1400 E. 18th Avenue) in the medical district. Normally a breakfast and lunch operation, Hot Cakes Diner has opened its doors for one evening every year since 2004, exclusively for this event. Regular wait staff will lend their aprons to LUPEC members and supporters, who take a crack at waiting and bussing tables.

Sound like a recipe for disaster? Believe it or not, the ladies hold their own. Especially with five previous years of experience under their belts.

“The first year I did this, I looked at all the people filling the restaurant and thought, ‘Oh my god, what if I suck at this?’” says Casey Cross, LUPEC member. “But I think we’ve gotten really good at it over the years!”

And that’s B4B’s secret ingredient. With a volunteer staff except in the kitchen—it’s all professionals at the griddle—Hot Cakes can donate the night’s proceeds above costs. Funding goes to the Denver affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and other local organizations (to be named soon) dedicated to breast cancer patients, survivors, and research.

“We have entire families who look forward all year to sitting down to breakfast with us,” says Allison Gleichman, committee chair for the event. “We think B4B is the perfect way to keep breast cancer awareness and fundraising top of mind. Breast cancer doesn’t go away when Breast Cancer Awareness Month ends in the fall.”

Why It’s Important

According to the American Cancer Society In 2009, approximately 40,170 women were projected to die from breast cancer. Only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in women. And the Center for Disease Control ranks Colorado among the states with the highest prevalence in breast cancer.

About LUPEC Denver

Besides ensuring the renewed enjoyment of classic cocktails at functions throughout the year, LUPEC Denver raises funding to support local and national organizations that look out for the health and welfare of women and children in the Denver metro area. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Safehouse Denver, and the Denver chapter of Susan G. Komen are all past recipients of LUPEC Denver fundraisers such as The LUPEC Denver Crush Party, Stand Up for Safehouse, and Breakfast for Boobs.

For more information:

Contact: Allison Gleichman, Committee Chair

allison@lupecdenver.org

Mango Mimosa and Zombie, caught in a fashion quadrangle with Roxy and Castle of Tootsie's Nails!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our friends, we were able to ensure that the Admas 12 school district Prom Shop will be able to provide beautiful, low cost prom attire to its students!

Le Sazarac and Firefly pose among the dresses

We collected:

66 dresses

19 pairs of shoes

7 purses

4 wraps

1 men’s shirt

And in addition to this amazing list, we raised almost $700 from drink sales, corsages, and the photobooth!

Prom Kings, for sure!

Did I mention that we also had one hell of a party?  Because, wow, did we ever!

The Vamp and Pomeranian posing pretty in the photobooth!

We’d like to thank our friends at Montanya Distillers and Peach St. Distillery for donating the components to make the amazingly delicious Hop, Skip, and Go Naked Punch…and lots of it!

Spy Girl and a collection of friends up to no good!

Our gorgeous corsage bar was made possible by the generosity of Capelli Floral, owned by the lovely Moscow Mule.  She, Tom Collins, and Maurice painstakingly constructed our beautiful corsages the night prior!  Our addictively fun photobooth was provided by Capelli Photography, aka Moscow Mule’s generous and patient screwdriver, John Capelli.  We’d be lost without this amazing team!

The talented team of Capelli and Capelli!

We slow danced and rocked out to the amaing mix of tunes supplied by DJ Alisha

LUPEC Denver loves DJ Alisha!

And, of course, we’d be a sorry sort of Prom without the help of Jonesy’s Eatbar, who let us take over their restaurant and ensured our guests were never hungry or thirsty.

The amazing staff of Jonesy's Eatbar!

And now the Prom comittee members are getting some rest while LUPEC Denver gears up for our next event, Breakfast for Boobs on April 18th!

Spy Girl and Italian Stinger work out some planning aggression!

LUPEC Denver 2 SafeHouse Benefit

What is PechaKucha?

PechaKucha Night was devised by Klein Dytham architecture as a place for architects, designers and artists to share their creative work easily, informally and succinctly. Each presenter shows 20 images timed for 20 seconds each, adding up to 6 minutes and 40 seconds of fame before the next person takes the stage.

The first PechaKucha Night was held in 2003 at the Tokyo nightclub SuperDeluxe. The phenomenon of PechaKucha, which is Japanese for the sound of conversation, has since spread virally to over 200 cities around the world. In 2008 it found its way to Denver and the conversation is going strong.

LUPEC Denver will be attempting to present the history of cocktails and make 3 classic cocktails for 200 people in 6 minutes and 40 seconds! Should be entertaining!

For more information about PechaKucha Denver, visit www.pkndenver.com or follow them on Twitter @PechaKucha_DEN

LUPEC's Pink Hooter Cupcake created by Big Fat Cupcake

Big Fat Cupcake created the LUPEC Pink Hooter, based on the Pink Lady cocktail. It’s a vanilla cupcake filled with pomegranate cream and topped with pink buttercream frosting and a cherry. It’s only $3.95, available Mon-Fri throughout April. It’s yummy! 10% of proceeds from the shop will go towards helping people with cancer who aren’t able to pay
their rent or mortgages.

Go get your cupcake!

129 Adams St
Denver, CO 80206
(303) 322-2253

How the Wisconsin North Woods taste

Not too long ago, we had an organization turn us down. Basically, their sentiment was this: “We’re just not sure affiliation with a drinking group is the right message to send to the girls we encourage to make positive choices. Thanks, but no thanks.”

As I told Italian Stinger, it’s not the first time this has happened. And it won’t be the last. But it’s an interesting point to ponder.

We are a group dedicated to: 1) serving and enjoying fabulous cocktails together, and 2) raising money and awareness for charities that benefit women or children or both. Along the lines of item #2, we are drawn to organizations that seek to empower young women. And, on occasion, when those organizations hear or see the word “cocktail” in our group’s name, they–well, they freak out. They forget that our name begins with “Ladies United….”

I suppose it’s easy to understand how an organization that works hard to steer young girls’ paths away from alcohol might find support from “Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails” somewhat of a mixed message.

But is it really a mixed message?

Let us not even get into the fact that both of the organizations that have kindly refused our support hold huge galas at which significant money is spent on serving alcohol to its donors. Let’s instead focus on LUPEC and who we are or are not.

We are not “Underage Teenage Girls United for the Preservation of Getting Wasted.” That would make a terrible acronym. UTGUPGW sort of sounds like the end result of such a group’s meetings.

We are, however, ladies. Grown up women. We have esteem for what’s hip and cool, yes. And fun. But we also hold high the virtues of self-respect. And manners. And respect for others.

When I prepared for last month’s meeting, as the hostess, I found myself stressing a little. I’d taken on the month for Bees Knees, whose move into a new home made it a bit unthinkable to host. And, as February was such a short month, with lots going on for everyone, I chose to have it on a weeknight to accomodate the most schedules. Ugh. Come straight home from work and get cranking on food and drink prep. But, by midday, as I looked ahead to the evening, I remembered that I would be among LUPEC girls. All of whom have hosted before. All of whom do not expect perfection, but rather a warm welcome and a good cocktail.

And as I made my way home by way of Divino, where they had my cognac and pisco ready to pick up at the counter because I’d called ahead (LOVE THEM), I thought fondly of my mom’s best friend Mary, my inspiration for one of the drinks planned for the menu. She introduced me to the Brandy Old Fashioned, a favorite among Wisconsonites. When visiting the lake house that she and her husband Pat own in Minocqua, WI, it is positively mandatory to fix a nice drink, walk down to the pier, and board their pontoon boat for a languid sunset cruise at the end of every day. We chat, we laugh, we inhale the North Woods all around us, and we talk about dinner plans.

The drink is not the thing. When we’re there, we don’t have Old Fashioneds so as to get drunk. We have Old Fashioneds because their taste is a tradition. A shared experience. We love them because Bosacki’s Boat House in town, where we stop before arriving to the cabin, makes the very best Brandy Old Fashioned in the world. And consequently, when I’m ordering or making an Old Fashioned–in Minocqua or elsewhere–I’m not ordering alcohol. I’m ordering a taste of mutually shared memories. I’m visiting with Mary, a wonderful woman who’s been a part of my life since I was five years old. I’m recalling in my mind’s eye, as I taste the bitters mingled with muddled orange, the sight of my mom’s figure on the pier, silhouetted against the backdrop of the lake as she scans its surface for the loons. Her “loonies,” she calls them.

I am transported. Not by alcohol, but by mindful enjoyment of life.

In my years as a LUPEC girl, I have learned so much more than a few drink recipes. I have learned how to craft them and serve them amongst discussion and conversation in the ambiance of a home, as opposed to the overpriced frenzy of a bar. The result is that, when I drink, I think carefully about what I order. The same way I would when ordering food from a menu. What mood do I wish to invoke? What flavors shall I savor, along with the memories they’ll conjure? What taste will tonight’s memories take on?

That is what “having a cocktail” is all about.

In this way, I am proud of the model I would set for any young lady. I do not believe alcohol is to be feared. I believe, instead, that a lack of culture and respect are to be feared. Drinking without thought to what or how much you’re putting in your body. Drinking to detach from life, rather than to draw closer to it. Drinking any mess you can get your hands on. Adults behave this way. These are the worrisome behaviors at the heart of what we strive to address when we talk about the “endangered cocktail.”

So, as we gather gently worn formal wear for our upcoming event benefitting school-age youth who are just embarking on what it means to be growing up, dressing up, and going out for an occasion, I can’t help but smile at how fitting it really is. We’re contributing to self-esteem and self-respect. We’re strengthening the idea that it’s important to have fun–as long as it’s age-appropriate. And, finally, despite getting turned down by our first intended organization for this cause, we persevered, just like ladies united for any good cause should.

Just like Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails would.