Every now and then I’m struck by the sheer awesomeness that is the Internet. What once would have taken at least twenty minutes of searching through library card indexes (not to mention driving to the library and maybe even a paper cut) now requires no more than a few seconds of our time. From the average annual rainfall of the Amazon rain forest (9 feet per year, in case you’re wondering) to how to make firecrackers (the carrot kind, not the exploding kind) - it’s all right there, at our fingertips. This is all quite impressive if you stop to think about it, but it wasn’t until last Friday that I realized just how many things the internet can make possible, because it was then that a crazy notion sprung into my head. You see, the 2007 Jewish Environmental Bike Ride is just around the corner and I wanted to fundraise for it - but how could I do so when I wouldn’t be attending the actual event?

I decided to email the folks over at Hyperion Books, Chronicle Books & Ten Speed Press with an idea. If I held a fundraising raffle on my blog, would they donate cookbooks for the prizes? To my surprise, they said yes, generously donating more than 50 books between them. And it is that glorious news that I bring to all you book lovers out there, not to mention those of you who just plain love Hazon and want to take part in a fun online event.

From now until September 3rd I will be fundraising for the Jewish Environmental Bike Ride on my site, Baking and Books, where a donation of only $5 enters you into a raffle with an inspiring collection of cookbooks as prizes. As of this moment there are 56 prizes, most of which are being sent to my tiny apartment until winners are picked on the last day of the ride. So please, donate now! Enter the raffle and ensure that, come September, my home won’t have been completely overrun by cookbooks. (Ok, so it already is overrun thanks to my personal book collection, but you don’t want things to get any worse do you? Do you??)

Click here to find out more about the raffle, and also, take a gander at the prizes so far…

Itemized list of prizes:

• “Nigella Express” by Nigella Lawson - 10 copies available
• “The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without” by Mollie Katzen - 10 copies available
• “Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook” by Jaime Oliver - 10 copies available
• “Roast Chicken and Other Stories” by Simon Hopkinson - 10 copies available
• “Secrets of a Jewish Baker” by George Greenstein - 2 copies available
• “The Perfect Scoop” by David Lebovitz - 2 copies available
• “A Passion for Ice Cream” by Emily Luchetti - 2 copies available
• “Tartine” by Elisabeth Prueitt - 2 copies available
• “Cupcake Deck” by Elinor Klivans - 2 copies available
• “Classic Stars Desserts” by Emily Luchetti - 2 copies available
• “Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook” by Barbara Grunes - 2 copies available
• “Southern Cakes” by Nancie McDermott - 2 copies available